Guess who came to visit us this week????
Well---not Dad (he's been here all the time), but Holland!!!
And Holland is learning basic gymnastics
This is Holland's favorite pose....and spot.
We've been having lots of fun walking around the city, experiencing Astana, and hanging out with each other, and watching Warren do goofy things.
They brought (two boxes) me my favorite candy
And my Mother's Day present...from all my kids. It is a new Fit Bit Charge 2. My old one was falling apart occasionally. This new one has so many more features; now I can obsessively spend even more time measuring my steps and minutes sleeping and so forth. Thank you children.
WEDNESDAY - they arrived at 2:30 am. We were able to get to our apartment while the sky was still dark and go to sleep, but most of the day was spent being groggy. We did go to our little cafeteria in the shopping center (which is about 250 steps from our front door.)
Wednesday was the last day the Elder Crawford would be on his mission here in Kazakhstan. He was being transferred to Yekaterinburg the next day where he would spend his last two weeks as a missionary and then return directly to Rexburg from Russia. So, we had a "good-bye" dinner for him at our favorite sashlik restaurant. It was a good and sad time. Elder Crawford has been with us for about a year, and we learned to love him. He has great plans for his future - he wants to own a restaurant or become an accountant or be a pilot - so many choices for an exceptional young man. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of him - here's one from the Mission Conference...our last picture of him...he's on the right.
But at the restaurant we did get a good photo of Holland with the owner of the restaurant.
THURSDAY - about mid morning we heard loud music coming from the school yard which is behind our apartment. There was a crowd gathering on the 'parade ground'. Holland was sleeping so Dad and WW took off to join in the festivities. Turned out it was graduation day for elementary school age children.
Everyone was dressed to the T's and proudly holding their certificates. And the girls' hair bows were exceptional.
In this school (School #53) there is a strong cadet program for boys and girls..mostly boys. In the spring we seen them practicing marching and then. as teams, they do physical fitness competitions.
Whitney was smitten by this young man whose hat is magnificent.
All the while, Holland was missing her mom.
The WWs tried out the playground apparatuses.
The Rocker
The Teeter-Totter
The Climber (don't know what to call this one)
In the afternoon we went to the Central Market - this is where we bought Dad's mink hat. It is a huge place where you can buy almost anything.
Whitney tried on dresses
She wanted this one but talked herself out of it.
and this one - - ahh,no
She liked this one too
And baby clothes - tons of baby clothes. All the shopkeepers were so hopeful.
and they bought this one which she wore to church today.
Warren likes Dad's flat caps (Galen's cap, cabbies cap, longshoreman's cap, newsboy cap. --lots of names. I think they look like European men's caps) so much that he wanted to get one too. Guess how many he tried on -- right, you can't. The number is uncountable! He finally decided on one which has more flair than Dad's style and has a sleeker look.
Here is Dad modeling it and then Warren.
We went to the mink hat shop where I tried on my favorite one. Whitney modeled this one.
So many things to see and buy....and everything is really cheap...don't know about the quality.
It was raining and so the vendors covered up all of their wares that were exposed
Can't figure out what these things are.
And at this jacket shop, we spotted these which have Ivan's name written all over them - probably the pink one or the lavender plaid one would be Ivan's choice.
We ate lunch in this little restaurant which was nestled in amongst all of he vendor's stalls. We had Lagman and Manti.
FRIDAY - We had a meeting with out translator. She has finished school and can no longer translate for us. She brought along a young man she knows who speaks English well, and introduced him to us. We'll use him this summer.
We met at Keuren Mall which is huge. We're at one of the entrances here.
At the top of the escalator we discovered a piano store, and in we went.
Whitney tried them out. She liked this one
Then we headed to the Food Court where we would eventually meet up with the Sisters for lunch.
We immediately noticed that there were crowds of high school aged young people all dressed up in suits and dresses. They wore sashes (some were red and others were blue). Silly us - we didn't know- it was graduation day, and they had just come from the graduation ceremony...hmmm, where were their parents.
We noticed that there were a lot of signatures on the backs of the sashes - like how you would sign a yearbook. When Dad went to buy some gelato, he found himself in a cluster of blue sashed teenagers. He took his ever present ball point pen out of his pocket and, with the young people's encouragement, began to sign their sashes....only in Kazakhstan! He was very popular - "look Mom, this guy from America signed by sash!"
Meanwhile, Holland was chilling
The weather was beautiful this day, and we decided to stroll up and down the mall. This is the city's showcase area. It was, I've heard, modeled after the mall in Washington DC. In the summer the flower beds are planted with a myriad of plants in all manner of colors. It was still too early in the season for this display.
Here we are walking up to the Baiterek Tower which is a great place to see the city.
The tower is an architectural representation of the Kazakh Tree of Life; unfortunately it was closed today - or at least caution tape was tied between posts blocking the entrance.
Oh well - Whitney found the BYU cougar's cousin.
We turned around and started walking to the other end of the mall. Specifically we wanted to see the figurines that were made for EXPO 2017. We Americans call them the Fat People.
Each figure represents a country that participated at the EXPO. The USA globe had an American Indian Chief in a headdress of feathers, the flag, Mount Rushmore, Golden Gate Bridge, and the Hollywood sign. They were a bit weathered after being outside in the elements for at least a year. It's too bad, because they were striking last year when the paint was new, bright, and shiny.
This archway is at one end of the mall. Through the arch you can walk to the tent like structure of the XanShature mall - which was our destination.
But on the way we had to pose at the I Heart Astana sign
notice how Dad joined in the frivolity.
W and W have improved our heart pose.
Looking back you can see the Baiterek Tower through the arch.
And here is the Mall!! It is remarkable for the structure....which, honestly is very cool. The stores inside, however, are just the same as in all the other big 'western'style malls. Inside you can look up to the very tippy top and hope, deep inside your soul, that you won't be inside during a really really big steppe wind storm.
On a high note, there is a great ride inside which Warren and Whitney tested and gave a resounding thumbs up and a few "wheeeeeeeeeees"
This photo is posed. They are simply waiting.
But when they got to the top, you could hear their squeals of excitement.
This was all on Friday. And...what happens Friday night? It is English Club! Dad and I were managing the Conversational Group (because the elders had gone to Russia for the missionary switcheroo). and we used Warren and Whitney as our props. We introduced them to the group (there were only had eight Kazakhs that night, which made everything really easy) as our "special secret guests". We divided the big group up into two, and each group had to quiz or interview, or interrogate and find out as much as they could about the "new Americans." It was great fun. Dad and I each kept a list of the information that was given by W & W, and the end of the hour, each group gave a report of what they had learned. Warren and Whitney represented America and Oregon very well! We'll be doing the same activity in August when we have other family visitors here :-)
This is Alibek. He is 12 and is always smiling. His parents are professional musians and have a group that plays traditional instruments; they travel internationally.
We were pretty tired at the end of the day. It was 9 pm by the time we started walking home.
SATURDAY - we had saved this day for the big Saturday Market held at the Evrasia Mall (it really means Eurasian Mall but is pronounced with a "v")
We used the stroller for the first time today. It works great on good sidewalks, but when the ground is uneven, you begin to thoroughly appreciate flat sidewalks, ADA approved ramps, no gravel, no potholes, etc. We need an all terrain Bob Stroller fit for a three month old. She looks like a movie star!
The outdoor market was super busy We were there about 10:30 and people were buying large quantities of everything - meat, veggies, fruit, eggs, disgusting milk, cookies, breads, soap products, flour, you name it.
frozen chickens - whole and parts
W and W got interested in the cookies from this booth.
They got two of this and two of that.
And they nibbled on them, critiquing as good, worth the disappointment, not worthy of anything, and so on. They seemed to be like dry pieces of cake dipped in a sugar frosting.
We wanted to get more spices (ginger) so I could make pumpkin muffins on Sunday
Warren wanted some too and pointed to a bin where the sign said spices for plof which is like saying spices for Central Asian Fried Rice.
Before we could get our camera ready, the attendant made a little packet out of paper and then bent over the counter and quickly filled the packet with two spoonfuls of one spice, and two or so of 4 or 5 other spices. You can get any spice mix you want - except the didn't have taco seasoning or chili seasoning.
This is Warrens - it says "a set for plov contains;"
Whitney loved the meat market.
We found a bakery that had doughnuts that were actually "worth it". Whitney wants to make sign from their logo on the wall....a Tree of Life made from bread products.
District meeting was at noon on Saturday so we walked the back streets to get to the church.
This car wreck was just there in the middle of the street.
This open manhole (or it could be a big pothole) was 'identified' by several tires which 'plugged' it.
At the District Meeting we met our new volunteer who took the place of Elder Crawford . Introducing.....Elder Shutler-Levi....on the right.....from England (south of London)
And then to welcome him to Astana, we went to a "new to us" restaurant and had Kazakh food. I'm thinking we might try Korean Chicken next time.
SUNDAY - was interesting. It snowed! Yes, fluffy flakes blessed us again - for about 30 minutes but finally the messenger of winter past left for good.
Whitney brought a beautiful piano arrangement of "The Spirit of God" and played it during Sacrament Meeting. And Warren gave a talk - he had "reworked" the one he'd done on Mother's Day. Holland was the celebrity of the day. I was with her in the back of the room and she squeaked twice....only twice! But the echo logarithm was high and her squeak caused several people to turn around in surprise. Yeah - we're not used to babies here in Astana.
Here is a short report on our Humanitarian Work. The wheelchair guy wheelchair from WAQYP has questions regarding the contract - such as "are we registered in Astana?" I tried to answer his concerns, and we'll see if he sends a signed contract back to me. ..or not. The project for the preschool for children with autism was approved! The head of the NGO who wants stuff for the women's crisis shelter sent her documents to us. Now we just have to talk to her again and see if we can help her design a better kitchen than the one she requested.
Here are the pumpkin muffins. I'm bringing this recipe home!
Next week we go to Aktau which is on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. I'm going to wade in the Caspian!!!!!
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