Sunday, May 30, 2010
Another Caption Contest
Add a suitable caption for this image. Points for originality and outrageousness. Enter often (Waldo). 
A Soviet Vestige
Meet Alexander Dimitry Pavlovich and his 25 year building project. 
Every morning, he wakes up, lights a smoke, and steps outside to get some sand and stones so he can mix up a batch of concrete for his castle. No electricity. No gas powered machinery. Just a shovel, a trowel, and a pair of rubber boots.
He still has his Communist Party Registration Red Book, below. In my life, I've seen an authentic copy of Mao Zedong's Red Book (in a library) but I never thought I'd ever see a real 'red card' in the hands of an enthusiastic member.
These are his hand-drawn blueprints. He built this by hand, and you might think he's nuts (he actually presented as quite stable and rational) but when you look closely at the first image, above, and consider how much he has accomplished, I think he might actually get it down.
He lives in it during the summer. Not clear on the financing, but the work ethic is fairly plain to see.
Every morning, he wakes up, lights a smoke, and steps outside to get some sand and stones so he can mix up a batch of concrete for his castle. No electricity. No gas powered machinery. Just a shovel, a trowel, and a pair of rubber boots.
He still has his Communist Party Registration Red Book, below. In my life, I've seen an authentic copy of Mao Zedong's Red Book (in a library) but I never thought I'd ever see a real 'red card' in the hands of an enthusiastic member.
These are his hand-drawn blueprints. He built this by hand, and you might think he's nuts (he actually presented as quite stable and rational) but when you look closely at the first image, above, and consider how much he has accomplished, I think he might actually get it down.
He lives in it during the summer. Not clear on the financing, but the work ethic is fairly plain to see.
Zhanna Pachina's Dacha
This is Zhanna's dacha. A dacha is a very common second 'home' for many city dwelling people in the former Soviet Union. 
We work with Zhanna at our school. Her husband died last year and together they owned nearly 2 acres of apples, plums, apricots, cherries and pears.
It's a bit much for her to manage by herself now, so several of us who actually miss doing yard work converge at her dacha once in a while and attack the yard.
More of a cabin than a house, it's perched on the side of the mountains that fence in the city of Almaty. There are thousands of dachas with a 45 minute drive of the city and no two of them are alike. Outdoor toilets, running (mountain cold) water, and a goat-track for a road. 
The first dachas in Russia began to appear during the reign of Peter the Great (1725). Initially they were small estates in the country, which were given to loyal vassals by the Tsar. In archaic Russian, the word dacha means something given.
We work with Zhanna at our school. Her husband died last year and together they owned nearly 2 acres of apples, plums, apricots, cherries and pears.
It's a bit much for her to manage by herself now, so several of us who actually miss doing yard work converge at her dacha once in a while and attack the yard.
More of a cabin than a house, it's perched on the side of the mountains that fence in the city of Almaty. There are thousands of dachas with a 45 minute drive of the city and no two of them are alike. Outdoor toilets, running (mountain cold) water, and a goat-track for a road. 
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Charyn Canyon
We drove 200km's yesterday, one way, to get to Charyn Canyon. It's often referred to as Kazakhstan's mini 'Grand Canyon.'
The drive was so rough that we all have at least one loose dental filling, but it was worth it.
The deepest part of the canyon is 300m below the parking lot. In some places it is 3km's wide, and the river that flows through the bottom is 154km's long. We only hiked about 3km's. It is not recommended to visit in July and August because it is too hot.Monday, May 3, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
When we first said we were moving to Kazakhstan, most people said "where's that?" Initially, we didn't really know where it was either. 
The image above is a yurt; traditional nomadic steppe (prairie) housing. No: we don't live in a yurt.
This is our house. It's about a 3 minute walk from school to our gated community. Because it is so close, we host "Fridays at 4" de-briefs for anyone who is interested, every Friday at 4pm.
But we got a bit carried away this past Friday. Actually, our boss paid for this little get together. Our school has recently been accredited and accepted by the Kazakh government as a fully licensed International School. So we celebrated.
The image above is a yurt; traditional nomadic steppe (prairie) housing. No: we don't live in a yurt.
This is our house. It's about a 3 minute walk from school to our gated community. Because it is so close, we host "Fridays at 4" de-briefs for anyone who is interested, every Friday at 4pm. 
But we got a bit carried away this past Friday. Actually, our boss paid for this little get together. Our school has recently been accredited and accepted by the Kazakh government as a fully licensed International School. So we celebrated.
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