Wedding Bells!!!

Written by Jonathan on 9/4

As mentioned before, my cousin was to be married and needless to say, it was one hell of a party.
My host parents were quite worried we were going to be late. I was supposed to be in Kant until 5 and then I had to go home and come back to Kant before 6 to be at the wedding on time. As it turned out, my training day was only until 3, so I had plenty of time to prepare. Ata came out of the changing room in a full suit, so I threw on my jacket and we proceeded to Kant with Apa.
We got to the restaurant at about 5:15. Since nobody was there, we just looked at each other. I asked what a few things were, but most of it looked pretty similar to an American wedding reception. There was a DJ and a separate table for the wedding party. I ate light that day because of how full I was the day before and I was starting to pick at the salads and bread that were laid out. We all went outside to meet the married couple a little before six.
And then we waited. The uncles were all on the phone yelling and shouting and confusing everybody. I was really confused because I wasn’t sure if this whole thing were normal or if I should be worried. At seven, the party arrived and we could finally eat! I was so hungry.
Well, I was seated at the distant friend’s/family’s table, which would have been fine, but I was sitting with a couple from Azerbaijan who spoke no Kyrgyz. Our common language was German, but I have this terrible habit of putting Kyrgyz words into German sentences. I kept confusing the hell out of them, but we had a nice enough time.
For lack of a better term, the wedding had an MC. He had a microphone and would yell and get everybody excited about things. It was very interesting. Once the couple entered the large hall, they had a few official looking procedures to go through, including signing in a book and the parents giving permission. It was all very nice. They, along with the best man and maid of honor, went to their table. Then the close families on the groom’s side, including yours truly, were invited to the front to give toasts. Lucky for me, I had already written a little speech with the help of some of the Peace Corps staff. To put it lightly, I brought the house down! After we sat down, the eating began.
While we were eating, the MC broke up the crowd into 5 teams, consisting of about 40 people each. After giving ourselves names (I think our team was “0”), we played small game throughout the night that our team could win points for. The games were not complicated, but the team format helped people participate, so they were quite fun. One game was as simple as finishing a common Kyrgyz phrase. Another was a catwalk. We got points for dancing or for having the most Americans on our team (we totally won that game!). Throughout the night, each team came up and gave toasts to the wedding party. The whole thing gave structure to the evening and made it quite entertaining, until the end.
My other host uncle (a) likes to drink and (b) likes me a lot, so invariably I become his drinking buddy during any festivity, which is perfectly fine, because he is friendly about it and we have a good time. Anyway, like I said, I was quite hungry, but the simple rule in Kyrgyzstan is never eat yourself full, because it will come back to haunt you. After eating moderately from the salads and sandwiches, I ate a little of the soup that was brought out, but thoroughly enjoyed what I assumed was the main course, a chicken dish. Of course, I was smart and only ate about half. Then, sure enough main course number two came out: a beef dish with rice that was delicious. And that was my fatal mistake: I ate the whole thing. I was stuffed beyond my limits and approaching drunkenness at an alarming pace when Besh Barmak (the Kyrgyz national dish) was brought out. I, being a foreigner and guest, was given the largest piece of meat at my table. It weighed at least a kilo. Simply said, I had women literally forcing food into my mouth by the end of the evening. By midnight, the women finally left me alone to suffer the consequences of my gluttony. I was home before 2 AM, with a long day ahead of me.