Kazakh Concert, Sans Sustenance.

On Friday I went to a concert hosted by the Kazakh Society. It cost six pounds, but they said they would provide authentic Kazakh food. Yum! I had no idea what Kazakh food was, but felt quite excited to test out new cuisine. Before I went I Wikipedia-ed Kazakhstan, since I really didn’t know much about it. The next paragraph is thus for those who also are not familiar with this country.

Kazakhstan is the world’s 9th largest country! It’s to the South of Russia and is on China’s western border. It only declared itself independent from Russia in December of 1991, instead of being a Soviet Republic! (Thank you, Wikipedia.) Below is a picture, given to the public, of Astana. Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan. I would recommend looking up more pictures of Kazakhstan; it looks really beautiful!

The food looked brilliant. There were little biscuit things, a meaty thing, and some dumpling-like things. Unfortunately, I was the first person to not get served food, as the concert was due to start soon and the people ran out of forks. Sad! But the “nice” man said I could get food after the concert. The concert was quite nice. First we got to see traditional Kazakh dancers. Then we heard the Dombra. This is the national instrument of Kazakhstan. It only has two strings, and is played like a guitar. Here’s a picture.

Then there was another dance, followed by a violinist and cellist. They played several duets, including Kazakh pieces. Afterwards the food was all gone. I was almost inconsolable. In fact, I can’t write any more as I am beginning to shed thousands of tears. My soul may be forevermore in eternal lament! (I just read “The Sorrows of Young Werther”. His drama is rubbing off on this post.) Farewell! I hope your experiences of the Kazakh culture do not reduce you to a quivering mass of melancholy, like they did to me!