I forgot to make a post about Nauryz, the Kazakh new year, which we celebrated this past Monday, March 22nd. The holiday is celebrated on that one day every year, unlike the Mongolian new year celebration which lasts for up to a week. There is a big parade near the main square with gers set up, booths selling snacks and toys for the kids, and a number of interesting/funny photo backgrounds with props for people to take Nauryz photos with their friends and/or family. After the parade, people spend the rest of the day visiting friends and families at their homes, usually spending no more than 20-30 minutes visiting, catching up, eating whatever snacks and food are available, drinking tea, and having 'koje', the special soup made only for Nauryz.
Laura, myself and the other volunteers who were in Olgii visiting spent some hours wandering all over town, on a Nauryz day that unfortunately brought very cold and windy weather, visiting teachers and other friends of mine and Laura's. It was nice seeing a lot of our friends, introducing them to our Peace Corps friends who were visiting Olgii, and drinking enough koje that I thought I might fall over at one point. The day was exhausting but fun. I'm a little busy now so I will put some Nauryz pics up on my next post. :)
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