наурыз - part 1 - the yurt

Today we went to the "new" downtown to see what the festivities for наурыз would be. (Astana has two downtowns--the old one, which was the center before it became the capital, and the new one, which is where the government buildings and the fantastical architecture are.)

At a faculty meeting, we had been told to go to Beyterek and ask. I kept saying, "Is it by Beyterek?" and was told, "No, not by! Just go there and ask, you will find it!" Well, now I'm curious about the Turkish word for "by" because the festival was definitely by Beyterek. (Beyterek is the huge, funny-looking tower with the golden sphere at top, Astana's answer to Paris' Eiffel Tower.)

Yurts, traditional Kazakh tents, were set up all around the tower, and there were plenty of people miling about. It being cold, most everyone was dressed in black, which made it difficult to find my brother when we got separated.

I wondered if we could go inside a yurt, we saw a man with a child walk into one, so, after they'd left, we entered. The yurts are large and round, and the doors are low. The inside of this one was mostly empty, a woman said something, I answered in Russian that we don't speak Russian, and then she led us out of that yurt into another. A man at the door said, "No entry," but the woman ushered us in, introduced us to someone, and before I knew it, we were sitting on pillows in front of table arranged for a feast, watching a woman and man in traditional Kazakh costume sing and dance.

This yurt was crowded, with several tables lined with food. Around the edges sat people, talking, eating, and watching. The floor was decorated with colourful carpets, and no one bothered to take off their shoes. The walls were lined with colourful carpets and tapestries. Behind us sat a young man and woman. The woman was clothed in all white, with a tall hat; she looked like a bride but I don't know enough about Kazakh traditions to know if she was just dressed up for the occasion or dressed to get married.

They talked to us a little and offered us food. We each got a bowl of what tasted like sour milk. I did my best to drink it. I tasted the meat, which I think they said was horse, and I had some fruit.

The girl in white was asked to stand up. She came to the middle of the yurt, took off her shawl, and posed so my brother could take a picture.

A few people made speeches and then people started milling out. Sophia was bored so we said "Rakhmet" (Kazakh for "thank you") and left.

(Click here for Part 2)