The past week has been incredible. From my longest plane ride to date, to seeing the the sights and learning a new language, the whole trip has been a blast. The longer I’m here, the more I notice the little things I wouldn’t have anticipated.
A series of examples:
- Tea cups are poured half full, to show you appreciate the company. They are distributed oldest to youngest out of respect. The pourer should place their hand on either their hand or their elbow when they give the cup away (I’ve seen both), and you should hold the cup from the bottom so as not to touch the rim.
- Bread is served in one big piece, and ripped into smaller pieces by someone at the table. The center piece is the most desirable, and goes to the youngest.
- The vendors triple their prices when they realize you are American, but usually assume you are Russian. Negotiations are very important, but hard to do when you cant speak Uzbek or Tajik.
- Tourists can be spotted by their usage of shorts.
- The number of things is important. There are believed to be either six or eight doors to paradise, so those numbers repeat themselves often in the points of stars or the number of mosque doors. Forty can mean wither forty or just ”a lot”.
- A lot of the geometric designs on the tiles of mausoleums or madrasas are actually Kufic script and can be read.
A series of really beautiful architecture.