Friday Photo: Downtown Almaty

Random facts about Kazakhstan:

Time Zone: GMT+6 (10 hours ahead of eastern, 12 ahead of mountain, and 13 ahead of west).

Ethnic break down:
51% Kazakh
31% Russian
4% Ukrainian
2% Tatar
1.5% German
and more than a hundred more.

Faiths
47% Muslim, 44% Russian Orthodox.

Languages
Kazakh and Russian are the two official languages (Russian is the"interethnic" language) so i will be learning Russian.

Movie monday canceled on account of...

I'll try and be generous: on account of unforeseen complications in a group project.  This is my extremely irritated, frustrated, and exhausted face:

NOT an adventure.

Friday Photo 4-22

In honor of Good Friday, this Friday's Photo is of the Zenkov Cathedral in Almaty:

So apparently this tzarist-era Russian Orthodox cathedral is made from wood without any nails (crazy right?).  It was one of the few structures to survive the 1911 earthquake (yes, Almaty is prone to earthquakes and mudslides - doesn't that make you want to come visit?).  Seeing as I don't have anything clever or funny to add, Happy Easter everyone!

Friday Photo: New Year decorations in Almaty

It has been a couple of weeks since I have posted anything new.  In that time I have begun to learn Russian, packed one suitcase, and continued to organize my life (heaven knows why I ever allowed it to get so disorganized).  Last weekend as I was speaking with the director of the school where I will work, I learned that Almaty has extravagant decorations for the "New Year" holiday.  In my internet wanderings I found some photos that I'm sure don't do justice.  I can't wait to get there and post some photos of my own!

Adventure Boulder 4.20

OK, this qualifies as an "other exotic lands" kind of post...hold on to your hats:

Reasons to avoid Boulder on April 20th:
1.  Everything smells...let's just say everything smells "green"
2.  Traffic is a nightmare because it is 4/20 (and no other reason).
3.  On legit business at CU Boulder?  You'll have to explain before they let you park.

For those of you not sure about the 4/20 culture, or unfamiliar to the extremes places like Boulder might take it, read more about it HERE.

Movie Monday

I think I am going to need some help coming up with alliterative themes for other days of the week.

I found this video and liked the formal Britocumentary accent (yes, I just made up that word).

Enjoy :D

Friday Photo

Random picture: a painted camel in Almaty (just for Steph).

Where in the world...

OK, now that the first post is out of the way, I can get down to business.  All of you who know about this blog know that I am moving to Kazakhstan in August.  So, rather than make you try and figure out where exactly that is, here is a map of the area.

Having trouble seeing it?  It's the lime green one toward the top...that orange thing on the right is China and the beige to the North is Russia. The city I will be in, Almaty or Alma-ata, is in the south-eastern quadrant, near the dark green country (Kyrgyzstan).

I hope you've enjoyed the geography lesson...

First Post

Every blog has a first post.  Most of the time that first post is a bunch of nothing that never gets read again.  I'm sure that this will be no exception so if you have not read this post, rest assured that you didn't miss anything.  After all, I filled it with a whole bunch a meaningless-nothing knowing that it would probably be forgotten very quickly.


Props to Adele (from Bridgeport) for the Blog name, and I wish you all happy reading (or not).