Initial Reactions

All in all,  I am not in love with Almaty.

On Monday I began my 4 week workout program, and gave up beer in order to help me lose the weight I gained while I was home. Tonight was supposed to be my rest day, but despite my sore abs and arms I headed outside with a goal of running for a whole 30 minutes,  and a purpose of exploring another portion of my neighborhood. As I ran down little alleyways I began to notice a few little details: The trees just starting to turn colors and the leaves spin like mad to the ground below.  The communist  architecture, combined with interesting paint details that I see as I hit each dead end.  I notice not only the poofy white bows in little girls' hair, which symbolizes the first day of school, but also the smiles on their faces as they lick their 100 tenge ice cream cones to celebrate. I gaze at the pieces of street art depicting local culture.

As I arrive home I realize that I'm glad I'm not instantly in love with Almaty. Any good love takes a fair bit of work and effort. After all, isn't that one of the reasons I moved? I was desperate for a challenge.

What I do love so far is my apartment, the mixture of cultures, the trips I'm planning to take, and the challenges I get to overcome. As their Independence Monument proclaims, "Choose and be in Bliss!"

Independence Monument. My hand is a perfect fit! 

Other than spending my time setting up my home, and adjusting to a new culture, I have been hard at work on my Russian skills. I know the alphabet, can now order myself beer and coffee, and am currently working on learning how to read a menu. I probably know more Russian than I did any other language I have attempted to learn since living abroad.

Here are some of my initial reactions about Kazakhstan, one month later...

Firstly, I was totally shocked to arrive in the airport and realize that I was back in Asia. For some reason I forgot about this, and noticed all the workers at the airport looked Asian. That being said, if I learn Russian well enough I can blend in as a local here. There are so many cultures, that I don't stand out. In fact original Kazakhs have blond hair and blue eyes just as I do.

Post airport, I was left alone to settle into my apartment. A few hours later, the principal came and knocked on my door, and I opened it. She scolded me and told me to always, always ask who it is before letting someone in. Second reaction:  Oh yeah...I guess I'm not in teeny safe Tivat anymore. City life!

When I went out for a beer with my co-worker the following evening she kept saying "We are not going to the restaurant with the playground." But, they all seemed to have playgrounds. Just small plastic ones, but what a great way for kids to stay active and off computers/tablets while parents enjoy a sit down meal. There are many outdoor playgrounds as well! On my brief 5 minute walk to the mall I pass three playgrounds.

I've been very confused about which culture I'm in. when I'm downtown I could swear I'm in Western Europe, minus the crowds. I'm amazed at how much green there is everywhere. Streets are lined with trees, and people commonly congregate at outdoor tables along the sidewalk to sip their tea and coffee, or smoke hookah.

On the other hand the traffic and pollution remind me of Jakarta. The traffic isn't stand-still like Jakarta and there aren't motorbikes, but the highway and roads are designed in the same format and because of this, cars break the rules in the same way.  I have to constantly mop because my apartment is so dusty, and I often look out at smog across the mountains.

A smog free day in the Mountains!

I'm enjoying the pleasure of being able to find pretty much any kind of food I want, other than vegan/health food, which requires a little more searching. I have a plethora of restaurants available to me and have had the pleasure of eating a lot of delicious local food so far, which is not as meat based as I expected it to be. There is also a very common tea culture here, which reminds me of Turkey.

Some fun and interesting facts about Kazakhstan, which I have learned through a city tour, and starting to read an informative book:

Did you know Apples are originally from Kazakhstan? And Tulips too! I'm currently reading a whole book about this. Sadly the original apples are no longer around because of stupid humans and their need to create everything to fit their needs. Regardless I hope to visit some apple forests soon.

Kazakhstan is the #1 exporter of flour. Haven't seen a wheat field yet though.

In 2007 Kazakhstan was rated in the top 10 most expensive countries in the world, now, in 2017 it is listed in the 10 cheapest countries. My wallet is enjoying this and using it as an excuse to book extra expensive holidays.

Kazakhstan has the highest child suicide rate in the world. My tour guide was shocked by this, but Astana (the capital) is one of the coldest capitals in the world, and I presume there is a large lack of time spent outdoors during the winter.

Well that about sums up my experience thus far. I'm shocked it has already been a month, and look forward to experiencing fall here as the weather begins to change.