Tuesday, 26 March
My friend's sister's release date from
the hospital was delayed once more; we were unsure when she would finally be free to go, and we both had work to do in Astana, so we booked our return tickets for Wednesday at 12:30, after the final eye doctor appointment. In the end, she was released Wednesday at 4 pm, so we just missed her!
We had a slow morning and after a fast food lunch at City Mall, we went to the dentist for my friend's daughter's appointment. I went along because I was curious; Sophia went along because her other option was shopping with me.
This dentist place is different from
many in Kazakshtan because it is a stand-alone dentist building, not
connected to a hospital. The majority of dentist offices in
Kazakhstan are in a hospital. As we were sitting in the waiting
room, my friend commented on how it was different from most
hospitals but it took some explaining for me to understand what was
different. We had a pre-scheduled appointment, we signed in, and we
waited. That was quite unusual! In most hospitals, you go to
whatever room you need to go to, and wait outside with a crowd of
other people waiting to get in.
The place smelled very much of a
hospital, not the sanitized bleach smell, but rather the
latex/plastic smell of gloves and hats.
We were called on time and went to
another waiting room. My friend's daughter went into the patient's
room by herself. She had been quite scared, so I popped my head in
and wished her good luck. The two dental hygienists there smiled at
me.
Everything looked just like a normal
dentist's office, nothing new or different. I waited for a bit and
then said good-bye to Sophia and my friend, and I went outside to go
shopping.
It was raining a little, and the rain
combined with melting snow made for quite a few muddy rivers that
were quite difficult to cross. I did accidentally step in one and
got my feet rather wet.
I did some shopping and found
“bargains”--shoes and clothes that were similarly priced to what
I would pay in the US. So many things in Kazakhstan are cheaper than
in the US, but shoes and clothes aren't. In the US it is possible to
spend $40 on a pair of shoes that will last you several years; in
Kazakhstan it is possible to spend $100 on a pair of shoes that fall
apart after one season. So the 5000 Tenge ($35) shoes I bought may
not last, but one can hope! I also bought some running clothes,
which are also very difficult to find at a decent price here.
After shopping, I met up with my friend
and our daughters, we ate and returned to the hotel. My friend's
daughter had been quite scared before, but she was in a super mood
afterwards, so obviously the procedure had gone well. (She'd had a
mild cavity.)
The circus is across from the hotel
room and we could see that people were lining up to go to an event,
so I offered to take the girls to the circus while my friend worked.
Unfortunately, when we got there we learned that it was just a
concert (someone singing), so I took them to the mall and they went
to a movie. I found a stand that sold candy from Germany, including
Advent calendars (although it's about 9 more months until Advent!)
and Easter candy, so I bought some chocolate bunnies and eggs for the
girls.
Not a very eventful day, but I do think
I'm feeling done with shopping!
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| A small example of the mud and ice that make up the smaller raods |
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| Plastic cover-ups for our shoes that we wore in the dentist's office |
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