by Kirsten Sheppard
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Food
In Kazakhstan, the breakfast buffet has had a table of very sweet items (along the lines of danishes, but not danishes), hot items including omelets (not really omelets, but scrambled eggs), beef sausages (aka mini hot dogs), potatoes (yum), and then the normal German-inspired options of breads, deli meat and cheese. Any guesses which section I gravitated to? Oh – and of course, dark, spicy Russian-style coffee.
Snow
Ballet around the World
Ok – off to a busy work day. I am going to need to sustain myself on coffee, since my body has yet to adjust to the time here. I was up until 3am (rather than waking at 3am like the day before), so hopefully tonight will be a more normal sleep. Today I interview 13 students and grade their essays in English.
P.S. having trouble uploading pictures, so I'll add to this blog when it works.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
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| I forgot about these toilets. Squatty-potties...sigh. Not my favorite! |
If I were to think about what I love most about traveling to new places, I would say that I love to experience the food in new places. There are, however, limits to my openness around food. I don’t really want to be like that guy on TV who tries the weirdest, grossest things in each country. I’m not going to be the first to drink snakes blood, eat undercooked meat, or baby eels cooked in squid ink covered in boiled white fish. Left to my own devices, I will seek out local suggestions that fit neatly into my already defined categories of food: vegetable, chicken, pasta, pork and beef, but with the local flavours, spices, and manner of cooking.
Being hosted in another country often tests my food boundaries, since etiquette governs my decision making (thus needing to eat, or at least make the appearance of eating the above mentioned eels in Spain). I have yet to be put in an uncomfortable food moment in Kazakhstan, but the possibilities await with horse meat, tongue, and fermented horse or camel milk on the menu. I’m hoping more for the realm of Manty (form of dumpling) or the local shish-kebab (can’t remember how to spell it here).
In Kazakhstan, the breakfast buffet has had a table of very sweet items (along the lines of danishes, but not danishes), hot items including omelets (not really omelets, but scrambled eggs), beef sausages (aka mini hot dogs), potatoes (yum), and then the normal German-inspired options of breads, deli meat and cheese. Any guesses which section I gravitated to? Oh – and of course, dark, spicy Russian-style coffee.
The main meal of the day here is lunch. If you eat out in a restaurant, the best deal is often what they call a biznes lanch which is a fixed menu meal. You get soup (mine was a broth that had a chunk of meat, barley, broth, veggies, and a lump of sour cream), salad (cabbage with vinigarette), and the meal (mine was a breaded chicken cutlet and mashed potatoes) and tea (no one drinks cold drinks here when it is cold outside). Good price ($4), average food.
Snow
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| Medeu (site of the 2011 Asian Winter Games) |
Yesterday it started out raining, but by mid-day it was snowing. By evening we had about a half-foot of snow. Sound horrible? Not even a little bit. There is no stress involved with snow here. It reminded me of being home in Canada. People know how to drive, the roads are made for dealing with snow, people still go outside and on with their lives. I traveled by gondola, foot, driver and taxi yesterday, all without any trouble at all.
Dressed in Black
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| This is where the President of Kazakhstan stays when in Almaty |
I fit in here so well that our taxi driver asked my colleague “why we (as locals) were talking in English to each other?” She responded that I was a foreigner, but generously left out how appalling my Russian is. After that we switched to French. But the real reason I fit in here is that there is only one color in winter. Black. If you know me, then you know that black is my color, especially when I travel. Who knew? My style is distinctly not Kazakh/Russian but that is harder to tell under winter clothes.
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| Albina & I at the Ballet. Picture got a bit squishy... |
I randomly get to go see the Ballet in other countries. I’ve now been to the Ballet in Canada, USA, Switzerland, Georgia (the country) and Kazakhstan. We went to see Carmen last night at the Abey State Opera and Ballet Theatre. Strangely enough, I’ve now seen Carmen specifically in all of those countries. What a cultural comparison. It was interesting to see the interpretation of the same ballet in different countries. Kazakhstan has an excellent ballet company (maybe the Russian influence?) and the theatre was historical and beautiful. The weirdest moment of the evening was at the end as we exited the theatre, I ran into a familiar face. This was completely unexpected and we both just looked at each other in shock for a moment, and then greeted each other appropriately. In fact, we barely know each other since the person I ran into was my Lufthansa flight attendant, but still.
Ok – off to a busy work day. I am going to need to sustain myself on coffee, since my body has yet to adjust to the time here. I was up until 3am (rather than waking at 3am like the day before), so hopefully tonight will be a more normal sleep. Today I interview 13 students and grade their essays in English.
P.S. having trouble uploading pictures, so I'll add to this blog when it works.
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| View from my hotel room. Average building here |