Because of the bad weather, NIS Taraz postponed the Nawryz celebration until today. A couple of weeks late, but worth the wait. The weather was in the high 70's and sunny. It was an amazing day of food, song, dance, and other Kazakh traditions. It all took place in the parking lot at school.
Over the past two days, I've been able to watch them assembling yurts in the lot. There were 5 yurts in all with tents set up in between.
Parents took charge of setting up the tables and keeping the food coming in each yurt. We were quickly pulled inside the first yurt for some lunch. The tradition says you need to visit each yurt. We had to pace ourselves on the eating, but we still didn't make it into each one. These tables are filled with traditional Kazakh foods -- breads, samsas, dried fruits and nuts, fresh fruits, vegetable salads -- and the ladies brought us soup followed by plof (rice with vegetables cooked with lamb). There were also plates of cheese and sweets -- and of course horse milk and camel milk. No, I still don't like them. Today, I had to try camel milk. A little better than horse milk, but still so sour.
The inside of this yurt was done in a very traditional manner with the type of furniture and decoration that the nomads would have had. It was really beautiful. Those rolls on top of the chest are additional cushions. Many of those were laid out on the floor for us to sit on as we ate (more food). In this yurt I met a woman who I believe was the grandmother of one of our students. She spoke English pretty well and said that she doesn't get to practice very often and is afraid she is losing it. I told her to come by any day and I would be glad to speak English with her.
Over the past two days, I've been able to watch them assembling yurts in the lot. There were 5 yurts in all with tents set up in between.
The feast inside one of the yurts
Parents took charge of setting up the tables and keeping the food coming in each yurt. We were quickly pulled inside the first yurt for some lunch. The tradition says you need to visit each yurt. We had to pace ourselves on the eating, but we still didn't make it into each one. These tables are filled with traditional Kazakh foods -- breads, samsas, dried fruits and nuts, fresh fruits, vegetable salads -- and the ladies brought us soup followed by plof (rice with vegetables cooked with lamb). There were also plates of cheese and sweets -- and of course horse milk and camel milk. No, I still don't like them. Today, I had to try camel milk. A little better than horse milk, but still so sour.
The inside of this yurt was done in a very traditional manner with the type of furniture and decoration that the nomads would have had. It was really beautiful. Those rolls on top of the chest are additional cushions. Many of those were laid out on the floor for us to sit on as we ate (more food). In this yurt I met a woman who I believe was the grandmother of one of our students. She spoke English pretty well and said that she doesn't get to practice very often and is afraid she is losing it. I told her to come by any day and I would be glad to speak English with her.
Some of our girls
Many of our students were wearing traditional costumes and danced some of the traditional style dances. They are absolutely beautiful. They look like little dolls. A couple of the classes got together and did an interesting dance routine. They just wore their NIS track suits and did a combination Kazakh traditional and hip-hop dance to Kazakh music. It was great. We also had acrobatics, horsemanship, falconry, singing, games and comedy. All by our extremely talented student body.
It was a great day. It made me feel so happy to be in Kazakhstan and so fortunate to be able to share this experience with friends -- both international and local.
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