Nayourz is probably the biggest holiday here in Olgii, and you can tell that people are giddy with excitement. Classes have been a joke pretty much this entire past week and every day students and teachers have come to school in traditional Kazakh dress. As far as I can tell, the bulk of the festivities will take place on Monday. The morning will began with a parade around the central square and then everyone will go off to visit friends and family and eat kojay, a traditional soup. I tried to ask Bahitgul how many houses I could expect to visit (and more importantly, how many bowls of soup I will have to eat) and she said, "Oh, not many. You will maybe visit my home, my parent's home, the home of each English teacher, the director's home, our training manager's home, and perhaps the social worker's home." Oh, right, so just a few then. When I asked if vodka was included in the visits, Bahitgul just smiled. I guess I better get my stomach ready, then.
My first experience with Nayourz festivities happened on Friday, which was the last day of class before the current two-week Spring break. In the afternoon Bahitgul invited me to her classroom where she told me that her 11th grade class was having a party. Sure, no problem. When I arrived the usual 20 minutes late I found her entire class decked out in Kazakh clothing sitting in a circle on the floor while all the school big-wigs sat at a row of tables against the wall drinking tea and eating meat and small bowls of soup. Some party, I thought.
Like most things that go on at my school, or in Mongolia for that matter, I wasn't entirely sure what was happening. I took a seat next to one of our school's training managers and he tried to explain the scene to me in Kazakh. The only words I caught were Nayourz, meat, and wedding party. From that I took it that the students were role-playing a wedding for Nayourz while we were expected to eat meat. Why, I am not really sure. My experience with Peace Corps so far has really taught me to just go with the flow.
So yeah, I sat for about 30 minutes with the school head honchos sipping tea and repeatedly turning down fatty pieces of horse sausage as the students did their thing. I gave my camera to Bahitgul and she flitted about the room happily snapping pictures. When the party broke, I took over camera duties as the students all asked for me to capture their various poses. Posing for pictures is also a big Kazakh/Mongolian past-time. I was happy to oblige them, however. Here's some pictures.
Now, today is Saturday and another crazy wind-storm is raging outside. Early this morning Ashlee caught a flight to UB, where she will spend the week attending a seminar organized by one of her fellow health PCVs about HIV awareness. That means that I'll be flying solo on Nayourz. Not to worry, though, I'm in good hands. Bahitgul told me that I can stick with her and her family. She also said that I should be ready bright and early Monday morning to participate in the parade. I guess each school will send a delegation to march. She also told me that the director wants me to dress like an "old Russian man." Hmm, just go with the flow, Scott.
Later this week (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday) I will be helping my sitemate, Laura, run a seminar that she has spent the past couple of months putting together. With the help of a grant from the US embassy, she is inviting 88 English teachers from around our province to a 3-day conference on English teaching taught by a handful of PCVs. With the seminar kickoff just a few days away, Laura, the happy-go-lucky eternal optimist, is looking pretty stressed. It doesn't help that a few of the PCVs she was counting on to lead some of her sessions might not be able to make it for reasons beyond their control. Hmm, sounds like the norm here in Mongolia.
Wish me luck on Nayourz.
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