We're not living in America but we're not sorry...

Currently Listening to: The Sounds, "Living in America"

Geez, I have not written in a long time.

Recap:

Tuesday, August 7, and Wednesday, August 8—Just chilled with my family and worked some for Dad.

Thursday, August 9—First, my mom and I went to the Barholka, which is this massive bazaar here in Almaty. Lots of cheap, wonderful knockoffs to buy. We spent probably a good three hours in there. I think the only thing that could be compared to the Baraholka would be the medinas in Morocco, except at those people sell things out of stalls whereas here everything is sold from small stores made out of storage containers. You know, like the ones that you see on cargo ships and trains.

I will be a total girl now and tell what I bought:

• An awesome sweatshirt that’s from United Colors of Benetton,
• This super sweet purse that is so Asian, it is hilarious. Mom would not let me buy it until she was certain that there was not anything “inappropriate” on it, (i.e. nude cartoon women, lol).

• Jewelry for myself and a couple of friends,
• An amazing gift for my roommate. Do not know if you will use it, Laura, but you are definitely going to laugh when you see it!
• Some more gifts for family, and
• A Louis Vuitton wallet—very nice, but of course a complete knockoff.

That is something I really miss about Kazakhstan: piracy. I know that sounds so horrible, and yes, I know it is wrong and that it is stealing, (I have seen the commercials they show right before the DVD starts), but I miss how you could find a knockoff of absolutely everything. Its weird coming back to Kaz now because it is becoming harder and harder to find things like that. I mean, 5 years ago if you bought a movie you were practically guaranteed that it was pirated. I can remember seeing movies that had been pirated by someone who had snuck into a theater with a video camera. People coughing, laughing, and reciting lines along with the actors. Now, every movie and CD are covered in stickers loudly proclaiming that they are being legally distributed, and if you want anything pirated you have to go over the border and into China to find it. It’s a good thing, and I’m glad to see that in some areas Kazakhstan is actually doing something about corruption, but it still makes me feel just a little nostalgic.

Enough about my rebellious tendencies, and back to the recap:

Later, we had dinner with a family from church and the food was amazing! The wife is Mexican and had made the most wonderful food I have ever had. (So much better than El Chapala.)

Anyways, we were there for a couple of hours and then we left to meet Vitya for coffee and desert because it was my dad’s 44^th birthday! We, (Mom, me, Grace, Colin, and Vitya), all pooled our money together and got Dad a new cell phone. After desert, we went to Panfilov Park but it was so hot and crowded that we did not stay long.

Friday, August 10—Pretty much did nothing all day. Worked for Dad. Jenna came over later that night and we just chilled and watched a lot of TV. In fact, I finished Alias Season 4.

Saturday, August 11—Went over to another friends’ home, Hyayan and Susanna, with whom Grace, Colin, and I had led worship with a couple weeks ago, for lunch. They are Korean, and I have to say, Koreans have the best food in the world. Yes, it is even better than Mexican and Italian. We stayed for a good few hours. The girls are younger than me, closer to Colin’s age, but they and their brother, John, are incredibly sweet and fun to hang out with. We mostly sat in their room while the adults talked, (I enjoyed being seated at the “kid’s table” again. Have not sat there in awhile), and played with their two kittens, Crispy and Tiger.

Sunday, August 12—Church at ICF again. A friend of ours, John, (he actually dated my sister last summer), is leaving to go back to South Africa now that he has graduated high school, so we said goodbye to him. I think he leaves either tomorrow or Thursday.

After church, Colin and I went with Sander to Mega for lunch where I finally got to meet Suzy. It was so good to see her. She came earlier this summer with a Chi Alpha team, but stayed longer to be with her family. It was great to catch up on 5 years with her, and after lunch, I went home with her for an hour or two.

Dad picked me up from Suzy’s way too soon because we had to meet someone else at Mega, a local friend that I have known ever since I moved here. It is sad, I have been here for 3 weeks, but people are only now trying to see me since it is my last week.

Colin had to work until midnight, so it was just the four of us and Vitya for dinner.