After school finished, I had over 2 weeks before my flight to the US. I had hoped to spend it traveling, but instead I spent it moving into another apartment and taking my cat to the vet. Luckily, Sophia managed to have a bit of a vacation during this time.
The parents of my best friend live in a tiny village about an hour's drive from Karaganda, a city that is about 200 kilometers to the southeast of Astana. My friend decided to take her daughter to stay with them, and last minute we decided that Sophia would go with them.
They spent just 2 1/2 days there, but managed to have a lot of fun.
My friend's mother cooked a lot of Kazakh food for my child, who is a picky eater. In Kazakhstan, the guest is king, and my friend's mother was quite worried that Sophia wasn't eating. (Sophia eats baursak, a type of fried bread, but that's the only Kazakh food she eats.) So my friend googled "pizza" and drove from village to village finding the right ingredients. Her mother made pizza, and Sophia ate it, and everyone was happy.
They live not far from a river where my friend's father likes to go fishing, and twice they went to this river. My friend brought her tent, which she set up for people to sit inside, which was especially useful on the first day since it rained a lot.
The next day was much nicer, and they spent most of the day by the river. My friend's father taught the girls how to fish. They caught a few small fish and they also waded and swam in the river.
At another point during the day, the girls went through the village on their own. They had an old bicycle, so my daughter biked her friend around. They saw lots of stray cats and a herd of 300 horses that goes through the village every day. They didn't see the herd of cows which goes through at a different time. Sophia's friend's advice on the cows -- make sure you have a stick, in case they charge.
My friend talked to the guy who owns the herd of horses. He milks them and sells their milk (a Kazakh traditional drink, kumis). She asked if we could visit his farm, and he was quite surprised. However, he was happy to have guests, but being Kazakh, he wanted to go out of his way for us. He needed advance warning so he could prepare, and we could stay there for 10 days. And he would kill his best sheep for us.
We didn't have time to visit him on his farm, but it would be nice to one day! And maybe one day I'll have a bit more free time and I can visit the village myself - such a cheap vacation, and Sophia thoroughly enjoyed it.
The parents of my best friend live in a tiny village about an hour's drive from Karaganda, a city that is about 200 kilometers to the southeast of Astana. My friend decided to take her daughter to stay with them, and last minute we decided that Sophia would go with them.
They spent just 2 1/2 days there, but managed to have a lot of fun.
My friend's mother cooked a lot of Kazakh food for my child, who is a picky eater. In Kazakhstan, the guest is king, and my friend's mother was quite worried that Sophia wasn't eating. (Sophia eats baursak, a type of fried bread, but that's the only Kazakh food she eats.) So my friend googled "pizza" and drove from village to village finding the right ingredients. Her mother made pizza, and Sophia ate it, and everyone was happy.
They live not far from a river where my friend's father likes to go fishing, and twice they went to this river. My friend brought her tent, which she set up for people to sit inside, which was especially useful on the first day since it rained a lot.
The next day was much nicer, and they spent most of the day by the river. My friend's father taught the girls how to fish. They caught a few small fish and they also waded and swam in the river.
At another point during the day, the girls went through the village on their own. They had an old bicycle, so my daughter biked her friend around. They saw lots of stray cats and a herd of 300 horses that goes through the village every day. They didn't see the herd of cows which goes through at a different time. Sophia's friend's advice on the cows -- make sure you have a stick, in case they charge.
My friend talked to the guy who owns the herd of horses. He milks them and sells their milk (a Kazakh traditional drink, kumis). She asked if we could visit his farm, and he was quite surprised. However, he was happy to have guests, but being Kazakh, he wanted to go out of his way for us. He needed advance warning so he could prepare, and we could stay there for 10 days. And he would kill his best sheep for us.
We didn't have time to visit him on his farm, but it would be nice to one day! And maybe one day I'll have a bit more free time and I can visit the village myself - such a cheap vacation, and Sophia thoroughly enjoyed it.
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