Top Notch Entertainment

Welcome back to the Steppe!!

Let's continue with our wedding revelry!! After the bride and groom were seated at their head table, it was time for the entertainment and real feasting to begin.

The first act was a woman who played a very traditional wedding song. She had a nice voice to accompany her excellent dombra playing. Take a quick listen:

After a few more of the mandatory toasts, that went on for literally hours, it was time for the dancers. Tall, lean ladies in tradional costumes gracefully came to the open center area. Here is a sampling of their exquisite moves:

After the dancing, more toasts, and time for the guests themselves to dance as well, it was time for the main course to be served. All of the waitstaff gathered in the kitchen, so that they could present the beshbarmak "parade style". They held the trays high and carried them to each table- one huge tray of noodles piled high with boiled meat and potatoes for every 6 people or so. There was absolutely NO way the massive amounts of food would EVER be eaten! The 6 of us eating from our tray barely made a fractional dent. Here is a nice picture of the national dish:

After the "meat", it was time for the dancing group to come out again and wow us. Let me tell you, it was the bomb!! This time around it was more of an Indian style presentation:

The party is nearing its end at this point. But still to come are the gift packages, and the last blessing.

Until Next Time,

Your Steppesister

Meet the Bride- Part 2

Welcome to the Steppe!!


As I ran out of space to upload video on the last post, I will continue with the introduction of the bride here.

After each guest's name is called out (usually in groups of 6-8 at a time), that guest comes up to the bride, whom in front of, a large bowl has been set. Into this bowl, the guest will place some money, which is intended for the Emcee; it is their thank you for his work on behalf of the party. After they place their gifts in the bowl, the guests usually dance for a few seconds, to help make the atmosphere fun and festive. The bride is no doubt thinking to herself, "when can I just sit down??" She then bows, as if saying she respects them and is willing to serve the relatives and friends of her new family. Traditionally, this girl will not be allowed to see her own family for up to a year!! That, it is said, is sufficient enough time for the new mother-in-law to train her properly in the duties and character of her job as daughter-in-law. I should say that this family is quite different and rather avant garde. They will certainly permit Saganush to travel and visit her family, and not treat her as a slave, a status most young bride's occupy.

After the last introductions are made, a couple of pre-selected older women approach the bride and untie the string the connects the veil with the pole that the man is holding. He also unties his end. They then take the veil and tie it onto her head in the traditional fashion. Everyone claps and stands, as she and her wedding party (groom, Maid of Honor, and groomsman) walk up the aisle to their head table. It is something very akin to the American tradition of the bride walking up the aisle.

Here she is all uncovered and ready to make her way to the table of honor:

Forgive the fuzziness of this shot. There were a lot of people jostling all around her, and it was hard to get a clear picture!

Next up, I'll have more video for you of the singers and dancers that entertained us for the evening. You won't want to miss it!!

Until next time,

Your SteppeSister

Let's Meet the Lovely Bride- Part 1

Today, it is finally time to meet our lovely bride. This will be a very hard day for her. I have asked numerous brides about their wedding days- not one has said that they enjoyed it. How incredibly sad to me that a day that should be her happiest on earth is tainted with hard work and uncomfortable situations, all without the support of her family or other loved ones.



Normally, the bride is accompanied only by her best friend. Everyone else at the wedding will be people from the groom's side; friends, his family, collegues, etc... It is their opportunity to "introduce" her to the wedding guests; but it is done in such an odd manner! I am still asking many questions about the tradition, but have yet to receive a clear answer.



After all the guests are seated and have begun to eat, the bride, along two women from the grooms side enter the hall. Hidden from view, a huge white veil is laid over her head and a long piece of cloth is attached, to which a stick is tied to the other end. An unmarried man from the groom's side holds this long stick about 10 feet away from the bride and somehow this helps keep the veil from slipping as she gives her bows.



Here is the bride being readied to be introduced; I'm not sure her escorts approved of a pre-unveiling picture, but we really wanted the whole process documented.

Now before I show you the bride in full get-up, there is one more character you need to be familiar with. This is the Master of Ceremonies that presides over the entire evening. In this case, he was also present at the party at the groom's father's house the next day also. He calls out the names of those being introduced, coordinates the timing of all things pertaining to the entertainment, where the guests sit, when the various dishes come out, and generally sets the tone of the event.

It was incredibly amazing to us to find out that his payment for services comes from those he introduces to the bride, as you will see in video a little futher down. Here is a sampling of his work. You can see behind him, the bride is being readied.

Here is the bride all ready and beginning to give her bows to the various relatives and guests that the calls out. The very first "person" that she must give respectful bows to are the "arowak"- spirits of the dead ancestors of this family. It is believed that they will give peace and blessing if properly respected.

The next video will give you a taste of what this girl will stand (in high heel shoes) and do for the next hour! Over and over and over, she will bow to those the "tamada" calls out. The mystery lies in this: how does this poor girl know WHO she is being introduced to, if she is all covered up?!?!

Well, that is all the space I have for this post, I will continue the last 2 paragraphs and video/picture right now, in the next post.

Be Our Guest!

So, the wedding hall is gorgeous, all laid out in a festive array with excitement in the air. Will the bride be beautiful? Will the food be tasty? Will the entertainment be rich??

First, let's find out who the man of the hour is! In our culture, it is certainly the groom and his lovely bride; but not here! The man of the hour is the father of the groom. He is the one who will shell out thousands of dollars to make himself look good. It his his utmost responsibility to make sure his family is honored by proving they can put on a large and wonderful feast for all to enjoy! Here he is himself, posing with us. You might ask what our role is at the party. Indeed it is not only to have a great time, but it is most definitely also to make sure we make the host look good! Being foreigners at ones party automatically brings the role of being something novel and of interest. It honors him.

We are happy to do this for him; he has been very good to us- a wonderful host in his own home with very interesting company.


Interestingly enough, this man is very famous in our country. He is an amazing artist who has attended showings all over the world. His friends (in very high places- even gov't positions) came from far and wide to share in his joy; all fulfilling the not so unique role of making him look good in the eyes of the bride's family. Among the guests were journalists from the capital, famous singers and musicians from the west, and government cabinet members from the other capital. Indeed, we were the ones honored to have been part of such a spectacle!

There were definitely NOT very many children at this affair, but here is one that was lucky enough to be included. We thought he looked quite dapper in his high end duds!


More and more guests arrived around 7:00- the unofficial starting time; if you'll recall the invitation said 6:00. But this is what things looked like at 6:45. Notice the cameras; not one will suffice, indeed no less than 6 videos were going throughout the festivities!

Here is a group that had gathered to welcome the guests. The second girl from the left is our friend who we work in the English Center. Her English is nearly perfect, and her smile in infectious!

The older guests, men and women, came in traditional vests and white headscarves. It was a lovely array of sparkles and sequins. The oldest generation proudly wears their military medals to show how proud they were of serving their gov't. in either WWII or Afghanistan. This older woman has one on, but unfortunately it didn't show up in this photo.

Tomorrow, I hope to introduce our lovely bride, and the quite intriguing tradition of her unveiling!

Until Then,

Your SteppeSister

P.S. Is anyone still reading along with me?? I haven't seen any comments in a very long time. Remember, it's free to register. You don't have to be a blogger to register!! All you need is a screen name and your e-mail address :)

Back to our festivities!

We left off with Blogger being uncooperative, so I'll try again today to upload some of the photos of the tables overburdened with food! The salads were ever so yummy, but a few of the other items were, well, perhaps tasty to a few.

It has come to attention that the egregious faux pas of NOT putting bread on the table is probably a federal crime here. Bread holds an almost holy significance here. It is baked or fried in honor of the ancestor spirits, it is never thrown away; if one accidently drops a piece, it is placed in a high place (window sill or ledge)- and never left on the ground!

Bread, in copious amounts must be put on every table- party or not.

The next "dish" was an interesting one... Frankly speaking, I'm pretty sure no one touched this one... Hmmmm, I wonder why? Remember that Weird Al Yankovich song?
Most of the rest of the salads and first courses were very tasty. For real. This one below was lightly sauteed cucumbers with bits of beef, onions, carrots and seasoned with MSG. The two that you can see behind are: carrots with oil, vinegar, and I don't know what else. I've tried to duplicate, but am foiled every time. The white one is rice noodles with cucumber, bits of beef, and some other stuff- MSG for sure. I wish I could be more specific, but just can't. Let's say that we adore them, but cannot make them to save our lives.

Also, decorating our tables were plates of sweets, tiered dishes of nuts, dried fruits, cookies, candies, and heaps of various cold cuts. My hands down favorite is the horse meat sausage!!! I could eat it all day. It's pretty salty, but mmm mmm, so good! The people here say that the combo of horsemeat and fermented horse milk or camel's milk can heal just about any ailment or disease. Take that for what you will...

So, that does it for the tables that greeted us as we entered. Next up I'll give you a glimpse of the party-goers and the general atmosphere. Also, still to come is the incredible entertainment we were treated to, the traditional unveiling of the bride, the dancing and the toasting. It was a long, incredibly interesting evening, we'll not soon forget!

Until Then,

Your SteppeSister

A Wedding on the Central Asian Steppe!

Ahhh.... the joy of a wedding! In any culture, they are a thing of beauty and delight. What makes an occasion as such to any individual depends on tradition and perspective. Come along with me on a journey to a traditional wedding, as seen through the eyes of an outsider who's been here quite awhile.

When we arrived at the wedding hall, we were as creatures of habit, too early! The invitatation said 6:00- we should have know better that nothing of importance would happen until 7:00. Nevertheless, we went ahead and went in, and were greeted with 20 tables literally covered with food and drinks. To say it was a beautiful spread would be a gross understatement.

The table of honor was set up at the front on a raised dias. There are always four chairs at this table, where the bride, groom, best man, and maid of honor sit. The wedding cake and a full spread is there- VERY little of which they will even touch.

Between American parties and ones that are given here, there is a fundamental difference in the purpose for which they are held. The sole purpose of any party here is to impress one's friends and relatives. It is THE paramount objective and there are no costs or inconveniences spared! For Americans (generally speaking- I think in wealthier circles than I am part of the former is true) parties are for enjoying one another's company and honoring the recipient, not the guest(s). A wedding is definitely NOT held to provide honor to the groom and bride; it is to make the parents of the groom look good in the eyes of the guests and to make sure they are duly impressed with their ability to provide lavish hospitality.

Here is a sampling of the tables that awaited the guests as they arrived.

I'll leave off for here today, because Blogger is being a pain in the patootie! For some odd reason it won't let me upload anymore photos- maybe it was offended at the next one I wanted to?

Anywho, tomorrow we'll pick up where we left off-

Until then,

Your worn-out SteppeSister

A Hellish Bus Ride

Yesterday, a friend of mine invited me to her home in a nearby village for a meal and girly chit-chat. We had a wonderful time eating stuffed peppers and drinking copious amounts of tea, but let me tell you, getting there was about as enjoyable as plucking one's toenails out one by one.

In a normal car, getting there would take about 20 minutes; it's pretty much a straight shot out the "highway" from our house. But The Water Guy was at work, so Roo and I had to go by local minivan. Because it's a small-ish village, there is only one "bus" line out there- the #16. Imagine a normal 15 passenger van, with the seats turned sideways and metal bars on the roof at the sides for the not-so-lucky "standers". Now, this particular van doesn't go by my house, so we had to first get ourselves to a point of transfer. No big deal, one 5 minute bus ride later, we had squeezed onto a #16. When we got on there were already about 20 people on the bus. So it was standing room only. After 20 minutes and 4 stops, 15 more people had crammed onto the bus. At this point, I'm afraid you will begin to suspect I am exagerating, but I assure I am not!

It was so tight in this bus, that it had become dangerous! There was very little breathing air, and 3 people were half lying on me as we journeyed. I've never had a panic attack, but I was seriously close to having a full-on meltdown about 15 mintutes into our trip! Half standing, half lying on the woman behind me, we crept along our hour(!!!) long route. I have never, ever been so glad to get out of somewhere as I was that bus! Today, I am so sore I literally can hardly move. My obliques and thighs are burning still with the pain of being squashed.

Winter is Coming

One can certainly tell winter is close at hand. Today the city began checking the huge hot water pipes in town; and it is very obvious where work is needed to mend blowouts. There were many flooded apartment courtyards. Our own house has several small leaks in the pipes that will have to be fixed in the next couple of weeks before they turn the hot water on.

The garden is toast now. The last tomatoes have been harvested, as well as the last eggplants. But we will have chard for another month if we don't get too hard of a freeze. The beets are getting nice and big, and will be nice for winter eating. We had a record amount of grapes that we are still enjoying as well.

Fall brings wind to us as well. The last few days have been quite breezy which kicks up a lot of dust from where they tore up our street for our new water pipes. We are really hoping they repave our street before the cold weather. Almost every street around us has been repaved now, so we are hopeful. Even the street near the office where raw sewage regularly stood has been fixed!! Yay for that!

Looking forward to cozy evenings reading good books aloud to the family with steaming cups of cocoa or tea in hand!

Until Next Time,

SteppeSister