Welcome Home

Welcome Home
Originally uploaded by mmfranke.

This is the sign that greeted us on our front door. Thanks, Mom and Dad. It's good to be home.

Kaz Card Game

Kaz Card Game
Originally uploaded by mmfranke.

Here's something you don't see every day -- a card game being played on the streets. I snuck this picture from behind some bushes. The way the men are squatting is very common -- everybody does it.

We made it!

Bless me, reader, for I have sinned. It's been days since my last post. In that time we've traveled halfway around the world to arrive, at long last, safely at home. I'm writing to you now from the relative comfort of the wireless network of our favorite local sandwich shop. Tucker and Mia are playing. We got here at 7 AM -- been up since about 2, as we're still adjusting to jetlag.

Our trip home was blissfully uneventful, or at least as much so as a trip like that can be. No flight delays, no problems with luggage or customs. The only thing that's gone wrong is that I personally developed pretty bad flulike symptoms. The last time I felt like this was just after we got married. No joke. It seems that once the pressure of a big event is off, my body has a way of collapsing. I'm OK now, but was pretty out of it for about 24 hours.

My parents were here when we arrived -- they stayed in our house for two days to "get it ready" for us. Really meant a lot to me that they made the drive from Jacksonville, FL to do that. We were met with bubba burgers and hot dogs, and saw all the neighbors.

Bacha woke up many times the first night, crying and afraid. One time I met her in the hallway, where she was crying and pointing at the bedroom. She must be so confused. I found a note from Linda on the bathroom mirror yesterday morning that read "We went to Wallmart. 4 AM". Bacha slept for 12 hours yesterday, though -- 'till 2 AM this morning.

Linda's brother Don and his wife Lisa are here, too, as a stopover on their trip around the east coast. They just came back with a huge haul from Wallmart -- new clothes for both kids, a tricycle for Bacha, and new Batman and Spiderman toys for Tucker.

When we left, Tucker had tears in his eyes when he said he didn't want to leave Kazakhstan. "I like this town," he said. I'm sure he's over that now, now that he's got the latest Batman accessories and some brand new light-up shoes.

Things we noticed upon coming home include the following:
- The pace of life at home is slow. Small southern town slow.
- Driving on the freeway felt like flying, since we didn't have to dodge potholes.
- At the airport in Detroit, we were shocked at the size of the Sprite we ordered for Tucker.
- There are SO many overweight, even grossly obese people here.
- Hadn't seen a black person in 7 weeks.
- Asian-looking people actually stand out now.
- The sheer joy of being able to talk to people.
- Humidity.
- Lightning bugs.
- The birds sound different.
- We're relatively anonymous again.

I do intend to continue this blog for a little while -- at least until it feels like we're all acclimated again. But since we killed our cable TV in an effort to save money and just do the right thing, we also lost our internet access, and it turns out we don't have dialup. So we'll be relying on local wireless networks for a while. So anyway, posts will be less regular. One thing I hope to post for sure is a complete photo album. We have hundreds of pictures that were never posted.

That's it for now. There are so many people without whom Linda and I could not have done what we just did. I don't know how to thank all of you. That includes people who just read our blog every day. It really meant a lot to us that people were watching our adventure unfold. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Stay tuned, at least for a little while...

New Movie -- Almaty Mountain

I just posted a fairly large movie (5 MB +) showing some of the scenery fromthe other day on the ski mountain. Check it out. Enjoy.

We are GO for takeoff

14:42 - Mike here

The internet cafe was closed yesterday, so couldn't post until today. Sorry.

Anyway, today we took care of some of the last official business of the trip: buying Mia's ticket, taking visa photos, and getting Mia's official "send-off" medical. All of this went smoothly, and we should be leaving our apartment late tomorrow night, to catch a 2:50 AM flight. We fly through Amsterdam, to Detroit, to Greenville-Spartanburg. I'll send exact details in email.

There's really not much more to say. After a short nap today (hopefully they're sleeping now), we'll take a long stroller-walk to the RamStore to get final supplies for the journey and a map of Almaty that might be suitable for framing. Maybe even a map of Kazakhstan (though I think I can find that as easily at home). We also really need to buy a trinket or two, including a decent Kazakh flag. We'll eat at the mall, too. Then we try to get to bed early, setting us up for an early nap tomorrow, because we have final business to take care of at the US Embassy tomorrow at 4 PM.

Last time we did the embassy thing, we met a friendly face behind the window. A friend of a friend of ours from San Francisco greeted us by looking at Tucker's shoes, saying "did you get those at K-mart?" Heh. Small world.

I should say that there are still a few things that could go wrong. The pictures we took today, for instance, were for Mia's visa. The pictures, Mia's passport, and some other papers will be couriered to Astana (hours away) today to processed in time for us to receive it all back tomorrow at 4 PM. It's tense, but they have the process pretty much down to an art, and we have never heard of a problem.

There's also the one final little "t" to cross regarding Mia's plane ticket, but the KLM agent here said that this should probably not even be necessary, as it should already be done. I'll be checking with Eldo to make sure things are locked in.

Keep yer fingers crossed...

Seven meals left

Sat, 26 June - Mike here.

1:21 PM

This morning we had Vitali meet us at 10 AM to drive us partway up the mountain to some little picnic areas we saw on the way up yesterday. We figured we'd walk around on the trails a bit. It was nice, though the "trails" turned out to be a few paths between the creek and the road. The creek might have actually been a small river. Not more than 30 feet wide at any point we saw, but all of it quite fast-flowing with lots of rocks. Really quite the fun kayak ride, I imagine. I wouldn't want to tackle it in an inner tube, anyway.

There were a lot of people there, mostly folks in their 60's having picnics. Half a dozen of the oldest folks were in swimsuits (very skimpy ones -- and proud of it), and were actually braving the water, which was very cold. At one point we saw on older man in a speedo doing calisthenics by repeatedly lifting a basketball-sized boulder over his head.

I was a bit disappointed in the mess. It seems that people camp all around, and the idea of "low impact camping" has not yet reached this part of the world. It's strange. I've been writing about waste and misuse, and it seems that today the tables were turned. I saw piles of vodka bottles and other garbage in firepits, scattered toilet paper "flowers" indicating roving no-pit latrines, and other man-made debris. Sure, I see this in the States, too. But I was sorry to see it at what seemed like a national park area.

Anyway, we had a nice walk. We then stopped at the "ram store" (spelled "PAMCTOP" Russian). It's a big deal here. It's a real shopping mall, with all the trimmings: several levels of shops (real shops -- not the "booths" we saw in Kokshetau), a food court complete with "American Burgers" and Pizza, rides for kids, and a skating rink. We bought 6000 Tenge worth of groceries at the grocery store. It's a wonderful place to shop for Americans coming from Kokshetau, because it's like a real grocery store -- everything is out in the open so that you can just pick it up and put it in your cart. It is such a welcome change to not have to point at what you want and ask someone to get it for you.

We just finished a frozen "Texas Style Pizza" for lunch. It was OK, though: a) I didn't know Texas was known for its pizza, and b) everything on the box except for the words "Texas Style Pizza" was in German. Also, the gas oven in our apartment has no thermostat or thermometer, so cooking anything is total guesswork. Not to mention lighting it (with a match), since there were no instructions. Hard to mess up a frozen pizza, though, so we were safe.

Linda's now putting the kids down for a nap, and I'm going to see if the internet cafe is open. Then I'm down for a nap, too.

6:43 PM

The internet cafe was not open. I even tried another one a little further up the street, but found out after sitting down at the machine that it was an internet "club", not and internet "cafe", which meant everyone was online playing games. Email nyet, google nyet.

I bought a bunch more groceries on the way home -- especially fresh vegetables for a salad tonight. Got some beets for Linda to experiment, too. She loves beets. I guess you just boil them, right?

I had a great nap, though.

I retreated to the porch for a while to read my book. It's a small porch, almost like a closet. But it's secluded enough that the kids couldn't find me for a while, and weren't allowed out there anyway. I read about seven chapters of "Life of Pi", drank mineral water, and had some awful Kazakh chocolate.

"Life of Pi", incidentally, is a book I highly recommend. You see, I believe that the people you hang around rub off on you. Whether they're enlightened or miserable, they rub off. Of course, it's therefore better to surround yourself with people who make you a better person. But it's not always possible. So, I find that if I read a book that's full of enlightened characters, whether real or not, they rub off on me, too. I see the world differently -- walk through it differently. The main character in this book is such a character. And the author (Yann Martel) writes in a very poetic, yet conversational way. And I like short chapters, since I seldom get to read for very long at a time.

We're getting ourselves together now for a stroller excursion in the big city. Who knows where we'll end up. But we need the walk. Dinner tonight will be at home, and simple.

I'm measuring the remaining length of our trip now in meals. We have three dinners, two breakfasts, and two lunches to go. Two full days and nights (as today is almost over).

Life in Almaty

Sat, 25 June - Mike here.

5:40 PM

I just got back from the internet cafe. I bought some water on the way back from the nice lady in the store downstairs, and then came in to find the rest of the family still asleep after our little excursion up the mountain. Pretty late nap, but it doesn't really matter. I'll get them up when I'm done here.

I indulged myself today in buying a pipe. I paid 10,000 Tenge for it (about $75), which is the price of a decent pipe at home. I'm not sure how really good this one is, but it was hand-carved by an artist selling various carvings in a little pull-up booth on a path at the ski resort. It's got a bull-head (nose ring and all) on the front of it, and it's made of wood. Pretty cool, I thought. Anyway, it must have come to me today because I took a break earlier today to smoke my first pipe on the trip. I don't smoke often anyway, but on vacations I indulge a little.

We think the apartment we're staying in is sometimes used by visiting (or nomadic?) Hare Krishas. First of all, the apartment, although a odd mix of decors, is partly done in straw mats and beach furniture and such. Also, there's the odd collection of clay pots, the incense in the urn in the bathroom, and the strange spices in the cupboard. It's clear that the place gets used for adopting (American) couples, too, because the kitchen is stocked with leftover peanut butter and microwave popcorn, and has a real coffee pot.

There are "porches" on the east and west end of the apartment. That's in quotes because they are really just enclosed balconies. We get morning sun on one end, and evening sun on the other. Usually a nice breeze, too, because we leave everything open (no mosquitoes here!). If you stick your head out a porch window slightly and look to the south, you are rewarded with a spectacular view of the mountains to the south -- the same ones we visited this morning. Our driver (his name is Vitali) tells us in his self-taught broken English that if you go over those mountains in one direction, you're in China. In a slightly different direction, Afghanistan. In yet another, Kyrgystan. To be honest, I don't quite understand the Afghanistan reference, but it's interesting nonetheless.

Linda and Bacha just woke up, by the way. Linda is painting Bacha's fingernails.

It's good to be in a real city right now. Anonymity comes easier. There are more weirdos walking around in general, so an American -- even with Kazakh kids -- is less of a distraction. It's nice to not be noticed as much. Even shopping in the store downstairs is easier, as the lady seems used to people who don't speak Russian (or Kazakh).

We're going out for dinner tonight. We were pointed at a restaurant a block and a half away. Apparently the menu has an English translation, which would be welcome. There's also an outside cafe that I walked by on my way to the internet cafe, and it looks well-suited (fenced outdoor area, tables that can't be broken or messed up, casual). We'll see. When Tucker gets up, we're outa here. Bacha just went in there to show him her new fingernails. I haven't heard screaming yet...

9:27 PM

We just got back from a very nice dinner at the restaurant that was recommended to us. They had an English-speaking waitress, which was the only way we would have stayed. We had nothing unusual, but the quality of everything was a step up from what we're used to. We shared two bowls of soup (borshch and salyanka), a "salad" of cut tomatoes and cucumbers, three of a meat-and-vegetable-filled pastry, and the main course, of course, shashlyk. We had lamb and chicken tonight. We asked for pork, but were told (with a smile) that it was a Muslim establishment. Oops. All in all, it was a very good meal, though not cheap (5200 Tenge). But we have tons of leftovers.

One interesting thing about the place was that there were several tables where the customers, mostly men, were catting and smoking in a lounged position. When they "sat up" to eat, it was cross-legged. The table was about 14 inches high, and they were essentially all sitting on the floor (though the platform was raised). The menu itself looked like it was in Arabic, though I'm sure it was a scripted Kazakh, which was once Arabic anyway.

A little bit about Bacha. She's very strong-willed, and has a very strong "no." It's difficult to get a reaction out of her when we tell her "no" to something, as well. I'm trying hard to solve some of that by saying "no" less. Instead of "don't do that", I try to say "do this" instead. That sort of thing. When I can manage it, it works because there's less head-butting. Even at mealtime, Linda and I are both giving up on trying too hard to make her eat what she's "supposed" to eat. We figure that as long as she's drinking milk and eating some oatmeal and yogurt, she'll live.

She and Tucker are playing together more and more. So much so that they're starting to trust each other enough to play a little rougher, which is a little unnerving. But it's a good thing.

Bacha, by the way, has tremendously good balance, and is physically very flexible. Tucker, in contrast, is always a bit wobbly, and stiff as a board. Fortunately, Tucker falls well. Bacha falls OK too, but is less happy about it. I've had good intentions of doing more stretching on my own, for myself, in the hopes that Tucker will follow suit. But I haven't been very good about it. Tucker sees stretching as a chore. It hurts him, and it's no fun. I really want to find to find a way to get him over that -- he really seems remarkably inflexible for someone his age. I'm more flexible than he is, fergoshsakes...