Notes from Cottonwood

Our neighbor Linda took me to the big bazaar on Saturday. It's called Bazar-i Kalan, "the great bazaar" I think, and it is the loudest, brightest, smelliest place I have ever been. Mountains of melons. Whole sheep hung up. Spices in bags the size of pillows. A man selling only alarm clocks, fifty alarm clocks, all ringing at different times.

Bazar-i Kalan on a Saturday. The man with the clocks is just out of the picture.

I bought a round flat bread (nan) for 2 som. That's 40 cents. It was still hot and I ate half of it in the car. Linda says everybody does.

Everyone smiled at us. Nobody was rude. A lady at a spice stall gave Lily a piece of dried apricot for free and wouldn't take money. I didn't know where to look.