DIY Tashkent Style
Yesterday I went to a new bazaar - at least for me. It is called the Parkensky bazaar, and if I had to label it I would call it the DIY bazaar. Every nook and cranny is covered with items for remodeling the home, and individual vendors will come up to you offer different items.
The strangest part was that there was a section of the bazaar where men are literally selling themselves! They all wear a sign as to their skill, just waiting for someone to come up to them who has a need: electrician, plumber, painter. Teams of them are just sitting there waiting... I saw two women who obviously had a job surrounded by a group of men bartering and discussing their needs. I don't know that I would feel comfortable in choosing someone to work on my place like that.
A while back I had decided to recover the yellow seat cushions in my living room because the clashing aspect of yellow with pink was getting to me. I finally found a couch material color that I liked: plain with no patterns, one grey and one darker purple. This ties in the whole room with the pink and grey wallpaper and the pink, grey and purple carpet. It has cost a miniscule amount to do it all and I will finally have a room that I can sit in without feeling like I need to avert my eyes. It turns out we have a furniture upholster literally across the street from us. He came and assessed the job on Thursday. Last night I had my first cushions delivered.
Additionally at the beginning of the month I purchased my friend Suzanne's Niva. The car is over 30 years old and I took a school loan to cover the cost of the purchase and upgrading the car a bit. It got a new clutch, a distributor cap, and various sundry items to improve on the running - including changing the useless volga spare tyre for a Niva tyre. Right now the car is being repainted so that it looks a bit less like it is 30+ years old. I will take a picture of it once it is finished. The nice part about all of this is that the mechanic is right across the street from us!
Didzis had an interesting statement the other day that rang true. We live in a neighborhood where we can get everything we need: a mechanic, a furniture upholsterer, and we buy our eggs from the yaitze babushka on the other corner across the street. Her rooster is also my morning alarm. :-)
Without the help of Ahat and Nona, though, none of this would have been accomplished. I can trust in their ability to negotiate for me and that the jobs will be done right.
The strangest part was that there was a section of the bazaar where men are literally selling themselves! They all wear a sign as to their skill, just waiting for someone to come up to them who has a need: electrician, plumber, painter. Teams of them are just sitting there waiting... I saw two women who obviously had a job surrounded by a group of men bartering and discussing their needs. I don't know that I would feel comfortable in choosing someone to work on my place like that.
A while back I had decided to recover the yellow seat cushions in my living room because the clashing aspect of yellow with pink was getting to me. I finally found a couch material color that I liked: plain with no patterns, one grey and one darker purple. This ties in the whole room with the pink and grey wallpaper and the pink, grey and purple carpet. It has cost a miniscule amount to do it all and I will finally have a room that I can sit in without feeling like I need to avert my eyes. It turns out we have a furniture upholster literally across the street from us. He came and assessed the job on Thursday. Last night I had my first cushions delivered.
Additionally at the beginning of the month I purchased my friend Suzanne's Niva. The car is over 30 years old and I took a school loan to cover the cost of the purchase and upgrading the car a bit. It got a new clutch, a distributor cap, and various sundry items to improve on the running - including changing the useless volga spare tyre for a Niva tyre. Right now the car is being repainted so that it looks a bit less like it is 30+ years old. I will take a picture of it once it is finished. The nice part about all of this is that the mechanic is right across the street from us!
Didzis had an interesting statement the other day that rang true. We live in a neighborhood where we can get everything we need: a mechanic, a furniture upholsterer, and we buy our eggs from the yaitze babushka on the other corner across the street. Her rooster is also my morning alarm. :-)
Without the help of Ahat and Nona, though, none of this would have been accomplished. I can trust in their ability to negotiate for me and that the jobs will be done right.
Comments