Sunday, 4 October
A Kazakh Named Sophia
Sophia slept much more normally Saturday night; however I woke with an upset stomach (which happens whenever I visit a new country). It was early afternoon before we set out, and we decided to walk straight down our street, in the direction of the river and downtown. Astana is a LARGE city, and very spread out. We made it near to the river (I believe) and just as we were wearing out, we came across a large statue and a playground. Sophia quickly befriended a Kazakh girl, whose mother noticed that Sophia wanted to play and that we were speaking Russian; she prompted her daughter to say "Hello" and "Let's go!" to Sophia.
The mother spoke English just as poorly as I speak Russian, but somehow we managed to have a conversation while the children played. When she asked my daughter's name, and I said Sophia, she was surprised--"My doych [daughter] is named Sophia!" One of the reasons I chose Sophia is the universality of the name.
After playing for quite a while we returned home. I took quite a few pictures along the way, and then some more of the view from our porches.
It wasn't a very exciting day, but it was a pleasant day, an active day (we walked for several hours), and it was nice to see how well Sophia could make a friend who doesn't speak English, and how well I can converse with someone whose English is very poor.
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