(12DEC2008)
I went to the bazaar again, and almost immediately regretted it.
Nothing ever changes there. All the booths have the same oddments they always do, and I am just as uncomfortable haggling with the proprietors as I was the first time I pathetically attempted it.
I see some trinkets from time to time, things I might like to hang on the wall of the home I don’t have, or to give as gifts, but I am not at all convinced of their provenance - that any of the wares are actually, authentically, Afghani. And if some are, how does one tell from the abundance of clearly spurious ‘artifacts’?
I see soldiers buying chess boards with pictures of pharaohs and pyramids in the squares, and many of the knick-knacks boast Chinese characters – I’ll defer, and acquire my Egyptian and Chinese souvenirs when I visit those countries. There are wooden carvings of dolphins, and Afghanistan is land-locked. There are Afghan weavings of American college logos – I see a soldier buying 3 with the University of Alabama elephant. Much of the professionally packaged merchandise (generally clothing) have Pakistani labels.
I hover over a table looking at turtle-shaped candleholders while a soldier nearby is in serious negotiations with the merchant. He turns to me and asks, “Hey, can you settle this? How much do you think these gloves go for?” He’s holding a pair of gloves, clearly well-worn, the like of which I’d seen in the PX recently.
“About 50 or 60 bucks” I answer. The soldier turns back to the merchant and says “See?” The local relents and they complete the trade – a large, carved wooden bowl for the gloves.
I didn’t know until this time that bartering is allowed in the bazaar.
Hours later I recount this anecdote to my colleague Izzy and he nods knowingly. “What they really love is soap. It’s like gold.”
I’m skeptical about this, though, and say so. The vast majority of LNs I’ve encountered stink to high heaven; I’m not sure they’re using a lot of soap. Izzy knows this, we all do – you don’t want to stand too close to many of them, especially in the summer when the sweat bakes into them, it sits and festers in the folds of their clothing. It is a sharp, acrid smell, and it can be overwhelming.
“Maybe that’s why it’s so valuable,” he says and, of course, he has a point.
LN = Local National
Note: I certainly don't mean to be insensitive to the cultural differences which exhibit themselves in the majority of the Afghanis I've worked with and around stinking. They obviously grew up and were molded in a very different environment than I, and undoubtedly the Americans and other nationalities they encounter (in their country, I would be remiss to ignore) display behavior or characteristics which they find offensive or unpalatable.
I went to the bazaar again, and almost immediately regretted it.
