Home again, home again.

Greetings. We are back home after an excellent trip to Thailand. The weather was great, the food was fantastic, and we're thankful for the 'free' swimming lessons provided by Grassy Plains School because Co-La spent every possible moment in the ocean. They usually looked like a couple of raisins by lunch-time because of the salt water, but, unlike the lakes on Highway 16, their lips didn't turn blue due to the near hypothermic temperature.

We'll post some pictures in the next few days. We just wanted to say hi to everyone and let you know that we're OK. We saw the makings of one demonstration in Bangkok, but it was meant to be another peaceful one, so we didn't worry.

Actually, on our last day in Bangkok, the new government passed a law or a bill that allowed all tourists to use taxis and tuk-tuks for virtually free. They wanted to make up for airport closures and the loss of tourist dollars. For about .60 cents we got a tuk-tuk tour of three out of five temples combined with the obligitory stop at two jewelry showrooms and gem 'wholesalers.' It was interesting. The taxi drivers get gas vouchers from the jewelers if they bring a certain amount of tourists to their shops. Our driver did the quick math and realized that if he lured tourists in with the .60 cent promo, he could get more people to the jewelers than he could on an average day, thereby garnering more gas vouchers. So halfway through our tour, he bailed on us. We didn't mind that much; it's kind of funny, really, because it's the smallest bill we never paid.

Tomorrow is New Year's eve. Have fun, everyone. Have a great 2009. We'll 'talk' again soon.
Pax, Dave

Thailand and Tidings

Greetings. Just a short note to answer a few questions we have been receiving (I’m at home accessing free high-speed wireless from the bank across the street, but I can’t get onto Hotmail, so I’ll Blog; who’d a thunk it).

9a (Nina): tell Vicki to calm down, it wasn’t the actual Taj Mahal and we’re a few thousand km away from there.

And the Thailand thing: yes, we are determined to go. If we can just get dropped off somewhere near a road, we’ll take a bus or rent a car and cross the country ourselves. We need to get to Phuket where we booked a very nice hotel for 10 days. They e-mailed us yesterday and said we should send in the remainder of our payment. I said that they will get it when I am standing at their check-in counter. So they gave us an extension of a few days…but wait, Edna just called me into the TV room.

Update: 9:10pm Almaty time, BBC just announced that the airport siege is over and the PM and his Party have been ousted and they are not allowed to practice politics for 5 years (electoral fraud is the charge; bastards) But the people have been heard! We have been following this daily, and the Mumbai thing, on CNN and BBC, so it’s pretty exciting to learn that this one ended (relatively) peacefully. (Several of our American friends here are going to India for Christmas break to check out a new school community that they will be moving to in June).

All of this is excellent learning for the kids. Tonight, Kyla asked why one of her friends is from South Korea and why one is from “just Korea.” So I gave her the short story of the North-South issue (where is Waldo when you need him?) She said “That sounds like grown-ups acting like a bunch of little kids.” (Or maybe I told it wrong.)

Last night at dinner, Cody said “Today I played with Salah, Geon Hyeong, Teun, Kamran, and Muhammad.” He pronounced a Turkish, a Korean, a Dutch kid (I think), and a Kazakh kid’s name so flawlessly perfect, and with so much laize-e-faire, that Edna and I started choking on our food because we couldn’t stop laughing. It didn’t faze him. The irony is that the only other native English speaking kid (Canadian) has probably the worst influence on Cody. I think most of you would be quite surprised to hear how vociferous Cody has become. Or not. But it has nothing to do with me.

The follow-up story (on the ticker-tape) to the Thailand announcement was something about everyone in politics ganging up on Stephen Harper and trying to topple his minority government. And this is a good segue into the conclusion of this entry: believe half of what you see and almost nothing of what you hear when considering today’s media-swill merchants. The one thing that really struck me about the Mumbai attacks, besides the obvious need-less and senseless loss of life, was the clock ticking away behind the reporter as he broadcast live from the burning hotel: we are in the exact same time zone. It really creeped me out. Even 9/11 was 3-4 hours “away,” it seemed to be somewhere else, far away. But Mumbai is “here.” Just messin with ya’, metaphysically.

So, 9a, we’re safe. This is that letter I tried to send you earlier in the week. We’re having fun, and I hope you all enjoy the blog.

We’ll post pictures again, soon. Good night Russ, of the Long-wood clan (I can't get your radio-show on the Internet). Good night, Sue. Good night, Art (good thing I’m going to Thailand without you and 20 years later; they’re probably still looking for you). I haven’t been there before (have I?). Happy Birthday, Mar. And Hank, have a good one on the 12th. Good night, Johnboy.

Pax, Dave

Chimbulak and the Stadium

We drove up to the Chimbulak ski hill a couple of weeks ago. Obviously, it was a beautiful day and it would have been a great day to teach the kids to ski. The road was pretty good but it is extremely steep in sections and the switch backs made the ones in Smithers look pretty lame.
This is what the cabins on the hill looked like. Most of them were this posh--so judging from their appearance there will be no Vanwerkhoven Chalet in Almaty. The ski hill, itself looked pretty good but the bunny slope is closed for the next while. They have it covered in chairlift equipment that is going to put up sometime soon. So, they have changed the bunny slope to the area where Kyla and Cody are standing. If any child is out of control--which is quite likely, considering how these two act on X-country skiis--they will find themselves sitting on top of the hood of a Niva. There is suppose to be another ski hill around here that has a better bunny hill--feels like we are always looking for something and it is so hard to find places b/c their alphabet is different than ours and then to help things get worse--they only have signs in the downtown area--otherwise you are on your own. We found a great set of used skiis and bindings for Dave and some boots for myself and they were a really good price so we thought that we could just buy the rest at the sporting goods store in the city. The cheapest set of skiis here without bindings is around $500.00 and they were nothing to write home about--so off to the rental shop for us.

This past weekend, we stayed around the city and did some shopping and tried to find some sporting goods store--not much luck--but we did find the stadium. There were these statues in front and we thought they were pretty impressive.

Climbing Curbs in Kaz'

Hey, Waldo, do you remember that episode in M*A*S*H where Klinger sends a jeep home through the mail, piece by piece? Don't be too alarmed if oversized parcels start arriving on your doorstep soon.

Behold the mighty-mite "Niva." I've seen a few of them in Canada, but they are all over the place here in Almaty, and I want one. Our Rabbit is in the shop (three weeks later) so the school gave us a loaner for the time being.

All four of us sit in it quite comfortably. Let me re-phrase that--all four of us sit in it. Comfort is not really a feature. But the kids have a great view from their bench in the back, and since there are no seat-belts, they are constantly cruising around back there. Edna said earlier that if we take a corner too quick or hit a major pothole, we sometimes hear a ‘clunk’ from the back. “You OK?” we ask. “Yeah, just my head hitting the glass.”

Wikipedia: The car is very popular in its home country. It is also popular in Canada (though withdrawn from sale in 1997 it still has a cult following) and other regions where the terrain requires a robust and tough car for a reasonable price--many Nivas imported to Australia were rejects from the European Market.

Production began in 1977 and continues today with only minor changes to the engine, rear hatch design, and interior trim levels. (You can stand beside a 77’ and not tell the difference between a 78’ or an 08’. Our friends have one and it looks like crap and it is a 2001).

The original Niva has a maximum speed of around 130 km/h (80 mph), and can cruise at 90 km/h (56 mph) while consuming petrol at a respectable 8.25 litres/100km (28.5 mpg(US)). ( I would NEVER take it past 100km. NEVER.) (Any vehicle that is as wide as it is high and long is already on the verge of rolling like a soccer ball, so don’t tempt it. At any speed.)

But there is something quite fun about them. In the morning, you get about half an inch of clutch, because it is cold. Depress the clutch pedal, force the stick in, and you are already moving, with your foot on the floor. The ensuing friction produces heat, and soon the plate expands and you have a relatively normal vehicle.

It comes with a spare tire that is located in the engine bay under the hood, and as with all Ladas, a 21 piece toolkit is also supplied for do-it-yourself roadside repairs. The latter feature is considered a useful and practical feature by off-road fans (and suburbanites as well). Oh, and you know when you have run out of gas because the gauge indicates 5/8’s full. We found out the hard way.

So, check your mailbox. On second thought, maybe I should send it to George or Al’s farm. Lada’s are not AirCare friendly.

Pax, Dave

Snow and Heat in Almaty

We got SNOW!! Not a lot but we got snow. It has been so warm here so it was a little bit of a surprise. They keep telling us that it has been an exceptionally nice fall but now it might change. It isn't a lot of snow but it has really changed the speed of the drivers. They have slowed down and we are quite relieved. They are still crazy but we were worried if they kept going the way they were there were going to be a lot of accidents.

Shopping in the markets isn't quite the same now that it is colder--hanging around in these shipping containers when it is cold and damp is not real nice.

Our car is still broken and who knows when it will be fixed--the mechanics are very laid back , always smiling and definitely on Kaz Time. Right now we have managed to borrow a vehicle from the school for the past 5 days and hopefully we can keep it until they decide to look at the car again. The vehicle we have right now is a Niva--believe me, we are getting the real deal of a Russian vehicle. The kids are bouncing all around in the back seat and there is a belt that is quite loose so it makes this squealing noise all the time. Pedestrians get out of the way before they even turn around to see what is coming their way. I should quit complaining though, we are very thankful that the school has a vehicle that we can borrow. We only made it halfway to school on Monday morning--we had to take a gypsy taxi--we found out later that we had ran out of gas. No one told us that the gas gauge is broken. When the gas light comes on, that means you have 10 more kms. Well, we know now!!

They turned the heat on in the apartment. It still is weird not to have a thermostat in the apartment and to think that the only way we can control the heat in this place is by opening a window or putting on another sweater. I guess when it gets a little colder they will turn the heat a little higher. Should be interesting.

I wish I could put a picture of the kids bouncing around in the Niva it is pretty funny. Sometimes there is a bit of a bang in the back seat and one of us will ask--are you okay back there--Oh, I am fine, just hit my head on the side. I will try to take a picture this week.

Halloween in Almaty

We found Halloween in Almaty. It wasn't easy but there is a gated community right next to the school and many of the people there are ex-pat's and they celebrated Halloween in the compound. When I say compound though--that means we live in the projects. It was great--extremely safe, almost no cars and the houses that were willing to do the Halloween thing were really into it. There is a fence around the whole place with a couple guards at the front gate. Needless to say--we have enough candy to keep us going til Christmas.

Finding costumes wasn't easy though and a little pricey. Finally, an older lady in the market went digging on her top shelf in her container and pulled out a bag with three costumes--thank goodness they fit Kyla and Cody. Being that we don't have much extra here and no sewing machine it was pretty hard to be creative or alter something. Cody wore his knap sack backwards so that he could have the candy put in directly. He was pretty quiet but he did get into the whole scene. As you can see on the last picture--Kyla was a little too much into it!!!

Flying at the Farm.

Multi-culturalism defined: last weekend I met an American with a heavy Latvian accent (if there is such a thing) who told us that there is a local paragliding club in Almaty. He told me to wait on a particular corner any Saturday, at 10am, and look around for jumpers. These kind of people are an easy breed to identify in the wild: chain smokers, fidgety, poorly dressed in ratty, but previously expensive gear. My Latvian contact wasn’t there. And it turns out he’s Lithuanian. And his name isn’t Jag, it’s Ginn. But the group took me in and we drove 25km out of town. It didn’t seem to faze them that I couldn’t speak much Russian: the language of gear, equipment, meteorology, and curse words has been anglicized anyway, so we had a good trip on our way to the hills.

Upon arrival, we unloaded 4 hang-gliders, and a half dozen 50lb bags filled with paragliders. More hung-over jumpers trickled in as we were getting set-up. Dimitri, an excellent (and licensed) instructor asked me to assemble one glider while he worked on the other. I hesitated a little. His English was pretty good. He said “I thought you said you were a pilot and a jumper.” To which I responded “Yeah, a hundred years ago, and I wasn’t really good at either task.” He said “Don’t worry. That glider is a hundred years old.” Upon closer inspection, I think the Wright brothers may have borrowed some of the technology on this old bird.

But I went to work, and within an hour we had two workable gliders and about 500lbs of paragliding gear to haul up the hill, the old fashioned way. Dimitri and Denise are two excellent instructors. Very friendly and very willing to help share the excitement of flying.
The glider practise was great fun. I hardly got it two feet off of the ground. But it was heavy and awkward to carry back up the hill, as the one photo shows. My arms, shoulders, ribs, lower back, and legs, are in agony today. We took quite a beating running down the hill, falling and jumping, willing these crates to get airborn.

But the paragliding work was the highlight of the day. It’s surprisingly hard work to get them in the air as well. I’m used to just falling out of a plane while the canopy opens it itself. But these needed to be pulled up behind you at the right time while you start running like someone just lit a match in a meth-lab. And you have to pump your arms up and down to inflate all of the air cells in the canopy. Then hopefully, it steers straight and you get a bit of a glide as you untangle the brake lines from the risers. A few minutes later, start looking for a place to land. Or in my case, slide to a stop in the field full of sheep shit. The Almaty Paragliding Club leases a couple hundred acres off of a local sheep ranch. The picture with the Kazak kid looking at us in our gear is a local shepherd taking a break.

It was a great way to spend the morning and I am going to become a member of their little club. But I need a helmet, some padding, and a scarf because these savages jump in the winter as well. A cup wouldn’t hurt either--their harnesses aren’t, how can I say, ergonomically comfortable.

As I started hitch-hiking home, I looked behind me and noticed how picturesquely and idyllically situated the Muslim graveyard was at the bottom of the gliding hill. Look closely at the exact centre of the photo and you will see my new Kazak friends ready to start running down the hill. Kind of like one-stop-shopping.

Pax, Dave