Ait mairik bolsun! (Eid Mubarak)
28 November 2009 at 10:24 Rob 8 comments
By Rob Packer, KF9 Kyrgyzstan
Islam in Kyrgyzstan feels different; more of a personal matter compared with other countries I’ve travelled in. While it’s probably an exaggeration when the Lonely Planet for Central Asia says that the Kyrgyz “limited it to what they could fit in their saddlebags”, there is probably some truth in the matter in a culture where kymyz, fermented mare’s milk, is a key cultural pointer and a toast with vodka is often not that far away, especially amongst the more Russified population of northern Kyrgyzstan. When you remember that the Kyrgyz are a people with a nomadic heritage who were first permanently settled under the Soviet Union’s official policy of ‘militant atheism’, you might expect the relationship with religion to be a little different from the norm.
An Islamic cemetery outside Kochkor, Kyrgyzstan.
For example, in my time in Kyrgyzstan, I have only heard the azan (call to prayer) twice, both times in Kochkor in central Kyrgyzstan. And although I have not been in Kyrgyzstan during Ramadan, it’s hard to imagine the sheer electricity in Bishkek’s air that I could feel, even as a non-Muslim, during Ramadan this year, which I was lucky enough to spend part of in Marrakesh. I have heard that the south of the country with millennia of settled history is more traditionally Muslim. But even so, the very fact that Kyrgyzstan is a predominantly Islamic country comes as a surprise to some outside the country, unlike neighbouring Tajikistan, which is currently building one of the world’s largest mosques, with capacity for 150,000 people.
As Mohammed Al-Shawaf, another Kiva Fellow currently in a Muslim country (Palestine is far more obvious), wrote in an excellent post on the Fellows’ Blog earlier this week, Muslims all over the world are now celebrating Eid al-Adha, and around two million are on the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca. In Kyrgyzstan, the staff of Mol Bulak Finance celebrated with a traditional feast of lamb to commemorate Ibrahim’s (Abraham’s) willingness to sacrifice his son. Some of my colleagues, including Nozim and Melis, spent hours preparing enormous cauldrons of shorpo, lamb soup, and roasted lamb. Like the American fellows’ Thanksgiving turkey the day before, by the time the meal was over, I was absolutely stuffed by the time I left.
Eid Mubarak! Or in Kyrgyz, Ait mairik bolsun!
Melis tends an enormous cauldron of shorpo.
Nozim takes charge with the roast lamb.
Ulan stirs the shorpo.
Roast lamb.
The table set and covered with lepyoshki (Kyrgyz bread). For me, using your hands was the easiest way to get the all the goodness out of the lamb.
Shorpo, lamb soup, and the remains of the roast meat.
Rob Packer is a Kiva Fellow currently working with Mol Bulak Finance in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Join the Kyrgyzstan lending team. There are borrowers from Kyrgyzstan with Mol Bulak Finance who you can help by contributing to a loan today, and many other entrepreneurs from around the world on the Kiva site.
Entry filed under: blogsherpa, KF9 (Kiva Fellows 9th Class), Kyrgyz Republic, Mol Bulak Finance. Tags: blogsherpa, Eid, KF9, Kiva, Kiva Fellows, kyrgyzstan, Rob Packer.
1. traveler | 8 December 2009 at 02:27
You’re not eating lamb, you’re eating mutton. I don’t think I ever saw someone in Kyrgyzstan slaughter a sheep under a year old. They prefer fatty meat (thus no lamb), and raise sheep that grow what are essentially large fat bags on their rear ends. Also that mutton was boiled, not roasted. Dry cooking techniques (baking, roasting) aren’t common. The “enormous cauldron” is called a kazan. They’re actually fairly shallow, like Chinese woks, which I don’t think you can really tell from just looking at the pictures.
I think many mosques in the country play the call to prayer (I heard it quite often), but the volume level tends to be fairly low. You need to be within a 1 or 2 block radius to hear it. But, yeah, Ramadan is relatively low-key.
The younger generation is more likely to practice a stricter form of Islam and a shift is underway. All those shiny mosques you see everywhere (the ones that all look exactly the same) were built with Saudi money. I always thought of them as the McMosques (like McDonald’s).
2. marydear | 30 November 2009 at 21:25
oh yeah – and you used my nik name in your post – mare = which makes your post even cooler!
3. marydear | 30 November 2009 at 21:24
That looks really freaking good – I miss lamb! Pork is the meet of choice here. thanks for sharing this celebation
4. moshawaf | 30 November 2009 at 03:54
Rob, wonderful post. Even though your experience has certainly been different from mine (whether during the Eid or not), it’s nice to know there’s a certain sense of commonality that another Fellow is going through.
By the way, I ate SO much lamb this weekend.
5. Gavin | 29 November 2009 at 04:45
fermented mare’s milk – i hope it tastes better than it sounds…
Glad to hear you are enjoying! G
6. Ait mairik bolsun! (Eid Mubarak) « Rob Packer's Blog | 29 November 2009 at 04:19
[...] atheism’, you might expect the relationship with religion to be a little different from the norm. (more..) An Islamic cemetery outside Kochkor, Kyrgyzstan. Posted by robpacker Filed in Festivals, Food, [...]
7. bgoldfinger | 28 November 2009 at 12:43
Nice post Rob, you made me hungry!
8. Srs. Taqwa | 28 November 2009 at 11:16
Eid Kareem!!! Thanks for sharing this story Muslim in ica appreciate knowing we are all one Ulamat sharing the same interest and goals. Thank you Kiva for sharing this great story..Keep them coming!!!!