A Day Off

These are two relaxed kids taking it easy on a Saturday. Our weekends are usually very busy, but not in a bad way. We’ve been regular Saturday skiers and Sundays are still reserved for church in the morning and hiking or something outdoorsy in the afternoon--remember, most of our shopping is performed outdoors. Staff parties, checking out cultural Kazakh events and craft fairs, or playing and biking in the secure playground at school takes up the rest of our time. So sometimes, as above, we ask the kids “Do you want to take the day off and just stay home?”

They usually agree.

Kozhe Soup

I sincerely don’t want to offend Kazakh people but there’s no way to not present as xenophobic in this entry. This is kozhe soup. It’s a seasonal delicacy. Full of clumps and lumps. Warm, yogurty milk. Overboiled noodles, lots of salt, chunks of congealed, slurpy horse fat, rice or oats, and a few items I’d rather not know about. Example: those aren’t olives floating around in there. Be sure to 'click' on these images so you can examine the clumps, grit, gel, and oscillating layers.

Prepared at home, lugged out to the park in 10 gallon increments, and sold by the communal bowl; that is, they wipe out the bowl used by the last customer and then fill it up for you. Oh, yeah; no spoon--you gotta wrap your lips around that bowl. Mmmm.

But I had some yesterday. It’s not bad. But I’d be lying if I said it was good. So, as a culinary critic, not a xenophobe, I’m saying if you get a chance to sample Kozhe, take a pass.

Goat's Head Soup

One of our favourite outdoor markets had a special on sheep’s heads. We tried buying a new pet for Kyla, it only cost $2.40 but she didn’t want one. Actually, this is the Zilli-oni
Bazaar, otherwise called the Green Bazaar. It was featured on “The Amazing Race.” So many people e-mailed us about that, but we haven’t seen it. If one of you out there has a copy or sees the August 2008 episode, could you make a copy for us, please?

The Faces of Almaty

It takes a lot of effort to learn the Russian language and a regret I have is not having enough time to study it well enough to speak with characters like these. I’m certain that they weren’t born in hospitals and that their life’s chances were dramatically shaped by living under Soviet conditions.

A highly recommended read: “Apples are from Kazakhstan” by Christopher Robbins. It’s a very easy, educational read, part travel book, part social critique, and part history. It’s an excellent source of context for us and I think most people would enjoy reading it. Example: About 10 city blocks away from our home is Leon Trotsky’s old apartment. He arrived here in 1928, exiled by Stalin himself. Solzhenitsyn was also one of Joseph’s guests here on his way to being banished (whereupon he began writing "The Gulag Archipelago" and "One Day in the the Life of..."). And apples really are from Kazakhstan.

The point: I would really like to sit and talk with gentlemen like the above and ask them the sorts of questions you would ask a grandfather, but it’s almost impossible.

Almaty Ballet

There are so many ways to be surprised by this country. As we approach summer, we find ourselves talking about ’home’ a lot. Not in a homesick sort of way, rather in a way that makes us anticipate “the familiar.” That is, Edna wants a glass of milk, Cody wants to go biking with free abandon, Kyla wants to hang out with Tina or work in 9a‘s classroom, and I would like to be able to drive past a cop without having my blood pressure fluctuate.

But we have been surprised and amazed by literally hundreds of things. How about Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake?” We went to see our first ballet on Friday night. It was amazing. A live orchestra and about 50 dancers, 36 were swans. It was world class--another remnant of the Soviet influence is the highly subsidized and easily accessed fine arts. Opera, ballet, orchestra, and children’s Saturday theatre--puppet plays, magic shows, clowns, etc.--can be attended for as little as $2. We had third row seats for “Swan Lake” that cost $10 in a beautiful theatre. And it can start as early as 5pm in order to accommodate families.

Kyla just finished 6 months of ballet at school so she thought it was great. Cody enjoyed it, but it was a bit long: 2.5 hours.