KZBlog

March is a crazy month in Kazakhstan for holidays, eating out and gift-giving. There’s the 8th of May, International Women’s Day. There’s Nauryz on the 22nd and 23rd. This year they gave us five days off so lots of chances to be invited and invite people to dinner. We’re coming off of the 23rd of February, which is not an official holiday, but many people remember it as Soviet Army Day or Men’s Day. And this year we of course had the elections, which many hospitable Kazakhs see as yet another excuse to make beshbarmak and invite a million guests over. I’m not complaining too much about a chance to eat til I explode and see friends and family. But it has been heavy on the wallet.

Giving gifts when you go over to someone’s house is almost mandatory, no matter how close you are to the person. And one problem is that while you can just give flowers or chocolate or vodka to the hosts, it’s best if you have a gift for everyone who’s going to be there–especially for Women’s Day or Men’s Day or similar holidays. Meaning that if unexpected guests show up, you sometimes have to hope you have enough cash in your wallet to cover everyone!

Empire Souvenirs has definitely dominated the expensive gifts market in Kazakhstan, to the point where most people we know already have anything they might want (within reason–the gold and gem-studded chessboards are a bit out of our reach). I stumbled on this site which does Personal Creations keychains and other similar personalized gifts. Not sure if they would be able to get things to Kazakhstan in a timely manner, but it’s nice that you can type in the names you want. A lot of personalized items aren’t up on Kazakh names. Try finding an Aigul necklace or bracelet outside Kazakhstan!

In any case, if anyone has suggestions for inexpensive gifts that will still be appreciated by the recipient, please do share. Because now we’re already saving up for the first of May.