Thursday, August 30, 2007
Today and tomorrow are Constitution Day(s) – holidays. There wasn’t a parade or anything like that. I was told by one of my students that those only occur in the capital. So, no really big festivities going on, but there were lots of people out enjoying the parks, theme parks, circus, etc.
This morning, I woke up, did a bit of laundry and reading and then headed off to find the circus. It isn’t really a circus with animals, at least as far as I can see. It is more of a theme park – Fantasy Land – and an arena for show-style horse riding. By show style, I mean like what you see in circuses, with the women standing on the horses, doing tricks, etc. I also found the soccer stadium, another grocery store and a few other stores and shops. I don’t know if they will be helpful, given the fact that they are so far away from my apartment. After this two hour walk, I went back to the apartment for some lunch and did some reading.
James told me earlier in the morning that a student of ours had offered to take us around the city a little bit in the afternoon. We agreed that about 2 would be a good time for the student to come by. In reality, he didn’t get here until about 3. Not a big deal really, I did a bit more reading than I thought I would do. No big deal. He actually has a car, which is a rarity here and truly shows how affluent he is. So he picked us up and we headed down to the mountain to the central part of the city to a mall of types for me to buy a cell phone. It is much easier to do with this a local. So I now have a cell phone, which is good to have for safety if nothing else.
After that, he proceeded to ask us what next, as if we knew what we wanted to see in the city. James and I didn’t know anything in particular and asked for his suggestions. He didn’t have too many. So I suggested monuments. He tried to show us a few parks, buildings. I now know where the ballet building is. So, I hope to attend one of those in the near future. I just need to figure out the schedule – wish me luck on that one.
We did a few more stops at parks and such and then decided to meet up with another KIMEP student who is new to the area as well. We went to the soccer stadium that I had just visited that morning to pick her up. While waiting for her, we figured out a bit more about our phones, working them, adding minutes, etc. All useful things to know. We finally picked up the other student, she is from Russia and came to KIMEP to learn English. From there we ran through a mall quickly and then went down to see another monument. This monument is the one I actually have seen before and is quite famous, as far as monuments in Kazakhstan go. It is a hunter with a bow and arrow standing on a snow leopard. It has some gold in it. It is a very nice statue overall.
From there we headed downtown again to a concert. By this point, it was getting late and our guide, the guy with the car, I think felt a little unsafe with all of us depending on him in that type of atmosphere. So, he suggested that we call it a night. It was 8:30 pm by the time James and I got home and I was more than willing to go back to the apartment. But it was very nice to have someone help us through the day and show us around. I need to work on getting him to teach me Russian. But as you might guess, his English is much better than my Russian, so we ended up doing almost all of our talking in English.
So the afternoon was good overall. The student was wonderful - very helpful, polite and wanted to make sure we had everything we needed. The other student we picked up was also very nice.
Today and tomorrow are Constitution Day(s) – holidays. There wasn’t a parade or anything like that. I was told by one of my students that those only occur in the capital. So, no really big festivities going on, but there were lots of people out enjoying the parks, theme parks, circus, etc.
This morning, I woke up, did a bit of laundry and reading and then headed off to find the circus. It isn’t really a circus with animals, at least as far as I can see. It is more of a theme park – Fantasy Land – and an arena for show-style horse riding. By show style, I mean like what you see in circuses, with the women standing on the horses, doing tricks, etc. I also found the soccer stadium, another grocery store and a few other stores and shops. I don’t know if they will be helpful, given the fact that they are so far away from my apartment. After this two hour walk, I went back to the apartment for some lunch and did some reading.
James told me earlier in the morning that a student of ours had offered to take us around the city a little bit in the afternoon. We agreed that about 2 would be a good time for the student to come by. In reality, he didn’t get here until about 3. Not a big deal really, I did a bit more reading than I thought I would do. No big deal. He actually has a car, which is a rarity here and truly shows how affluent he is. So he picked us up and we headed down to the mountain to the central part of the city to a mall of types for me to buy a cell phone. It is much easier to do with this a local. So I now have a cell phone, which is good to have for safety if nothing else.
After that, he proceeded to ask us what next, as if we knew what we wanted to see in the city. James and I didn’t know anything in particular and asked for his suggestions. He didn’t have too many. So I suggested monuments. He tried to show us a few parks, buildings. I now know where the ballet building is. So, I hope to attend one of those in the near future. I just need to figure out the schedule – wish me luck on that one.
We did a few more stops at parks and such and then decided to meet up with another KIMEP student who is new to the area as well. We went to the soccer stadium that I had just visited that morning to pick her up. While waiting for her, we figured out a bit more about our phones, working them, adding minutes, etc. All useful things to know. We finally picked up the other student, she is from Russia and came to KIMEP to learn English. From there we ran through a mall quickly and then went down to see another monument. This monument is the one I actually have seen before and is quite famous, as far as monuments in Kazakhstan go. It is a hunter with a bow and arrow standing on a snow leopard. It has some gold in it. It is a very nice statue overall.
From there we headed downtown again to a concert. By this point, it was getting late and our guide, the guy with the car, I think felt a little unsafe with all of us depending on him in that type of atmosphere. So, he suggested that we call it a night. It was 8:30 pm by the time James and I got home and I was more than willing to go back to the apartment. But it was very nice to have someone help us through the day and show us around. I need to work on getting him to teach me Russian. But as you might guess, his English is much better than my Russian, so we ended up doing almost all of our talking in English.
So the afternoon was good overall. The student was wonderful - very helpful, polite and wanted to make sure we had everything we needed. The other student we picked up was also very nice.
As far as interesting food for today - I tried a lamb kabob. Very fatty, but the meat was good. They eat the kabob with raw onions, bread, and an optional vinegar-based sauce. After the kabob, I ate a bread dessert with poppy seeds in the middle. It was slightly sweet and a nice post-kabob piece. Other than those things, I ate the normal fruits, cereal, bread, peanut butter, etc.
With my new phone, I am going to call the landlord and ask him to fix the oven. We are paying enough that that should be fixed. Tomorrow I am going to inquire about a trip to the mountains that KIMEP is hosting on Saturday. However, KIMEP needs to be open for me to do that. I don’t know if that will be the case.
Alright, good enough for tonight. I need to put the sheets back on the bed (I washed them this morning), take a shower, and get ready for bed.
Hope all is well!
Amanda
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