Utah Trip Christmas 2017 Part 3 - Cousin Time

Whenever we are in Utah, it is time for family reunions. This time wasn’t an exception either. The reunion was held in the basement of Zions Bank in Payson, and we had a lot of fun. First of all a couple of days before the party the girls helped Oma to bake a lot of cookies for the reunion. It is our Christmas family tradition to bake candy cane sugar cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve, so we kind of combined it with the necessity to feed the crowds during the family party. 

The girls in full action.

Oma didn't have any red coloring, so the girls opted for purple.

 The party started with making Christmas cards for the disabled veterans (we delivered those together with Mican’s family on Christmas Eve), and then continued with food and entertainment provided by the kids.

All gathered for the talent show.

Karlie playing Silent Night

Samuel performing his piece.

Luke was doing a stand-up comedy! He was really funny! His brother Liam played the violin but he didn't want to be seen, so I respected his wishes and didn't take a picture of him.

Our crew gave the same concert they gave earlier in the week for the 4th graders,

Romance is in the making! Tess doesn't know yet that a little less than a month later she will be engaged to Nate!

The next day most of us came to Oma’s house after church to play games, watch a movie and just visit. The cousins had a blast as always, and so did we. The next day was Christmas, and everybody was very excited!

Lunch after church with the cousins

Learning to play a new game.

10 of the 18 cousins.

To be continued...

Kokhpar - Goat carcass Polo on the Steppe!

On Tuesday, August 22, we went back out to the ethno village to the hippodrome and bought tickets to watch Kokhpar.  As part of the Expo, Kazakhstan was hosting one of the first international tournaments of this ancient game that pits two teams on horses against each other.  The goal is to rush out and grab a goat carcass and to drop it into a goal.  Variations of the game are played throughout the region - including in Turkey, Mongolia, and China - but there hasn't been a real international competition until recently when the countries that have a strong tradition have begun codifying rules and making a tournament.

For the expo more than 10 teams participated - including a team from the US made up of cowboys form the US.  Two of them had come last summer to play in an inaugural international tournament in Kyrgyzstan.  The rest of the team hadn't played.  They had been involved in Rodeos, but not Kokhpar and had only spent about three days learning the game and getting used to the horses.

The game started as all things in Kazakhstan - nearly an hour late.  The people didn't even show up to start selling tickets until the time the game was supposed to start.  When we got to the stand, the cleaning crew was still sweeping dust off the seats.  The field was being plowed and wetted, and nothing was ready.  The US team was waiting for the Mongolian team to show up.

We waited too.  When the game started we really didn't know what it was about, but we figured out the goal quite quickly.  The US team was not very good, but they tried hard.  The goat was made out of rubber and weighed nearly 40 pounds, so it is quite a task to reach down and pull it up to carry to the goal.

The US lost quite badly - even with the Mongolians not really trying that hard.  We stayed and watched the first half o the next game which was Turkey and Uzbekistan.  Both of those teams were competitive and it was interesting to watch.  A few people came from the embassy and another small group of Americans from the university - but there weren't a lot of people there to watch Kokphar "early" in the morning on a Tuesday.

At halftime we left.  We rode back to the university on the bus and stopped for ice cream at McDonald's as a reward.  We'd opened up new horizons once again!

Waiting for the tickets to go on sale.

Looking at the ethno village from our vantage point in the stands.

In the shade waiting for Kokhpar to begin.

Wetting down the soil.

The US team.

Enjoying the show.

Both teams lined up ready to begin.

Taking their places.

Action!

Reaching for the goat.

Racing once the goat had been obtained.

Shaking hands at the end of the game.

Grandmas

 One of the good things that came out from us living in this part of the world is that our kids spend a lot of time with their babushka (grandma) who lives just over the border in Russia and who visits us a few times a year. Of course this also means that she spoils our kids and our dog mercilessly. Oh well. I guess it is part of childhood to be spoiled by your grandma (I wouldn't know as I didn't have a grandma growing up). Our kids are also lucky because every summer we get to come to America to see Spencer's family and so they spend a lot of time with their Oma (Spencer's mom) who loves reading to them and playing games with them. And so this post is about their kind, compassionate, caring, funny, story telling, game playing and fun loving grandmas.

                                                                        Babushka...

She'll teach you how to make Russian pirozhki...

She will trust an eight year old with her best sewing machine...

And when it is your turn to do the dishes, she will sneak in and do them for you...

She will cheer for you at the concert at which you are performing together with the "big kids"...

She'll play Dominoes with you...

She'll comfort you when you feel sad...

And at 76 she will start learning English just because you speak it while letting her favorite pup do whatever she wants! Babushka! She is the best babushka in the world!

Oma...

She will teach you any game that she knows...

She will let her granddaughters camp in her living room...

She will throw a birthday party for you, and will even invite some neighborhood kid that she hasn't seen before...

She loves to take you to a museum...

And she will be a good sport when you want to try a new dish from a different country....

She will entertain your moms so you can finally get into that mud pile you were eyeing for eternity....

And she will read a story after story at night, and you will never get tired of it...

Oma! She is the best Oma in the world!

Nauryz

Tonight we are flying to Thailand for our spring break but before we get on the plane and fly to a tropical paradise we decided to take our girls downtown to see what festivities they had going on in honor of Nauryz.

Yurts by Khan Shatyr (the huge tent right behind us)

Nauryz is a Kazakh New Year – a symbol of the spring renewal, love, abundance and friendship. Traditionally, people used to wear holiday outfits and fill all vessels in the house with water, milk or grain to increase the odds of a good harvest and prosperity. Home cleaning and the planting of trees and flowers several days before the holiday is also an important ritual. It is believed that if Nauryz is celebrated in a clean house, it will protect the hosts from misfortunes and illnesses during the year.The word “Nauryz” has Persian origins and literally translates as “a new day.

 

Kazakhs in their national costumes

The celebration usually includes fairs, traditional sports like Kazakh wrestling, horse racing, dancing and singing. Nauryz is celebrated during 21-23 of March but this year most of the festivities will take place on the 22^nd of March, so we’ll miss them all.

 

Rope swings - traditional fun activity during Nauryz

Today though they had a little concert going on by Khan Shatyr, and it was fun. We watched two performances before we went on to checking some other things. Maybe next year we can fully experience the holiday!

One of the bands performing a popular song.

And of course our kids couldn't pass this great opportunity!

Lina and Veronika

Lexa and Sophie

Lexa and Sophie. We hope to see this traditional game live sometime. It is when a young man first trying to kiss a girl on a galloping horse, and if he is not successful, she will chase him and whip him!

Basketball

I have always loved playing basketball, but haven't played really competitively since early in high school.  When I was in the Army, I played three times a week in the mornings with a crew from the armory and from the neighborhood.  While I was in Iowa and Las Vegas, I played a bit at the church.

One of our first weeks at church we met the Craigs.  Brett teaches communication at NU and has been here for three years.  He has been coaching the girls basketball team on campus (actually he does everything for them: scheduling, procuring uniforms and equipment, etc.)  He was quite famous around campus because the girls had some success in the spring at a city-wide tournament.  They invited us over for dinner and while we were there we talked a lot about basketball.  One of my friends from the Army is also here in Astana and he told Brett how much I like playing.  While we were at their apartment, Yulia said that if Brett needs any help I would love to be an assistant coach.

I wasn't so sure how much I would love being an assistant coach.  I was still trying to figure out a new job, a new city, and an entirely new situation.  I was intrigued, though, and the opportunity to play and to be around basketball was appealing.

Game 1: 11/12/2014 - Getting back on Defense.

So I showed up to tryouts.  And I've been going to basketball practice three times a week since then.  We have great students at NU, and the girls on the basketball team are no exception.  Most of them had very little experience, but what they lack in experience we make up for in conditioning and preparation.  I have lost over 30 pounds since I've been here in Astana, thanks mostly to the running that I do with the girls at practice.  I still have a ways to go, but progress is progress!

Game 1 - 11/12/2014

Anyway, the past three months of practice culminated in us playing two games against other universities from Astana last week.  Our first game was a bit of a disappointment.  The girls came out a bit listless, trailed throughout the game, and lost by six points.  The second game was more exciting.  After some tough talk by Coach, the girls resolved to play with the intensity we practice with.  The result was a 29-4 victory over the team that we played.  The team came from the university that won the city-wide tournament last year, but they just sent their freshmen.  Now they are on notice that they need to send their A-team to play NU.

NU Vs. BC Astana Management

On October 7, the local professional basketball team used the NU sports complex to announce this year's roster.  NU was their biggest supporter last year.  As part of the announcement, we had a friendly game between NUs faculty and staff and the management of the basketball club.  The team president is named Valeri Tikhonenko.

The NU and BC Astana Management Teams after the game.  #9 is Tikhonenko - he's about 6-11 and big.  Look at him next to fluffy old me!

The NU team poses after victory with some members of the NU girls team and other fans who came to watch the game. Brett, the girls coach, is on the left holding his youngest son.

He played for the USSR gold medal team from 1988 and was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in 1987. He played for the management team.  He was tall - about 6'11" and even though he was nearly 50, he was still a gifted athlete.  He kept their team in the game, but our ragtag bunch of professors and staff was able to win the "friendly" game.

After the game in my NU team uniform. 

One of the things that we told ourselves when we came to Astana is that we would remain open to new opportunities and adventures.  Helping to coach the women's basketball team has been one of those adventures.  It has been one of the most rewarding and fun things that I've done here so far.