A Sheep for Liam

This entry is for our nephew Liam. We just skyped with him and his family, explaining that we weren't at school today (Friday, Nov 27th) because it's a national holiday here: Kurban ayt. It's a muslim holiday that reminds people to be thankful for all blessings and to be especially mindful of the poor.

If you can afford it, you're compelled to buy three sheep: keep one for yourself and deliver the other two to people who are poor. There's also a connection to father Abraham and the sacrifice he offered after God spared Isaac's life.

So there were a lot of nervous sheep for sale in the city today. Some of them were taken away live, some were slaughtered right on the curb, and at least two in our neighbourhood were taken out back, dying by lethal 'lead poisoning' if I still accurately recognize the sound of gunfire (within city limits).

So, Liam, unlike the people below, we just couldn't get them into our backseat. Do you know how many air fresheners we'd have to buy? And besides, we don't have enough seat belts. Also, I don't think your mother would approve of the graphic method with which they would have been, how can I say, dispatched to the great wool basket in the sky. Baaa-ad joke?

Tonight, however, we're going to have dinner in an Uzbek(istan) restaraunt, where we'll be sure to pick wool out of our teeth. See you next summer.

Halloween 2009

Halloween must necessarily begin with the ritualistic disemboweling of the pumpkin. We live in a fairly sheltered, westernized, housing community, but a few of the locals cast side-long glances at us and our blatant waste of a natural resource--they eat them, we use them for decoration.

These three Korean kids get the candy concept, but not the costume part.

A Canadian witch, an Uzbek-American witch, and Paulina (don't know where she's from).

A Dutch-American family hosted an afternoon Halloween party the next day. Quite fun.

Because Halloween comes in the wake of the annual apple harvest, caramel or candy apples (known as toffee apples outside North America) are a common Halloween treat made by rolling whole apples in a sticky sugar syrup, sometimes followed by rolling them in nuts. Sorry. I couldn't help myself.

Luxury Hotel?

Just in case someone thought that hotels in Kazakhstan might be similar to hotels in North America--well some are but this one wasn't!! This is the "hotel" that we stayed at in the National Park. They advertise this place!!!

This was the main meeting room and they would of cooked dinner for us but the menu was a little questionable--fish head soup--and after I saw the kitchen--we made the right decision.

We had this room with 3 beds and not a whole lot more--the selling feature was indoor plumbing. The bathroom was down a very steep set of stairs, past the communal wash sink, through the porch to a very cold, cold bathroom. Not the end of the world but the price for these accommodations was a little high but they had us cornered on this one. We were in the middle of nowhere.

I think they were making silage for the winter. There were some sheep behind the house that were looking a little hungry. Beside the sheep, there was a laundry room and it did have a washing machine--I was very impressed but I am not sure if it was working.