Kyrgyzstan host

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Before the host gives sheep's head to the guest, he has to cut the left ear and leave it for his son. The person who receives the head divides it in two parts and peeling the left one, cuts it to small pieces and puts them into a bowl.  Then he passes the bowl to the right side with the right hand. Guests taking the bow take a piece of it and continue passing it further to the right. At last, guest takes eyes away from the sheep's head and divides it in to pieces. One of them he leaves to himself, another one he gives to the next sitting person as a sight of eternal friendship. There are many striking traditions in Kyrgyzstan. For local people they seem to be usual, but for foreigners some of them seem really extraordinary. Over the years, many traditions of various peoples fell into oblivion. Not so in Kyrgyzstan, where the people kept all their customs and rituals. One of its striking "traditions" is bride-napping. In early times, young men had to pay kalim in order to marry a girl. Kalim is the Kyrgyz word for ransom. The fiancé had to pay about 15 sheep for his bride. If she was from a rich family, he even had to pay about 50 sheep or 5-7 horses. There were many cases when a poor man was in love, but could not afford the kalim. And if his bride was in love with him, too - they usually ran away from their families. The bride's parents and relatives would not accept it, but hunting down the man who had abducted their daughter. And if they managed to find him they would kill him.

 

Welcome to Kyrgyzstan!