My brother, who recently returned to the USA from St. Petersburg, Russia, tells me that Russia is really strict about illegal immigration. Whenever they would go to the subway or the train the policemen would check your passport. They regularly checked passports of people who looked dark or brown skinned. Russia had a problem with people from other former Soviet Republics like Georgia and Uzbekistan working in Russia illegally.  Trains, subways, and buses are regular places that the Russian police check to make sure you are legally in Russia.

Brown skinned people had a difficult time and were usually harrassed. My brother said that even Americans who were of Italian or Spanish ancestory would be stopped often. My brother has fair skin and light colored hair, so he was not stopped a lot and had an easier time traveling around the city.

In America, that practice would be illegal and called racial profiling. I wonder if that would help to stop terrorism and illegal immigration in the US. When I was in NYC, I remember that issue being debated. Most people were against it because they thought it would slow down subway service. Since police cannot racially profile, they would  have to stop grandmothers and women pushing strollers. I personally do not see checking ID or passports working in an American city. Maybe it would work if they only did it in certain areas of Queens or Brooklyn. However, if a man of any ethnic background was entering the subway station wearing a heavy coat on a hot day, I hope the cops will stop him and question him. I wouldn’t mind them asking for someone who looks illegal. Heck, they have my permission to check my ID if I look illegal.

What do you think about checking passports of train and subway passengers like they do in Russia? Would that sort of thing work in America?

My husband was messing around on youtube.com watching Uzbek bellydancers, I think. Well, anyways, he ended up on this video called “mujra”. It was an Indian looking woman, who was fair and mmmm well plump dancing. I thought it was a bellydancing video so I said, “This is the worst bellydancing I have ever seen!”

We noticed a long list of videos labeled “mujra”. I thought to myself, “how can this terrible dancer make all of these videos?”

The next video was more professional. The woman was almost obese and was wearing a two piece Indian style outfit. We noticed in the comments that they said she was Pakistani. Her hair was dyed blond and she had green contact lenses on. Again, all I could think was that this was the worst dancing I have ever seen. It looked like the dancing drunk Americans do in the nightclubs right before closing.

My husband clicked on another video labeled “mujra”. This was a live video from a Pakistani club. The lady was dressed more modestly than Paris Hilton. She was wearing a one piece dress with spaghetti straps. The dress went down to her knees. She had very long hair, and her stomach was larger than mine and I had a baby 8 months ago. Her dancing was horrible as she was merely striking  what looked like erotic poses. I guess in Pakistan that is about as erotic as it gets. The commenters were shocked and talked about how they felt sorry for the woman who was so poor that she had to dance in order to survive. mmmmmmmm

My husband and I finally figured out that mujra is a type of erotic dancing in India and Pakistan. A mujra is a men’s night club or dance bar. The men would go watch women show a little cleavage. The women do not strip. Men give the women money for their dancing. Their clothes are usually more modest than what most Americans wear to nightclubs. I guess in Pakistan they like curvy women, as most of the dancers would be considered “fat” by Western standards.  Today, I guess mujras put out CDs for men to buy to enjoy at home or at parties.

It was interesting to learn about a new subculture of South Asia. People who know me know I love studying a culture’s subcultures. I find it fascinating. This particular subculture troubled me however. If what I saw in the videos was completely shocking and shameful to Pakistanis and Indians, how the heck do they perceive American women? It is true that in the west we had similar standards and a similar subculture. (can-can girls, and strip tease artists) I also know that things are changing at least in India and girls in some places (especially in Bollywood) dress just as immodestly. I also know that I have seen American women wear less than the mujra dancers shopping at Walmart. Those women were probably bigger than the mujra dancers too. I once saw a girl at Walmart who was at least 250 lbs wearing a short skirt and no underwear. That was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen.

Well, now I know what “mujra” is and I don’t think I will see anymore of that.

Speaking of modesty, do you think that soon modesty will be back “in”?  Do you think the suggestion of the erotic is sexier than graphically showing the erotic?

In my opinion, I think mujra can be like marijuana. It would lead to the more hardcore stuff, so it is probably not LDS standard.

Do you want to know the technique used in cooking the very popular Uzbek plov? Check out this article. What do you think?

Click here to watch scenes from all eight episodes.
The show isn’t perfect. I said before I like it until episode 7. Polygamy and gay marriage in one episode? Episode 7 still had it funny moments. One scene actually happened to me. The mother-in-law from Lebanon comes to visit and hates how her Canadian daughter-in-law runs the home. When offered food she opens a suitcase and says, “I brought my own.” My mother-in-law did the same thing!!

Though the last three episodes were weak but funny, I believe the show has a lot of potential. There will be a second season this fall.

I finally got my Central Asian cuisine blog working. I try to use recipes that are authentic as possible. I also try to share some techniques that I have learned. I will also share some American adaptations, cheap adaptations, and healthy adaptations to the food. The recipes were all tested in my kitchen.

Click Here to check it out!! Also, share some of your secret foods from the road to Samarqand and the Caucases.