The Last Post

Thanks for visiting our blog. It has acted as an e-photo album of the 2008-2011 school years.

We stopped in England for a few days on our way home in July: Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Dover, where we could see France in the distance.



We're back in BC--a very small town called Fraser Lake, population 1,500; exactly 1,000 times smaller than Almaty, Kazakhstan, where we have been living and studying. Dover, England, below--if you look closely, you can see Edna and the kids wandering along the paths on a beautiful day at the beach.

We originally started this blog in order to document our lives overseas and to keep our families updated on our activities and whereabouts. When we left for Almaty, Kazakhstan, 3 years ago, there was very little 'street-level' information regarding outdoor sports, prices, customs, religious etiquette, etc.

E.g., prior to leaving, Wikipedia asserted that the country was 93% Islamic. We can report, with confidence, that Allah is not impressed with mosque attendance, of late. Our modest little blog became a sort of visitor's guide for people moving to the area who were also challenged by the lack of current, accurate, information.

However, Kyla and Cody made seamless transitions into their new schools: Grade 5 and Grade 3; Edna picked up a part-time job at the Health Clinic; Dave continues to teach at the local highschool; and we have a very nice home on quiet acreage 10 minutes from town. Come visit.

3 years
11 countries

160 flights

7,860 blog hits

10, 649 memories

Good-bye Almaty.

9:44pm, Tuesday night. Kyla and Cody are upstairs having a nap because we are heading for the airport in a few hours. Our 3 year adventure in Central Asia is nearly over. Frankfurt then London for a few days, then Smithers, BC. Thanks for following our blog. We'll post the last pictures and stories soon.

Kyla: Then and Now

This is Kyla (aka Loop)--7.4 years old, and then, receiving flowers from a friend in London, on her 10th Birthday.

Cody--Then and Now

This is Cody on his 5th Birthday in Almaty, and then, 40% of his life later, in Athens, Greece.

Kazakh Mosque Builders

When the Soviets left in 1993, there were 68 operational mosques in Kazkahstan. In 2011, there are more than 2,200. Simple math: they open a new mosque every 3 days.

Saying Goodbye to my Niva

We've been through some things together
With trunks of memories still to come
We found things to do in stormy weather
Long may you run
 
Long may you run, Long may you run
Although these changes have come
With your chrome heart shining
In the sun
Long may you run
 
Neil Young (1976)

Sheep and Yurts

These sheep and sheperds are attached to the entry below. This is 2 hours outside of the city but it could be 100 or a 1,000 years ago. They were very friendly and welcoming, unfazed perhaps, in the same way that we were bemused their lifestyle.  

Yurt--2011

This is a very rare site in Kazakhstan, today. We've been here for three years and this is the first time we've seen such an authentic use of a yurt. They're tents, obviously, but they have a rigid frame and their covering is made of felt. The family that lives in this one moves across the steppe with their sheep, pictured above, for weeks and months at a time. No electricity, no running water, cook outside on a fire, and enjoy the solitude of the steppe.  

Colgate's Miles for Smiles Run

This is a gang of our friends in the 2nd Annual Colgate 5km Run. It's a fundraiser for orphanages in Almaty. Quite successful and lots of fun, if only a little disorganised.  

Kyla and Cody--Summer 2011

The Poppy Fields

We drove 2 hours onto the steppe this past weekend in search of a legendary and ethereal poppy field. Poppies are quite a fragile flower and they have a bad repuation in this part of the world, but we had a great afternoon wandering around in a few acres of wild red-ness: if you want to draw attention, use red..it is often where the eye looks first. Red is the color of energy. It's associated with movement and excitement. People surrounded by red find their heart beating a little faster and often report feeling a bit out of breath.

Red is the ultimate cure for sadness. - Bill Blass

Painters use red like spice. - Derek Jarman

Red means go. V'

Red is the color most chosen by extroverts. -an introvert.

In the former U.S.S.R. (Kazakhstan), red means beautiful. The Bolsheviks used a red flag as their symbol when they overthrew the tsar in 1917. That is how red became the color of communism.

The Last Poet, by Juan A. Beigh

On news-stands now, across Canada. Hurry, before they're all sold! Ed Janzen (editor-publisher) of Canadian Stories based in Fergus, Ontario, risked his professional reputation by publishing a short story I wrote. No money, no fame, but if I inflate it a bit, it'll make my obituary a little less mundane. Special thanks to Jack Hodgins for 10 years of encouragement.  

May "Longweekend."

No: I didn't take these amazing pictures. Our good friend from Kamloops did--Judy Gray. We camped with Peter and Judy last weekend. It's good to hang out with Canadians.

The Kazakh Steppe

No trees, no traffic, no problem.

Kazakh Images

Summer is here.

It's May, so that means we're having trouble making posts again. We went camping last week, and, in keeping with BC's May 24th weekend, it rained. But it was fun.

Poros and Ageana

We rented a car and some bikes while in the islands.

Why hasn't anyone written a movie script about the places you can (and should) take a rental car? The guy didn't even ask for a damage deposit.

A Loop Silhouette.

Biking around the islands was great; we plan to do the same in BC's Gulf Islands when we get back.

We booked ferries and hotels on Santorini, but, at 6:30am, we were told that a big storm out on the Aegean prevented ships from leaving port in Athens. So we jumped on a small ferry and went island hopping near the coast where the weather didn't affect travel.

Poros is only a few hours from downtown Athens, but it seems a lot further.

And it was so quiet on these islands, we could behave however we wanted.

We stayed in this suite for a few days. Great view of the harbour, but you can't point that out to Cody when he's using his alloted 30 minutes a day of PSP time.

You know what Greek Salad is called in Greece? Salad. We had salad, olives, feta cheese, cucumbers, and bread, EVERY day. It was so good, I nearly set my alarm for 3am so I could get up and eat some more. The image above is the view from our restaraunt.

A Birthday Card for Russ

Happy Birthday Russ! Here's an e-card for you. (Russ has race horses and property in Aldergrove, BC, where he lets old horses retire with him.) This bronze horse and rider are in the Central Museum in Athens. They spent nearly 2,000 years at the bottom of the Mediterranean until they were found in the 1970's. Click on this image for detail; it's quite amazing. Happy Birthday, Russ!

Athens: March 2011

Spring Break: 2011. We booked flights to Cairo via Istanbul but there was a little bit of rock throwin' going on so we had breakfast at the Istanbul airport and went to Athens instead. The Acropolis was great but very cold and windy which meant very few tourists.

We spent the first day on foot, walking all around the city eating fresh bread and olives.

But it was windy; we nearly got blown off the top of the Acropolis.

A late (but great) Winter

It has been cold, but we've been enjoying it. Here we are skiing with our American peers.

Almaty at Altitude

There is a park on the city limits called Kok-Tobe. Rather like Vancouver's Cypress Bowl, it offers a unique view of the city below. We hiked it last Friday evening. It's been unusualy cold here for the past few weeks: -10 to -15. But this is what the city looks like at 6pm on a Friday at the end of February.

Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass Beatle

We dropped Kyla off at a birthday party and we decided to go for a small hike while we waited for her. It was -15. Not bad by BC standards, but for Almaty, it was quite an ordeal. We've been here for three years, and we can't find the explanation for why they play Beatles music 24 hours a day at this little display of solid brass Beatles in a park above the city.

Vietnam: A Random Sampling