Thursday, June 04, 2009

Of Uzbekistan: Tree Whackers and Washroom Attendant


Today, two pictures of interesting people your correspondent briefly met in Uzbekistan. We happened upon a local guide (of sorts) who helped us translate some basic conversations. Above, a grandfather-and-son team. The older guy with the long plank was using it to shake berries off the branches of this tree, just off the side of a big broad street. His young assistant gathered into his plastic tub any of the berries that fell on the tarp. They let us try a few of the berries, which were shaped sort of like raspberries but were a pale waxy yellow. They were sweet and tasty. (That's the limit of either our palate or our vocabulary in describing food.)


The second picture is a guy who we met at one of the small neighborhood mosques. He wanted it known that while the mosque pictured in yesterday's post may be bigger and more famous, this small mosque boasts a washroom (for washing oneself, particularly the feet, before entering the mosque) unparalleled in Tashkent. He's squinting in the sun in this picture, which makes it hard to see he only has one eye. In any case, both pictures are worth looking at bigger if you have a seocnd, to see all the expressions on the faces.

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