I had never heard of a Robert Burns Night until about a month ago when the Ambassador came to Douglas and I and asked us if we'd be interested in participating in one. We, of course, said "yes" and set out to choose songs to sing and poetry to recite. We arrived Saturday night at the Ambassador's residence to find him handsomely dressed in a kilt. That was the only kilt, but there were many tartans worn by guests. I think Robert Burns Night is kind of like St. Patrick's Day in that while everyone is Irish on March 17, everyone is Scottish on Robert Burns Night.
After some drinks, we sat down and heard a blessing for the evening. After that was the presentation of the haggis! Unfortunately our resident piper was too out of practice and declined our begging to play for this event so the haggis was processed in to recorded pipes. "Ode to a Haggis" was read and we were served. Haggis has a bad reputation. I tasted it for the first time at our Minnesota Renaissance Festival. I was standing near the line (yes, there was a line) and said to my friend that I'd like to taste it, but I didn't know if I could make the financial commitment of actually buying one. A patron in line overheard me and offered me a bite of his. He, too, had never tasted it. I noticed he gave me the first bite. I loved it. I made sure to not know what was in it until after I'd tasted it. Good move. If you like meatloaf, just taste it. Close enough. May all Scots forgive me.
After we ate there were more readings including Douglas reading "Is There for Honesty, Poverty?" commonly known as "A Man's a Man for all that". We sang "Ye Banks and Braes", lyrics by Robert Burns, and "Loch Lomond" to which everyone joined in on the chorus.
After dinner, dancers gathered in the basement to dance some Scottish Highland dances. After a while they invited all to dance and the floor was full of people swinging each other around, bouncing into one another, skipping the wrong way and laughing a lot. Did I mention the free-flowing Scotch? That explains a lot of what happened on the dance floor. Great way to end a fine evening.
The next day we were invited to lunch by our music teacher, Mahmurjan. He wanted to cook for us so he reserved a restaurant and had a small party made up of a former dancer now local television producer (who wants to interview me!), a young singer/guitar player, Mahmurjan's good friend who often comes to our lessons (I have no idea how to spell his name in English, it sounds like "Eelyoze") and Bakhadir, a man who plays the doira (the Uzbek folk drum that Doug is learning to play). We sat down to a table full of fruits and vegetables and awaited the Lagman (a's sound like "ah"). Lagman is a thick noodle soup with meat, vegetables and seasonings that is traditionally made with one looooong noodle. It's one of our favorite local dishes. We were warned (not that it did any good in my case) not to eat too much because there was plov coming next. Plov (long 'o'), if you recall, is the national dish of Uzbekistan and is traditionally made by the men. It is spiced rice with tiny pieces of carrots, raisins, lamb and, depending on where it's made, it can have a slice of horse meat and quail eggs. I did not eat dinner that night.
After we ate, the music started. Mahmurjan plays a 'geedjock' (a violin held in his lap like a cello), "Eelyoze" plays a dutar - a two-stringed long necked instrument held like a guitar - Bakhadir played the doira. They asked us to sing some of the folksongs we've learned. Everyone seemed to have genuinely liked it. The younger fellow sang such a beautiful song with such a lucious voice that all could think of was how many women would want to hear that outside their bedroom window one night. We ate, played and talked for about four hours. That was hard for me, especially as full as I was. I hope I get better at that. The younger singer and the producer both spoke some English, but all conversation was in Russian. I was pretty fried when we finally left.
I'd like us to do more of that, though. To me, that's why we're hear. I know Doug has bigger goals in the Foreign Service, a mission. But it's these interactions that I can communicate best with you. I think that, as we travel, we'll find that music is the best introduction we'll have to a new society.
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