Hitched

Enjoyable times have occurred in my small universe of Pavlodar. Mountains scaled. Nations traversed. Dogs fed. Babies danced. Toasts shared. Love visualized!


But the stage must be set! Let's rewind roughly ten months ago to a much simpler time, October 2006. Halloween in the air, colors in the trees and dogs always, always on the streets. We in our Peace Corps group of Kaz-18's meet our counterparts for the first time; the people whom we will be working hand-in-hand with our non-government organizations theoretically for the entirety of our service. Mine is the kind-hearted and strong-willed Dina of Public Foundation Challenge. You will see a picture of her if you scroll down. The counterpart of another volunteer close to my site is also a kind-hearted gentleman, and we instantly clicked as friends. His name is Nurlybek, a talented English teacher that can play multiple instruments with high skill, sing with a velvety smoothness rivaling a Kazakh Sinatra and is generally a good person.


Now, let's come back to the present, August 2007.

He got married, and to a wonderful journalist named Altin! Life coming at you hard right there.

And I had the honor of being invited to the ceremony and banquet that followed.


Today's interesting conversational point (translated from Russian):


While talking to the best man of groom, a lull came into the conversation, as is apt to do when you first meet someone and know nothing about them. We were situated along the riverbank for picturesque needs, and there were two other wedding parties circulating around the area as well. I take a look at the groups, glance back at Altin and Nurlybek and we have the following exchange:



Me: "A beautiful day, eh?"


Best Man: "Yes--simply a beautiful page in the book of life."




Waxing philosophical already! Obviously with my silver tongue and vast Russian knowledge, I try to think of something just as cryptically insightful but fall very short when I reply, 'nice.' I'm a moron.

Along the Irtish River

The wedding was a grand mix of tradition and new age fun, ranging from the expected toasts to poetry sung to the strums of a dombra to a silly team game of transferring an apple through the pants of four men (don't ask more, that's the entirety of the game) in order to be declared The Champions. My team lost.

Kazakhstan's national dish--Bishparmak--horse meat, onions and noodles.

Counterpart Dina and I during the wedding banquet

First Dance

Cheers

Telling him what he wins, Marv--a new car! My prize for 2nd place in the Wedding Dance Contest

As with most traditional gatherings, nearly everyone is asked to give a toast. I didn't want to be the silly American, so I showed my support for the government policy of learning three languages, and gave three speeches in three languages. The English came out and no one was impressed. The Russian came out and people smiled, probably at my absurd pronunciation. The Kazakh came out last and they clapped before I even finished the toast. Later on, each one of the groom's brothers took me aside and thanked me for coming and displaying a respect for their language and customs. All I said was "Dear Nurlybek and Altin, I want to wish you happiness, love, health and a strong family in your future." Simple. Yet, the people of Kazakhstan once again show that they are appreciative and kind, even for the smallest gestures. Always courteous. Always open and welcoming. Kazakhstan!

Other small tidbits of update:


-Summer camp coming up on the 20th
-Visit to Kazakh Artisan Organization in local village...should be awesome and full of horse milk.
-Guitar is slowly progressing
-I started up a newsletter that I will only send out via e-mail. If you wish to receive it and/or contribute anything to it, please tell me via this website and/or andrewholets@gmail.com
-I filmed a television commercial for a local language center (as my presence here makes me a weird small-time celebrity of sorts) where I threw a lot of my coolness out the window during the last scene. I say my line of extolling the benefits of sending your child to this language center, then throw my hand up with a full-on thumbs up raised to the sky, with a group of children surrounding me doing the same right on cue. Totally cool!


And finally, the Photo of the Week.



Dairy Queen is renowned for its delicious summertime treats, particularly the genius of The Blizzard, as it adds to great things at once (ice cream and a topping or candy of your choice, amazing!). It is so good, so tasty, so resplendent all because it puts two good things together at one time. The concept could make a dead man smile.

I'm here to tell you that this photo is better than any mere combination of candy and gelatinous ice cream can ever be.

A happy man. A baby. A balloon. Three generations of family clapping you on. The happiest photo ever.

Goodnight world!