Current mood:

good

Tour de Kaz
Another note from the management: The author of this journal would like us to thank you for your comments and let you know the following:
1. Microwaving clothing is a practiced method of dormitory drying and has been successfully achieved on many occasions by the perpetrator of such actions.
2. Darren was working on approximately 4 hours sleep within a 60 hour period.
3. There is an old Kazak expression, which loosely translated means: “Spring has arrived! Let us burn our socks and tromp barefoot through the muck!”
4. There is no correlation between one’s ability to raise a child and the decision to irradiate cotton.

Thank you for your concern – The management. Now, on with the thingamajig.

Ah, the weekend… Today’s calendar includes a tour of Kostanai, and then a visit to the orphanage, followed by and afternoon of plumbing, and then dinner. The tour was interesting. Our first stop was a Russian Orthodox church.



Sarah was required to put on a sarong type thing, since she was wearing pants, and her coat was not long enough to cover her booty, or something. Kim had to put a shawl (they called it a veil) on her head. Us guys were fine as we were. No one seems to care if we show of our jean clad booties or our stylish hair-do’s. The church was beautiful, inside and out, but I was constantly harassed by tiny old ladies as I snapped photographs. I had paid the fee to be allowed to do so, but they did not seem to think that was the case. Very bizarre.

Our next stop was the soccer stadium. Apparently the Kostanai team is pretty good. I’m hoping we can go see a game and maybe take part in a soccer riot. After that we went to Victory Park, which commemorates the end of WWII. There is a memorial wall with the names of Kostanai soldiers, and a statue of Lenin.



Next up was the farmer’s monument, which celebrates the Virgin Lands movement of the 1950’s. [Looking forward to the comment on this one, Hugh.] There is more to see here in town, but we’ll have to wait until another day, because we were late for lunch.

The orphanage visit was a little frustrating today. Since Asel has a bit of a cold, they did not want her on the floor, where I guess she can pick evil carpet germs. We’re a little unclear on the concept, and we felt bad because we had to hold her the entire time, when she clearly wanted to stretch her little legs. We understand they have the child’s best interest at heart, but we wish we could tell them to trust us and let us do what we think is right. Ah well, we did get a few giggles today too. She’s an inquisitive little munchkin, with eyes that are black as the starless night. (I was going to say “coal”, but we’re trying to be environmentally friendly.)

This one’s for you Beth!


Mmmmm. Yummy babies!


We spent the better part of the afternoon watching a Linkin Park concert DVD with Eugene (our translator and man-about-town), while a man named Sergei dismantled our toilet. The push button flush thing broke. He kinda-sorta managed to fix it, and I’ve never seen a plumber come to fix something without bringing ANY tools whatsoever. I guess he’s watched a lot of MacGyver.

Dinner was at the “Chinese” restaurant in town. It was pretty upscale. Our meal cost $8 (for both of us). Sarah had a tofu and bamboo salad which contained neither tofu nor bamboo. They were fresh out of Phoenix bird (seriously) so I settled on the spicy chicken, which was neither spicy, nor chicken. Well, I think it was chicken, I just liked the parallel sentence thing I had going there. And so ends our day.

One final note… Thank you to EVERYONE for all your comments. They really are enjoyable to read and we look forward to our nightly feedback. Please keep them coming (Except for Hugh. Please cease and desist.)

Love to all.