Tuesday, November 8, 2011

The Kyrgyz Chronicles - Kyrgyz/Russian Wedding

Long hiatus! But not only am I back, blogs are also back in Kyrgyzstan! So unless you live under a rock... or in the western world, you probably know that there were elections in the Kyrgyz Republic (which is why I assume, blogs were blocked. I could still post a blog, but I couldn't see what I'd posted!)

Atambaev, the front-runner, won. This was an important election because it was after major ethnic riots that pretty much shook all of Kyrgyzstan last year. Uzbeks in the south were being targeted and faced a lot of violence. In cities like Osh in the south, apparently people are still afraid to leave after dark. I can only understand it as how Karachi was after BB's death. And it was horrible horrible. I hope no one has to go through that ever. But there's hope in Kyrgyzstan that Atambaev will bring about some unity, because he's in the same party as the current president, this awesome woman called Roza Otunbaeva who really brought a sense of unity amongst the people after the crisis last year.

Now the history lesson is over, so on to the first ever Kyrgyz/Russian wedding I attended!


Tables are set!
Local caviar... it's orange!

Yep... that's a whole fish... with eyes!
So weddings here are like a 6-hr long concert! There's an MC! And then there are a bunch of acts and a TONNNNNNN of speeches! Basically each table in the hall is brought up on the mic and a representative (or two or three or four!!) has to say a few words about the bride and groom. I had to go up to! Most of the things were in Russian so I didn't get the jokes, but it was jovial for sure! I'm sure the alcohol helped.
More food

The idea is that tables are set up when you enter the hall after the 'nikah" ceremony where the bride and groom sign papers and cut the cake. In the hall, you eat, drink vodka, enjoy the "concert" listen to speeches, go dance, come back, eat some more, drink some cognac, listen to more speeches, go up and dance again, come back, eat, drink some more... you get the picture.

Our "monument of love"
They also have a competition where you have to make a "monument of love" with whatever you have on the table - which is quite a bit! Our table made a pretty... um... lame one I guess. We connected two bananas in the shape of a heart, stuck a balloon to it, placed it in a candle holder with some candies and flowers... Well in retrospect, it's not that lame!

The coolest part of the wedding though, I have to say - was the bride! Apparently she is a ballerina... and heck she could move! Check it out!



RIGHT????

And apparently, no matter where a wedding is, unless there's some Bollywood in it, it's not complete! I have no idea who these gals were, but they had it down - even to the expressions. I honestly NEVER thought I would hear 'Sharara Sharara' at a Russian wedding!



There were some other really cool performances - including this one guy who can apparently play any instrument in the world! He played a flute and trumpet, and he can make the sound of the trumpet with his mouth too. It was pretty awesome. And he has a daughter who is a super violinist, but also has the voice of a goddess! If these people ever make it to those reality shows where they seek talent, they would clean the slate man. I'd have uploaded those videos also... but uploading videos takes up an entire day here! I'll try another time and update the blog.

Overall, it was a fantastic experience. We left after six hours, when they brought another round of meat and potatoes! In the end though, I guess no matter what culture it is, the general spirit of weddings was the same - lots of dancing! Hopefully we'll keep that spirit in 7 months at my wedding! (It's mostly the only part I really care about!)

But oh well - so things are so far so good here in Bishkek! Will keep writing about the new things I learn!

Onwards!


3 comments:

  1. mmm, meat, potatoes and vodka, my kind of party. also, i love that the bride and groom are dancing to 'hit the road, jack'! auspicious?

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  2. The first dance was on "I Will Survive"!!! I don't know if they're being witty or if they just like the beat!!

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  3. fantastic :) will wait for more blogs from Bishkek ...

    miss you dear :)

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