Circumcision Party

What! Yes, you read that right, a circumcision party! On Friday I got to attend a circumcision party for children at a local orphange. It is a pretty big deal (almost like a mini-wedding party). In Kazakh tradition, children that are between 5 and 7 years old are circumcised. To celebrate this step into manhood, they throw a big party. In the villages the boys often get paraded through the streets on horseback. At this party, they walked on a white cloth leading to their table at the head of the room. Everyone who attended the party had a chance to share his/her wishes with the children. Most people made some comment about these boys no longer being boys, but young men.