Outside My Apartment

The first picture is the courtyard the center of my complex. The second is a close-up of my building. I'm on the second floor, to the left of the main entrance. 

Food

I've tried quite a few Kazak and Russian dishes since I've been here, and most of them have been pretty good. My favorite so far is the village style cutlet, with mashed potatoes, that I ordered in the cafeteria (stolovaya) in our building. I've also tried chicken shashlik (shish ka bob), plov (rice, meat, and vegetables, cooked in oil), and some perogie-type things filled with cheese. Most of the traditional foods are fairly heavy, and involve a lot of bread/starch. On my first weekend here, I tried some horse meat cold cuts--tough, and not real flavorful, in my opinion. I need to try it hot.

The locals always seem to have at least three courses for lunch and dinner-- soup, salad, and the main course. I usually just stick with the main course for lunch. The salads are mayonnaise and tomato heavy, and I've been avoiding the soup since I splashed borscht all over one of my dress shirts last week. Plus, eating all three courses for lunch would be way too much-- the “light lunch" is a foreign concept here. I have yet to see my former mainstay--a good old turkey and cheese sandwich. Now that I think about it, I haven't any sandwiches whatsoever.

There are probably 15 to 20 quality restaurants in town. I've been to three or four, and have many more to explore. Unfortunately, the prices are not any better than in DC. It's kind of unsettling, but every time we're in the restaurant we seem to be the only party, or are one of two or three parties. The locals that can afford to eat out must eat much later when we're accustomed to (or else, the prices are so expensive because they can only count on one or two parties a night to keep the place open). My favorite so far is Boden-Boden, a German themed restaurant with beer can sized butane lighters on every table in the shape of a wooden keg.

Because my mobility is limited, I've only been to two grocery stores in town, and didn't have a lot of time to linger and explore. There's a pretty wide selection of food, mostly European (definitely nothing from the United States). Most of the packaged goods are heavily processed / artificial / full of sugar-- definitely no organic foods, and rarely an attempt to even market it as healthy. I feel like I'm shopping at a dollar store--lots of strange brand names, and uncertain quality. Unfortunately, the prices really aren't that much cheaper than in the US. I need to keep exploring and find some brand names that I like. Eventually, I'll hire someone to cook for me a couple of times a week—it may be the only way to eat healthy.

My stomach has been unsettled several times since I've been here, but nothing too serious, fortunately... I did have one bad day, but fortunately the separatists agreed to a cease fire before I had to summon Ambassador Immodium for negotiations. I'm sure they'll be back.

Inside my apartment (4)

Unfortunately, I'm not smart enough to clean up the text spacing on these posts. Here's the master bedroom, and the view from the guest bedroom.
 

Inside my apartment (3)

The full bathroom. The landlord chose the orange curtains. What's the little sink thing for? The last picture is the half bathroom.
 

Inside my apartment (2)

The guest bedroom / office, and the living room. 

Inside my apartment (1)

It is difficult to post multiple pictures with this program. The first picture here is the view from the entranceway. The second is the kitchen, obviously. Mom, when are you coming to put shelf liner on all the shelves? The third picture is a strange little closet / balcony off the kitchen.

First Impressions

Finally, I have some decent Internet access. Ironically, the local Kazakhstani DSL company was much quicker and more responsive than my esteemed employer, which still hasn't been able to provide me with system access in the office (due to some bureaucratic bungling in the transfer of my account from DC).

My arrival went very smoothly. The flights were long, but business-class seating makes a huge difference in comfort, and it takes less of a toll on your body. My apartment is excellent--it's in a new residential development not far from the river, and if you walk to the other side of the complex, you can see the entire skyline of the new part of the city. I have two large bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms, a large kitchen with dining area, and a living room. It's furnished, and my employer provides a "welcome kit" with towels, sheets, dishes, etc. until my things arrive in a couple of weeks. I'll take some pictures and post them, hopefully this weekend. The downside to the apartment is that it's not within walking distance of any restaurants or stores. I'm very isolated without a car (mine probably won't arrive until November are so), and completely dependent on nearby coworkers for rides to and from work, stores, etc.

At work, I've spent most of my time meeting colleagues, getting briefed on issues, and reading background materials. Plus, there seems to be no end to the bureaucratic check-in process--my employer loves its policies, procedures, and paperwork. My colleagues have been great so far, despite the chaos of many new arrivals, pending departures, and the forthcoming move to a new building in September. Everyone is anxious for the move, so we can get out of our temporary offices (I'll soon be sharing an office with four others) and return to a normal pace (although I guess I have an advantage right now, in that I don't know what "normal" is).

I also flew down to Almaty last week for some additional meetings and check-in activities. Almaty is the former capital of Kazakhstan and the largest city. I didn't get a lot of time to explore, but it seems very cosmopolitan, and there's a beautiful mountain range visible to the south of the city. I'm sure I'll be back many times.

First impressions of Astana: there's a lot more here that I was led to believe. The skyline is pretty impressive, with dozens of modern, new buildings, and there are plenty of restaurants, grocery stores, fitness centers, etc. In fact, the city is one giant construction zone. In every direction you look, there are construction cranes and half completed buildings, with construction crews that sometimes work through the night. The government is still pouring billions of dollars into this place, and private developers are racing to keep up with the demand for housing and commercial space. There's apparently a huge housing shortage, and real estate is incredibly expensive. Unfortunately, the construction and the frequent heavy winds have combined to coat the entire city in dirt. Buildings, vehicles, roads, and sidewalks (and some people) are layered in caked on dirt, and the frequent, short rainstorms turn the roads and sidewalks to mud. Staying clean in a suit will be difficult.

All the new construction and development is sharply contrasted by what's left of the old city. Astana was called Tselinograd during Soviet times, and there are many crumbling Soviet-style apartment buildings and decaying infrastructure from that era. Myself and many of the “new Kazaks” who moved here for government jobs live very differently from the original inhabitants of the area.

Overall, my impressions are positive, and I think this will be a pretty livable place. We'll see how my opinion changes when the 70 to 80 degree F weather have now changes to -40 in the winter (I'm told that first snowfall will be in early October).

Off to Kazakhstan

Assuming I have good access to the internet, this will be my vehicle for updating friends and family about my new life in Kazakhstan. The name is derived from my voice dictation software-- "Cosmic Stan" is what comes out when I say "Kazakhstan". It may be a while before I'm able to post regularly.

I'm off to Astana on Thursday night July 12. Roughly 20 hours of travel. I can't believe that when I wake up on Friday, I'll be living in another country.