Manaschis, or how I ended up at a lecture in Kyrgyz

A listserv that I've subscribed to recently advertised the following event:

"On Writing the History of Women in pre-modern Central Asia:Issues and Approaches" Dr. Nurten Kilic-Schubel, US Fulbright Fellow in KyrgyzstanApril 16, 2009, 4 PM University of Central Asia Meeting Room, (207 Panfilov Street, 3rd Floor)

I arrived at the University, had some problems getting through "security" because I made the mistake of stopping to sign in instead of just walking past like everyone else. Finally they let me go when I gave them my hospital ID card from Bangkok because they didn't know what lecture I was talking about and didn't know what to do with me.

I got to the room the lecture was supposed to be in, but it didn't seem right. Everyone was speaking Kyrgyz. I assumed they would start speaking English when the lecture began, but soon I realized that the lecture had begun, and the lecture was in Kyrgyz. When a man started chanting and singing in the traditional Kyrgyz hat (that some have uncharitably likened to an embroidered dunce cap), I realized I was in the wrong place. What are Manaschis? I'm lazy, and don't know much about them myself, so let's cut and past from Wikipedia, shall we?

The Epic of Manas is a traditional epic poem of
the Kyrgyz people.
Manas is the name of the epic's hero. One recording
of the orally transmitted poem, with close to half a million lines, is twenty
times longer than
Homer's Odyssey and Iliad combined, or
about twice as long as the Mahābhārata. The epic tells the story of Manas, his
descendants and his followers. Battles against Kitay and Kalmak enemies form
a central theme in the epic. Although the epic is mentioned as early as the 15th
century, it was not set down in written form until 1885.
Different opinions abound regarding the origin of the epic: the 7th—10th
centuries, the 11th and 12th centuries and the 15th through 18th
centuries.
Manas is the classic centerpiece of Kyrgyz literature, and parts
of it are often recited at Kyrgyz festivities by specialists in the epic, called
Manaschi (Kyrgyz:
Манасчы). Manaschis are usually called to their profession in a dream. In this
dream, they meet Manas or other characters from the epic, who tell them to
become Manas narrators. If they do not obey, they believe they will fall ill or
become crippled. Manaschis tell the tale in a melodic chant unaccompanied by
musical instruments.

I was the only person in the room who wasn't Kyrgyz and understood almost nothing.