Central Eurasian Mission - Week 7 - May 1- May 7, 2017

Our first 'humanitarian' act of the week was to meet with our potential mushroom partners.  That sounds sort of flippant, so I'll call them our "Mushroom Growing Facility for Disabled Adults" partner.  I'm just going to call them the mushroom people - a lot easier.  We met them at the Downtown Anticafe (off bus line #2-in case you want to meet us there) which is right on the bank of the Ishim River.  This river has been enhanced by a dam downstream and by additional water from other upstream sources - so the beautiful river is a bit artificial but looks great to the populace and visitors.  If you had a boat and went downstream, you'd eventually paddle into the Ob River and make your way north to the Barents Sea.  For those of you who don't know what an anticafe is, google "what is an anticafe cafe"

Here's the river.  Notice the pristine riverbank suitable for salmon spawning, etc.



And an "I Heart Astana" sign



We met up with our mushroom people, and they took us to this really cute cafe  where they ordered a pizza, drinks, and some pie like/cake like dessert.  I almost got a doughnut, but....I didn't want to be disappointed.



This cafe is also one of the places where souvenirs that the hearing impaired (I just can't say deaf) people, who we've helped, can sell their wares.



We had a lively discussion and cleared up many of our questions.  We gave them a list of information we need in order to be able to submit the project for approval.  And we have been w a i t i n g  all week to hear from them.  We placate ourselves knowing that this last week and next week are a major holiday time for Kazakhstan.

We we arrived in Kaz we registered with the US Embassy.  It was an optional action that we chose to follow.  By registering we are able to receive emergency notifications, and if the world in Kaz ends, then embassy people will know where to look for us (in the ruble, maybe).  One item we get via email is the embassy's newsletter called, Steppe’n Out in Astana. In the newsletter we learned about a Town Hall Meeting for expats.  So we went.

See the little American flag with high rise apartments as a backdrop?



And the name on the building, and a main door with a drop-bar gate.  To go through the gate, a car enters under the bar into an enclosure.  Then actual bars (like a cage) come down in front of and behind the car.  After an 'okay' from a guard, the cage is lifted, and the car can proceed.





It was an interesting meeting.  There were about 15 of us in attendance.  The consul spoke to us and so did the ambassador - also the Public Relations guy and the Security Director. They did tell us that, only in movies, if you find yourself in jail, can you call the embassy and expect to be sprung.  Great refreshments and then about a two mile walk home.

The next activity we looked forward to was paying the rent.  Our landlady called the young volunteers (YVs) to let them us know when they were coming.  The YVs were going to help us the first time, since the landlady speaks absolutely zero English. So we were waiting and the bell rings!  And at about the same time the landlady and her husband arrive, the young volunteers call and say that one of them is having a major issue with his contacts and they are going home to tend to the affected eye.  So, pretending we were orphans, we did it ourselves. I barely translated anything, but I did understand the numbers and the words for electricity and hot water, and cold water, and we made it all work.

We showed them the things in the apartment that are broken and that we'd like repaired: the broken kitchen sink faucet; the light in the toilet room that does not work; the kitchen cupboards that do not function correctly (yeah- they're different.  The doors do not open out to the side but rather they drop down from the top); our card does not work in the elevator anymore; the magnet key does not work; the old stove and refrigerator were left on our balcony.  Through charades and broken Russian, we felt that a "master" would come by the next day to fix things - well, some things - faucet, cupboards, and key.

Here's our kitchen sink without the faucet.  Turn it on, and there is a geyser.



And the repair man fixing and Dad vacuuming.





We'd sat around all day in the apt waiting for the repairman.  We were stir crazy and decided to walk to the River Ishim - about a two and a half mile walk.

First - walk through a big park and sit by a fountain, take photo of kids on pedal cars, and a shark on the wall of a Bounce House.





It was a beautiful evening for a walk.  The temp was comfortable, and there was no wind mingled with blowing sand.  It's a peaceful walk with lovers strolling, and bike riders, and inline skaters. There is a HUGE track in a big open space that is for bikers and skaters.  In this location, the city seems to be really trying to develop a beautiful and peaceful place.

Second - Take a selfie at the bridge






and dip my hand into the water - I've also touched the Ganges River...euweegh.



Third - walk back home and stop at Interfood which is a wonderful place with all kinds of German food (like frozen vegetables) and other things that just aren't available at our neighborhood ANBAP store.  We bought a pop, a vegetable brush, and a muffin tin - real exciting things.

A good selection of gummis - this photo is for Warren



For cooking this week, I successfully made snicker-bit cookies and chicken soup.    They were both almost perfect, but the snicker-bits melted and stuck to the muffin tin, and I put too much cabbage in the soup - probably shouldn't have put in any cabbage.





The noodles I bought came all rolled up into little bundles.  New to me.



There are construction projects going on everywhere - probably because all such projects need to be done in the summer.  Our apartment building is getting a a refurbished entrance.  All of the stucco on the walls is being removed.  First a worker uses a hatchet to pit the stucco and then some other hand tool removes the plaster.



New concrete was mixed and placed to make a new surface on the porch.  Surprisingly, the workers mixed the concrete right on the concrete pavement of the parking lot - pile of sand, add cement, and bring two buckets of water and mix.  You can see exactly where the mixing occurred.  Different country, different building practices.  The concrete layer on the porch was finished late in the evening, and in the morning an elevated wooden platform had been installed to walk over the new concrete.  Wooden pallet, piece of plywood and an old door.  Just don't take your first or last step on the end of the door.



You probably think we only go to food stores, but food is important to us!  We took a long bus ride to METRO which is kinda like Costco, but just kinda.

We had to do a bus transfer to #71 which was a different experience with an un classy interior.







Lots of bottled water sold in Kazakhstan!






There were no hot dogs or pizza or chicken bake, so we got some sushi!  Which we ate at a bus stop.  Not exactly like Sushi Boat but still yummy.



The first and second weeks in May are holiday weeks - Verteran's Day, End of Patriotic War Day, and Armed Forces Day.  Sunday (today), finally,  was the big parade.  I posted a photo a week or so ago showing military vehicles positioned on a main road.  And for the last two weeks helicopters and jets and prop planes have been flying overhead.  All that practice came to fruition today.  Honestly, Dad and I thought that we'd walk to a street that we figured was part of the parade route, then find a nice place to watch and cheer on whoever and whatever passed in front of us.  We got to our street of choice and found all the military vehicles at the ready to move.












We were walking along and realized that the street was the staging area for the parade - this military equipment was not parading, it were waiting. Then there was a barricade and no one could continue to walk along the road.  Everyone was funnelled away from the road, and the crowd seemed to know where they were going, so we followed.  We followed along like lemmings until we came to the Palace of Independence Square, an enormous square, and the security stations through which we had to pass





We had gotten there early and found a nice place to stand - it was on an elevated platform built around a lamppost about ten feet away from a security fence that kept everyone away from the street. We thought we had it made.  Then the crowds started to arrive, and many numerous numbers of people squeezed their way into the area between us and the fence.  Parents put their toddlers on their shoulders; some put their big kids on their shoulders; one man even hefted his wife upon his shoulders.  We had been standing there for about two hours.  We were suffering from sore leg and knee syndrome.  We could see nothing.  Then there were long speeches made even longer because we could understand neither the Kazakh nor Russian renditions of the speeches.  Soldiers came into view - we could see the tippy tips of their helmets.  The crowd was crushing us from all directions.  I had my arms crossed in front of me to keep the man in front of me from pushing me over.  There was absolutely no personal space -- -  and I had thought that only happened in China.  We'd had it, turned around and pushed our way out of the crowd.  Looking back we could see the antennas of the military vehicles who were making their way in front of the stadium seating, but we'd already seen that military might parked along the road.

Overhead we saw the beginning of the airplane flyovers that we'd witnessed in the skies over our apartment for the last two weeks.



Walking out of the area was an experience in itself.  The were an uncountable number of cars parked in the area through which we had passed a few hours previously.  Think of going to an event - like a county fair or a rodeo - that is kinda in the countryside where the parking will occur on rough ground (no grass) and possibly it was a former construction site.  Then imagine that there was no one organizing the parking - no smiling boy scouts in uniform directing you to your parking spot in a long line of other parked cars.  These cars were parked helter skelter, and they were all trying to leave at the same time.  Horns honking.  People walking in amongst the cars.  Strong winds - and sand blowing in your face.  One driver was even driving his car in reverse in order to exit the area  It was both awful and wondrous at the same time.



On the way back to the apartment we walked on some back roads - took a short cut, perhaps.  I took a photo so that those of you on Brunner can be truly thankful for your new road.  Imagine this in the rain or snow.



Next week we're hopeful that we can meet with other potential humanitarian partners and not just relate our shopping experiences.