Market Report: Sultani Kabir

Today was an especially great day.  Not only was there abundant sunshine, it was actually warmer outside than it was inside.  I finally got to swing all the windows open for this first time this year.  The birds were chirping like mad and even I had an extra spring in my step.

And today a friend and I went the Sultani Kabir outdoor market in search of a shopping high and hidden treasure.  Sultani Kabir is our Target.  It's part hardware store, part kitchenware store, part car part store.  Upon first glance, it seems as if there's nothing to buy unless you need to fix a leaky toilet or caulk some grout.   Let's just say, there are no antique suzani to be found here.

Here's a happy vendor.  Happy because he probably just charged me double the going rate.

And here's the super space age cell phone shop.

Some things I bought were super practical.  Like these wire mesh garbage cans.

And this white enamel tea kettle.

And these baskets.  I'm forever thinking I can get the girls to keep their things tidy.  These baskets are the solution.  I'm sure of it.

And then there were the kitchen finds.  Like these two smallish bread pans.  

And these really sweet miniature gravy boats.  I bought four thinking it would be fun for each person to have his/her own mini gravy boat full of ketchup for their fries.  Remember, I have to five year olds.  Fun is a relative term.

Continuing the mini theme, I bought these super small glass bowls.  They're nice to hold all your spices and, well, small cooking ingredients so that when you cook you can pretend to be on the Food Network.  Because I'm organized like that.  Really, I am.

And I bought these darling little juice glasses for the girls, not for mommy's wine.  I paid 25 somoni for six glasses (about a buck a piece), only to have my girlfriend by the same glasses two stalls down for 12 somoni for six.  Not darling.  And  if you can find the crack in one of the glasses below, you'll agree that I got the short end of the stick.  Caveat emptor.

And these tin plates were a must have at a buck a piece.  I thought they'd be great for camping.  Because, you know, we camp like that.  Nevermind we don't have a tent.  But when we do go camping, I'll have enough plates for ten.  Because I'm prepared like that.

And the one purchase that really made me feel like I was shopping at Pottery Barn - except for the fact that I was at Sultani Kabir in Dushanbe - were these flour/sugar/tea jars.

I love the lids.

One thing Sultani Kabir has over Target?  The sense of satisfaction after a successful hunt.  

Weekend Market Report

Last weekend I introduced a new friend to the second hand market near the train station. It always feels good to share treasured hunting ground with a like-minded hunter!

I love the images of this boxed bulk soap we spotted in the wholesale market where we parked. In fact, I think I could decorate a room around this color scheme.

Is it a coincidence that my favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip?

Chocolate and caramel. My mind never strays far away from food.

And here are some of the faces of the market. They are hard worn and beautiful.

This man begged me to take his picture and then proceeded to find me later on when he asked me, in Russian, with much hand gesturing, to do something. I think he wants me to print the picture for him or give him my camera. Not sure which.

The find of the day. My new friend and I saw it at the same time and I walked away with it. I'm not sure if she's my friend anymore, although she does speak to me still. It's a large well-used cotton runner. It cost $4.58. Yes, less than five dollars.

Don't you think it works perfectly with the dining chairs my sister recovered for me when she was here visiting?

I bought this little cut crystal tray for a buck or two.

It holds my salt & pepper shakers and dirty olive oil bottle very nicely, don't you think?

And I couldn't pass up this darling little glass bowl. I love the decorative stars on the bottom. Its printed with 60 K on the bottom, which means 60 kopek from Soviet times. I love that!

And adding to my growing collection of very heavy cast iron molds, I couldn't pass this up.

Thanks for watching the Weekend Market Report. Until next time, happy hunting!

Second Hand Market Redux

We headed back to the second hand market on Saturday morning in search of goodies again. Our first visit was not only fun, but fruitful!

This informal weekend flea market consumes a few small roads near the train station. But before you get there you walk through the bulk candy and nut market.

After the nuts and sweets, we walked over the train tracks where we could look down upon the vendors.

Everything is being hawked. From old clothing and boots

to a stove that has seen better days

to decorative Soviet trays

to old blue wooden window encasements

to newer Chinese imports.

Even spicy korean salads are sold, just in case you get a hankering,

but I don't think the donkey was up for sale. Although I didn't ask...

After a good hour of perusing the aisles, these were my finds for the day.

A cool old rattan basket sans latch.

Some old glass door knobs. I'll make use of them somewhere, some time.

This cool small laboratory-looking glass vessel. I love all things glass.

Two somoni (45 cents) for a dusty canister of old buttons for my neice, Samantha, who fashions cool jewelry from old buttons.

Aside: Sam's also graduating this May with a degree in social work and is interested in working with disadvantaged children. She's looking for an internship this summer in Dushanbe. Contact me if you are interested or have leads so I can gush over her accomplishments and get her resume to you.

Back to our regular scheduled programming. Buttons.

I forgot to buy ice cube trays while in the US in October. I love the huge ice cubes this tray makes. Beats the 99 cent plastic gadget from Target.

Look at the design that went into this lever. No wonder the Soviets were the first to launch a human into space.

This was a cool find. An old road map atlas book from the USSR. Just in case you wanted to drive your Volga from Dushanbe to Novosibirsk.

Our current and former stomping grounds. Tajikistan.

On the east side of the Caspian, Turkmenistan

and on the other side of the Caspian, Azerbaijan.

The warm 60 degree temps inspired me to buy these cute pots. I'm smart enough to know that this is the calm before the storm. Winter will come. Electricity regimes will follow. It will be cold.

After spending all of maybe ten dollars on the above purchases, we ventured to a new Italian Gelateria in town. That's right! Here in Dushanbe. It was my first time going, and Paul's fifteenth. If you know Paul, you know he loves all ice creams, with gelato being particularly high on the list of frozen scoops.

It's not much to look at. In fact, you'd drive right by it if you didn't know what waited on the other side of the door.

The minty green paint does nothing for neither one's complexion nor the food being served.

But aesthetics and pasta aside, we were here for this. And really only this.

The gelato.

It was cold. See? Brrrrrrrr.

And despite the brain freeze - ouch! -

it was delicious.

All in all, a perfect Saturday morning in the Dush.