Shymbulak skiing area
The past two weeks have kinda been a blur, but here is my attempted summary.
Friday, November 9
Happy New Year! The first snow of the year! For some reason, people say Happy New Year with the first big snow of the year. Not sure why. We got about 6 inches of snow on Friday, so it was more snow than I had seen in a while. The city was gorgeous afterwards, but it sure was cold. That night Joey and I went to a club for a drink and some dancing. Again, it was cold. J
Saturday, November 10
This was the day after the very large snow. Things were still covered in white fluff, but it was melting and turning grey. The water channels had some snow melt running in them. Joey and I decided to go for a walk around Almaty. However, because it was so cold I decided to break out my wonderful, brown, long sleep bag coat, aka my parka. With my brown boots, brown toboggan (hat for people not from the South), and brown fur-lined hood on my coat, I think I successfully looked like a brown Eskimo. Joey got a kick out of my outfit when he first saw me.
On the walk, we went to one possible housing location, a neat grocery store and the central park. The central park was crawling with bridal parties. I think we saw about 7 bridal parties there. If I was to ever get married in Almaty, I would go to that park first to see what kind of gown I want. There are some interesting styles. Almost all of the dresses are ornate with lace, ribbons, hoops, etc. The dresses in winter also have a fur coat that goes with the dress. Joey correctly assumed that the people must be wasted by the end of day, because they drink copious amounts of alcohol at each stop, such as a national monument or the mountains. The bridal parties make numerous stops.
Sunday, November 11
Joey and I went to the home of his Babushka, the lady he had a homestay with at the beginning of his time here in Almaty. She is a very nice lady and was glad to have us visit her. I am afraid that my Russian still isn’t wonderful, so the conversation was limited. But it was a nice time nonetheless. Before going to Joey’s Babushka, we went to the large market nearby her place. It is the “Second” Green Bazaar, so there were lots of goods being sold like clothes, office supplies, etc. as well as many types of fruits, vegetables, meats, and dry goods. Those markets are always fun to walk around in and see what you can find.
Monday, November 12 through Friday, November 16
My tutoring family returned from vacation so I had my regular schedule of tutoring in the morning MWF, and then KIMEP in the afternoon and/or evening. The women are very nice, and bought me a nice bottle of perfume in Dubai.
The younger of the two women, Salta who wants to go to college in the US, has SATs, TOEFL and SAT IIs coming up within the next two months. So we are busily preparing for those tests. In addition, she has all of her college applications due at the end of December. Keep your fingers crossed for her! To show her dedication to studying, Salta is skipping a trip to London this coming week. So, I have Salta for a good chunk of time this coming week. Hopefully we will get a lot done. Also, because she is home alone, I have invited her for dinner this coming Monday, the 19th.
I made a quiche with cauliflower one night this week. It was decent. Unfortunately cauliflower isn’t as flavorful as other veggies, like spinach and broccoli. So it wasn’t the tastiest quiche, but it was decent.
On Friday KIMEP hosted a nice tea for teachers at the Language Center. These teas are always entertaining because simultaneously to eating lunch there is a program that teachers create with singing, interesting facts, etc.
Saturday, November 17
Today was busy with English Clubs – Joey’s and mine. Joey had his EC at noon, so I helped him set up a bit and gave a short presentation on my family. It was the same presentation that I gave to my EC a few weeks ago. I left his EC around 12:45 pm so I could meet my EC at 1 pm. We went to Medeu. Most of the people went ice skating, but Dinara and I took a cab farther up in the mountains to Shymbulak to hike. Shymbulak is the skiing area that Joey and I will eventually visit, but the ski slopes aren’t open yet because there isn’t enough snow. They expect to open in December. I believe that it will cost about $60 a person to go skiing there. That would include ski lift tickets (you buy the individually), transportation up there, and skis. But I am not entirely certain.
Dinara and I went up to the area to hike. We followed the chair lifts for a while, and then took a side trip to the top of a mountain ridge to look at the other side of the mountain. Even though my sneakers and jeans got soaked when blazing a trail in 2 feet snow, the hike up the mountain was worth it. We had a great view. The mountains were covered in snow, but the highest peaks are just rock. No snow was on those peaks, and they contrasted nicely with the white slopes. Evergreens are located on the slopes as well, so they added a nice bit of color. I will post pictures when I get them from Dinara.
To keep ourselves entertained during the hike, Dinara and I sung songs. She taught me one about a Christmas tree in Russian. I sang a few for her in English and others we sang together in English. So it was an entertaining hike. We then took a taxi back down to the skating rink to meet up with the rest of the group. The hike back on the road would have taken too long.
Once getting back to Almaty by a bus, I met up with Joey and we made a chicken pot pie for dinner. A few improvements are needed, but overall it was a good first attempt. I usually make the pie with corn and lima beans. But they don’t have lima beans here, so we used short pieces of green beans.
Sunday, November 18
The housing search continues and D-day is fast approaching – this Thursday. No home yet. We have a few options, but none that are fully acceptable. There is one apartment that might have rooms to rent, which is what I would like to do. But I am waiting for details. A teacher needs to get back to me.
Since nothing is assured here, James, one of his friends, and I went searching for the “house/apartment/room renting market.” Yep, just like food, there is a market to find apartments, homes and rooms to rent. We walked around for about an hour and half and couldn’t find the place. But after asking several people and finding people who rent apartments by the hour, we located the “apartment market.” It is a sidewalk crowded with tables, chairs, and people. Some people are looking for places to rent; others are trying to rent their place.
The people who are trying to rent their place have a sheet of paper attached to their chest with the price, number of rooms, and location (usually the nearest street corner). Other people renting places have a table with lists and lists of available places. You just have to look hard enough and you will find almost everything. But you can’t take anything for face value here. You have to haggle and check on everything. We felt like we were scalping for apartments. As you might guess, you need Russian for this market, so it was a good thing that James’ friend knew how to speak Russian. We would have been helpless otherwise. We did get a few numbers for possibilities, but who knows what we actually found. We will have to visit the places this week. Things go quickly here, so who knows if we will find something acceptable.
One fun thing is that Joey has become my personal weight trainer. So, maybe I will have arm muscles when I get back. :)
Friday, November 9
Happy New Year! The first snow of the year! For some reason, people say Happy New Year with the first big snow of the year. Not sure why. We got about 6 inches of snow on Friday, so it was more snow than I had seen in a while. The city was gorgeous afterwards, but it sure was cold. That night Joey and I went to a club for a drink and some dancing. Again, it was cold. J
Saturday, November 10
This was the day after the very large snow. Things were still covered in white fluff, but it was melting and turning grey. The water channels had some snow melt running in them. Joey and I decided to go for a walk around Almaty. However, because it was so cold I decided to break out my wonderful, brown, long sleep bag coat, aka my parka. With my brown boots, brown toboggan (hat for people not from the South), and brown fur-lined hood on my coat, I think I successfully looked like a brown Eskimo. Joey got a kick out of my outfit when he first saw me.
On the walk, we went to one possible housing location, a neat grocery store and the central park. The central park was crawling with bridal parties. I think we saw about 7 bridal parties there. If I was to ever get married in Almaty, I would go to that park first to see what kind of gown I want. There are some interesting styles. Almost all of the dresses are ornate with lace, ribbons, hoops, etc. The dresses in winter also have a fur coat that goes with the dress. Joey correctly assumed that the people must be wasted by the end of day, because they drink copious amounts of alcohol at each stop, such as a national monument or the mountains. The bridal parties make numerous stops.
Sunday, November 11
Joey and I went to the home of his Babushka, the lady he had a homestay with at the beginning of his time here in Almaty. She is a very nice lady and was glad to have us visit her. I am afraid that my Russian still isn’t wonderful, so the conversation was limited. But it was a nice time nonetheless. Before going to Joey’s Babushka, we went to the large market nearby her place. It is the “Second” Green Bazaar, so there were lots of goods being sold like clothes, office supplies, etc. as well as many types of fruits, vegetables, meats, and dry goods. Those markets are always fun to walk around in and see what you can find.
Monday, November 12 through Friday, November 16
My tutoring family returned from vacation so I had my regular schedule of tutoring in the morning MWF, and then KIMEP in the afternoon and/or evening. The women are very nice, and bought me a nice bottle of perfume in Dubai.
The younger of the two women, Salta who wants to go to college in the US, has SATs, TOEFL and SAT IIs coming up within the next two months. So we are busily preparing for those tests. In addition, she has all of her college applications due at the end of December. Keep your fingers crossed for her! To show her dedication to studying, Salta is skipping a trip to London this coming week. So, I have Salta for a good chunk of time this coming week. Hopefully we will get a lot done. Also, because she is home alone, I have invited her for dinner this coming Monday, the 19th.
I made a quiche with cauliflower one night this week. It was decent. Unfortunately cauliflower isn’t as flavorful as other veggies, like spinach and broccoli. So it wasn’t the tastiest quiche, but it was decent.
On Friday KIMEP hosted a nice tea for teachers at the Language Center. These teas are always entertaining because simultaneously to eating lunch there is a program that teachers create with singing, interesting facts, etc.
Saturday, November 17
Today was busy with English Clubs – Joey’s and mine. Joey had his EC at noon, so I helped him set up a bit and gave a short presentation on my family. It was the same presentation that I gave to my EC a few weeks ago. I left his EC around 12:45 pm so I could meet my EC at 1 pm. We went to Medeu. Most of the people went ice skating, but Dinara and I took a cab farther up in the mountains to Shymbulak to hike. Shymbulak is the skiing area that Joey and I will eventually visit, but the ski slopes aren’t open yet because there isn’t enough snow. They expect to open in December. I believe that it will cost about $60 a person to go skiing there. That would include ski lift tickets (you buy the individually), transportation up there, and skis. But I am not entirely certain.
Dinara and I went up to the area to hike. We followed the chair lifts for a while, and then took a side trip to the top of a mountain ridge to look at the other side of the mountain. Even though my sneakers and jeans got soaked when blazing a trail in 2 feet snow, the hike up the mountain was worth it. We had a great view. The mountains were covered in snow, but the highest peaks are just rock. No snow was on those peaks, and they contrasted nicely with the white slopes. Evergreens are located on the slopes as well, so they added a nice bit of color. I will post pictures when I get them from Dinara.
To keep ourselves entertained during the hike, Dinara and I sung songs. She taught me one about a Christmas tree in Russian. I sang a few for her in English and others we sang together in English. So it was an entertaining hike. We then took a taxi back down to the skating rink to meet up with the rest of the group. The hike back on the road would have taken too long.
Once getting back to Almaty by a bus, I met up with Joey and we made a chicken pot pie for dinner. A few improvements are needed, but overall it was a good first attempt. I usually make the pie with corn and lima beans. But they don’t have lima beans here, so we used short pieces of green beans.
Sunday, November 18
The housing search continues and D-day is fast approaching – this Thursday. No home yet. We have a few options, but none that are fully acceptable. There is one apartment that might have rooms to rent, which is what I would like to do. But I am waiting for details. A teacher needs to get back to me.
Since nothing is assured here, James, one of his friends, and I went searching for the “house/apartment/room renting market.” Yep, just like food, there is a market to find apartments, homes and rooms to rent. We walked around for about an hour and half and couldn’t find the place. But after asking several people and finding people who rent apartments by the hour, we located the “apartment market.” It is a sidewalk crowded with tables, chairs, and people. Some people are looking for places to rent; others are trying to rent their place.
The people who are trying to rent their place have a sheet of paper attached to their chest with the price, number of rooms, and location (usually the nearest street corner). Other people renting places have a table with lists and lists of available places. You just have to look hard enough and you will find almost everything. But you can’t take anything for face value here. You have to haggle and check on everything. We felt like we were scalping for apartments. As you might guess, you need Russian for this market, so it was a good thing that James’ friend knew how to speak Russian. We would have been helpless otherwise. We did get a few numbers for possibilities, but who knows what we actually found. We will have to visit the places this week. Things go quickly here, so who knows if we will find something acceptable.
One fun thing is that Joey has become my personal weight trainer. So, maybe I will have arm muscles when I get back. :)
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