A bit late: a visit to Hissor, a fortress about half an hour east of Dushanbe. It's a reconstructed 16th century fortress that was built when Tajikistan was part of the Bukharan empire. There is lots of construction going on and the weather was quite dreadful - Afganets in full swing, it was hazy and we were all a bit off our feet. One couldn't even see the mountains.
One day, we will be over this endless intestinal misery and then we'll be more interesting. I promise.
Yesterday afternoon, there was suddenly a clamoring in the street - loud trumpets, drums, and some kind of flute. We looked outside and there in our street was a horse carriage with a white horse, beautifully dressed people and masses of kids were thronging about. Suddenly money bills fluttered through the air, kids scrambled to pick them up, and a little boy stepped out of the neighbor's house, all dressed in white and gold with a turban and a scepter. He climbed into the carriage with his sisters who were all dressed up like little brides.
It was his Khitan, the traditional circumcision of a seven-year-old boy that marks his coming-of-age as a Muslim man. I remember these from Turkey where, incidentally, the boys were the exact same outfits - white, elaborately stitched and decorated, with a turban that is crusted in (fake) diamonds and jewelry, complete with a feather. Even the scepter is the same. (I'm sure they call it differently.)
The Khitan is a huge celebration, much more so than a First Communion. It's a joyous event that is shared with relatives and friends, and the little boys are heaped with presents. I saw a few days earlier how this boy received one of those electric minicars that you can drive in. A white Mercedes. I'm sure it cost a fortune.
The carriage turned, and the neighbor kids followed it for a bit, then a motorcade with finely dressed relatives followed. He was off to become a man.
Good luck, little guy.
A neighbor kid clutching the money she collected.