As I admired my Turkmen server's olive skin and green eyes, I thought of the famous photo from the cover of National Geographic Magazine, showing a young woman from Afghanistan with dark, Arab hair, olive skin, and piercing green eyes. Did those eyes come from Europe, brought by the soldiers of Alexander the Great so many centuries ago? I love SLC's annual Living Traditions festival, during which the immigrant communities of Utah sell their ethnic foods and display their dances and crafts.
Which would it be--Serbian, Turkmen, Thai, Nepali, Basque, or African? My choices of food were enormous and exotic. I chose Turkmen cuisine on Friday night, May 18, 2018, and snuck back on Saturday for the stuffed peppers and baklava from Serbia.
Turkmenistan is one of the "Five Stans" of Central Asia, which are at the top of my bucket list to visit. Their food is just so-so--rice pilaf with chicken, a tart stuffed with spinach, a fried dumpling.
"How did you happen to come to Salt Lake City?" we asked the other server. They had friends move here, they heard it was a good place. The server spoke fluent English, though she arrived from Turkmenistan just two years ago.
Dave and I wandered through the crafts stalls. This woman is making bobbin lace, just as her ancestors in Ireland did.
A woodcarver whittled as the crowds swirled around him.
And another woman painted Ukrainian eggs. What riches the immigrants add to SLC's culture!
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