Tajrish

Went up Tehran’s hill to Tajrish where we shopped for framing supplies, fruits and vegetables, manteaus, and slippers. I love going there and being in the crowd of shoppers.

The bazaar at Tajrish is dank and rundown. When you arrive to the bazaar, you are greeted with shrimp, fish, sheep’s heads and tongues and feet, turkeys, chickens, and gorgeous fruits and vegetables. You walk down a narrow passageway that takes you by some premium produce stands selling fresh ginger packed in cotton, cherry tomatoes, and avocados. Then you smell pickled vegetables, pickled garlic, and barbecued liver. The light comes down in neat shafts from windows in the high ceiling. The place is packed with every kind of person Tehran has to offer. A lot of commerce passes in and out of the dank bazaar.
When we came out of the bazaar on the other side, we drank fresh melon ice drinks and watched men selling contraband. A well-dressed man approached this guy with an envelope filled with money. Drugs? Payola?

The young guy accepted the envelope, looked around and saw that the crowd did not care one whit about him and then walked over to a bush where he pulled out a white plastic bag filled with not the expected drugs, but dvds filled with western films.

The well-dressed man made his selections and walked away. The plastic bag returned to the bushes.

I finished my melon drink.