YOU'LL POOP BLOOD IF YOU DRINK WATER!

Seriously, that's what Shair-Apa told us on Monday after we ate besh-barmak with horse meat. That's right - horse. Not just meat, but stomach and intestines as well. (Besh-barmak translates to five fingers. Its noodles with butter, onions, and boiled meat. Very fatty). The horse that was slaughtered was bred for eating. It was never ridden. The taste is a little tangy, and has a strange aftertaste that I don't know how to describe. It was a situation where it would have been extremely rude to decline the horse meat. And I'm here to integrate, right? So I ate a horse.

Mike & Brenda's host grandfather died on Saturday and the funeral was on Monday. Two yurts were constructed in their yard. They were decorated with felt rugs inside and around the outside. For 3 days and nights there were at least 75 people at that house at any given time. The grandfather's body was laid in one yurt and that's where friends and family could go to see the body. On Monday, the family washed the body and covered it, then carried it to the road. The men all stood on the road with the body and the imam, and the women stood to the side and back a distance. The imam said a blessing and then read the Koran. The men then did a series of gestures and chants. Almost as if on cue, the women started wailing loudly when the ceremony was finished. It was very uncomfortable for us Americans to witness that type of grieving for the first time. The daughters were then led back to the yurt where the body had been, while the men walked the body to graveyard. On the burial day, only men are allowed in the cemetery. The guys told us that at the cemetery they do more chants and blessings and everyone puts a handful of dirt on a shovel which they then toss onto the body. As they walk home the men do a chant that sounds like crying. When they arrived back at the house they went back to the yurt, bowed in front of it and prayed. Then lunch was served. It was an intense day and we didn't understand much of it. Sorry I can't give you reasons behind the rituals yet.

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When they say corruption is rampant in this country, they aren't exaggerating. Here's an example. The local municipality collects money for the water & electricity and then pays the federal government. But they don't always pay. For a week and a half no one in town had water. I was starting to mentally plan for a winter without water. It was just turned back on on Monday. I'm amazed at how excited I was when I saw water dripping from the faucet. I'm really learning to appreciate the small things.

ВеНЕРА was telling me that her 2 boys are being circumcised in December. They're having a big party afterwards and I think I'm invited to come back to Bolshevik for it. I'll already be moved out by then. In Kyrgyzstan the boys are circumcised when they're 2 years or older, but luckily they get anesthesia. And it’s a tradition, not a religious thing. I've never been to a circumcision party before, and I'm excited. It also doubles as a 1 year birthday party for the baby.