Elnura was born in 1997 in the village of Kyzyl-Suu, located in the Jeti-Oguz district. She spent one year at the Bombay Lyceum in Karakol, studying to become a cook-waiter.
At 25, she got married and moved to Talas, where she is currently on maternity leave.
“I met my future husband through social media while I was working in Moscow. We dated for three years before getting married. His name is Kutman Kerkybekov, and he is from the Talas region. We were both born on the same day, which surprised us a lot. Perhaps it was fate. This year, on October 1, we will celebrate three years of married life,” Elnura shared.
Now she and Kutman are raising their firstborn, who is 8.5 months old.
“When I first became a daughter-in-law, my mother-in-law and I were laying out food from the cauldron together. She asked me to bring the ‘ilegen’ (tray), but I didn’t understand what that was and brought a basin instead. It turned out that there are differences in words between the people from Talas and those from Issyk-Kul. I don’t often go to Issyk-Kul, only 1-2 times a year, because the journey is long: it takes about 8 hours to get to Bishkek, and then another 6 hours,” she recounted.
Elnura also noted that the most challenging period in her life was the quarantine in Moscow due to the coronavirus: she couldn’t return home as flights were suspended.
“At that time, my friend helped me with groceries. My family still doesn’t know how hard it was for me. But when I was working in Moscow, I was able to buy livestock for my family and help with repairs,” Elnura added.
In her free time, she takes care of her child and manages household chores.
“Whenever I have the chance, I make videos for social media with my neighbor’s daughter-in-law. She was born in 1998 and came from Osh. Our mothers-in-law encouraged us to be friends, and we really became very close,” she said.
Elnura and her husband plan to buy a house in the city in the future and become parents of many children.
