Backlogged, written March 27...
March 22 is Nauryz, one of the most important holidays here in Kazakhstan, especially in the very Kazakh south where I live. The holiday has been celebrated in this part of the world for a millennium. It's a time celebrate the arrival of spring with family, friends, and large amounts of food.
This time has special meaning not only for locals, but for volunteers who make a yearly exodus from the still-frozen north to the balmy south to join in the Nauryz celebration and catch up with friends. This year was no different. After a month of logistical prep (finding apartments, coordinating pickups at the train station, organizing projects to give our visitors business leave, at the beginning of last week we welcomed about 40 volunteers to Shymkent to spend a week living it up.
On Tuesday, the actual Nauryz holiday, we all went to the Hippodrome, the center of Nauryz festivities. Just outside the stadium grounds there were traditional dance performances and tons of food stalls serving traditional Kazakh fare including Nauryz-kozhe, a drink made from 7 ingredients (These seven ingredients can vary, but typically include: kefir, kurt (a rock hard, very sharp cheese), meat, wheat, salt, rice, and raisins). Locals love the stuff, and wait all year for it to make an appearance. I was less impressed with the dish. It sort of has the consistency but none of the sweetness of really water rice pudding, or super soggy cereal.
Apart from kozhe, there was plov (pilaf) and shashlik (grilled meat kebabs) served at food stalls, and huge feasts laid out at the dozens of yurts that had been set up around the square. Women in traditional dress waited around the yurt entrances and herded important-looking passersby (including a few volunteers) inside to enjoy the feast.
After gorging ourselves on food, we moved on to the stadium to take in the traditional horse games showcased during Nauryz. We watched horse races, horse jumping, kok-par (see previous post), a game that involved a boy on horseback chasing a girl on horseback and trying to kiss her, and a game that involved a girl on horseback chasing a boy on horseback and whipping him. The American section of the bleachers went crazy during this last event. We sat in a huge group eating ice cream, wearing t-shirts (the chill-fearing locals were all in jackets and sweatshirts), cheering on women's rights in horse games, and sticking out like a sore thumb. We were the uber-Americans, and we loved every minute of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment