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C'mon in and have a cup of tea


I had just thought Chaykhaneh meant 'Cafe'. At least it was in Iran. People paid for tea, hubble-bubble and chatting. I remember 'Chay' as tea, 'Khaneh' as shop in Persian language.
However the 'Chaykhaneh' can be used in wider meanings here in Uzbekistan.


On the day, I was walking the back street in Samarkand and came across a school-like facility. From the gate I saw a little garden and a small house beyond that. My eyes met the guy's who looked outside from the window by chance. His face turned into smile with curiosity. "Hello. Is this a school?" "Chaykhaneh. Come on in and have a cup of tea" He widely opened the arms and welcomed to me. There were tables and stools in the house and one step higher carpeted space surrounded the hall. A man was sitting there with one knee drawn up and sipping tea. A bunch of playing cards was put beside him. He stared down me down and asked "Where are you from, uhaaa?" Although we could not make conversation because I didn't speak their language, I could guess his character from his behavior. A local guy who is brusque but shy.


The neighbors came up one after another and looked into the hall from the window. They talked to the man who invited me. Then looked at me drinking tea and smiled.
At the next table, another guy was drawing the line on the paper with a ruler. "HaHa, We'll have bingo game on this weekend. I'm preparing for it" He got across his idea enough to me. But he felt like some uncertainty. So he went to backroom and came back with cloth bag. "Take one from them" Which I picked from the bag was a Ping-Pong ball a number on it. "Bingo!" I said. I felt like I needed some reaction for his kindness.
After all, the Chaykhaneh didn't take a money, looked like no shop owner was there. So I guessed the facility was a kind of community center where the neighbors came by and played a game together.


Well, I have been invited tea all over the world. Same in Uzbekistan. I had a tea in the garage looking a Soviet made classic car. A tea with 85 year old cheerful madam in Bukhara. A tea in the living room which had huge collection of china on the wall. A tea at the lunch service for Muslim people.
Even though the verbal communication was poor, we can understand each other over the tea. A tea has such a universality.





Sep. 2018



Today's piece
" Portrait on the rug seat "  Samarkand, Uzbekistan  2017




fumikatz osada photographie