Weekly Photo Challenge: Unusual – Uzbekistan
Tomato vendor at a market in the Ferghana Valley, Uzbekistan
When I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Uzbekistan, most of my food shopping was done at outdoor markets. I really came to appreciate the social interaction and feel of community at these markets where each vendor specializes in selling only one or two types of products. This forces you so interact with so many people just to make a pot of soup. There are the onions and garlic vendor, the spice vendor, the meat butcher or the chicken vendor, and vendors for each kind of vegetable like the one pictured above. As a stranger living in a strange land with few friends and no family, the markets gave me an automatic community to interact with. My market routine became an essential part of my daily life. It was a huge shock when I returned to the United States where I could buy everything I needed at one supermarket and only have to interact with the cashier. A bigger shock was when I used the self check-out and didn’t have to speak to a soul. It literally made me feel soulless and I really missed all the vendors I knew at the outdoor markets of Uzbekistan.
See my other Weekly Photo Challenge sumissions:
Weekly Photo Challenge – Contrast – Uzbekistan
Weekly Photo Challenge: Through – Turkey
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I grew up in Central Asia, with grocery shopping at the open market almost a daily activity. It’s been more than ten years here, but I do sometimes feel odd and dehumanized at grocery stores. I think the part that I will never get used to completely is how almost NOTHING at the produce isle has an aroma. I bet those tomatoes smelled like summer and could be eaten with absolutely nothing to enhance their taste–like desert almost. Thank you for posting this picture.
This week’s travel challenge is a tricky one, but I bet you’re up to it! xxx Ailsa http://wheresmybackpack.com/2012/06/01/rhythm/
Wow, that’s a lot of tomatoes, what a wonderful photo! A market with a difference and a lot of soul! xxx
Yes, when things are in season in Uzbekistan it just piles up and up and up until the season is over. I loved loved loved my neighborhood market.
Ah, that’s an amazing photo. It reminds me of many such scenes that I’ve seen in Africa, Madagascar and Mongolia. People are so poor that they will use whatever they have at their disposal to make a living. And they invariably make for weird and wonderful photos!
That’s what’s really fun about travel, seeing all the things you would never expect to see. Thanks for visiting!
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could they sell all those tomatoes?
I believe they do. Every household cans and preserves fruits and vegetables when they are in season so they’ll have them in winter when there is very little fresh food available.
Awesome photo…have never seen anything like this before…Pbut it makes sense.
Peace,
Siggi in Downeast Maine, USA
Thank you Siggi. What is it they say? “Scarcity is the mother of invention.”
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Great photograph. This one really made me smile. Great post for this week’s challenge.
Say hello to farmer’s markets in the US. We miss ours in the winter when it’s too cold. Getting out and seeing the farmers again is a sure sign of spring.
Yes, exactly. We love our farmer’s market here. Too bad it’s only once a week.
I know exactly what you mean when you said you felt soulless.
I’m so glad you said that. Sometimes traveling can make you feel certain things that friends/family don’t or can’t understand so it’s always nice to meet kindred spirits. Thanks!
Whoa! That’s a lifetime supply of beta carotene!
Healthy, organic, and delicious!
I hope she can sell them quickly before they start rotting.. lol;) lovely post
Thank you. This was definitely peak season when everyone cans and preserves them for winter when they are not available at all. They also dry the tomatoes for use in winter.
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That’s one way of transporting/selling tomatoes!
I thought it was pretty creative. I’ve also seen them transport watermelons and honeydew melons this way, too.
Good posting, and yes, Uzbekistan is a strange place, and mystery to many. Oh, and by the way, the other day I was so busy writing about Sudan that I forget to simply say: “Congratulations”!
Thank you. We’ve been married almost seven years now. It’s been fun remembering our early years together.
Seven years! Then maybe I should take it back then
Haha, no. I’m still congratulating myself for marrying the greatest guy in the whole world!
Thanks for sharing. This made me smile!
Glad you enjoyed it!
That’s a lotta V8s…
Haha, yes it is!