Apparently while I was gone there was an “Allah” in the sky – “a what?” I asked. (We had heard rumors of their being a UFO sighting, but I guess we were mixed up). What “actually” happened according to Farzona is that there was 3 days of raining and storming (clear in the morning, and then afternoon storms clouds and wind and a little bit of rain) and on the third day, there were dark dark clouds gathered and in white clouds the word “Allah” was written in Arabic script. It stayed there for a few minutes, then dark clouds came and covered it up. Crazy, eh? My family didn’t see it, they figure they were busy eating or something, but one of their old neighbors did, and a lot of other people, a girl at the dentist office showed Farzona the photo she took. I feel kind of strange about it, and also like it explains the country a little bit.
Farzona told me a little about sglaz the other day, “the evil eye”. Matin had diarrhea and when it was still bad on the 4th day or so, Jamilya took a piece of bread and walked around the courtyard with Matin, touching the bread to his forehead and lips, and chanting some Tajik charm/incantation/recitation. It was in case he had been given the evil eye and thus cursed with diarrhea, it was to try to rid him of it.
I asked her to explain it to me, which she did with much frustration at the fact that it was impossible to explain.
“Sometimes someone looks at your baby, and can give them the eye. Or they might be gushing over them and complimenting them and it “eyes” them. Don’t you have the eye in America?”
“Nope”.
“You do, you just don’t know it. Like haven’t you ever seen someone on the street and were envying their dress, and all of a sudden they tripped? That’s the eye.”
“Can anyone do it, or do certain people “have” the eye?”
“Anyone can. It’s… I can’t expain it.”
“So should I not gush over babies in case people think I’m giving them the eye?”
“No, you can. It’s…It’s hard to explain.”
It was interesting hearing such a superstitious thing from a fairly ‘forward-thinking’ middle-class Tajik.
And here's a picture of Farzona and her kids, for good measure.
2 comments:
Kaitlyn! I'm so glad you started this blog. I admit, I was a bit daunted by all the writing at first, so I decided to look at the pictures first. I read a line or two and then another and then another and I couldn't stop! What fun stories and an awesome experience. I'm slightly jealous, so I'm glad I at least get to live this one through you. :)
hey kapes, I just spent the last half hour reading your entire blog. It is so amazing. I'm so glad you started it - keep it up! First of all, I love the way you write about your experiences, it makes them come alive. And secondly, like Shel, I like to live vicariously through you! Keep it up! Love you!
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