Thursday, November 22, 2007

Taldykorgan


It has been an incredibly long and busy week here in Kazakhstan—a whirlwind trip to Taldykorgan to speak at an orphanage about the possibilities of studying in the US, and another talk at the National Children’s Library about Thanksgiving traditions. Today (Thanksgiving) is the first break I have had in nearly a week. I’ll be spending it catching up on some much-needed housework and going to the bazaar to pick up the ingredients for an apple pie for the Thanksgiving dinner my friends are hosting on Saturday. I had hoped to spend the day up in Medeu, hiking around the mountains—but the weather isn’t cooperative.

I’ll write more soon about the events of the last few days, and will hopefully have an update posted sometime tonight. It was an incredible experience, but one that was also very draining. Until then, I’m posting a picture to give you an idea of the incredible vastness and desolation of the countryside around Almaty. This picture was taken on the major highway between Almaty and Taldykorgan (the capital of Almaty Oblast). It is also the only road between these two locations—which makes traveling very interesting. Fortunately we were in a car that had a very good suspension system!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!