HUZZAH FOR THE BAZAAR!

(10OCT2008)

The bazaar on BAF is held every Friday from 1000-1500 in a corner of the base set aside for it, with covered stalls and a small parking area. The proprietors are Afghan nationals (or LNs) who live off post and come in once a week to sell their wares.

I had missed this every week until now, being either too busy with work or traveling away from Bagram when it was held. I decide to make the time this morning, and I’m far from alone. The bazaar seems busy.

Wanting to simply get the lay of the land, I walk around waving off the pleas of the merchants – Hello, my friend, come see my stuff. They call every man “my friend” and I hear them refer to some older woman as “mother”. These LNs are, by and large, fairly aggressive. This is in contrast to the bazaar we had in Balad, Iraq, where you sometimes had to wake them up to make a purchase.

There is also haggling at this bazaar, something which was not allowed in Iraq. I don’t like haggling. For one, I don’t think I’m very good at it. I talk them down, but always feel as if I could have done better. Also, I find the whole scenario vaguely insulting. If at first you say it’s $45 and then I end up buying it for $20, then were you trying to rob me at first? I realize it’s not insulting, of course, but I’m not used to it and it feels awkward.

I buy a few trinkets, but mostly I just want to see what’s here, as I’m sure I’ll have plenty of time over the next year to do more shopping. The bazaar has only a limited variety of things for sale – the most popular are the rugs and scarves.

There are also several stalls selling gems and jewelry, but I would have a hard time paying hundreds of dollars for something I couldn’t verify as authentic.

Other popular items include weapons. There’s a wide variety of knives for sale, and tables full of old rifles. If you buy one of either, you have to jump through several hoops to ship it home, but there are ways to do it through customs and the Post Office on base.

At one point, I’m taking pictures of the bazaar and a young LN comes out of his little shop and asks me “Do you want a kiss?” I stare at him and say, perhaps a bit strongly, “Excuse me?!” He repeats his question and notes the mix of confusion and aggravation on my face before explaining, all of this in broken English, of course, “For your camera, do you want a kiss? We have hard kiss for your camera.” He’s saying case – but I don’t need a case, or a kiss (not from him, anyway).

I’m very glad to see that another Afghani has brought his camel to the bazaar, and he’s selling pictures and rides. I’d seen camels from a distance in Kuwait, but in all the time I’ve spent in the Middle East (almost 300 days) this is the first time I’ve been close enough to touch one. I watch as a female soldier takes what passes for a ride on the camel, holding on to the back.

She and her husband (both soldiers; you don’t see many married couples deployed together) have a great time with the camel and jokingly offer to buy it form the Afghani to bring back to the States with them. They negotiate a price of $15, though we’re fairly certain the merchant doesn’t understand the proceedings. The couple is very happy with the price until I point out that they’re going to get killed on shipping.

BAF = Bagram Air Field
LN = Local National