this is how its done

July 18, 2010 9:05 PM

Dagestan - the place where they know how to really have a wedding party (slyt)
posted by sgt.serenity (33 comments total)

yeah, I got drunk once too.
posted by From Bklyn at 9:22 PM on July 18, 2010

Here's a pretty amazing color photo from ~1910 of a Sunni Dagestani.
posted by HotPants at 9:28 PM on July 18, 2010

I've posted it before, but the girl dancing in this video of a wedding in Buynaksk is truly amazing.
posted by claudius at 9:29 PM on July 18, 2010 [8 favorites]

Have you ever been to American wedding?
Where is the vodka, where's marinated herring?
Where is the supply that gonna last three days?
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:32 PM on July 18, 2010 [8 favorites]

Hah, Dagestan's Funniest Home Videos is my favorite television show, too!
posted by not_on_display at 9:37 PM on July 18, 2010

Mute sound, play this in the background.
posted by empath at 9:43 PM on July 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

I don't know what I was expecting but I definitely wasn't expecting the greatest thing in the entire world. From now on, if I'm ever asked: "How was the party?" My standard response will be: "Pretty great, but not as good as a Dagestani wedding."
posted by Kattullus at 10:18 PM on July 18, 2010

Now, this is my idea of a fun wedding.

Just completely blind drunk spastic hopping around and tumbling....I wish weddings were that much fun here. At a certain point it reminded me of a more low key moshing...especially when everyone would run over to help someone if they fell down.
posted by Skygazer at 10:54 PM on July 18, 2010

Hey, I was at that party too, sgt.serenity. I lost a contact lens. MeFi mail me if you found it.
posted by twoleftfeet at 11:26 PM on July 18, 2010

что
posted by cronholio at 11:48 PM on July 18, 2010 [5 favorites]

Dagestan: The Irish and Greek Wedding Capital of the World
posted by christhelongtimelurker at 11:55 PM on July 18, 2010

What I found most heartening was the affirmation that, around the globe, one universal constant is the look of a completely unimpressed bride.
posted by bicyclefish at 12:04 AM on July 19, 2010 [6 favorites]

Vodka is a hell of a drug.
posted by Chichibio at 12:16 AM on July 19, 2010 [3 favorites]

I couldn't help but smile. This really cheered me up.

This is sooooo much better than the last video I watched online about Dagestan.
posted by Avelwood at 12:19 AM on July 19, 2010

Having had some experience with Dagestani-distilled spirits I can confirm that they are indeed hell of drugs. They have a viticulture industry which produces some absolutely vile brandies that will indeed get you Dagestani Wedding-drunk
posted by Authorized User at 12:27 AM on July 19, 2010

I was expecting a twist... kept waiting for a US air strike.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 1:56 AM on July 19, 2010

Don't read the comments.

They're calling each other bustards in there. And worse.
posted by louche mustachio at 2:46 AM on July 19, 2010

Although this might be my favorite:

get a map folks, europe and russia are totally diffrent continents
posted by louche mustachio at 3:02 AM on July 19, 2010

I did like the point where, at about 1:08, one drunken guest picks up another and looks ready to drop the guy on his head. A couple of (more sober and watchful) fellows rush in to stop the shenanigans and prevent brains from joining the crushed fruit on the floor. Nice to see that someone was assigned Safety Patrol.

Have a safe wedding, people.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:47 AM on July 19, 2010

I wonder if they got their deposit back.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 5:56 AM on July 19, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wow, the comments manage to insult pretty much every ethnic group in the region.
posted by desjardins at 6:35 AM on July 19, 2010

Here's a New York Times article about ethnic relations in Dagestan focusing on jokes. Excerpt:

Dagestan, a collection of 14 major and several dozen minor ethnic groups that formed in tide pools and cul-de-sacs off one of humankind’s great migration streams.

All this has proven exceptionally fertile ground for ethnic humor. Dagestanis can tell ethnic jokes for hours, returning to beloved themes like the muscle-bound denseness of the Avars, the naked commercialism of the Dargins, the bookish pusillanimity of the Lezgins, the slyness of Lakhs and so on. And that’s not counting jokes about especially dumb villages.

One example: An Avar is carrying a wounded Dargin off the battlefield. The Dargin entreats his friend to leave him behind, lest they both be killed, and asks the one favor of shooting him so he does not suffer. The Avar, finally convinced, pulls out his firearm but finds he has no ammunition. The Dargin roots in his pockets and pulls out a bullet. “I’ll sell it to you,” he says.

Or this one: An Avar is driving through Makhachkala with a Lakh in the passenger seat. Spotting a red light, he pumps the accelerator and speeds through it. “You just ran a red light!” the Lakh says. “Avars don’t stop for red lights,” the Avar explains, and speeds through another. In a few minutes, they come to a green light, and the Avar stops. “Why did you stop?” the Lakh asks. “You can’t be too careful,” his friend says, “an Avar might be coming the other way.”

posted by Kattullus at 7:14 AM on July 19, 2010 [10 favorites]

Humans are weird.
posted by sswiller at 8:35 AM on July 19, 2010

Mute sound, play this in the background.

This will also do.
posted by sswiller at 8:39 AM on July 19, 2010

Fun fact: Dagestan is also the only country outside of Ireland to require EMTs on standby at each wedding ceremony.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 8:56 AM on July 19, 2010

In the kingdom of assholes, the first man to fill his shoe with vodka is king.
posted by digsrus at 9:50 AM on July 19, 2010

I had to look up Dagestan on a map, so as to be sure that I NEVER go there.
posted by msali at 1:07 PM on July 19, 2010

I had to look up Dagestan on a map, so as to be sure that I someday go there.
posted by Locobot at 4:41 PM on July 19, 2010

I had to look up Dagestan on a map, so as to make sure I knew where it is was, when I lie to people at weddings and tell them I'm FROM there.


(also, on a sidenote, I've been trying wondering where Gary Shteyngart's brilliant hilarious, Absurdistan, takes place and I think it's got to be, most likely, probably, Dagestan...

and if it's not, it should be.)
posted by Skygazer at 5:28 PM on July 19, 2010

The happiest day of your life.
posted by a non e mouse at 5:58 PM on July 19, 2010

@KoonKon Every single athinian who things his a Macedonian his mom is fucked by Macedonian dick !! i na majkati da i go turam u gz pa da i smrdi u usta !!!
And i can write that ur a asshole but you idiots call ur sorry ass broke ,,country" HELLASS so thats make the citizens real ASSHOLE.... see u in Solun !!

You know, Youtube comments are as dumb as a bag of hammers, but they often do provide a global perspective of which I was hitherto unaware.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:30 PM on July 19, 2010

Yeah, the Athenian/Macedonian animosity reminds me of Wisconsin/Illinois relations. Who knew.
posted by desjardins at 12:51 PM on July 20, 2010

I'm just going to start throwing "see you in Solun" into conversations as a casual threat.
posted by clerestory at 8:39 PM on July 22, 2010