Travel tips

Nowrooz: Ancient Holiday Lives at AUBG
by Yekaterina Chzhen

AUBG students from Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan celebrate their traditional New Year every year on March 21. The name of the holiday has many spellings - Novruz, Nowrooz, Nowruz, Noruz and No Ruz. It means a new day in Farsi. The holiday symbolizes the revival of nature in Zoroastrian system, and coincides with the spring equinox. Its origins hark back even further in the past - back to about 3000 BC in the ancient Mesopotamia. Nowrooz survived the dominance of Islam and the Soviet suppression. Today, it is an official New Year in Iran and has a strong tradition in Central Asia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan and parts of Turkey. AUBGers celebrate it differently in their respective countries.

Jamal Hasanov, junior from Azerbaijan:
To me personally this is the best holiday! People usually cook a lot of sweets, everyone is very joyful. There are all kinds of activities bringing a lot of people together, such as bonfire. A thing called Khoncha is necessary in every family. It`s a tray full of different kinds of nuts, dry fruit, peculiar Novruz sweets, boiled and painted eggs. You need Semeni too. That is sprung wheat symbolizing blossoming and awakening of nature. Our family gathers at one table, the Khoncha in the middle of it. Semeni is on the table all the time. We lit candles - that is crucial, since the whole holiday is all about fire. We always go downstairs and make a bonfire. Then we jump over it. It also symbolizes something, but I don`t remember what.

Azizbek Bakiev, senior from Kyrgyzstan:
On the eve of Nooruz [March 20] we dig a big hole in the ground, place a cauldron and cook Sumalyak, a sweet meal of wheat, walnuts and some other ingredients. We stir it the whole night, make wishes for the coming year, and then cover the cauldron. On the next day, every community gathers at common table, opens the cauldron, and a moldo [Islamic priest] gives a prayer. Nooruz is an organized national holiday as important as the New Year of Dec. 31. We have musicians in the streets and yurts [traditional houses] with food. We also have horse races and other traditional competitions, like the bowl of song. Every participant drinks from the bowl, sings a song, and passes the bowl to another singer.

Zarina Bakenova, sophomore from Kazakstan:
Unlike in Azerbaijan, we celebrate Nauriz on March 22. The traditional meal is Nauriz-kozhe made of seven components, including wheat and horse milk. It is a weird dish, but it actually tastes good. It is given for free in yurts in the streets along with traditional Kazakh food like meat and baursaki [national pastry]. Nauriz is a day off and every city makes an organized celebration. We have famous traditional singers singing in concert halls in our city. There are also singers and musicians playing in the streets. Nauriz is a newly accepted holiday. It was not celebrated openly during the Soviet time. Now, it is almost as important as the common New Year, but we dont usually give presents. We have family dinners and greet everybody.

Eldar Agayev, senior from Azerbaijan:
We are making a holiday dinner on March 21, but we are not cooking the specific Novruz food this time. To have the sprung wheat, Khoncha, you need to plant the seeds at least a week in advance. Usually, the preparation for the holiday starts four weeks earlier and people do major cleanings of their houses, gardens and other every Wednesday. They prepare seven traditional dishes for Novruz, one of them is plov [fried rice, meat, vegetables]. Then people play games and jump over bonfires. Children do something like the American Trick-o-Treating - they leave their hats in front of every door, and later get them back filled with sweets. The holiday is as important for the Azeri people as the two major Muslim holidays, Kurban Bayramy and Ramazan Bayramy. The celebration of the Muslim holidays was suppressed during the Soviet rule, but the non-Muslim Novruz was not suppressed to the same extent. Maybe thats why the tradition stayed so strong.

Baba Marta : 1st of March

March, the only month with feminine ending in Bulgarian. Nobody knows what is the origin of the feminine form of March; people say that it came as a result of the changeable March weather. "As fickle as the Marta weather" is common saying often used in Bulgarian. On the first day of March, we are celebrating Baba Marta (grandma Martha) which is closely connected with this month. People give each other MARTENITSAS: twisted red and white threads in the past nowadays they are more elaborate and look like small souvenirs. People wear martenitsas until they see a stork, i.e. when winter is over. You can buy them at bookstores, stationar's, souvenir shops, on the street, almost everywhere. MARTENITSA is the symbol of health, happiness and success throughout forthcoming spring.