From an email to Ian:

On Sunday we went to Taj for a late lunch after moving my stuff to the new house, and on our way back we saw a couple walking down the street. She was in really tight cargo pants full of zippers and pickets and laces, which are the big thing right now in Tashkent, paired with the currently ultrafashionable spike-heeled boots. This is the actual conversation I had with Gulnara:

Gulnara: Look at them, from the village and pretending to be from Tashkent.

Violet: How can you tell?

Gulnara: Look at his hair, and his shoes. Village.

Violet: What about her?

Gulnara: That's village hair. From home, not from a salon. And the way she walks - she's happy, but normally walking. Tashkent girls have a sexy walk, like this.

(Does imitation sexy walk.)

Violet: We could get your sister Gulia pants like that, if village girls are allowed to wear them. Then she'd find a husband, no problem.

Gulnara: No, we want her to find an American husband.

Violet: Oh, they work on American men, too.

(Mike snickers)

Gulnara: She doesn't need a husband until next year. We'll buy pants then.

We're all worried about Gulia. She's the youngest sister, so she doesn't have to get married until their other sister gets married, but their other sister really wants to get married. And Gulia doesn't want to get married. She's afraid of having an Uzbek husband, and for good reason. Of course, since she speaks only Uzbek, finding a non-Uzbek husband will be a bit of a challenge.

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USAID is one of many donors for the project I work for. The views expressed herein are the author’s own views and do not necessarily reflect those of the author’s employer or especially those of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. And I mean it. I probably give the US government heart attacks.