Welcome to Almaty, Kazakhstan!

We've known we were moving to Almaty, Kazakhstan for about 8 months already, so naturally we've told friends, family, and strangers alike. Most often we get one of the following responses, "Kaza-what?", "Where is that?", or "Isn't that a scary place?" 

We hope to change some of the  stereotypes and the pre-conceived notions of Kazahkstan by sharing our experiences with you.  We want to show you the worlds largest landlocked country and the city of Almaty, as we discover it.

There are successes and challenges when first arriving in a new country to live. Success is magnified by completing tasks that you don't think twice about back home and things we say are 'awesome' are all realitive to our new surroundings. 

Here are some of our high-five worthy successes and things that we think are 'awesome' during our first week in Almaty:

Being met by our school director (Hi Mr. Newton!) and driver when we arrived in Almaty at 2:00 am.

All of our luggage arriving.

Being taken directly to our apartment with awesome views in a beautiful tree lined neighborhood. 

Finding an ATM and getting money out.

Buying SIM cards with our incredibly limited and virtually non existent Russian.

Shashlyk...

Being spoken to in Russian only to rely in Russian, "I'm sorry, I don't understand" and receiving a smile and sign language  in return! 

Speaking basic Russian and actually being understood! 

Even better- people want to help us with our Russian. 

Having the fruit guy smile and wave every time he sees us. 

Did we say, looking out our house windows and seeing trees & mountains? 

Buying kilos of berries, apples, and apricots for only a few dollars. 

Eating cheese filled samsas and donor kababs on the street. 

Saying the word "babushka"- grandma in Russian. 

Hearing the wispering of the mosque when our windows are open.

The cool evenings and breeze.

Taking trams through the city and ending up at a huge indoor/outdoor market.

Buying bags is spices, tasting and buying local honeys and cheeses and meats. Yummy! 

No humidity! 

Finding our way home. 

Taking a gypsy cab, aka hitch hiking, and not dying. 

Tasting camel milk... Awesome, but not tasty!!!

No cockroaches! 

Having a cool 4x4 Niva Lada with a choke and no power steering. ( Heather actually thinks this belongs under 'tricky' but Adams thinks it's 'awesome' )

Not knowing where to pay on the tram and feeling like a ding dong (high followed directly afterwards by the driver getting up and showing us how to do it at the next stop)

Driving and not having a heart attack.

Meeting friendly people at our school.

Our school has sprawling views of the mountains. 

Outdoor eating!

Tricky things...

Driving. The driving here is not like the driving in America. It's acceptable to make 3 lanes out of 2, straddle the lines, not use blinkers while changing lanes, drive fast and honk. The traffic laws are different for crossing lines and making turns, every left turn you make can only be made when oncoming traffic is light enough for you to squeeze in.  The right lane is also tricky because there are cars and buses slamming on their brakes and stopping in the right hand lane to drop off and pick people up with no warning at all; everyone just swerves around them in the other lanes even if you're in it! Same with pedestrians, they just walk right into the road! Tricky! 

Adams international drivers license not being valid until August 14... Meaning Heather's driving, which is tricky, but also good because it forces Heather to drive. 

Все написано на русском языке. Все. От упаковок и этикеток в продуктовых магазинах в уличных знаков.

We said...Everything is written in Russian. Everything. From packages and labels in the grocery stores to street signs. Tricky but fun too, unless you're in the hair and skin care aisle and want conditioner! 

Not so many tricky things here! Yay! Even with all the research we've done, we are pleasantly surprised by Almaty and have enjoyed our first week in our new home town. More to come! 

Kuta, Lombok Indonesia

For a slide show of our trip click on the link below:

 http://flipagram.com/f/2juwEG8ijo

 We were fortunate to spend our Spring break on another beautiful Indonesian island. The island of Lombok is quite different than its next door neighbor, Bali. Lacking mainstream tourists and facilities, Lombok is a haven for those looking to get away from it all. There's plenty of surfing and a magnificent volcano to hike, but we chose to spend our time beach hopping on the southern coast and sampling many delicious foods of locally owned woerungs (restaurants). There were coconuts galore on every beach and for 80 cents a young man with a machete would slice it right open for you and even include a straw!

We stayed in Kuta at friendly family run place called Yuli's Homestay and felt as if we were saying goodbye to people we known for years when we left. If spending anytime in Bali, it's possible to hop over to Lombok for a few days by boat or plane. We highly recommend this spot as your first stop!

http://yulishomestay.com/

A little bit of China

A few of our China/Macau adventures...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iHWa9IMC_U

Street food at it's best in Guangzhou, China!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARRMLSAxiQw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68bXDQRJJws

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZLRwzVWORE

Back to Bali

                        

      

The very first  posts on our blog were about our life changing 6 week trip to Bali nearly 5 years ago. We quit our jobs, packed our things, and took our first big international trip. WE LOVED IT. And not just, it, but Bali. It was amazing!

Boy has life changed in the last 5 years. Over the last year and a half, we've gotten the opportunity to visit several other incredible countries around Asia. We've always said we wanted to go back to Bali, but we began to think, "it may not be what we remember", "that was a different period in our life", "it can't be redone". But we wanted to at least try and see if it was as wonderful as we remembered. Plus, our besties from back home in the states were coming for their first trip to Asia and we couldn't think of another place we would want to introduce them to. We sealed the deal and bought tickets back to Bali for our Chinese New Year holiday.

Good thing we did. It's not a made up mystical land, it is a real life magical place. Yes, it exists in real life! Many people will say, "Oh, but Bali is so touristy," or, "Eat, Pray, Love ruined it because so many foreigners go now", which likely is true if you stick to the well traveled party circuit of Kuta, or the posh Southern path that have developed miles of coastlines into flavorless over the top beach resorts, or even Ubud which is full of hippy women looking for island love. But there is so much more to Bali, its people, its culture, its mountains, valley's and coastlines. There is an element that literally cannot be described with words, it's a feeling you get as you stroll on tiny pathways waiting for the fireflies to appear after the sun has dropped behind  the glimmering rice paddy fields; the spirituality that permeates the foothill and mountain regions, the aura of the people as they prepare daily offerings for God, and the conversations you have with the people who have spent their life in this blessed island.

                          

         

                       

              

                          

                                       

        

                         

                                     

                                     

         

If there's one place in Asia we feel would appeal to all traveling types, it's Bali. Go! Go! Go! Put it on your bucket list and check it off! 

        

                            

                            

                

Only 100 days left in Macau

Wow! It's truly hard to believe that we will be moving from Macau in just 100 days. We feel like there are so many things we still want to do in Macau and Hong Kong, and China and South East Asia! The list continues to grow. As soon as we cross of one destination, we add five more. But that's a big part of the fun and joy of traveling, you can never do it all! So in the next 100 days, we've vowed to pack in as much as we can: spend time with friends, see new places, and eat at new restaurants. In between all that, we have to get our fill of our favorite places too. I so wish we could bring the Ox King with us! I'm already experiencing cravings for dumplings and spicy beef and we haven't even left yet!

We're filled with the excitement of a new job and a new region of the world to explore, but at the same time we are filled with the familiar sting of leaving friends. (But we will be back to visit, we promise!) The feelings of anticipation and the excitement of the unexpected are still fresh in our  mind from when we moved to Macau. It's kinda crazy we're about to do it all again! The benefit this time though, is that we already know we can make it in an unfamiliar city in an unfamiliar part of the world. We've already done the hard stuff before, so this next time will be a piece of cake. Especially since I'm sure to know at least a handful of Russian words when we arrive. ;)

Пока, до встречи! (Bye, see you soon!)

I sometimes, mostly, forget I live in a foreign country.

I sometimes, mostly, forget that I live in a foreign country. I think that's why it can be hard to blog about anything other than the trips we take; and even that, we are unreliable at best. 

For the most part Macau has become our home this second year of living abroad. It's familiar and comfortable and we easily forget that we are thousands of miles away from our former home. It's all about adapting, and as hard and as exciting as the process is, all of a sudden it's happened. We know where things are in the markets, we know our favorite restaurants and how and what to order, we know the bus routes and we finally know how to say our address in Cantonese so the taxi drivers understand us. We even know how to say, "Gai ci lo" at the noodle house that only has a Chinese menu and get the yummy noodles with chicken on top. So on and on, we go through our days knowing how to get around in a not so foreign land with a completely foreign language. 

Then we have moments that occur when we get a fun reality check of, "oh my gosh! This is so cool!" Like tonight when were walking through the "3 lamps district" where the market is buzzing with evening excitement and there's all kinds of things being sold on the street. And I realize I'm the only blonde in sight and I actually hear all the foreign language surrounding me (& I still don't understand a word) and I smell the tasty foreign smells of delicious treats. 

Then there are the times when I clearly realize I am still in a foreign country and I wish I would've made a better effort to learn the language in my adopted home. My excuse is that it's hard. Well duh! Like it's suppose to be easy. And really, how ridiculous to live in China and not speak Chinese. At least try to learn. Aren't teachers suppose to lead by example and be life long learners? Seriously. When were with our Chinese friends and I wish so desperately I could give them a break and I could speak Chinese to them because they're always talking in their second language to us. And I wish I spoke Chinese so I could be better friends with other Chinese teachers at our school that don't speak English. I know we would totally be friends too! And then I could talk to the lady at the counter and ask her what I want to know using actual words rather than a series of ridiculous hand gestures. And I could go to yummy restaurants that don't have an English menu and order the yummy things.  This list could possibly go on forever. 

So here it is, I will try to learn Russian. Adam just said, "oh no, here we go again." I say, " oh yes! I need to speak the language of the country I live in! Or at least try!" My memory is very bad after all. 

 Can you even imagine how much easier things would be? I would be talking to everyone! 

So with that I say: paca! 

Cambodia by Photo

Here we go... Cambodia.