Why I love Kyrgystan.

I had just the best time yesterday. Our  party, turned out to be a big event, that sort of combined Kyrgyzstan has got talent with an office party.  It even ended with one young man declaring over and over, Ellie I love you and rushing up and giving me a kiss on the cheek.  We both looked very sheepish this morning greeting each other and he has been ribbed, so the others obviously understood, but I think his love was not so much physical - I am old enough to be his mum, but cos he loved that I joined in in national costume, a dance, then singing and just having a great time. I will try and put some video pictures up, but think it is one of those events where you have to be there to really enjoy it and I will try and describe it in more detail but right now should be getting on blowing up balloons for the kids party

We got to the school where the event was being held about 12.  I thought we were going to a school in Shabdan but it turned out to be one near to the Ashu which was handy as in the morning I had popped into the dance rehearsal for the event. Of course I could not resist joining in. It was evident I could do the dance just about so a national costume was found for me, and being so close to the Ashu and my head's home I was able to pop back to the Ashu and get my hat and to her house for the sort of extended waistcoat made out of velvet (that reminds me of an outfit my friend got shortly after marrying her Turkish boyfriend.) It was nice to see where she lived. A nice traditional house, with lots of carpets on the wall, was what I briefly saw. 

Then it was back to the fesitivities. It was the sort of inter Chon Kemin schools Norooz get together. There were about 10 tables round the room each with a sort of picnic lunch on it provided by the each school. So we were able to eat through out the proceedings. We even had tea, I am not sure where but I am guessing outside, there was hot water in constant supply so every now and then someone went and filled the kettle and we were able to have fresh tea. Whilst everyone munched each school took it in turns to present something, maybe a song, or just a welcome. Some people had clearly spent ages preparing having skits, or perfecting their dances. We just did a brief poem, a welcome in Kyrgyz from me and a welcome from the head and a couple of songs.  In round two we got up and danced including me. I realised as the only foreigner I was really being watched but think I got away with it. Also people were just pleased so see me have a go. I found it very amusing when a young man, dressed in a very conventional suit, looking every bit like an English headmaster suddenly burst into a pop number. It turned out that he was one of our teacher's sons. But everyone seemed to be like that, they just had the spirit of performing. Kyrgyz music can be lovely as exampled by my colleagues, other times it sounds like caterwauling.  So on this basis I decided that although when I had offered to sing a song, I had assumed about 20 people round a table and not an whole room full, that even if I was crap I would be no worse than the worse heard so far and as I was singing a little bit from Happy (Phareell Williams), not easy I discovered with no rehearsal and no backing track -I just grabbed it off my desk en route to the event, as I have been teaching it to the after school classes, I just had to be happy and tried to keep calm as I walked round the whole hall calling on each table to be happy. Boy did I down the vodka after that.  There were some great moments when the guys dressed as women, but I especially loved the male dance, one guy I will try and upload that video just cracked me up. I think it is how man dance here, but he really went for it. But from my point of view the best bit was when most of the festivities were over we had a real get up and dance and everyone just enjoyed themselves. A bit like in Senegal people dance in a circle and people come into the middle for a bit and dance with someone, can be a man or a woman, and then off again.  Young old, fat, does not matter, just everyone up and enjoying themselves.  It was incredibly hot outside the sun streaming in I looked like a ripe tomato, but only exhaustion stopped me. At the end whilst people were clearing up there was a bit more music and as I know that my colleagues work in perfect harmony on things like that, whilst I am standing there like an idiot so I figured go dance some more and this time I got to dance with the guy who I had really enjoyed watching before. He was very tall taller than me and it made me really stand tall and we just really went for it, in fact later we had a second dance, and I think two tall people just totally relaxed totally enjoying themselves, it was so much fun, not quite as romantic as the dance described in Waiting in the book version of Mush, Gush and Trash as there was definitely no touching but had something of the same connectivity.  It was just a great day. 

Then in the evening I sat with the family and checked over some translations into English that they have done for the web site.