Our trip to Astana began by heading to the airport at 3:45am Thursday to catch our 5:20 flight to Frankfurt. Luckily we had already visited the airport to pay for Jose and get his boarding pass, so we merely had to check in, check our five suitcases, one carseat, and Jose. It sounds like a lot, especially when we all four had a carry on too, but not too bad when you consider we are moving. One suitcase alone held snow boots, snow pants, coats, and scarves/gloves/hats. It wasn't a very long flight and went very well. Upon arriving in Frankfurt we had to claim our bags. After the journey of finding the check in counter for Air Astana, which was quite the haul with our two carts loaded with bags we set out to make sure Jose was indeed where he was supposed to be, which he was. With that load off our minds, we decided to see what we could do to pass the time. We arrived in Frankfurt at 7am but our flight to Astana didn't leave until 6:55 pm. We could not check our bags until roughly 4:30 pm. I then set out to explore the area and luckily found a food court with a nice playground. After spending a few hours there so the kids could eat brunch, play, have ice cream, play, and eat lunch we set out to wait it out near the check-in gate.
It wasn't too long of a wait before we could check in, but it took a bit of time as we had to weigh and check bags, go to another counter to pay for extra bags, weight, and Jose, then back to get our boarding passes. They were extremely nice, but you could tell we were a bit of a hassle for them. While Charlie was paying, I stood nearby with our two cars. Several men came up to me trying to take one, but I held my ground. Then another man came by talking to himself, so I just decided to take the carts back to get my deposit back before inviting any more attention. Once we were all back at the counter and nearly ready to head to security, the humor kicked in when another family approached with even more stuff than we had. The look on the girl's face was priceless. She took it in in good spirits though.
From there we made it through security with me being the only one that had to be frisked. Ugh. There wasn't too much time until boarding. The flight wasn't too bad, about 5.5 hours, and was smooth. We were able to snatch a couple hours worth of sleep, although broken on this flight and arrived at 5:45am Friday morning. There was an unruly passenger near our seats that kept Charlie and I alert, but finally he passed out and quit being a bother. After arrival, we quickly went through passport control, collected our bags and Jose, and were taken to our new apartment. We love, love, love our apartment. It is spacious and has plenty of storage.
Anyway, after unpacking our suitcases, showering, exploring the local mini-market, and cleaning a bit, we went over to our sponsor's house to visit and have dinner. It was very nice. Zach slept the entire time we were over there. After getting back to the apartment everybody got baths/showers and to bed around 9pm. I'll say that I was about to pass out. We were slightly concerned Zach would struggle sleeping through the night with his long nap but we all slept to 9:30am. I NEVER do that, but certainly did this time. That Saturday, our sponsor's wife took me to a large grocery store and Eurasian market to stock up on necessities.
This was a very interesting excursion and visiting those two places took over four hours total. Let me list some observations I've made:
- Bread does not come pre sliced. I might discover this to be different later on, but you select the loaf you want and they place it in a loose plastic bag, or you just pick it up in a loose plastic bag if it is on a shelf.
- I bought 20 eggs in the Eurasian market and they were handed to me in a bag.
- In the meat section of the Eurasian market they had meat hanging and you can select your meat and amount. They will place it in a bag for you. You can then take it over to a man in a stall and he will grind it for you right in front of you for a small fee. In this market you can choose from beef, chicken, lamb, horse, or pork. The pork is in a separate room within the meat section.
- You can get buttermilk camel's milk or mare's milk in the market.
- I must learn Russian. The lady I was with speaks Russian, and she was very helpful. I was able to make some purchases at the mini market near our apartment but it was awkward with the language barrier to say the least.
- It is very cold here. I can only stay outside so long without my face hurting. Luckily, all the gear we bought is perfect, so other than face exposure we are good to go. Jose even tolerates his cold weather gear.
- I'm thinking it might be a good thing we could not bring our car here. Driving seems stressful as the drivers here are very aggressive. There are no left hand turn signals so intersections are sort of a free for all. I've already seen an accident here. Very little time goes by before the sound of a horn is heard.
We've enjoyed our short time here. Charlie went in to work over the weekend and had his first full day of work today (Monday). We are very comfortable here. I was able to spread Gracie's books throughout our luggage and we started back to school today, although it was more of a half day. Below are some of the pictures we've taken since we arrived.
This is a very foggy view of Ak Orda Presidential Palace. I'll have to get a shot when it is clear and the lights are lit. It is beautiful.
Here we are walking into the Presidential Park.
The pyramid below in the background is the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation
This is the Palace of Arts "Shabyt"
This giant jug is the Astana Music Hall.
We each have a shelf for our gloves, hats, scarves, and snow pants. Zach is pictured here putting on his gear.
Jose waits patiently.
They are ready to go!
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