dress code

It is relatively hot in Tajikistan. And when I say relative, I mean, it is pretty hot. The average daily temperature reaches around 37-38C. If you were a patient, I would tell you to call the hospital because it would indicate you’re running a fever. And in terms of dress code, people tend to dress modestly.
Some women wear western clothes, which means jeans and a blouse with full or elbow length sleeves. The majority of women, though, wear traditional dresses, which my colleagues lovingly refer to as potato-sacks. They are long and pretty shapeless, although in the past, women have assured me these dresses can be tailored. I know little about sewing, so I’m not sure how one can do that, given the overall square-ness. The dresses are full length and they come in two seasonal varieties: summer elbow sleeves, and winter full-length sleeves. Dresses come with pajama-like pants that one wears under the dress, with matching pattern. They are worn with flips, sometimes socks, sometimes stockings. They come in different colors and patterns, although most popular is either traditional design or leopard print. Leopard print! Who knew! And because leopard print is hot right now (I mean, popular), I have yet to find a leopard print made out of any sort of reasonably breathable natural fabric, so polyester galore.
Where am I going with this? It is hot. I am finding myself in a state of chronic sweat. I feel uncomfortable; I look uncomfortable. I have come to sweat in places i did not know could sweat: it is the most uncanny feeling when you realize the backs of your knee caps are drenched. And although I keep my knee-caps covered, I have thrown all cultural apprehension to the wind and wear tank tops, baring shoulders and all. Tajik women, however, bear the heat in a lot more and longer layers, wearing not only full lengths garments, but also, most of the time, covering their hair either with a full-on head scarf or a scarf loosely tied behind one’s hair, resembling a pony surgeon’s hat after a repeat Csection x3 and a macrosomic baby. So as I drag my sweaty ass around the city, I am amazed watching Tajik women walk around in the heat, seemingly unscathed. I guess Tajik women are just better women than I am.