Holiday: Empty streets; Lost in the Park

During a recent Spring holiday that lasted one week, many people took the opportunity to leave the city and go to the mountains to participate in their national past time:  picnicking.

It was a city-dwellers dream.

If you got to go to the mountains and enjoy the cool area and greenery.  Awesome.

If you had to stay in the city for certain activities still going on but not endure traffic.  Awesome.

No car in sight meant Kylie got a lot of driving practice in.  She's going to start driving more and more, and starting with the benefit of no other drivers was a huge plus.

One day during the break, Keira and I decided to go to the park and ride the train.  We walked for at least 3/4 mile, and we could never catch the train (it's hard to know where it stops and where you can get on).  Apparently, we'd gotten there right after they started their last run for the day.

However, in the meantime, we discovered a new playground which we had never seen before.  Of course, this is not hard to do.  This park is huge.

Used with permission from Google Earth

Honestly, there are so many hidden nooks and crannies in this place, you could discover something every day if you spent a lot of time there.

At the new playground, we ran into a girl from Keira's school.  Her mom and dad were there, so while Keira played with her friend, I spoke as best I could with her parents.  They were very nice, and they talked slow enough so that I could understand most of what they were saying.

When we realized we were never going to catch the train, we decided to find our way back to our car.  

All I knew to do was head for skyscrapers in the distance near the place where I remembered parking.

The good news:  We found ANOTHER fun playground on the way back to the car.

The bad news:  It took us an hour to find our way out of the park.  

I didn't tell Keira how nervous I was getting, but I was completely lost on all of the paths, and I was having trouble finding our parking area.  I don't know if people have ever felt like that in Central Park in NYC, but I also wondered how many people had to spend the night in this park because they couldn't find their way out in the dark.

Maybe it's just my over-active imagination.

Keira was very excited when we made it to the front of the park, and we took celebratory pictures in front of the fountains.

And At Last I See the Lights

The day after the "lice incident," we went an hour north with our language helper, his family, and some of his friends to see the "lighting" for the "New Day" celebration.

This lighting takes place every year.

We attended one last year.

The one we attended this year is the most well-known, and unlike the post from last year.  This year I know the background story (as told by our language helper).

Before I regale you with that tale, let me tell you about this celebration in the recent past.

A former dictator of this country prohibited this celebration for many years in this part of the country, so the people secretly lit fires or burned tires to celebrate.

What I saw on the drive north was that many people still make their own fires and burn tires.  In each of the pictures below, you can see smoke off in the distance.

the entire way there...

these roadsides remind me of Africa...

Traffic was crazy once we got into the city.

This was looking out our back window.

The day was beautiful though.

Can you see the people on the top and in a line weaving down the side of the mountain?

We were on a mountain across from the one above.  I couldn't get a good picture to show you how many thousands were there.

Ok, the story that I heard says there was an evil man who ruled many people, and he would kill individuals with a hammer.  He walked around with two snakes on his shoulders.

One day, a blacksmith decided to challenge the evil man.  I thought I had heard that he tricked him by taking his son there to be "killed," and the blacksmith killed the bad man instead.  However, other stories say he didn't take a child with him as bait.  He just challenged him and killed him.

Nevertheless, the man lit a large fire after the evil man was dead to let others know he was successful.  Today, four countries celebrate this legend as their own.  

Who knows which country the legend it belongs to?  Personally, I'm hoping that it's only a legend and that it never really happened.

At dusk, the parade of torches begins to snake it's way up the mountain, along with a lot of fireworks going off (hence the smoke).

Once the fire reaches the top, it appeared there was a small celebration up there, and then the "snake" of fire came back down.

After the "snake" came down, a fire parade started up our side of the mountain.  A man led the way on a donkey, and many others followed.  

Several of the men had kerosene or something in their mouth, and they would spit at their torch and make the fire explode all toward us.

I must stop at this point to point out the obvious. 

Fire is dangerous and not something to be played with.

Our language helper told us the following day that 5 people had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance that night, and one or two of them were because they inhaled the gas substance they had been carrying in their mouth.

Basically, a few acorns short of a nut pile.

As we walked down the mountain to our car, I looked over to the right and I saw lights on another mountain.

It was a fun night, but knowing the crowds and traffic, I'm not sure I'd ever venture north to see the lights again.

Unless of course, you came to visit during March, and then I would gladly do it, just for you.

Keira (and the other little boy with us) both passed out on the way home.  

Keira just happened to fall asleep face down.

We came.

We saw the lights.

And I believe, they conquered us.

Party With a Few Friends

This year, for Newroz (March 20), the weather wasn't so great.  Many picnics were cancelled on the actual day and the rest of the week because of rain.  However, the day before Newroz, big celebrations were going on around the country.

We heard there was a shindig downtown and another at a park, so we decided to taxi to the one in the park, and see what was going on.  Caleb was at soccer practice, so it was up to the rest of us to capture the moment.

Well, there were Christmas lights everywhere.

There was a stage with speeches and dancers and singers.

There was a seating area built over the water.

And there were people!

Everywhere!

We decided to fit in with everyone else and take a selfie.  It's the rule to live by here.

The focus of the evening was this tower that had wood for a bonfire built on top..

In this picture, taken later in the evening, you can see a man climbing down after making sure all was well up top.

There was also a small bonfire built behind us on a large rock.

Newroz is all about the light of a fire.

I confess that I have been told the story once about why the fire in the mountains is significant, but for the life of me, I can't remember now. 

I saw this framed photo at a recent book fair, and I took a picture of it to show you how the fire is lit in the mountains.

Zoomed in.

There were torches present at the park, as well.

Finally, after a long wait, and a nasty trip to the bathroom (where Keira and I were asked to take pictures outside with a family of 6 one-by-one!), the fire tower was finally lit.

(incidentally, I had pictures of the bathroom, but I think I'll spare you)

Immediately after the tower was lit, there was a huge fireworks display.  

Much bigger than December 31 (since this is their New Year's).

When we first arrived, we didn't know what to expect or that we would be standing in a crowd for over two hours.  We listened to music and speeches in a language that we don't understand all that well, and we made some fun and interesting memories.  A few men came up to talk to Doug, take selfies with him, and get his contact information, but the rest of the evening was just about observing those around us.

However, immediately after the fireworks, we started making our way to the exit.  

It felt very similar to exiting an A&M football stadium after a game.  Moo!  Moo!

After a 30 minute walk, we found a taxi, and we made it home safely.  Happy late Newroz!