We're on Day 15 of Survivor - Kazakhstan. On this show, we don't win a million dollars. Instead, we spend thousands of dollars, sleep on mattresses that are more like patio furniture cushions, and use towels so stiff they feel more like a loofah than cotton. And the food? Most of the time, we have no idea what we're ordering. Only two restaurants have menus with English translations. It's not as good as it sounds because the translations are flawed. One menu item is "A jack of the spaghetti." Another says, "Mutton in the test." And several entrees include "forcemeat." I thought I'd be safe with the "original salad." The waitress brought eggs, beef tongue and mayonnaise all mixed together. We did find one place that makes pizza. We eat there every day.In the last two days, we've visited the local Russian Orthodox Church and the art gallery, where we bought a small painting by a Taraz artist. We have no idea how we're going to carry that on to Lufthansa, but it was so beautiful that we couldn't resist. We've also been back to the bazaar. There's something oddly fascinating about outdoor merchants, narrow corridors covered by tarps, and one place where you can buy everything from butter to boots. (I know you're thinking that last part sounds like WalMart, but the bazaar is completely different. It's comprised of hundreds of individual merchants and has been on this same site for 2,000 years. The ruins of early Taraz lie beneath it and archaeologists have been unable to access them because no one wants to upset the bazaar.)
The photo shows Michael wearing the coat he bought at the bazaar. He looks really handsome, and more like his Russian side of the family (his Mom was born in Kiev). We're still working on his language skills. He knows one Russian nursery rhyme and the word chetireh, which means four. Unless we're buying something for four tenge or doing something at 4:00, it really doesn't help us.
Well, that's it for now. We're off to the pizza place for dinner.
2 comments:
I can't imagine how you must both be feeling under these circumstances. It sounds like a good chunk of the experience sucks in a multitude of ways. All I have to offer is the certaintly that someday soon, you'll look back fondly and laugh. What else can you do? What you take home at the end is worth way more than a million dollars. Granted, I've not sat where you're sitting, but here or there, the process is similar. It's all worth it.
We miss you guys! The boys are at Dave & Buster's with Holly's parents now. What a great photo of Kyra laughing!! See you in 7 short days! XOXOXOXOX
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