Week 5 - Weekend Excursion!

Alright, I've had a day of rest and I'm back in the same cafe, with my beloved lavender latte next to me. Now I'm ready to jump right back into the updates. Let's get right into it.


Friday:
- Friday marks day one of the weekend group excursions! What does this mean? Well, none other than that I have to wake up REALLY early to get to the bus stop on time! Hooray!

- Because I woke up so early, Accel was still asleep, but Adilbek was already getting ready to head off to work. Last night, they went to a burger place and and got me a burger for breakfast, so that I wouldn't get hungry on the bus. Adilbek offered to microwave the burger and saw me off. Walking towards the bus stop, I misdirected myself and went East instead of North, so I got to the bus stop later than I would have liked, but it was no problem because I left half an hour earlier than I would have needed to in order to arrive on time.

Being in the bus and riding to the school, our rendezvous point, turned out to be a bit of an awkward experience, as I had stowed my backpack and a sports bag, both full of items like food and clothing for the trip, in a place near the head of the bus. Well, that doesn't sound very awkward, but as I got closer and closer to the city center, more and more people filled the bus, so when the bus arrived at my stop, I had to push my way through multiple people to get to my luggage, and then I had to remove my luggage from the stowage area and then finally push my way back out of the bus. Of course, people standing right in front of the stowage area couldn't be bothered to move, and got push a bit by my bags because I had no other way of getting out. Nice!

I got to the school early and waited with my fellow classmates for the bus to arrive so that we could get our bodies and luggage on it, and I chatted with some of the language partners that were going to come along with us to the canyon and lakes. After about 20 minutes, we were all on the bus and getting ready to head off to the Charyn canyon, our first stop.

Along the way, we stopped by a market because there seemed to have been a problem with the bus (maybe it overheated?). We walked through the market along the roadside and Monika bought a melon to eat later on. For the most part, nobody else bought anything and we returned to the bus and continued onto the next rest stop, which was at a location called 'Kukpek.' My friend Laura (she is the one learning Kazakh instead of Russian) told me that kuk can mean blue or green, but she didn't know what pek meant. We used the wash room at this stop, which costed a meager 40 tenge, and purchased some ice cream from the nearby convenience store. I got a стаканчик (stakanchik), which is basically a poorly made cake cone with vanilla ice cream in it. It stood at a staggering 160 tenge (50 cents) and was even more delicious than it looked!

Returning to the bus, we didn't stop again until we got to the canyon. As soon as we began to exit the bus, it began to rain heavily and was noticeably chilly, so I went back into the bus to leave behind some of my things that I didn't want to get wet, like my phone. When I went outside again, the rain had already stopped and as we began to make our way into the canyon, the sky had cleared up and the sun was showing. We walked through the canyon, which reminded me heavily of New Mexico, and got to a point where there were cafes and a small resting place nearby a river, which rapidly flowed with murky water. The group stayed here for a while and rested. I brought with me a bag of cocopuffs cereal as a snack as well as a bottle of lemonade in the flavor mohito, which did not disappoint me! I would recommend THAT lemonade to the OTHER holiday 'lemonade' sold in grocery stores, if I can even call it that... Some of us explored a bit and found a restroom with a hole in the ground for the toilet and also a sign warning of the dangers of exploring too far, as it is dangerous for life. I can relate with that sign.

- Along the way back, our tour guide points out a rock that looks like a duck, with its head facing towards the sky, and I could definitely see that. What I could not see, however, was a collage of rocks resembling a human face, which our guide insisted looked like a prominent Russian figure (was it Karl Marx?). We pass through a space between two rocks, and the tour guide said that if we placed both of our hands on the rocks, then we could wish for something and have that wish granted to us. Sure Jan.

- We pile back onto the bus and ride to the village Saty, where we would set up base for the weekend. The group was split in half, with around 12 students staying in one house and the rest staying in a different house. Within my group, we were further split in half with one half staying in a different house in the residency. I stayed in a room next to the dining room with Spencer, and in a different room were Monika, Janna, Laura, and Meg. In other rooms we had some other students, language partners, and tour guides. The residence was lacking enough electrical outlets for charging electronics, but I found that to not be a problem, as I was able to use my laptop to charge my phone, using it as a battery pack. There was running water for washing hands, but not for taking a shower. Additionally, the bathroom was outside of the house in its own separate place. This bathroom had a working toilet and light, but for the more traditional there was also an outside with a hole in the ground for doing your business.

For dinner: Plov, plov, and some more plov! All the food was fresh - fresh raspberry jam, bread, баурсаки (baursaki, basically malasadas without the sugar), and black tea with milk. After eating two and a half portions of plov, we headed to a store in the city to gather some provisions for our hike tomorrow (the hardest hike of the three days). Along the way, I felt alive walking through the dirt roads with cows standing near the fences - the sounds, smell, and whole general feel of the village took me back to me times in the provinces of the Philippines near Cebu - my childhood memories of being met face to face with a goat in the dark as I climb a mountain in a sleepy stupor after exiting a bus from the city. I chatted with my classmates and the language partners until we made our way to the store, where I bought some cookies and two large bottles of non carbonated water (if you don't specify негазованная, then you will get carbonated water!).

- Back at the house, I wrote some notes about the day onto my computer and then eventually headed to bed. Being in a new place, I had some trouble getting to sleep, but I still somehow managed to doze off to sleep after laying on my small, loud bed for a while (I could have chosen a normal bed, but I wanted this bed in particular).


Saturday:
- Today is the day of the hike to the Kolsay lake - the hardest hike of the weekend! I wake up at 6:00 from a very strange dream, an hour earlier than breakfast to the sound of a rooster coo-cooing right outside of my window. Ah, just like the Philippines! I get out of bed and quietly make my way out of the room to brush my teeth, wash up, and stretch. At 7:00 sharp, we are called to the dinner table for breakfast and we are met with bowls of oatmeal along with the bread and raspberry jam from the previous day. I eat a regular breakfast and prepare myself to leave for the excursion.

- Along the way to the hike trail head, I listen to some music and look at the village in daylight. I noticed a large mosque and was taken aback by the size of it in comparison to the other buildings in the village. As we make our way past the village, I half listen to music and half listen to the tour guide giving us some facts about the area: there are some тяньшанский ель (tyanshanski yel) that grow only on the mountains in this area between the altitude of 1,700 to 2,700 km. Also, there are some bears that can bee seen in the area. The scenery is astounding, rolling mountains and the beauty of nature takes me aback, and when we arrive at the trail head and get a sight of the first lake, I am even more blown away.

- The trail to the second lake is about 9 km in length - that means 18 km in total to get to and back from the lake! We agree on a set time of 2:00pm for beginning the hike back to the trail head and 6:00pm to be on the bus and on the way back to the village. We immediately begin the hike, which is is hard to get lost on, as the trail is clearly marked and there are no separate or branching routes.

- Along the way, I hang a bit behind with the tour guide and talk about plants and nature while the rest of the group blazes through the trail with Harry in the lead. We get separated and I end up getting some really interesting information about the local plant life as well as the uses for some herbs and berries. The tour guide stops me in my tracks and points me to the ground, where I see some very small strawberries (земляники zemlyaniki) growing. We talk about some other plants and berries, such as барбарис, люпин, желёный мак, колокольчики, клеверы, куриная слепота, душица, коряги в реке, снить, подорожники, одуванчики, коровяк, и шиповник.

- Every now and then, we have to move to the side of the trail to allow people on horses to pass by. Sometimes they are in camouflage, but most of the time they are tourists riding the horse to the second lake, but it is dangerous because the trail is not always even and there is a change of falling off of the horse and down the mountain. We eventually reach a point where the tour guide tells me that she is going to return back to the head of the trail, but then a group of hikers happen to come by and she recognizes the two men leading the hike. She tells me to join this group to the end and bids me farewell. These two men hike at a quicker pace than the tour guide and immediately lose the group as they blitz through the path. Also, the weather changes from the morning - from cool and drizzly to hot and humid, which makes the hike feel more tiring than it should be.

- After what seems like forever, we eventually reach the end of the hike - the second lake! I gesture towards some of my classmates, who had already made their way to this lake and were resting there. We shortly go further along the lake and find a beautiful spot close to the kyrgyz border where there was a fire pit. As we take pictures here, a man in camouflage approaches us and we take pictures with him. It begins to rain and we make our way back to the hike head well before 2:00PM.

- The rain intensifies and the hike back becomes hell. As we snake through the path down steep declines, we constantly slip and fall into the mud. Watching the horses return down the mountain from the second lake, I am glad that I am hiking rather than riding a horse - it looks terrifying! I fell a few times, but never managed to fall into the mud, so I stayed relatively clean. It feels like the hike stretches on an on as we make our way back, and I am fed up with the hike, but I continue to push forward, putting one leg in front of the other at a consistent pace.

Finally we start to get to the first lake and it is a slap in the face - this last section of the hike is a long, steep incline. I run up the trail and push through the pain in my legs and my haphazard breathing, because I just want to be done with the hike already. When I reached the very end, it got even steeper and I flew up the incline, feeling seriously out of breath and exhausted. I reunited with some of the students who decided to stay at the first lake and ate some bread and honey with them, trying to regain my strength from the miracle that was finishing the hike. With my foresight, I had brought a package of moist toilet wipes and was handing it out to my peers to clean off the mud from their shoes, hands, and legs. We sat at a bench near the first lake and talked for a while before it was time to make our way back to the bus and return home.

- When we got home, I was more than ready to eat dinner. For tonight's menu we had lagman and boy was I ready to scarf down my bowl of food! We talked about literature and some nice gifts from a chocolate factory for our families and friends back home, as well as the job situation among youth in Kazakhstan. As one of the language partners, Sasha, explained, companies do not want to hire students due to a lack of experience, but by the time that students graduate school they have no means of getting that experience for developing their careers. Additionally, some universities will automatically enroll students for graduate school upon completion of their degree, so as to prevent the student from going to a different university for further education.

- After dinner, we wait for our turn to use the баня (bathhouse) and chat some more. Me and Sasha discuss some of the gender roles in Kazakhstan and what it's like learning Russian and English. Only three people are allowed to use the banya at a time, and when me and Spencer get to wash ourselves, the sun has already gone down and it is dark. Being that I have already gone to a banya, I was already an expert and showed Spencer the way of the Russian bathhouse. I felt very clean and happy when I was done, but I felt pity for the girls in my house who had to wait longer to use the bathhouse - it was already nearing 11PM and they still did not have the chance to wash up!

When I returned to my bed, I laid on the bed and felt drained. After pushing myself for so long physically, my head was hurting and it prevented me from immediately slipping into sleep. I woke up multiple times during the night and had some wicked, inexplicably strange dreams that made no sense.


Sunday:
- Sunday, again. Not only the day before classes, but also the last day of the excursion. To make it through the day and make it to the city back at a godly hour, we sacrifice our sleep and wake up really early in the morning. I wake up at 5:30 to some more roosters screaming outside of my window and the house is silent. I use the facilities, gather all of my personal belongings to streamline the process of getting on the bus and returning home later in the day after lunch, and then wait for breakfast to be served. For breakfast we have oatmeal once more and I eat my fill.

- Today's excursion is to the Kaindy lake, where birch trees grow from out of the lake. We head into an all-terrain sort of war jeep and sent along a bumpy ride to the lake. Along the way I am selected to be the designated stereo, which means that I hold Monika's phone as it plays various Russian pop tunes. We have a party in the bumpy ride and eventually make it to a path that leads up to the lake.

Me, Monika, Janna, Taisiya, and the language partners decide to to ride horses for this path, as it is even and straight forward - there is little danger of falling off a mountain to a horrible, painful death. Two horses sweep away half of the group and the rest of us wait for the next wave of horses to begin our trip. When our horses arrive, the horse handler thinks I am Kazakh and asks me some questions in Kazakh, but poor Namu has no idea what he is saying. Fortunately, Sasha was paying attention and explains that I am not Kazakh and we get ourselves onto the the horses and begin to ride off into the sunset (at 7:30AM).

I am not a horse whisperer, so I had trouble even getting the horse past the first gate that separates the road from the path, but after some help I was able to steer the horse around the minuscule obstacle and was on my way. With the way I was sitting on the horse, I felt a pain around my groin as the horse buckled down the road, but again - I am not a horse whisperer and I do not know the proper method of horse-riding! As we made it down the road, these horrible greenish bugs about the size of my thumb crawled up from the depths of hell to bite at my ankles through my socks. They loved my blood and I could feel each time they sucked the blood from my delicious, enticing ankle.

 Eventually we reach the end of the line and Monika yells to me instructions for stopping a horse (I couldn't find the break peddle), which was just pulling the reigns back. With people trying to ride horses up mountains this can be frustrating, because they pull back the reigns out of fear, but then the horse gets confused and doesn't actually, ya know, do up the mountain! I slide off the horse and pay the horseman 2k tenge (~$6). Joining the group again, we walk a bit further down the path to make it to the lake, where the rest of the RLASP students had already been resting. Me, Meg, and Janna hunt down the little strawberries growing on the ground and had a feast with the tiny red berries.

At the lake, Monika was looking to swim and I was also ready to get in the water. Unfortunately, I left my backpack at the house, which had my change of clothing, but I wasn't going to let something small like being constantly wet stop me! I put all of my electronics and my shirt in Monika's bag and get ready to dive in the water when some students stop me. Apparently, the tour guide recommends for us not to swim at this location of the lake because it was dirtier and offers to lead us to a higher spot, where the water was cleaner and, apparently, sweet (it wasn't sweet at all). Sure, I'm down.

We head over to the other lake and I'm still shirtless, because I expected the walk to be short. It really isn't and Monika is a distance away, so I guess I'm dressing up as Tarzan for this walk. We reach the point eventually and I take off my shoes and socks, excited to dive into the water. The shore leading up to the water is filled with rocks, which miniature mountain men sharpened to points to stab anyone (us) walking up to the water barefoot. Also, the water is REALLY COLD. I'm talking freezer, antarctic glacier water cold!

You know what? When you put so much effort into something and it doesn't turn out as you would like it to, you just gotta go with it sometimes. So, I walk through the death land of knife shards up to the water and dive in along with Monika. At first, it's not so bad, but then your body realizes what you are doing and then it's really really horrible. I do this three more times because I am dangerous for life and then begin to head back to my shoes with my cargo shorts saturated in ice water.

As I put on my shoes, I feel the urge to use the restroom. I go to look around for a nice, large bush and head over to it. As I step through the sand, it is a bit watery but that's alright, it's not something I can't deal with! I take a step behind the large bush I decide to use for my business and my entire leg slips into the sand. Why am I alive.

I pull myself out of the quicksand and return to the group, explaining my situation. I spent a long time trying to keep my shoes out of the mud from the hard hike on Saturday and carefully avoided all mud puddles, and now here I am, feeling sandy water slush through my left shoe. This is exactly what I wanted! I kneel my pitiful bottom half into the frosty stream water and try to clean myself as much as I can, refilling my pockets with cold water because I was running out of it. The walk back up the trail to where I got off my horse was a bit miserable, but this time I didn't care as much about what I stepped into, because my hopes and dreams had already been shattered.

Me, Monika, Laura, and Spencer walk up the trail and stop at some porta potties to do some important business and as we wait for the group to gather back up, a kazakh man walks down the trail and audibly farts in front of us. I just thought you all should know that very important detail about my trip. We gather up and look for some snacks to eat before having to head back to the jeep and we order some chicken shashlik, which would take about 15-20 minutes to cook. We decide to explore a bit while waiting for our food to cook and make our way over to two small lakes, called the twin lakes because they are right next to each other. While walking over to these lakes, a man in front of us is just BLASTING despacito from his boombox.

We spend some time over at the lakes, chillin under the sun, before we head back and check up on our food. We reunite with some other students and Sasha, who is enjoying this deep-fried flat circle of food with meat inside of it, sort of like samsa. I try a piece and it is delicious, but not what I ordered. We eat our shashlik and head back to the road where the jeep and the rest of the students from our residency were waiting. The ride back was a party but we were all tired and ready to eat some lunch.

When we got home, for lunch we had manti! Wohoo! We gorge ourselves on manti and I eat a large portion, action as a vaccum cleaner for those who couldn't finish their own portions. We gather our things and pack ourselves back onto the bus and head back home. On the way back we stop at the black canyon and we spend a few minutes looking at the beauty of the canyon. Our next pit stop is at the same kukpek location that we stopped at on the way up, taking things full circle. Oh - by the way, there is no air conditioning on the bus, so it's unbearably hot and we open the side door of the bus to get some air circulation.

We get back to the university and I walk to the bus stop to go home. I am tired and ready to be in a place that I know well. On the bus ride home, I speak with some language partners who were headed the same way and we chat a bit about books and poetry.

 When I get home, Assel and Adilbek are at a friend's house celebrating the friend's birthday and, likely, watching the final world soccer match. I reheat the soup that was left for me and watch a couple minutes of the game, but I already knew that France would win, so after finishing my dinner, I lay on my bed and rest for a bit. It was a long weekend and I still had some homework to do, but I wanted to take some time off to rest before getting back into business. Before working, I take a proper shower and do my laundry.


Monday:
- Ugh. Another Monday. Why do I exist? I wake up early to finish up the homework I didn't get to complete over the weekend and review some previous exercises to be prepared for class. I finish my reviewing and start to fold my dried clothing. Around 7:40AM, Assel knocks on my door and asks if I am going to be late. I am confused, as there is no reason for me to be late... boy was I wrong! Apparently, Assel was on vacation, so I would have to find my own way to school. I quickly finish the rest of my folding, wash up, and immediately head out of the door. Assel is surprised and quickly packs up a snack for me to eat during the day and I leave for the bus stop at 8:00AM sharp. Fortunately, I was not late to class, but the bus was full and uncomfortable to ride in, so I was tired even before classes started.

- After classes, my gang heads over to grab lunch together - business lunch. It was a decent lunch at a decent price, but I ordered a lasagna that does not at all live up to its name. The olive salad was pretty great, however! After lunch, I headed over to a nearby cafe that one of the language partners recommended - sova (owl). This cafe was pretty great! Atmosphere - check. Internet - check. Cold coffee - check. Reasonable price - check. And it was closer to the school than mega park! I can dig it. I think I may have found my place!


Tuesday:
- Today me, Jesse, Monika, and Janna decide to go to a chocolate factory named рахат (rakhat) after class. We had planned to go to the factory with the language partners on Wednesday, but it turns out that Monika and Janna have excursions on Wednesay, so they wanted to do it earlier. We ride the bus over to the green bazar and I show my group around a bit, as I have some experience being in this bazar from the first week of being in Kazakhstan, getting groceries with Adilbek. They get some lunch at a restaurant in the bazar, but I didn't get anything because I didn't want to spend money.

After lunch, we walk over to the chocolate factory and look through all of the various types and shapes of chocolate offered. There were even some Korean brands in the mix as well - choco pie and pepero! Monika asks for a bag of randomly assorted chocolates and we sit on a bench in front of the store to try the chocolates. I ask if there are any peanuts in the chocolate, but Monika forgot to ask for chocolates without peanuts - she only asked for chocolates without fruit, so Justin went in for me and got some peanut less chocolates.

I try my first chocolate and it has some sort of soft filling, like a truffle. It's alright. I try a small bite of another one and I feel a reaction spread across my tongue and throat. Welp. I guess that peanut less chocolate had some sort of liquid peanut filling! Fun times! I try a small bite of a different one and I feel another reaction. The remaining other two brands did not taste good, so we're looking at a whopping 0/10 from me! I take some benadryl while we walk to our separate bus stops: me and Janna were going to sova while Monika and Jesse were headed off to do crossfit.

As me and Janna wait for the bus in the hot sun, I look at the 2GIs app and notice that the bus wouldn't take us too far before we would have to walk half of the way, so I suggested that we just walk the entire way - 20 minutes of walking. Janna agrees and we head on our way. I feel tired and my stomach hurts, but we eventually make it to the restaurant. We sit ourselves down and I don't feel too well. After ordering a lemonade tea and soup, I begin to slowly but surely break out in hives. I guess the combination of having no lunch and walking around for 20 minutes just really didn't help my body down whatever peanut sauce was in that chocolate I ate earlier. Sigh.

I take another benadryl and message Harry to let him know what's going on, that I would like to go to a clinic in the event that it gets worse, as the hives spread on my inner elbows, wrists, neck, and torso. While my body slowly gets allergy symptoms, the waiter brings in our order and I casually eat my food - having something in my system should help. Harry tells me that he is on his way and I sit with Janna, casually having an allergic reaction, as one does. As the waiter passes by, he keeps looking at my worsening condition and I ask for the check, explaining my situation and that I would like to pay in case I would have to leave sooner rather than later.

After a bit of time, Harry arrives and we look to get a taxi to get me to a clinic. The clinic Harry chooses is not one he has been to before, so we are crossing our fingers for a pleasant experience. I have enough time to finish my food and drink by the time our taxi arrives, and then me and Harry head off to the clinic to check out my situation. By this time by symptoms are slowly fading, and not once during the reaction did I feel my throat changing, so it looked a lot worse than it was.

We get to the clinic and try to find our way to a place that can help us. We are pointed to a room downstairs, but when we make our way to that room, it is locked, so we look for a different source of information. We ask another person for help, and they ask what the problem is. By this time, my hives are have significantly lightened up and the reaction is passing. Harry describes the situation and then the lady asks him who he is. When Harry explains that he is translating for me (as according to the set of instructions set by the american councils for dealing with these serious situation), the lady laughs at him. She takes me into a room, which Harry is forced to stay out of, without another word. When he asks the lady what is in the shot that she is about to administer to me, she refuses to tell him, saying that it's just a shot for allergy suppression. My guess - Benadryl, but I have honestly no way of knowing for sure. I didn't need a shot; I just wanted to go to a clinic in case my situation worsened, but it was already seeming to get better! The lady begins to argue with Harry and then forces him out of the room. Another woman tells me to pull down my pants and quickly administers the shot into my right butt-cheek. She then says that it's done and tells me to get dressed and leave. I'm baffled, but do as she says and in the next second me and Harry are exiting the clinic. What a wonderfully horrible experience! Clinics are free, so I did not have to pay for anything, and the staff is horribly overworked and underpaid, so I can understand the rude treatment we received but I can't imagine what it would be like if I had something extremely serious happening to me and getting service from such a place - it would be better at that point, probably, to go to a private hospital! Harry explained to me that this experience was probably one of the worst, and we walk outside and wait for Assel and Adilbek to come and pick me up.

I am feeling very drowsy and want to fall asleep, so I am almost certain that I was given some benadryl. It starts to rain, so me and Harry head back into the lounge of the clinic and wait. I am on the edge of sleeping, and everything is in slow motion, so I am just barely hanging on my seat as I wait. After what seems like an eternity, Assel calls me to notify me that they have arrived. Assel and Adilbek drive Harry back to the university, where he didn't have enough time to get all of his stuff before coming to me (sorry!!) and I am taken back home. Assel wants me to eat and drink, but I am too tired and immediately plop onto my bed, falling into a coma (no not really a coma, just a deep sleep).


Wednesday:
- I wake up and feel completely healed, save for the horrible diarhhea and upset stomach. I message Harry to tell him that everything is fine now and he says that I can stay home to fully recover. However, I personally felt like I was in a good enough state to go to class, and get myself ready for school. After breakfast, Adilbek and Assel take me to class and I arrive there just in time. However, when I enter the school, my stomach feels terrible and I quickly rush my way to the wash room. I spend the next 40 minutes here, questioning my existence.

After I feel like I'm ready to go to class, I do just that. I am thirty minutes late and as soon as I sit down, my teacher hits me with having to answer a grammar question. Greeeat. My mood is quite bad today due to my condition and I slug through classes.

After I make it through the final period, which is my favorite class (audio training), I exit the university and walk up to the Starbucks in Mega Park. It's convenient and I can quickly get back home after I'm done with my work. I order a drink with a pump of caramel syrup, which turned out to be what a caramel macchiato should taste like. However, the internet is not working at all. Wonderful!

I finish my work and head over to the public restroom, where I spend the next thirty minutes, contemplating my life choices. The thing that I like about public restrooms in this part of the world is that that are very private - where as the stalls in America have large gaps that you can clearly see through, the stalls here are like private rooms, and there are quite a few of them in one restroom.

- After I am finished with my business, I head back to my house. My aunt is home, but Adilbek and Assel are out on a mini vacation. I eat dinner, do some more studying, and go to sleep.


Thursday:
- I had an egg for breakfast.

- I left for the bus stop on time today, but for some reason, traffic was a nightmare and I ended up getting to the university ten minutes past the starting time of classes, which is 25 minutes later than I expected! The ride to class was horrible, as I was smooshed between people and an elderly man next to me who didn't decide to wear deodorant kept on leaning on me. Also, today was a special day where we had to write an essay, so these 10 minutes took away from my essay preperation and writing time! I think that I produced a sufficient essay that wasn't too bad, so I'm glad that things turned out relatively well.

- Today is Fatima's final day teaching the history of Central Asia, as some problem happened with her visa to Ireland and she was forced to leave today rather than next week. She is a great teacher and her class is interesting, so I am sad to not have her for more classes, but life happens sometimes.

- After classes, me, Miranda, and Brenden gather and walk to a close cafe/restaurant. I ordered thai- styled meat and it was on point! Although the dish was not spicy at all, the taste was there and the price was very reasonable. Feeling satisfied, we talked about various things in life before paying out bill and heading out. I headed over to Sova and Brenden was headed a similar way to a mini market on Toli bi.

At the cafe, I worked on writing my blog post the entire time. I ordered a ' latte lavanda', wondering what it was. It was a lanvender latte! What a thing I was missing from Portland that I did not expect in Kazakhstan! Ok. I have most certainly found my place. This cafe is my go-to cafe for all things study and hangout related. I've found it!

- While working on my blog post, people in the RLASP group chat are talking about a recent event that happened at 3:00, which is when our classes were ending. A prominent Kazakh figure skater, Denis Ten, was caught in a conflict a couple of blocks away from the university towards the South-East side (a more upper place where the rich people live) where two people were trying to steal his rear-view mirrors. In the conflict, the bandits stab Denis and he loses three liters of blood. This happened in broad daylight, and one of the host families actually witnessed this happen. Unfortunately, Denis dies from the altercation.

- I spend a long time in the cafe, until 8PM, writing my blog post. When I head back home on the trolley bus, the sun has already gone down. On this bus ride back, the conductor was playing some Russian disco music, which was totally cool! I knew some of the songs and felt really happy to be in this bus (bus 7!). Riding back home with the music going on, the wind coming in through the bus window, and looking out at the town in the early stages of night, I felt very happy. I felt a pulling - a love for Kazakhstan and it was a very strongly positive. Walking back home from my bus stop, I take a moment to take in my surroundings and stroll back to my house, trying to soak in this sensation.

- I arrive home and my aunt reheats the borsch she made for dinner. We sit together and chat about the recent events with Denis and other various topics. I feel a connection and am very pleased. What an optimal situation! Adilbek and Assel come back from their mini vacation and my aunt goes down to them to go home. I spend my time alone in the apartment thinking over the day and resting, preparing my blog post to go out and setting up my photo gallery and video playlist for tomorrow's blog post. When Assel and Adilbek arrive back at the apartment, they go straight to bed, as do I.


Friday:
- This morning I allow myself to wake up without the assistance of an alarm clock. I lie lazily in my bed, comfortable and happy. I hear breakfast being prepared and after an amount of time Adilbek knocks on the door and I greet him with a peace sign and a привет. I wash up and join my family for breakfast.

Today we have rice kasha, which is very similar to champurrado and arroz con leche. I ask Assel if they have cinnamon and they do - but its not ground cinnamon. We have a healthy discussion over breakfast and Adilbek shortly leaves for work. I show Assel some Korean and American songs while she does laundry and does dishes. Then, I take a proper shower and head off to my favorite cafe, sova, to write this blog post. And now I'm done writing this blog post, so I will go back home and have dinner! Hooray for productivity!

Week 5 - Weekend Excursion!