Day 10

This morning was nice and cool…such a nice change from Georgia weather! We play outside every possible chance we get and this morning was no exception. The caregivers have him all bundled up when we say we are going out which included four layers on top today. two t-shirts, a long sleeved shirt and a really heavy long-sleeved shirt on top. He also has his ‘long’ pants on the bottom and, of course, his hat. When Matt took off his sweatshirt at one point (and was left with just a t-shirt) little M tried to copy him but we had to say no since the women walk around out there periodically and would not hesitate to come over and scold us! 

At one point the guys drove this old truck around and were picking up large trash from inside the building. They stopped near us so we watched them for a little while. Then in order to start it up, they had to crank the engine! I’d never actually seen this before so it was quite a learning experience. 

For our sightseeing trip of the day we headed out to the ‘forest’. We were really excited about this trip - it was our first time out of Semey since we got here! Our first stop was this overlook that sits above the country houses. No apartments here. The cost is much less expensive and most places seemed to have a little plot of land for gardening and some animals. Matt noticed this man walking his pig.

Next we headed to the amazing Irtysch River overlook. This is where the best man at a wedding climbs a tree and ties a champagne bottle to the top for good luck. It was so incredible to stand on this high hill overlooking such a beautiful sight and hear the musical clanking of all those bottle in the trees. When we looked closely we saw them in every single tree that we could see. Some of them were super tall and leaning over these huge drop offs down to the water. Apparently the best men got drunk first and then climbed up. Yikes!

We finally got to the place that used to be home to a convent. The story is that the women there prayed for water and a spring appeared out of the ground at that spot. People come from all over with their empty bottles and jugs to collect this water as it supposedly brings good health to those who drink it. At one point along the spring they have gathered the water into a swimming hole. There was a family of three generations coming out of it when we arrived. A grandmother and grandfather, the father, and two young boys (maybe 7 and 10) were all getting dressed after their dunk. Did I mention that the water was frigid cold?? Wow - they were brave. This water also brings health to the body when you swim in it. I think I’ll stick with drinking!

On our way out we washed our hands in it for ‘good luck’ and couldn’t feel our fingers for at least 20 minutes.

Can you believe we had time for anything else today?? We did so we stopped at ‘central park’ which had a little shooting gallery where Matt, Pasha (our driver) and Igor (our translator) tried their hands at Kazakh carnival games. Matt actually won at the dart game! After some ice cream we called it a day.

I must be so boring so a big thanks for following along!