An interesting thing about Astana (and maybe the rest of Kazakhstan) is the use of giant color printed plastic tarps that are attached to corrugated sheet metal fences which are erected around areas which are "off limits" to the public eye. The fences surround construction sites, ugly semi inhabitable housing, empty fields, fields that used to have dwellings but have been 'scraped". If it shouldn't be seen by the public, then hide it with colorful scenes like this one which had been placed on the side of a storage container during the Iron Man event....a beautiful view of foothills which is in the middle of a a grassy athletic field.
But from the side you can see that it is a storage container. The day after the Iron Man, the cover was removed, and it became a storage container again.
Here's a metal fence with boring "nothing" on it.
One of these long fences, which is kinda across the street from the church, recently got these new coverings (they do weather in the harsh conditions and become torn and shabby). We were smitten by them, and I've provided translation.
Astana - crossroads of peace and harmony.
"The competitiveness of the people is a factor in the future success of the nation" N. Nazerbaev, president
...no translation needed
"Astana is the embodiment of the President's idea and the result of the work of all the people of Kazakhstan."
We had a day of busy on Monday. We had to go to the UPS shipping location so we could send, to Moscow, the "signed and original" contract for the wheelchair project. We'd been there previously, last year, and thought we knew where it was located....but we weren't sure.....An hour and a half later, after researching on the internet and looking at Google Earth, we finally determined the location and it wasn't where we'd thought it was.........so good thing we spent most of the morning being sure of where we were going.
Yes this is the same place we went to last year, and we even remembered which hall to go down.
By now it was lunch time and, while walking to a bus stop, we eyed this Turkish Doner Cafe which we'd seen numerous time. It looks like a building, doesn't it, but in reality, it is a remodeled storage container.
Turkish doners taste differently that Kazakh ones.....This guy was really friendly
And we chatted a bit and waited
Then we went behind the cafe to a comfy little park where we "picnicked
We had a guest for lunch, but we did not share.
The doner cafe didn't have any Cokes, so Dad zipped over to this little magazine (a store - which are everywhere) to buy one.
Heading back to the bus stop we passed by this intersection where a flower patch has been planted. We call it the "Camel Intersection" because we see it all the time from the buses. Dad had to get his picture with the camels.
All this week I have done my early morning walking on the streets near the apartment. I use Google Earth to set my course so I get the distance I want to walk. Here are photos of Astana between 6 am and 7 am. It's kinda peaceful, and I've enjoyed it...probably because the sidewalks are not filled with other pedestrians.
Just leaving our apartment
The big flower pots have been repainted yellow and Kazakh blue - last year they were beige and golden brown.
Ahhhh - this is Independence Avenue where, during the ice age, there were sheets of ice on the sidewalk. I fell once right here.
Across the street you can see the fences covered by the tarps - the ones to the far right are the ones I described at the beginning of this post.
At an intersection, the travel bus for the Astana professional hockey team, the Cougars...maybe pumas, or central Asian panthers...bobcats? Wait - they are the Snow Leopards!!!
Big hotel across the street
Very few buildings have their address on them....but usually you have to look at the map app on your phone. The name of this street is nearly unpronounceable - even after more than a year, and of course, the church is on this street, so we often tell people where English Club is held, and I butcher the pronunciation each time.
This is a little finance center - not a bank....
wide street and empty parking lot
Main building of Eurasia University
old apartment building
tree lined walk way
another Turkish Doner place
this apartment didn't even get a concrete plaster coating over the exterior bricks.
Sometimes when it rains the drains don't work, and pumps are needed to help the situation
And if the pumps don't help, you just have to walk through the puddle to get on to the bus.
This little restaurant is named Homemade Kitchen (Homemade Food)
We went back that afternoon and a simple linner
Water trucks that spray the streets with water = all lined up in a staggered formation
The Orthodox Church looming in the distance
Check these little lounges out- they're in the parking area of something.
you can see the hookah pipes through one of the doorways
big fancy house
people are out now and walking the sidewalks on the way to bus stops
manhole/sidewalk malfunction
This main street is Momyshula Street....our address Momyshula 8/1 K28. Our apartment is on the left in the distance.
This decorated fence surrounds a portion of a parking lot of this huge apartment building - some building supplies are stored in the confines of the fence.
On one of my morning walks I spotted this pizza place.
We decided to give it a try - just as a research project..... as part of our quest to find a restaurant to use for a 'socializing' dinner during the "Training" portion of the Wheelchair Project. We told the manager that were were looking at restaurants where we could have a dinner for 20-30 people. We ordered a 50-50 pizza, mushroom on one side and pepperoni on the other. It was really good!!!!!!!!!! I forgot to take a photo of the whole pizza.
While we were eating, a photographer came in and began to take photos of pasta dishes that the chef kept bringing out. He was probably taking pictures for a new menu. These pastas looked really good.
There was this interesting apple and tomato salad, and as we were leaving, I started to take this photo....and the manager offered it to us - yummy!
We really like this restaurant but we'll be looking for a little bit fancier one.
One morning I walked in an entirely different direction - toward the new train station and discovered this long long long metal fence. What could be behind this fence?
Ahhhh...there is an openng
I explored 3 or 4 of these openings and discovered residential areas.
I walked over to look at a garden
Then I headed back out to the street to start the last half of my walk back to the apartment.
Our project for the Women's Crisis Center was approved! We found out on Thursday and quickly made an appointment to meet with Anna to get her signature on the Basic Agreement. Here we are waiting for the taxi to go to the office. We have all these bags full of used clothing and shoes that people give to us because we know of places that need the donations. We were all ready to send the paperwork to our account so the vendors could be paid, but one important document had not been entered into the church's humanitarian computer system. We found out that the church employee in Minsk had not gotten around to it on Friday before he went home for the weekend. And then Monday and Tuesday are holidays in Russia and Belarus, but he'd do it by the end of the day on Wednesday ....so we'll get it on Thursday........sigh...........just a one week turn around.
At English Club on Tuesday, in our small conversation group, we got talking about food. One guy said that over the weekend he'd made a traditional Kazakh dish. Everyone in the group jumped in and explained how to make it. So, I went home, googled it and found a you tube video showing how it is done. So I did it too! I had a recipe written in Russian and also the video as a guide.
Slices of mutton fat to line the bottom of the pot
Pieces of lamb on top of the slabs of fat
Then carrots and potatoes
peppers, eggplant slices, tomato slices, garlic cloves
dill and cilantro layered on top
with lid and on the stove burner on low for a couple of hours.
It was pretty good - not to die for, however.....and the young volunteers did not take seconds.
Dad decided to share his flower joy with the other residents of our apartment building - there are 27 apartments which all share the same entrance. Good 'ole Dad
We go to Almaty next week for our Zone Conference - will leave on Wednesday and return on Saturday. We're planning a gala Fourth of July picnic in a park somewhere in Almaty!
No comments:
Post a Comment