Well Facebook is giving me no clues as to what the last blog post contained, so let's start with my birthday. Looking back on it, it wasn't exactly the best idea to have such a large party in such a small flat, but at the time it was the perfect idea. I invited some of my friends, and they brought some of their friends, and everything got a little out of hand. There was a mix of beer, vodka, cognac and champagne floating around, and all I can say is that Kazakhs are pretty lightweight when it comes to alcohol unlike their Russian compatriots. I don't remember much of what happened, but I do remember meeting a really crazy girl who chased me around with the shower head (если ты читаете это, ты знаете, кто ты), some kind of dancing and my neighbours forcibly evicting my guests. I don't think they liked the noise much.
Much to my surprise, after a day cleaning the flat was still intact! Only one glass was broken, which my landlady eventually forgave me for. It did cause quite a stir however, someone told the police and they turned up the next week, asking if I was an alcoholic and what I was doing in Kazakhstan. This was probably the scariest thing I have encountered in our glorious republic. Seriously, you have no idea.
After these crazy events, I decided to keep a low profile, at least as far as socialising was concerned. I had a colleague over for dinner, I went for a quiet shashlyk every now and again, and also I went for shisha with my Natige kids for the last time as they were going back to college in Almaty. I also saw real life Cossacks in the Central Park, which has to be one of the greatest experiences of my life! They were singing and dancing and swishing swords around; it was super awesome! Anybody who knows me will know that I never, ever, ever, ever use the phrase "super awesome", ever.
Alikhanova is looking nice after its rejuvenation, although I don't live there anymore. Because the school is too cheap to pay for the rent, I have been moved to a cheaper, smaller flat on Lobody. I can't say I enjoy it much, there's no water, it's cold and the bed is made of different cushions stuck together, but there is an oven so cooking should be much easier. With regards to food, I also tried for the first time the legendary Kazakh national dish of Beshbarmak, boiled horsemeat on a potato and pasta-type-thing platter. You wouldn't believe how amazingly delicious it is. One of my students was kind enough to invite me to his family home for this honour; they are all wonderful people and treat their guests amazingly. They took me to the Nazarbayev Steel Museum in Temirtau and also promised to take me to Astana, the capital, sometime in the near future.
Well that's about all I guess. My Russian is getting slightly better, and I will be starting lessons for the first time on Saturday, hoorah! Maybe I'll be able to do more than just buy shashlyk in the near future.
That reminds me, I haven't actually shown you a picture of my beloved shashlyk. I must do this.
And now, as always, time for some pictures:
Stay tuned for more fun and excitement.
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