A Family Journal

Happy May Day! Or, as it’s called in Kazakhstan, Happy International Friendship Day (or Something Like That)!

Today is a national holiday to celebrate the different nationalities that are in Kazakhstan and have shaped Kazakhstan’s history. Around 9:00 we saw a steady stream of people heading toward Dostyk Square. Being curious tourists with nothing better to do today, we followed the crowd. They had the square blocked off for an event.

Around 10:30 the festivities started. At first there were flag bearers with flags of different colors, followed by dozens of dancers, mostly girls, in different cultures’ traditional costumes. After the girls were done dancing, there was a long parade. It seemed like every company, branch of the military, and homeowner’s association was represented. We estimated that about 90% of the population of Taraz marched in the parade. Some were in traditional dresses, others were in regular clothes. The parade lasted until about 12:30.

After the parade we went to get lunch at a Georgian restaurant, Sakartvela. It’s on Suleymanov street, which is behind the hotel, and came recommended on the Taraz boards. The lunch there did not disappoint. We had great food. They had a menu in English which was nice, but unfortunately the waitress didn’t speak English. This wasn’t a problem until we decided to order a bottle of wine. We asked her what she recommended. This was a great plan, until she asked us what we liked. We hadn’t thought that far ahead. Using quick thumbs in the dictionary, we narrowed our choices from red or white down to red, and then had to figure out sweet versus dry. We ended up with a semi-sweet red that cost 1800 tenge (about $12) and was very good. (Her other recommendations were around 5000 tenge; we decided we could live without the more expensive stuff.) Side note: the bread is very good here, it’s dense and soft. Wayne ordered what looked like a calzone/pizza with meat inside that was really good. Lynda’s chicken curry was good too. Kara had a flat tortilla-like thing which was stuffed with a thin layer of mashed potatoes and cheese. I ordered a lamb dish (the first one on the Second Courses page), and when it came out, it was basically a tortilla in a bowl, with lamb piled in it and pico de gallo. Seriously. Onions, tomatoes, and cilantro. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t the best thing I’ve had here in Taraz either. We saw someone getting a big kebab… when we go back I think that’s what I’ll go with as it looked really good. It was definitely our most expensive meal since we’ve been here, but even with a bottle of wine and five drinks it came to about 7100 tenge. That’s about $12 per person… it’s hard to complain about that.

When we walked back from lunch, we could see that the square was still closed off. They had set up some inflatables for the kids to jump on, food booths (at least 5 different shashlik grills were going), and other sorts of entertainment. The biggest hit seemed to be these little plastic hot-wheels like cars the kids could drive around in. They drive about as well as their parents do. For the kids that were too young to drive them, their parents could use a remote control. Kara bought a 300 tenge plastic electronic keyboard for Alina that doesn’t work. If you can’t trust a street vendor with a table full of junk, who can you trust? They also had a calf dressed up for pictures with the kids, and you could take a camel ride too. We passed on that.

Even though we were sad to not see Alina today, the day turned out to be filled with entertainment. If you’re ever visiting Taraz on May 1, it’s definitely worth your time to head down to Dostyk square to see the festivities!