At the bazaar…

There are many ways in which Naryn is different from home. One way is how we go about shopping for food. There are no supermarkets here. There are many small stores, but they don’t sell produce. So, we go to the bazaar for most of what we need. The bazaar is conveniently located near our home (about an 8-10 minute walk).

The bazaar is comprised of many small, individually operated stands. It is quite a large bazaar, taking up more than a full street block. Some stands at the bazaar sell clothing (slippers, undergarments, socks, shirts, pants, dresses, etc.). Other stands sell footwear (slippers, boots, sneakers). The women who sell bread bring it to the bazaar in old baby carriages and sell it out of them. There is a large indoor area in which people sell produce, meat and dairy products. Other outdoor stands sell a variety of odds and ends including toilet paper, matches, light bulbs, kitchen appliances, toiletries, ping-pong balls, cookies, candy, alcohol etc.

The bazaar is also unlike stores at home in that most places don’t post prices. The prices of some items, such as bread, fluctuate 1 or 2 com from day to day. Prices of produce fluctuate due to the season and availability of particular items. Prices of other items fluctuate for various reasons, including how well you speak Kyrgyz and how much someone thinks they can get you to pay. That is why we shop around before we purchase anything. Now that we have been here a month we do have some stands that we visit regularly, we know the people that run them and trust their prices.

Shopping at the bazaar is also an ongoing language exam—not only when it comes to getting items at the going rate. Items are not always clearly visible at every stand so we sometimes need to ask for them by name. Buying matches to light the gas stove was a lot of fun when we forgot to look up the word for matches beforehand.

While we can purchase many items at our local bazaar there are some things that are not available. These are mostly items that either are not available in Kyrgyzstan (Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, a good bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, mahi mahi) or items that are difficult to come by outside of Bishkek (oregano, basil, peanut butter).

All in all, we enjoy shopping at the bazaar. Of course, we wouldn’t mind if Whole Foods decided to expand and open a branch in Naryn City.