Last (Lost) Weekend in Almaty

Good news--the passport came through and we are going through the final US embassy procedures and will be able to leave in a few days.

We had a fun weekend.

Saturday we went up to Medeo, the mountain resort area and went ice skating on what is advertised as the largest outdoor skating rink in the world. It was truly beautiful. The ice started out really slippery but then after a few spins I got more comfortable and the ice got a bit scratched up by the other skaters and I felt more comfortable. Tom and I took turns between skating on the ice and playing with Nika. She had fun basking in the sun and watching all the action. No, she did not skate, but we’ll try later this winter once we get her a pair of double-blade skates.

Sunday, we walked all day and in the evening we entertained a couple of Tom’s colleagues from the Grata firm for dinner at our place. I had fun and if you don’t mind saying it, great success, making a meal using the one pot that came with the flat and typical Almaty supermarket ingredients, to come up with a few dishes that were totally different then they had eaten before.

Monday was spent on Nika’s medical checkup with the international clinic here in Almaty and then a dinner at the home of another Grata partner. If things go well, on Tuesday the final translated paperwork, including Kazkakh passport and exit visa will arrive from Astana on the train. It will be submitted to the American Embassy for the consul’s review and confirmation that no other documents are needed and our interview can go forward. Our interview is scheduled for 3pm on Wednesday and as all goes well, we will walk out of there with Veronika Rose Guida’s US visa and will be free to travel home. If possible we may be getting on an earlier flight be home on Thursday instead of Friday but it’s too tantalizing to consider until it’s a reality so let’s just not think about that (or tell Aidan yet).

Either way – we are moments away……..finally. How exciting!!!

Veronika is very vocal when she is with us but when around other people, even those that speak Russian to her, she remains fairly silent, maybe just shy for now. She is a very funny girl and so 2 years old, if you know what I mean. Tonight’s joke was that she was sitting on my lap, whispering some gibberish in my ear and knowing very well I couldn’t hear and or understand her. That was exactly her point – I think she realizes, volume doesn’t make a difference neither one of us are completely understanding one another so it was a joke she was whispering nonsense in my ear and I was whispering back and we were both laughing.

I thought I would mention a few things about this city of Almaty. It has much more to offer then I might have given it credit for originally, having come from Arkalyk I was not sure how much more advanced a city in the same country that has an Arkalyk could be. Now, after two weeks here I think it is a pretty dynamic place but lots of stark contrasts: old and new, modern and traditional, those with significant wealth and those scraping by. In other words, much like many other great cities around the world, with the same variety of neighborhoods and people. There is certainly a lot of building going on and according to some of our Kazak friends who have lived here all their lives, they much prefer the old style to what is being built now.

The literature we read about the variety of people here was quite accurate. There are actually three different groups within the Kazakh nation, and many people have some mix of Central Asian ethnic groups in their heritage, including Uzbek, Tatar, Khyrgiz, Turkish, Mongolian and of course there is some mixing between those groups and Russians. We’re both pretty exhausted and overloaded from the trip but managing not to let that overlay taint our appreciation of the place and the people, which are pretty amazing.

Stay tuned, we’re nearly there…