Yay!

So. Today's a momentous day. I got my first belly dancing skirt, eeeee!!!

I've been wanting to get this since I took my first class a year ago. But I never found one I really liked.

I thought it would be the perfect souvenier from here.

After lunch, Malika took me to an outdoor bazaar I hadn't been to. It was very similar to the outdoor Korean markets. They sold blue jeans, shirts, dresses, bras, you name it. We went into a clothing shop where the owner was Korean. I gave her a warm hello and Malika translated. It's still so fascinating to me to see Koreans here.

We went to several places where they sold them. They didn't have many selections and to be honest, I didn't love any of them THAT much. But I settled on a light blue one with gold coins. I had been hoping to find a purple-ish tie-dyed type one, but I'm still happy nonetheless.

I also bought a purse and the owner spoke some English. Turns out she is half Uzbek and half Russian, a combination I haven't seen here and which seems to be unusual from my limited time here.

I loved the bag right when I saw it but to be honest, I don't know if I will still love it when I go to NY. This happens to me a lot when I shop abroad. What I find pretty or begin to like gets influenced by the culture I'm in. Then when I go back to the US I look at it and am like, how could I buy this?

Last night after oversleeping and overworrying the office b/c I was 2.5 hours late without a trace (I had taken a sleeping pill the night before from getting hit with insomnia again and writing in my blog for too long), I felt terrible. I also got out of work early and felt a little down as I had no real idea of what to do or where to go. So as I usually do in NY when I'm in this type of mood, I go for a manicure.

I went to my hotel salon and got denied. I went across the street to Dedeman's hotel spa, the first place I had went, and again denied. Desperate to finally get the over-due pedicure that made me both look and feel gross, I asked the young debushka at the hotel lobby if there was another place I could go. She told me of one around the corner.

Bingo. This is now my place.

In the hotel they generally charge like 12 euros or so for a pedicure, so $24. In the US this would be fine, but in Tashkent? This is a total rip off.

In my broken Russian and a very kind customer who spoke some English, this new place told me they charge 5,000 soums for a manicure and 7,000 for a pedi. This is more reasonable, though my co-worker said it's a bit higher than the average and is considered a nice salon.

I had an hour to kill, but fortunately, yesterday my language cd's came. I didn't mind waiting at all. I listened to my language cd for an hour while I waited and it felt so good to nourish my mind and start over from the basics again.

The ladies were wonderful. They were so funny. There is something so beautiful about women, the way we can connect and share common experiences and emotions just by virtue of being women. We talked about husbands, boyfriends. Then a woman asked me if I liked someone, and whether I've X'd something. I said what is that? And she puckered up her lips and made smooching noises! I screamed and laughed hysterically.

I was also so happy that they had my exact colors there. The last 8 years I have rarely deviated from my mani/pedi routine. My first manicure here in Tashkent, the spa at the Dedeman didn't have many choices so I had to get this ugly dark pinkish color. This place had both colors I usually use.

The funny thing is when I picked my usual pink for my hands, she said tsbet ne haroshi, ocheen plahoi. Basically, that color is so ugly, why are you picking that. I laughed and asked which color is considered pretty in Tashkent? She showed me bright reds, gold glitter you poured over your nails afterwards. I told her I love my ugly color.

I had so much fun with them and one of the best pedicures I've had in a long time.

I've had a thing about nails for a really long time. I don't feel settled until I find the right nail salon. In NY I had my place I went to for 8 years. In Tashkent, this one's it.