Victory Day and Pilla's Visit

Victory Day is a big deal here.  I'm not sure why it is not celebrated in the US.  Perhaps because we were not invaded.  The parade was scheduled for May 7 even though Victory Day is May 9.  We were off for 5 days.  My sister Pilla came to visit.  Yay!
     One of my co-workers, Vlad, volunteered to drive to the airport and pick her up.  I was going to take a taxi, but this was better.  Pilla's flight arrived at 11pm.  Vlad drove through Astana, which is lit up like Christmas every night.  It was a nice introduction.  The next morning we got up and took a taxi to the parade site at Independence Square near the Pyramid.  We didn't get near, though, as all the roads were blocked off.  We, and thousands of our closest friends, walked over the bridge to the parade route.  When we got there, we just stopped at the barricade and took up our positions.  It was very crowded and very hot!  After a while of sweating, we decided to move.  We ended up on the steps of the mosque.  It gave us a little better view, but not by much.  It was, however, much cooler without all the people around us.  Finally the military parade started.

Across the street is the American embassy.  I could see people on the roof.  It turns out several of my students were on the roof.  The highlight was the fly-by. 

It's a little surprising to me that Kazakhstan actually has a military!  Who knew? 
     The mosque was allowing visitors, so we took advantage and toured the inside.  It is a newer mosque, only a few years old and very beautiful.

We strolled down the avenue, stopping to take pictures along the way, stopped at an Italian restaurant, then walked home.

Kazakh Yeli monument.  Kazakh Yeli means County of Kazakhs.  It stands in Independence Square and has a sculpture of President Nazarbeyev in the base.

I guess Kazakhstan was part of the Soviet Union, or something.

Later that evening we went to the ballet.  It was Spartacus.  Weird.  Who would ever think of creating a ballet of Spartacus?  The Soviets.  It was first performed in the early 1940s in Moscow.  The dancing was very good.  Some of the male dancers' leaps seemed they were just hanging in the air.

I thought we were dressed up until we got to the Opera House.  Others were much more fancily dressed.

     The next day we went to Baiterek.  The view is better now than it was in March.  Greenery!  Flowing Fountains!  Sort of blue skies!

Penny made a wish on Nazarbeyev's hand print and we got to photograph some WWII veterans.

   Our next adventure was taking the train to Akkol in order to hike.  We decided to go to the travel agent to buy a train ticket.  It would be easier and much less crowded than buying the ticket at the train station.  I don't know how to buy a ticket online.   Because it is in Russian, I'm not sure I'd be buying the right ticket!   But I forgot to bring my passport.  Even if you travel inside the country you must present your passport.  So we ended up going to the train station early enough to stand in line and elbow everyone else out of the way.  There's sort of a queue here, but cuts often happen.  With some help from friendly Kazakhs, we got our tickets.   We spent $4 each for a round trip ticket.  Akkol is a forested area about 100 km north of Astana.  Notice I said forested.  Forested means trees grow there.  Yeah, trees.  I miss hills and trees...It has a population of about 14,000 and no industry that I know of.  People kept asking us "Why do you want to go to Akkol?" 
     The "hiking trail" wasn't easy to find and I'm not sure we actually did.  But we did meet a cowherd.

In the plaza outside the train station was a statue.  Penny was enchanted with its romantic imagery.  The names on the statue were Bayan Sulu and Kozi Korpesh.  My school is on Bayan Sulu Street, so I had to find out who this person was.  It seems these two had a tragic love affair, not unlike Romeo and Juliet.  It started raining.  We stayed in the train station while we waited for the rain to stop.  When it did, we did a short explore.  Then it was time to take the train back to Astana.

     The next day the wind was blowing 20 m/s, so we went for a walk.  We wanted to go to the museum.  We didn't know they were closed until the 12th for the holiday.  Another discovery.  A statue called Mother Earth.  It depicts Queen Tomyris (who killed Cyrus the Great in battle) with two leopards on a huge bull.  Obviously, I don't know the whole story, but I don't understand why a warrior queen is Mother Earth.

    Well, sadly, that's then end of Pilla's visit.  It was fun!  We took a taxi to the airport early in the morning. On the way there the clouds in the east helped to create a beautiful sunrise.  In the west, against a backdrop of dark clouds was a double rainbow. 

Unity Day

    May First is Unity Day of the People of Kazakhstan.

Betcha didn't know Donald Duck was a people of Kazakhstan!

 

 

I left the apartment around 9:30 because the festivities were advertised to start at 10:00am.  The morning was clear and cool, if a bit hazy, promising to be a great day.  I decided to go to the festivities on the river instead of going downtown or to Khan Shatyr.  As I walked along the river there were people kayaking, some people at the man made beach were swimming, I saw a group of bicyclists getting ready for some kind of race and I could hear music. 

When I got to the festivities, the stage was empty, the music was canned, the booths were still being set up, workers were staining the benches and people were milling about.  I guess 10am was just a rough estimate.  So I walked around.  There is a monument to Kenesary Khan who fought against Russian encroachment in the 1830s and 1840s.  He was eventually killed in battle by the Russians. 

He's looking at the city and saying, "Look how my khanate has grown."

A music celebrity died on April 29.  His fans made a memorial at the base of Kenesary's monument.  Buses dropped off loads of kids, more people came and still the booths remained empty and the workers continued staining the benches.  I went home.  I walked through Central Park.  All I know about Central Park is it is a good place to cross country ski.  Since it was around 90 today, I did not see any cross country skiers.  I did see an amusement park with lots of families, runners, including one runner who was barefoot, bicyclists, and a man doing Tai Chi off the trail, his bike discarded under a tree.
Later I walked down to Khan Shatyr.  The festivities were about the same as for Nauryz.  A stage was set up and various performers sang.  Women and men in traditional costumes (which are beautiful, by the way) danced.  There was a dance troupe dancing to Michael Jackson's Beat It, but not in traditional costumes.  I wandered off to Asia Park, the third huge mall within a mile, then stopped at the mosque. Although there didn't seem to be many festivities going on, there was a festive atmosphere.  People seemed very happy, taking pictures of each other.  Many women were dressed to the nines.  There are supposed to be fireworks tonight.

All in all it was an interesting day.