March 8 - part 1

March 8 is a big holiday here. The modern roots of the day date from Soviet times--the 8th of March is International Women's Day. However, in 2009, the president decreed that the date should be celebrated as Mother's Day.

Some women I talked to (who aren't mothers) found that annoying. But regardless of what they're asked to officially celebrate, March 8 is still a day off at many work places, and there are still gift-giving customs and events that people participate in. 


Today at MGU there was an assembly to honor the female staff and faculty. It turned out to be a kind of student talent show. During one song, a slide show of the faculty played in the background, with some popular professors getting extra cheers.

  There was a lot of poetry recited in Russian and Tajik. There were songs in Russian and English, folk dances, and pop dances.

The audience got into some of the songs, including a karaoke version of Beyonce’s “Crazy in love” in English and a Russian song from the 70’s, “Our parents’ home, the beginning of beginnings.”

Flowers were distributed to the female faculty.

Then there was a lunch for the female faculty and staff. Of course, some women had been hard at work preparing it all, including Sanovbar, chair of the linguistics department, my academic home.

We sat around enjoying the food, while men popped in to serve drinks, and eventually joined us to eat and offer congratulatory speeches.

Tomorrow was scheduled to be the first day of a city-wide teachers' seminar I'm leading, meeting at MGU. However, since it's the day before the holiday, it was suggested that attendance might a light. So, it's goodbye to my colleagues till after the holiday: