Muksut's Village Wedding

Carrie and I were invited to a wedding at a village about 80 miles from Atyaru. We arrived late on Saturday, October 15. We had to trod our way to the community hall in the darkness following only the voices of wedding revellers. It was muddy as there were no sidewalks off the main road and we had to dodge a few goat and cow pies to get to the front entrance of the community hall. The quiet, dark, night sky and dim village courtyard give way to the lights and noise of over 200 people millng about the big hall. Maxut greeted us warmly at the door and politely, if aggresively led us tour seats with the rest of the community eagerly awaiting the bride and groom. There we were, politely waiting with 6 others from the school with our hands in our laps smiling and nodding. Once the bride and groom entered, we were seated at our assigned tables and various memebrs of the village, many of them extended family and politicians continued to take turns giving long-winded speeches as the bride and groom stood patiently, stoically at the head table. Three hours, four shots of vodka and what seemed like 10 pounds of horse meat and potatoes later, Carrie and I sat torpd in our chairs waiting to get the nod to leave. Don't get me wrong, this wedding was a beautiful gathering of village and family with a great sense of decorum. I was just trying to figure out at in the end, where, exactly, the bride and grooom fit in. They seemed to melt into the background of this grand occassion as more and more families, mayors, distant realtives, regional vice-mayors and various self-annoninted village officials presnted there speeches in grand form (not to mention performances by a Kazakh Michael Jackson and two older and very flexible folks). The bride looked ehausted as each speech seem to draw her closer to the midnight hour. carrie and I finally got the signal to depart after about the fourth community dance shortly before mignight when i realized that the bride and groom were on their third night of this wedding "celebration". The previous night of speeches, and trance music was held in the birde's family's honor. Tonight was the groom's father's family. Tommorrow was another celebration entirely. After our wedding in August, Carrie and wondered what 4 nights of continuous wedding celebration would look like accompinied by loud, blasting techno music and hours of long speeches and toasts. (some of these great photos were taken by our coworker Debbie's husband Gary).