Invitation

On Saturday, December 1st, Ira and I were invited to Guljon’s family’s house in a village outside of Bishkek. She is one of our students from English club and she wanted us to come for dinner and meet her family. What an honor! We met her at a bus stop and were on our way! It had snowed the night before so everything was covered with a dusting of snow-looking very wintery! After about an hour, we had made it to her village and got off the marshruka. We had to walk further to get to her house but on our way she pointed out different places and houses of people she knew. Finally we made it! We were greeted by her parents and shown into a room where a table full of food awaited us! IT was a Kyrgyz style table, close to the floor with mats around it to sit on. There were 3 or 4 different salads, dishes of candies, bread, and Borsok- traditional Kyrgyz bread (it is VERY delicious and is similar to fried dough). We all sat down and soon her mother brought in some tea. We began eating and I think if I were to live in a Kyrgyz home I would weigh 200lbs, just from eating Borsok alone! We ate salads and bread and after some time her mom brought in some soup. I realized then that I needed to begin to pace myself and lay off the very delicious bread and jam! After the soup, came the main dish- Monty. It is also a traditional Kyrgyz food! Also delicious. Though I felt like if I ate anything more I would explode!! But I managed to eat my Monty. After all that food, it was agreed to go for a walk!! So we walked around Guljon’s village and she showed us her school, and her grandparent’s house (which is empty now), the apple orchard and the family cemetery also on the property. At the edge of the village are the foothills to the mountains- looked like good sledding hills, but alas, we were not prepared. Walking around, we began to get cold, and it began to get dark, so we headed back. Ira and I had only planned on coming for dinner, but when we returned to the house we were asked to stay the night, as her mother was already preparing the next meal for us! So we accepted and returned to the feasting table! We sat around and began eating more salads, bread, and drinking tea, and talking. Her mother then brought in our supper! Another good meal! Afterwards, we just sat around the table and talked. It was good to get to know Guljon more, and we even looked at all the family photo albums! They were great! She also told us more about the culture and some traditions; about family and bride stealing. These topics will come in my next blog. But after a night of talking, we eventually went to bed. We got up the next morning to once again be seated at the table for another meal, another good meal, and more Borsok! Afterwards Ira and I headed back to Bishkek. I think I ate more in that one day, than I usually do in a week!!! One thing about being a guest in Kyrgyzstan- you’ll never leave hungry!!