A horse is a horse, of course, of course

Saturday I went to Pavlodar to celebrate a Kazakh holiday. It was interesting because I had no idea what holiday it could have been, as there are no official national holidays that take place on June 13 (or the second Saturday in June, as the case may be). I only knew that it would have yurts and Kazakh traditions. SOLD!

This involved getting up early on a Saturday in order to catch a bus at the Akimat at 7. The Akimat is not next door. It’s a 15-20 minute walk from here. Topping it all off, I was up until 1 the night before for a birthday/going away party.

Sidebar on the party – when I came up for my site visit, I stayed with a family. Their youngest daughter’s birthday was the birthday part of the event. Their oldest son is going to Alaska in a few days with the work and travel program. He’ll be working at what sounds like a fish processing factory. The party was filled with toasts. I got invited up with my first host family to do mine. After the toast, everyone but me and my host parents sat down. Then Dihan, the guy going to Alaska, pulled one of his friends up to me. This girl had been sitting at my left at our table and we had talked a little. Sometimes being friendly can cause problems! Long story short, the four of us were to play a game. The women had to take a spoon, put it up one pants leg of the guy’s pants and guide it to come out the other leg. The guy can’t help. He just stands there. No problem for a married couple. For me and a hapless total stranger, well, let’s just say that the crowd’s level of laughter and our level of embarrassment seemed to be directly proportionate!

After a few hours of sleep, I got up and made my move to the Akimat. Lots of traditional costumes and audio equipment were on the bus. But not a lot of people. We made one more stop at the house of culture, picked up more people then headed to Pavlodar under police escort. That was kind of fun.

When we arrived, we took all our stuff to the town’s yurt that had been set up inside one of Pavlodar’s parks. This one also happened to have an amusement park. And in spite of my better judgment I later tempted fate and took a ride on the Ferris wheel.

Soon after arriving, it was finally explained to me that we were celebrating a kymyz holiday. Kymyz is a summertime beverage made from fermented mare’s milk. So at approximately 8:30 in the morning, I started my day in a yurt sitting around a table with several of the lovely ladies (most were grandmothers, I believe) from my fair city. I had a breakfast of boiled potatoes, onions and a little boiled egg. Then some tea and…kymyz. After that, I took some photos and looked around the park a bit. Soon, three girls around my age told me to come with them to the naberyzhnaya in Pavlodar. Naberyzhnaya is technically a Russian adjective for “embankment.” But the term seems to be applied to parks on the bank of a river. That’s what we went to see. Ours in Aksu is small, but Pavlodar’s is huge and gorgeous. Some of the most beautiful landscaping I’ve seen in some time was at that park.

We arrived back just in time for bread and broth. The broth was from beshbarmak preparation. After that quick snack, there was more walking around the park taking photos and then the Ferris wheel of doom.

As I came back to the yurt I saw my director’s son and his wife coming up. The director immediately ushered all of us into the yurt for a quick snack. There I had what I’d call horse d’oeuvres. It was a piece of horsemeat topped with a slice of horse fat. Nurzhan handed me two, actually. One was also a veiny piece. Nothing quite so tasty a hunk of vein or artery in the middle of your horse d’oeuvres! Also had a few baursak and some almonds. All washed down with kymyz. Then it was off to the festivities.

There was a fun stage program and many different groups performed. The deputy akim for the oblast was there. Hadn’t seen her since the rehearsals for the prime minister’s visit. She was honored by the lady running the show, as were the directors of several cultural centers in Pavlodar.

After Aksu’s performers did their thing, we all went back to the yurt. I thought it was odd at first because the show wasn’t over. Then I saw the deputy akin and cultural center directors coming up and realized that’s why we left early. My director invited me in to speak to everyone. People always love it when the American speaks Kazakh. This time, though, instead of the usual, “My name is…” stuff I said hello and cracked a joke! I told the deputy akim that I was the American cultural center. She laughed at that. Then she really got cracked up when I told her, in Kazakh, that it was a joke. After my brief stay at the main table I moved to a side table so the servers could access the honored guests. And they were, indeed, honored. I FINALLY saw my first sheep’s head here. Didn’t actually get offered any pieces of it, but that’s OK.

Then it was beshbarmak, another horse d’oeuvre, some veggies, a few nuts and then….more kymyz. I sat beside a guy who I believe was a dombura professor at one of the Pavlodar universities. Nice guy. Great dombura player and a great singing voice. We chatted, though I had some difficulty understanding some of his questions. They were basic ones, but phrased differently and using unfamiliar words. He encouraged me to eat some of the best meat from the beshbarmak. I reached for a lean piece. He told me that wasn’t what he said – get one with some fat on it, young man. So I did.

There are different kinds of fat, you know. Some is hard, some is tough and chewy. Some is quite tender and buttery and literally melts in your mouth. I’ve never been a big fan of fat. I ate it like crazy in the winter this year because I just knew after a while that my body needed the calories. However, it’s not that cold anymore, and I’d prefer to avoid it if possible. Fortunately, this was the melt in your mouth stuff and wasn’t too rough.

From there things started to wind down. Eventually I caught a ride back to Aksu with Nurzhan and his wife and came back to the Pink Palace. It was a wonderful day, a great opportunity to soak up some Kazakh culture, and an incredible way to spend the day with some of the greatest people in my city.

A little postscript about kymyz…mare’s milk has an incredible amount of lactose compared to other animal milk. For that reason, it’s rarely consumed in its natural state due to its HIGHLY laxative properties. It’s widely believed to be a cure-all in the region. As the milk is packed with vitamins and minerals (it helps foals put on 4 pounds a day) there’s probably a good bit of truth to this belief. Still, all my local friends advise me that one should consume in moderation. Not only because of it’s alcoholic nature (it’s a low alcohol percentage, but the fermentation gives it a touch of a kick…and bubbles), but because it’s only good for you until you drink more than your body can handle. Sadly, I think I drank too much yesterday. Made for an interesting evening, but I feel much better now!