Makpal’s father Murat brought us photo albums upon photo albums. They were like your average family photos, but half of them had eagles in them, like family members... Kazakh society was conservative and segregated, yet Makpal’s passion for this tradition defied all boundaries. Here was a woman in the manliest of sports, all blood and beasts and horseback hunts. She was a symbol of a new Kazakh woman, I thought, one who could do anything... Makpal came out in her finest falconry-ware, a traditional Kazakh robe and a fur hat. She looked stunning.... With an eagle on her arm, I just about fainted. The beautiful girl and the beautiful bird had been partners for ten years... I had seen her picture in a Kyrgyz class magazine clipping, and now I had found her in the middle of nowhere. The strangeness of it all jumbled my common sense, and I thought of staying here forever, learning Kazakh, and giving my heart to a hunter in the heart of Eurasia.
