On Thursday, October 11th Ramadan, or Orozo as it is called in Kyrgyz, officially ended. The following day, in this case Friday, October 12th, is called Orozo Ait. On Orozo Ait people celebrate the end of Ramadan with friends, family and lots of food. According to the Kyrgyz, on Orozo Ait you are supposed to go to seven different homes to celebrate (it’s like Thanksgiving times seven!). We were able to reach the requisite number of homes largely because Martin’s co-workers were kind enough to invite us to each of their homes for Orozo Ait. We started our “guest-ing” at noon.
We met Martin’s co-workers and walked to one woman’s mother’s house. Upon entering the dining room we started to get an idea of what we were in for that day. The table was covered with food. There were dishes of fruit (apples, pears, pomegranates, grapes), candy, salads and lots of bread. When we sat down we were served tea and salad. Knowing that we had to be at our next guesting in about an hour, we hoped we could just have some salad, bread and a little bit of the entrée and move on. Of course, that’s not what happened. As soon as we finished our salads a soup came out, followed by plov (a traditional Kyrgyz dish with rice, carrots and sheep meat). Our host played the komuz (a traditional Kyrgyz instrument—similar to the guitar, but much smaller) and we sang songs in Kyrgyz and English. Before heading off to our second guesting of the day our host insisted that every guest take a doggy bag of food—bread and plov in this case.
The next 6 guestings proceeded in similar fashion. We traveled from home to home with 4 of Martin’s co-workers. At each home we found ourselves sitting in front of a table covered with food. The main dishes varied a little bit from home to home (one of Martin’s colleagues prepared pizza for us!), but we definitely had more than our fair share of plov and tea that day. We also received a doggy bay of food from each home. It was like trick or treating, except no costumes were involved and we received more substantial treats. Our host mother was quite proud of us when she saw all of the food that we came home with that evening in our doggy bags.
At some homes the eldest man in the room recited an excerpt from the Koran before the meal was officially concluded. Once we left each house we can only imagine the work that those at the house went through to prepare for their next round of visitors.
We had a wonderful time participating in Orozo Ait. We were completely overwhelmed by the hospitality of the Kyrgyz people. They invited us into their homes, shared their traditions with us and made us feel like part of their family. We look forward to participating in Orozo Ait next year. Maybe this time we’ll do a little fasting of our own beforehand to prepare for the festivities.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
At the bazaar…
There are many ways in which Naryn is different from home. One way is how we go about shopping for food. There are no supermarkets here. There are many small stores, but they don’t sell produce. So, we go to the bazaar for most of what we need. The bazaar is conveniently located near our home (about an 8-10 minute walk).
The bazaar is comprised of many small, individually operated stands. It is quite a large bazaar, taking up more than a full street block. Some stands at the bazaar sell clothing (slippers, undergarments, socks, shirts, pants, dresses, etc.). Other stands sell footwear (slippers, boots, sneakers). The women who sell bread bring it to the bazaar in old baby carriages and sell it out of them. There is a large indoor area in which people sell produce, meat and dairy products. Other outdoor stands sell a variety of odds and ends including toilet paper, matches, light bulbs, kitchen appliances, toiletries, ping-pong balls, cookies, candy, alcohol etc.
The bazaar is also unlike stores at home in that most places don’t post prices. The prices of some items, such as bread, fluctuate 1 or 2 com from day to day. Prices of produce fluctuate due to the season and availability of particular items. Prices of other items fluctuate for various reasons, including how well you speak Kyrgyz and how much someone thinks they can get you to pay. That is why we shop around before we purchase anything. Now that we have been here a month we do have some stands that we visit regularly, we know the people that run them and trust their prices.
Shopping at the bazaar is also an ongoing language exam—not only when it comes to getting items at the going rate. Items are not always clearly visible at every stand so we sometimes need to ask for them by name. Buying matches to light the gas stove was a lot of fun when we forgot to look up the word for matches beforehand.
While we can purchase many items at our local bazaar there are some things that are not available. These are mostly items that either are not available in Kyrgyzstan (Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, a good bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, mahi mahi) or items that are difficult to come by outside of Bishkek (oregano, basil, peanut butter).
All in all, we enjoy shopping at the bazaar. Of course, we wouldn’t mind if Whole Foods decided to expand and open a branch in Naryn City.
The bazaar is comprised of many small, individually operated stands. It is quite a large bazaar, taking up more than a full street block. Some stands at the bazaar sell clothing (slippers, undergarments, socks, shirts, pants, dresses, etc.). Other stands sell footwear (slippers, boots, sneakers). The women who sell bread bring it to the bazaar in old baby carriages and sell it out of them. There is a large indoor area in which people sell produce, meat and dairy products. Other outdoor stands sell a variety of odds and ends including toilet paper, matches, light bulbs, kitchen appliances, toiletries, ping-pong balls, cookies, candy, alcohol etc.
The bazaar is also unlike stores at home in that most places don’t post prices. The prices of some items, such as bread, fluctuate 1 or 2 com from day to day. Prices of produce fluctuate due to the season and availability of particular items. Prices of other items fluctuate for various reasons, including how well you speak Kyrgyz and how much someone thinks they can get you to pay. That is why we shop around before we purchase anything. Now that we have been here a month we do have some stands that we visit regularly, we know the people that run them and trust their prices.
Shopping at the bazaar is also an ongoing language exam—not only when it comes to getting items at the going rate. Items are not always clearly visible at every stand so we sometimes need to ask for them by name. Buying matches to light the gas stove was a lot of fun when we forgot to look up the word for matches beforehand.
While we can purchase many items at our local bazaar there are some things that are not available. These are mostly items that either are not available in Kyrgyzstan (Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, a good bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, mahi mahi) or items that are difficult to come by outside of Bishkek (oregano, basil, peanut butter).
All in all, we enjoy shopping at the bazaar. Of course, we wouldn’t mind if Whole Foods decided to expand and open a branch in Naryn City.
Welcome to Naryn City
With our 1-month anniversary in Naryn quickly approaching we thought we’d take some time to describe our new home in greater detail. Naryn City is the capital of the Naryn Oblast. There are about 45,000 residents living in Naryn City, primarily Kyrgyz (the part of the country that we were in before had a mix of Kyrgyz, Russian and Turkish families). The residents of Naryn City and Naryn Oblast are thought to speak the purest version of Kyrygz in the country.
Naryn City is located about 1 ½ miles above sea level. It is a narrow city (pretty much three streets wide throughout) surrounded by mountains. The mountains on one side of the city remind us of Arizona—mostly red/orange rock. The mountains on the other side of the city are greener, with many trees.
We feel very fortunate to have access to many amenities in Naryn City. There are a few internet cafes (got to love dial-up), some places to make IP phone calls, several restaurants/cafes, a great bazaar, a bank, post office and a really nice banya. There are also other volunteers in the area so we do not feel isolated.
The people in Naryn City are some of the nicest we’ve met. They are very hospitable and ready to host guests at a moments notice.
Naryn City is located about 1 ½ miles above sea level. It is a narrow city (pretty much three streets wide throughout) surrounded by mountains. The mountains on one side of the city remind us of Arizona—mostly red/orange rock. The mountains on the other side of the city are greener, with many trees.
We feel very fortunate to have access to many amenities in Naryn City. There are a few internet cafes (got to love dial-up), some places to make IP phone calls, several restaurants/cafes, a great bazaar, a bank, post office and a really nice banya. There are also other volunteers in the area so we do not feel isolated.
The people in Naryn City are some of the nicest we’ve met. They are very hospitable and ready to host guests at a moments notice.
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