Astana (Day 6)

We left the Joneses and Sharbakti around 8:30 p.m. and caught a train to Astana. The train ride on this leg of our trip was probably the best one of them all, we got on the train, went to bed, woke up, and arrived in Astana (at about 7:30 a.m.). Definitely a nice way to travel.

Although we spent just two days and one night in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, we have a ton of pictures! I don't think I can manage to put all of the pictures from our first day in the city in one post because we saw so much... so I'll do what I am able (today, it's not much).

This is the President's house, equivalent to the American "White House" except the President doesn't live there, it's for work only.

These buildings are where the houses of parliament meet:

I really liked the symbols in some of the most basic architecture. This is part of a walking bridge over a street, the design over head is the symbol for a yurt (because it's what the hole at the top looks like):
This is the Baiterek, a tower in Astana. Like the Space Needle in Seattle it is much like a symbol for the city. We went up it, looked around, took some pictures...
... But those are for later!

Random Sharbakti Pictures

One of my favorite things about the people in Kazakhstan could easily be described in one word "Babushka." Although I'm not always appreciative of the lectures, I love seeing these ladies walking around. I was able to snap a picture of this babushka in Sharbakti. Isn't she sweet?
I never managed to get a picture of a sled in use in Almaty, but sleds in Kazakhstan are not just for fun. We occasionally saw a mother or grandmother pulling a child on one of these babies because, if you think about it, strollers and icy streets aren't as practical a combination as sleds and icy streets.
This is the chopping block. The place where Nathan Jones prepares their firewood. It's rather well-used, wouldn't you say?
There happens to be a little barn on the property. I climbed my first haystack. It was grand.
This is the entrance to the barn. I don't know why, but I liked the way it looked.
This is what remains of the Joneses coal stash for the winter. On the left is actual coal, on the right is the ash.
Recognize that piece of furniture leaning against the building?
This couch only needs a little bit of work and then it'll be good as new. Any takers?
The front door:
The darling Zoe Jones:
Inside the front door, all the buckets of coal ready for use:
This is Heather's kitchen sink. She boils a huge tea pot for their warm water (remember, all their water comes from a well, so it's one temperature: freezing cold) and puts some in the red basin and the rest in the blue tub. She then adds cold water to each container. The red basin is for rinsing, the blue basin is for scrubbing all those dirty dishes. She's a saint, I tell you!
The stove. The large teapot I referred to is on the left. In case you can't tell, there really are only 3 burners on this stove, there isn't another row behind what you see here. The gas which powers the stove (and oven) comes from the tank below. They have an extra tank for rotation, but I do think they have run out before.
This is the stove which was responsible for heating their house. It is connected to the water heater (furnaces) throughout the house, but the system froze and burst during their last trip to Almaty. Heather shared that story (what a nightmare!) on their blog.Desi in the room with all the warmth. =) The opening that you see in the wall is actually a stove top of sorts. Our first morning there we had eggs made on it and they were YuMMy! Below the opening on the right is a little door where the fire is. This oven, built into the wall, heats their home.
The only pictures I didn't get, which I wish I would have are: a picture of me and Heather and a picture of our families together. I suppose it will have to wait for another day, perhaps in the States.

A Few Of My Favorite Things

As I've thought about our time with the Joneses and what I can show-and-tell from our experience in Sharbakti, I can't help feeling like there are some things that can't be retold in a description or captured in a photograph. I've tried to show-and-tell about some of the various things we did, experienced, or made, but all fall short in capturing how much I enjoyed our time there. It was so much fun to spend three full days with another woman doing some of my favorite things side-by-side: cooking, eating, and talking all the while.

A few of my favorite things about our time with the Joneses would have to be:

• Desi making himself Addie's personal entertainment system;
• Zoe coming up to me and randomly kissing my leg (because she likes me, she really likes me!);
• Watching the horror on Saltanat's face when she saw that Heather diced the tomatoes for the rainbow salad, rather than julienned them;
• Being the "pushy" American and getting to help roll out noodles for bishbarmak even though guests aren't supposed to help;
  
• Being able to convince the merchant women in at least two locations that they should accept my money for groceries (rather than Heather's) by handing them my money, saying "Moshna pajalusta" (may I please), and giving them the most perfectly sweet, innocent, and irresistible smile;
  
• The reaction, facial expression, and general discomfort of the woman who sold us our pork when I pulled out my money, my Russian, and my smile (when Heather and I were competing to pay for the meat). If only we could have gotten it on film!
• The "kids are in bed it's our free time" discussions with Nathan and Heather;
• That we talked about toothpaste and dental care;
• All of the wonderful food Heather made (Mexican pizzas, yummy eggs, pasta salad, French toast, bishbarmak, & shashlik to name a few). Food may be the way to a man's heart, but it's the way to Evelyn's heart too. =D
• Getting to know the Joneses better. They are awesome and I'm so glad we were able to spend time together in close quarters. It was seriously >>so. much. fun.<<

Thank you Joneses.

Another Walk Through the Village (Day 5)

Although I have even more pictures of houses from our second walk, I will refrain from posting them.

It seems monuments are pretty common throughout the former Soviet Union, so in each city we've visited there's been at least one. Sharbakti is no exception.

This is a WWII memorial, the second picture gives a closer view of the mural on the wall.

Another memorial in the same square, that red star definitely is the Soviet star.
This is a statue of Lennon. Many statues of the famous Soviet leaders were defaced, beheaded, or otherwise removed when the Soviet Union fell, except it seems in the small towns and villages.
There is a small, though well-kept, museum in Sharbakti which we (of course) visited. I took more pictures than you will see here, but hopefully these items will be of interest.

Please forgive the glare in this picture, but the ridged, curved wooden thing is actual an old school iron.
Hanging out in a yurt replica.
This is a crib of sorts. You strap your baby to it and there is actually a little hole for little boy babies... for bathroom purposes of course.
The traditional Kazakh-style table is like this one, round and low to the ground... you still on the floor (which means there are always enough seats ;D)
Camels are pretty big here, we often see little stuffed wool camels in the tourist shops. Because the old Silk Road used to come through (or at least near) here, they are/were important. There are some areas in southern Kazakhstan where camels were commonly used.

A complimentary description of a child with large eyes (and long lashes) is to say that they have baby camel eyes.
Zoe in the yurt. She definitely has baby camel eyes. (Chris feels a little defensive of his long-lash crown when he's around her, just to give you an idea.)
Don't you love this wood work?
This is a samovar. These have been around since at least the 18th century. This little baby makes sure you always have hot tea, or at least hot water for your tea. If you look towards the bottom the openings are for air to get to the coal or wood that keeps this hot all the day long, and I am told there is a hollow center where the hot air travels and keeps the tea hot.
The museum is rather small, so when we arrived we were the only visitors. The curator started taking us around and a group of three women arrived shortly thereafter. These women were apparently from at least one newspaper and were visiting to take pictures and get information about the museum for an upcoming article. We soon found ourselves unwilling subjects... they began blatantly taking pictures of us and commenting about the Americans who come to the museum. The curator attempted to halt their conversations about us by letting them know Chris spoke Russian, but they had already heard him speaking and actually discussed how well he speaks... It was kind of an odd experience, and I decided that we should take a picture of them too. We have a few, but this one (though very blurry) is the only one with all three in it.
This area was open space, so one of the ladies pinned up some doilies she made to fill the space. Heather and I fell in love and managed to commission some pieces from her! =D
Next stop was the library! Inside the children's area is a little fairy tale nook where this little house can be found. Baba Yaga is a famous character in Russian fairy tales, she is a witch that lives in a house with chicken feet.
And this little house is outside the library!

So fun!
After our walk we returned to the Joneses and finished our preparations for some homemade shashlik. I don't have any good pictures, but I can assure you, it was a tasty meal!

Sunday Service

Our branch did something a little unconventional: we performed a service project immediately after church today.

Our activity was singing to a local association for the Blind and bringing them some small bags of treats we assembled. We have performed a similar service twice before, in a different location each time. The previous activities were held in the city near our apartment, but this activity was in the outskirts of the city.

In an auto repair shop.

Taking A Break

Because today is Sunday and I don't have a big post ready, I'm going to digress from the topic of our trip.

These past few days back in Almaty have been beautiful as spring seems to have really arrived while we were gone. The city is green, flowers are in bloom, and yes, the birds are chirping too! Although Addie has always enjoyed looking out the window, there is even more to see these days as the lovely weather brings people and animals outside.

Like Addie, we can't help but marvel at the beautiful world Heavenly Father created for us.

Bishbarmak (Day 4)

The Joneses arranged to have bishbarmak while we were in Sharbakti with them. Two of their Kazakh friends would teach us how to prepare the food as part of our Kazakh dinner. On Wednesday we met up with Sultanat to do the shopping for the meal on Thursday (Day 4).

First stop while shopping was for meat, so we went to small meat shop in the center of the village. The meat we wanted wouldn't fit in the pot Heather had, it was simply too big. So Sultanat and Chris told the merchant and he took the meat and put it on a surface lower than his waist, grabbed an ax, raised the ax high above his head and *wham*. He divided the beef loin by chopping it apart! What a sight!

I also saw a type of scale I'd never seen before:

Some of the yummy food we made included these "rainbow" salads:

This is the table (before setting it large enough to fit our whole party):

We were all ready to eat when the time came, just ask Desi:

Bishbarmak, the Kazakh national dish, is a combination of homemade noodles, meat, and onions. The traditional meat for this dish is horse, but we used beef. Bishbarmak means five fingers in Kazakh because this dish is traditionally eaten with your hands.

Chris and Addie!
Our Kazakh dinner was followed by a performance of a Kazakh instrument, the dumbra, by Aika:

Just a small sample from our personal "concert":

Chris had a turn too (and did pretty well):

Heather and Sultanat:
The women behind the wonderful meal, Aika, Heather, and Sultanat:

With my new friends!
Our amazing hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Jones: