By the Way, What Day is It?

Sunday, September 21st, 2008: Day 19 in Kostanai

Without a job or daily routine to keep us busy, we sometimes forget what day it is. But without a doubt, if we’ve lost track of time, we always know when Friday arrives. This day is signified not by the loud partiers in our courtyard or the outdoor concerts in the park. No, it is something much more noticeable than that. Friday and Saturday are the days that people get married!

How do we know when this is occurring? How could we not know! Each and every wedding celebration is signified by a horn blowing procession on the main streets of Kostanai of highly decorated vehicles that include, not only the bride and groom, but also many of the wedding attendees. With all of the weddings occurring each week, I’m surprised there are any single people left in Kostanai. (A lot of couples stroll through the park for wedding pictures after their ceremony, as shown on the left.)

Yesterday Doug and I must have strolled by an official place of marriage because as one couple and their entourage were leaving, a new group was pulling up outside this establishment to share in the blessing of yet another union in marriage…or was it two groups arriving and one group leaving? It was quite difficult to tell but there was definitely more than one bride and groom waiting their turn to partake in their nuptials.[The car in the picture is mild in comparison of others that we’ve seen.]

(We later found out that this place described above was actually the official registry office. Young couples are married at the mosque and then register their marriage immediately afterwards at this office.)

It really is quite extraordinary to see so many celebrations occurring almost simultaneously and even more incredible that we use these events to know where we are in our weekly calendar. Hopefully, this course of action remains constant during the colder months or we may never know what day of the week it is!

By the way, is today Sunday?