I have to admit that Almaty has some really beautiful places. The weather has been really nice, with lots of sunshine, flowers and pretty golden leaves falling from the trees. Cathy and Brock (our adventure partners here in Kazakhstan) have been taking us on excursions every weekend. Recently, we took photos around Almaty to record the change in seasons (that's the Golden Man statue, below), went up to Kok Tobe (Көктөбе in Kazakh means "Green Hill"), a large hill which over-looks the city. There's a little menagerie with birds (bold peacocks!) and goats, a coaster-ride (hecka fun and scary!), and a tea shop where you sit on bean bags outside, looking out at the city. It's how I imagine Yurtle the Turtle must have felt -- the king of all I can see!
We also went back up to Chimbulak, the mountain ski resort where we hiked on our first weekend here. (That was an un-planned hike... 4 kilometers up a 12%-grade hill because the school didn't bring a strong enough bus to make the journey! This time, we drove to the top of the hill, then took the ski lift to the resort. It was so different than the last time we went up there -- all of the green summer colors have turned to browns, golds and oranges, and the air was fresh and clean. We had a picnic at the top of the hill, looking down upon Kok Tobe and the city beyond that. Again, the kings of all we can see! There are so many beautiful vistas to behold.
We've had a very busy social life here! We have a hard time shopping for groceries because we just don't know when we'll be eating it... we have so many invitations to go for dinner that we might not eat out of our kitchen more than three times a week. Transitioning to a life overseas becomes so much easier when your friends make you feel so at home.
We also went back up to Chimbulak, the mountain ski resort where we hiked on our first weekend here. (That was an un-planned hike... 4 kilometers up a 12%-grade hill because the school didn't bring a strong enough bus to make the journey! This time, we drove to the top of the hill, then took the ski lift to the resort. It was so different than the last time we went up there -- all of the green summer colors have turned to browns, golds and oranges, and the air was fresh and clean. We had a picnic at the top of the hill, looking down upon Kok Tobe and the city beyond that. Again, the kings of all we can see! There are so many beautiful vistas to behold.
We've had a very busy social life here! We have a hard time shopping for groceries because we just don't know when we'll be eating it... we have so many invitations to go for dinner that we might not eat out of our kitchen more than three times a week. Transitioning to a life overseas becomes so much easier when your friends make you feel so at home.
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