The Attack of The Dandelions

This is a photo of a Kazakh family at the park. We were surprised she allowed us to take photos of her and her kids. Kazakhs are very private and guarded, so this was nice.

A funny thing (and annoying as well!) is taking place in the town of Kostanai -- millions of dandelions are blowing its seeds into the breeze around town and it literally looks like it is snowing outside. The sky is blue, and the sun is out, but millions of these teeny and white fluffy things are flying all over the place, making some parts of the ground look white. It is all over your face, flies into your nostrils, mouth and eyes. Not fun, let me tell you!! We scrub our eyes and wash constantly, many times a day. You can't really see them in these photos, but they are there. This will last about 10 days, we were told, and it's relentless. For those who have allergies, do NOT ever visit Kostanai in the beginning of June -- you will not survive this!!

This building is where Mike's favorite tea/coffee house is located, with yummy treats! Small businesses will ''attach'' themselves -almost like appendages - to buildings, even historic buildings, and will paint these entrances very bright colors, almost in an ultra modernistic way. It's strange.

Yesterday was Sunday, and we were not allowed to go to the Baby House. Because we were all suffering from Baby Sofia withdrawal (badly!!), we went to a park in the center of town to get out and catch some fresh air -- it's wide, green, has a couple of fountains, lots of trees, and a small recreational area with rides for children. On the way to the park, a man approached us and struck up a conversation. We are constantly being watched by people, and people actually openly stare at us and our children, so we weren't surprised when this man wanted to talk. He seemed friendly and was accompanied by his mother. He spoke fairly good English, and told us he was an English tutor. Once he found out we were Americans, he became almost agitated, and really excited, like this was his last chance to truly understand some things he had been wanting to know for years. It turns out that he listens to American music (like most of the Kazakhs!), and was confused about some of the words and phrases he has heard in music by Ozzy Osbourne and others. So he asked us what "see you on the other side" meant, and when I explained about the after-death, he was thrilled. The next definition he needed explained was "daffodils", and then "purpose of life". After each answer, he became more and more excited, almost like he did not want this encounter to end. Almost like a child who tries his/her first piece of candy and can't get enough of it! It seemed to us that to him this was his only chance of finding out the meaning of words from all the music to which he had been listening to for years. Finally his mother asked him to leave, stating it was not nice to force people to speak to him for so long. It was a very interesting moment and we could tell we had made his day! The power of music is huge, and music truly is an international language.

It was nice to get out and walk around and Alex and Dominique enjoyed some of the 'safer' rides at the park, albeit choking on dandelions' seeds. After playing in the park, we went to our usual 'chai' (tea) house, and enjoyed some delicious cake and pastries, with tea. Kazakhs make delicious cakes, and some pastries are very tasty. You just have to hope it is fresh. Some come with meat inside, however, but you don't always know that. Most pastries sit outside the cooling cases (if any even exist), so if we happen to mistakenly buy one with meat, we try not to purchase that kind again.

We have been very careful about drinking and brushing teeth with water, and not eating vegetables (unless it is at Dolce Vita which is ultra clean and we have had salads without problems). We buy apples, bananas and oranges from the supermarket, but peel the apples thickly. They are delicious. Drinks, by the way, including Coke, Sprite or water or juices are served room temperature most of the time, and sometimes those drinks are even on the warm side. We are getting used to that! Kazakhs have wonderful chocolate. Besides that, they enjoy American candies such as M&Ms, Mars Bars, Snickers, Mamba, etc. etc. We haven't seen and don't know of any other Kazakh candy besides chocolate. But we will keep exploring!!

Today we visited Sofia, and because of the attack of the dandelions we did not take her outside. We had our best visit yet. She really had a great time with us today, smiling and laughing a lot, and even letting the kids hug her later on. She loves to pretend she is riding a horse. Like it or not, she is constantly smothered in kisses, but hugs from the kids or Daddy sometimes frighten her a bit, although she is getting more and more used to them. And if she starts whining she immediately looks for me in the room and reaches out. I must remind her of one the caregivers because immediately upon picking her up or simply sitting next to her, she calms down. This happened even in the very first day.

She discovered the mirror in the cabinet today, and was thrilled! She was laughing at herself, kissing her image, and baby talking. Towards the end of the visit she was letting the kids pick her up and hug her. Alex and Dominique loved that!! It will be really tough to leave her to go home, even though we will come right back!! I may be coming back sooner than expected, by myself. We'll see . . .