Sunday, April 14, 2013

Eastern Hospitality

"You are V.I.P's" Yelena says to us every day. We have certainly been made to feel incredibly welcome and appreciated while in Kazakhstan and today was no exception. Kazakh's pride themselves on their hospitality and we we were treated with incredible warmth and generosity when we visited a retired teacher named Olga today. "I've been waiting for you!!!" she said as soon as we walked in the door. We could smell the national dish, beshbermak, cooking when we walked in to her smartly decorated apartment on the 4th floor of a large apartment building. This dish is traditionally made with noodles, onions, spices, and (of course) horse meat. Olga was kind enough to make me a vegetarian variation although this is a very strange concept for Kazakhs. For them, meat = health and horse meat = extra healthy.



Earlier in the morning we traveled to two local places of worship: a Russian Orthodox Church and a local Mosque. It was the first time I've been inside an Orthodox Church and I was amazed by the overwhelming beauty of the icons, the smell of incense, and the sound of the choir. A short distance down the street stands the oldest Mosque in Kostany (it was transformed into a movie theater when the Soviets were in power and then back to a Mosque after the fall of the Soviet Union). Erin and I were overwhelmed by the openness of the Imams - they were happy to answer questions and allow us to tour most of the building. One of the most surprising things we've noticed about people in Kazakhstan is how open and accepting they are of people of different faiths and nationalities. They work and eat and play together with incredible harmony. This is something the president Nursultan Äbishulı Nazarbayev has worked very hard to promote in Kazakhstan and it seems to be working. Even the students in school seemed to be very surprised to hear that bullying is a real problem in U.S. schools - it is not something they deal with on a serious level.




Part of our day was also spent at a local museum regarding Kazakhstan's history from Jurassic times through today. Seeing how Kazakhs remember their time as part of the Soviet Union was particularly interesting to me. We also enjoyed getting acquainted with the local "wildlife" in the awesome dioramas.

You will also see pictures below of our time spent shopping at a "mall" in town. In our ventures around the city we notice tremendous new pockets of wealth in the midst of fairly pervasive poverty. The items in the mall were as expensive (if not more expensive) than what we typically see at Cool Springs Mall. Although I was very tempted, I did not buy the awesome hat but I did try the mushroom flavored Lays. Surprisingly delicious.







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