Passing the Time

Why is it when you want time to move fast, it does the opposite and moves ever so slowly? Time is passing for me now at an exhaustingly slow speed. Seems as the day draws nearer for me to leave Karaganda, time has crawled to a snail pace. There is a blessing disguised in there. All this time here has caused me to ponder about life here in Karaganda.

Life here is so opposite from our life at home. Here there is a small apartment, walking, walking, walking, no washing machine/dryers, trash everywhere, poor water quality, and the list goes on. Yet living here is full of extreme opposites as well; although technically up to speed, their infrastructure is not; luxury cars are in abundance yet housing is so compact; a pack of cigarettes costs 85 Tenge yet a fisher price toy costs 9,000 Tenge.

I suppose coming out of Soviet rule takes time. Is there such a thing as a second world? If so what countries are considered second world? Or is it now referred to as an “emerging country”? (maybe one of my nieces/nephews could answer that question for me?) That’s how I would describe Kazakhstan – it is “emerging” and shows potential to be a flourishing economic power. Its oil reserves alone will probably make it that in due time.

Anyway such are the things Annie and I were pondering today. She’s good company for me to pass the ever so slowly moving time with. Today we took a stroll through town; I’m a bit shopped out and am saving my budgeted allotment to see if I can find any keepsakes in Almaty. So we ventured out for a stroll around town instead. Pics attached.

Saw 5 different brides today, all taking photos at the town center. It’s picturesque there and I can see why they all make it a stop on their list to take photos. Shot some myself. The large water fountain cascades into a series of large pools of water, each lower than the next. There were lots of kids “swimming” in these various “pools” of water. Thought they were looking for coins at first, but they weren’t – just enjoying a “swim”.

This town square as I said earlier leads down to the lake. Turns out there is a “beach” area and swimmers in the lake. I had always been passing by on weekdays, so I hadn’t spotted any swimmers. Still I question the water quality. But it’s a busy spot, they rent paddle boats, and people take their shoes off for a knee high dip in the water. Me, I kept my shoes on!

Not much else going on to comment about. Just another day done! 2 left to go……..