November 22 -- Wedding Day

Slept the best last night that I have since our arrival. Might be because we were up ’til well after 10 PM. I guess we are starting to get adjusted to the time difference. We went down for breakfast at about 9 this morning. We both had something a little different than yesterday but the food was still really good. Went back up to the room to get ready for the early afternoon festivities.

We (Bonnie, I, and Laurens) were picked up by one of Maral’s cousins. He drove us to her house. The ladies were in one tent eating and the men were in another so Laurens and I joined the men and Bonnie joined the ladies. We ate and drank and at the completion of the meal a prayer was said thanking Allah for the meal and that he would bless the bride and groom. All then got ready for Maral’s entrance in here traditional Turkmen garb for the bride. This outfit can weigh as much as 40 kilograms. For those of you metrically challenged that’s more than 85 pounds. Before that could happen though we all ran up to apartment to observe her getting her bridal garb put on, at least the finishing touches. She was ten escorted down the stairs by her husband to be and a couple of hand maidens. A procession of things she was given were the taken down the stairs and gifts for the bride were laid before her. In the large tent outside they ate some cake and shared a little food and a symbol of their joining. We then proceeded to load into cars to process to the groom’s house where they again shared cake a little to eat.

From there we had an automobile parade through the city to the Wedding Center. There they were married by what we would call a justice of the peace or simply a judge, someone authorized by the state to perform marriages. A short celebration took place and then everyone dispersed to their homes to get ready for the evening party.

I should mention that there was a clarinet, concertina, and two different types of drums playing during the whole process. They also went to the groom’s house to play and to the marriage center. All of the locations were very close together and people moved from place to place very quickly. This whole process took about one and a half hours. Much of it I didn’t understand and probably never will.

At the break, Bonnie, I, Laurens, and Rejep went back to the hotel to change into more comfortable clothes and then went to the library to see if we could us the internet. We indeed were able to do that so we quickly caught up on our email and sent a message to Mel and Meg. It took a little time to figure out how to make things work since everything was in Russian and the people there to help us spoke no English. But we did get passed the challenges and soon became friends with the librarian that was assisting us even though we did not speak each others languages. Rejep tried to act as interpreter but had difficulty with some of the technical words and phrases. But it all worked out.

Our new Turkmen library friend then took us to the roof of the building to show us the view. I was truly amazed. You could see the whole city in all directions. The library is probably the second tallest building in town. Using Rejep as our translator we shared information about our families and had an enjoyable chat. We thanked her for her help and the tour and paid for our time on the internet. That price was 4 manat, about $1.20. The fun we had with the librarian and the children that were working around us was really priceless.

We also found out that there was an observatory on the roof but we had to have an observatory specialist in order to go into that room. So we went down to the first floor and were preparing to leave when lo and behold an observatory specialist showed up. So back up to the roof we went. The observation room was astounding. There were 8 Lenovo computers set up with 28” monitors. There were 8, 60” TVs set up that could see what the telescope was observing. The telescope is an 800mm reflector. A beautiful piece of equipment. But the observatory is not used because they do not have a qualified person to run it. So it sits idle. What a waste. But it is impressive. I did get to play with an astronomy program on one of the Lenovo computers for a bid and had a wonderful time.

From the library we went to another bazaar. Here we actually bought a few things. Picked up a couple of drinks and some nuts for a snack. 200 grams of cashews were less than $3. Picked up 100 grams of peanuts that were sugared and coated with sesame seeds for about 30 cents. Nuts here a excellent, fresh, and inexpensive. After the bazaar we hiked back to the hotel to get ready for the evening party.

At 6:20 we met in the lobby and then strolled across the road to the reception. Maral and Kuvat arrived about 7:15. We had already began to eat by then and the food was on the table from the time we arrived. All of the food was wonderful. We ate our fill and had drinks for all. There was also Cognac and vodka. I had some cognac and a toast with Maral’s father. We danced, took pictures, and danced some more. In between we ate and drank. I was able to “dance” with Maral twice. Dancing is different in Turkmenistan than the U.S. The men usually dance with women but here as often as not the men dance with men. It’s not a problem just different. The bride and groom were a lovely couple. I pray they will have a long and wonderful marriage. May they have all the happiness the Lord can offer them.

At just a few minutes to 11 we left and wandered over to the hotel. It was a lovely evening. We pretty much packed for the trip in the morning to Avaza. We will meet Laurens at 8 for breakfast and the be off by 10. We are looking forward to the new experience but not the car ride.

A little side note, we found out today that all businesses much close at 11 PM. It’s kind of a curfew. People don’t have to be off the streets by 11 but businesses are not open. It does make for quiet nights. This curfew includes all restaurants, stores, and drinking establishments.