Bizarre Bazaar

Hello friends,

I hope this post finds you all well. If all goes as planned, I should be heading home in about eight weeks. Hopefully, the Eagles will turn it around and still be playing then. A home playoff game would be perfect.

I haven’t posted in a while because I really don’t know what to talk about. However, it struck me that I have yet to talk about the bazaar. On Saturdays, local merchants come to KAF and set up a bazaar in a small fenced-in area on base. There are lots of items on display: rugs/carpets, black market DVDs, brass vases and other brass sculptures, watches, and other bric-a-brac. I’ve been to the bazaar only three times, but I know folks that never miss it. Some of the more serious shoppers go for the rugs, which can run from $25 to $2500 depending on the size and quality of the workmanship. I have no idea what I am looking at, but you can see some differences. I took the pictures below this past weekend.

The trick to the bazaar, aside from knowing what you are looking for quality-wise, is the haggling. As with most bazaars, the merchants are always calling to you to come see their wares. “Hey, American, you come look, eh? I have some nice things for your wife, eh?” (The shill is universal.) There are kids walking up and down the aisles hawking bracelets and other small items. “Sir! Sir! Look! Only one dollar. You buy two?” Hard to turn away the kids, but the stuff they’re trying to sell is just junk. Anyway, the haggling is just not natural to me; I have a hard time with it. Like back home, I want to walk up, ask what the price is, make a decision and either buy it or not. But these guys expect you to haggle. If I try to walk away, they’ll follow you asking “how much do you pay?” I just keep walking. Some other soldiers really get into it; back and forth, trying to get that last dollar reduction. It can be fun to watch. I have not bought a thing yet, but probably will just to have a souvenir. So, that’s the bazaar.

All else is going as well as can be expected. The weather is getting colder and it actually drizzled today for a few minutes. But, the dust and dirt are always present. Eight more weeks, then I’m outta here.

Take care,

-Dave