The City of Astana

Hi all- So I thought I would let you in on some info about the place where our child comes from. First of all, people describe Kazakhstan as either Eastern Europe or they call it Central Asia and I kept thinking why can't they just decide already? Well, now I know why. The city itself feels very European- like Budapest or Prague without the old buildings (there is nothing here older than the soviet era I don't think) but the majority of faces you see on the street are Asian. It's really interesting. And where we are, Astana, was changed to the capital in I think 1998 and they have been building a whole 'new city' since then on the other side of the river. There is building going on everywhere. Everything is supposed to be finished by the year 2030 and I really would love to come back and see how it all turns out. Last Sunday, we went down to the capitol area and it was really nice. At one end of the area is the capitol building that you see behind us here,

in the middle is the lollipop building, and the other end is the oil building. And all along it are these really beautiful plantings and sculptures.

And I will have to take some photos of our neighborhood. We are in an excellent area of town where we can walk around to restaurants, shops, and the riverfront. The weather here has been fabulous so when we aren't waiting for the cable guys, we take a stroll around to the grocery or a restaurant and then meander back along this really beautiful walkway next to the water. They have done it well with a nice brick pathway and you see all of the local people with their families out for their nightly saunter. And it seems totally safe here. Gulsanna (yes someone noticed that I was using names now- I felt I had to ask permission first) said that the worst that ever happens is pickpocketing. I don't think that even happens often because there are police everywhere.

Oh, and Peter insists that I include a photo of his first horse ride ever so here it is. We went there last Sunday as well.

Oh, and we went to this pyramid building behind the capitol that is actually an opera house and had some gold and silver items from long ago. It was a really interesting building even if only because its elevator goes diagonal. Anyway, the city is really nice and I am glad we were assigned to here.

That's all I can think of to say about Astana for the moment but I will add more along the way. Stay tuned! -m
And, FYI, you can click on any of the photos and they will pop up bigger so you can get a closer look. You may not care so much about the photos of us, but once we are able to post some of our kiddo I know you'll be clicking up a storm! :-)