Let's put the "fun" back in dysfunctional!

Only the Soviets could have conjured up this display--implements of war and destruction proudly exhibited at the "Almaty Family Fun Park."We're always a bit creeped out when we see this sort of thing amidst the balloons, popcorn vendors, and merry-go-rounds--maybe we're too Canadian.

Hey, Jerry: I think the helicopter is a Mil Mig Mi-8. Have you ever jumped out of one?

And this one, below, is either a Sukhoi S-221 or a Mikoyan Mig 195.

The image above is what aircraft should be used for: making love, not war. And they shouldn't drop bombs; they should only drop my friends at the Abbotsford Parachute Centre. Hi, Debbie.

Ili River/Kazakh Steppe

We went out for a drive onto the steppe, in pursuit of 1200 year old petroglyphs. Above Cody's head, on the other side of the Ili River (eal-ee), is an "old" nomad fortress/movie set used for the movie "Nomads" or "Mongol." The picture below is a great example of the physiography here. Flat and barren, punctuated with the occasional river canyon, or ruggedly mountainous, similar to the Rockies.

Edna and Kyla, just before we descend into the canyon, 1000 feet below.

Potatoes anyone?

We counted 30 bags of spuds in/on this car. If each bag weighs 50lbs, then at 1500lbs, I'm pretty sure the spuds weigh more than the car.

Temperature Change

On Monday, Oct 18th, it was 26 degrees celsius here in the city. Today, Oct 22, we woke up to a little bit of winter.

Autumn in Almaty

This is Almaty after 24 hours of rain and an 80km/hour wind, i.e., no smog. This is our new hiking club on top of the ridge of the photo above.

A paradigm shift in citizenship dynamics on our staff: 6/7 of the above are Canadian.

Cathy: Ottawa; the V's: BC; Peter and Judy Grey: Kamloops; Brock: Wisconsin.

The snow line is dropping here too.

Little Mosque under construction

There's a new mosque being built in our neighbourhood. Cody and I walked over to admire their craftsmanship. All brick and mortar; no wood, no steel. There was an aged, robed gentlemen at the main entry selling prayer mats and texts from the Koran. Cody and I really wanted to get into the site and meet the workers who were quite freindly and welcoming from behind the construction fencing.

I asked the gate guy "Moshe-nah? (Permission?)
He said, in Russian, "Do you speak Russian?"

I said "Nyet."

"Parlez vous Francais?"

I said "Petit," but I should have just said "non" in order to save time.

"Deutsche?"

"Nein"

"Urdu?" (the Hindustani language of the Muslim world)

"Nyet." (Holy macaroni: who is this guy? Four languages and counting.)

Patiently, as if to test me, he asked "Allah u Akbar?" (God is great?)

Finally! We could communicate! "Allah u Akbar!" I replied.

"Moshe-nah," he replied, smiling. ("Permission," and he gestured for us to enter.)

We took exactly 20 steps and then the mullah saw us (the mosque's main teacher). He stopped us and started giving the gate guy trouble. We've visited several mosques in 3-4 different countries and there are usually places within them that are clearly innapropriate for us to enter. But in Almaty, we weren't even allowed in the entry way. Maybe next time.