A Central Asian Little Christmas

Christmas and New Year's brought with them the first respite I have known since I arrived in Astana at the end of September.  From a U.S. perspective, the city has had a holiday look to it since mid-November.  There was never any question but that this would be a white Christmas, and the white snow cover and holiday lights helped to brighten the short days and long nights.

The run-up to the holiday weeks were busy.  I returned to Tashkent for the first week of December for the US-Uzbekistan Annual Bilateral Consultations and for a series of side meetings on everything from water management to biodiversity.  The direct flight from Astana to Tashkent isn't even two hours in duration, but the difference in climate makes it seem as though the distance between must be much greater.  When I landed in Tashkent, I was greeted by green and brown.  There was little in the way of snow.  The temperature must have been +4-5C, which felt so warm in comparison with Astana that I spent much of my time without a coat at all.  The stores had fresh lettuce, which must be nearly worth its weight in gold in Astana if it can be found at all.  The week was a good one, and I got to spend two evenings of free time with my friends E1 and E2.  At the end of the week, however, I was ready to return to the cold.  Tashkent may be warm, but it is easier to breathe in Astana in many senses.

At the American Corner in Karaganda

Even Christmas week saw me in motion.  On December 22-23 I made a lightening two-day trip to Karaganda, Kazakhstan's fourth largest city.  Again I was in non-stop meetings on everything from methane gas to HIV/AIDS to ecotourism.  I also spoke at the city's American Corner.  The subject?  Hubble Space Telescope (HST), of course!  Wherever I go, that's what people want to hear about when they learn that I worked on HST.  Then I watch their interest wander as I begin talking about Fixed Head Start Trackers and quaternions.

Karganda has a holiday look as it also celebrates
the 80th anniversary of its founding.

The Embassy closed two hours early on Christmas Eve, and I rushed home to cook.  The Embassy had found a local supplier of turkeys, and I had bought a 15-pounder.  Between the turkey, side dishes, and desserts ranging from fruit cake to pumpkin pie, I had my hands full in the kitchen.  It was a small Christmas party the next day in comparison with those I used to have in Bucharest, but there were nevertheless seven guests at my table.  Hindered although I am by work and travel, I am nevertheless slowly beginning to make friends.

Christmas at Robyn's

The Embassy was closed both Christmas Day and the day after.  That being Friday, I had a four day weekend.  Bliss!  I felt I was on vacation with the extra comforting knowledge that Washington was on vacation too.  

The following week we were closed again for New Year's Day and the day after, thereby giving another four day weekend.  I did nothing special for New Year's other than talk with friends via Skype, but it was wonderful just to get a rest at last.  The best part of Skype that evening was seeing my granddaughter bounce up and down on my son's lap.  Watching her as the clock struck midnight in Astana was better than watching any ball drop.

It's also time that I introduced my young friend NN insofar as it is with her that I have my best memories of the holiday weeks.  She's 22-years-old and in her fifth year as a university student.  We met in my first week in Astana when I was wandering from one shop to another in the nearest shopping mall looking for facial powder.  NN was the saleswoman on duty in the shop where I finally made my purchase.  An ethnic Kazakh from a provincial city, she wanted to improve both her Russian and her English.  We exchanged telephone numbers, and the rest, as they say, is history.  

So there we were on January 2, NN and I, tramping through the snow in Pyramid Park across the street from where I live.  It was a cold but sunny and beautiful day, and we laughed uncontrollably as we walked on top of the snow, at times falling through where the snow surface was soft.  When we fell through, we had snow up to our knees.  Although I've seen no blizzards here, the snow comes every few days and doesn't melt.  It just keeps piling up.  At one point in our walk, NN tried doing a hand stand, and I responded by trying to do cartwheels.  We lay in the snow and made snow angels.  For a few minutes I, too, was 22-years-old again with a fun and excitingly new world at my feet.  (I'd post a few photos from that day, but I'm having fun using an old film camera and need to find where I can get the film developed in Astana!)

On Snowshoes for the First Time

I had one other social outing on the 3rd, this time with the Astana Outdoor Club.  This assignment is the most sedentary one I have had since joining the State Department, and living across the street from work doesn't help.  Although I'm riding my bicycle on rollers indoors, I have to make an effort to do so.  I signed up with the Outdoor Club almost as soon as I arrived, but due to work and travel, so far I've only been able to participate twice.  On January 3rd some two dozen of us headed out on snowshoes under a full moon on a frozen river outside Astana.  The temperature was about -15C, but as long as I kept moving, I stayed warm.  My only real problem was that my glasses first steamed over and then froze over completely.  I had everything I could do just to see the person in front of me.  We hiked on the river for two hours and then adjourned to a cafe for shashlyk.

It's now January 10.  Tomorrow I'm off for a week of TDY travel to Almaty.  The work year has begun.  As I return to working long hours, I am reminded of a New Year's greeting from a U.S. friend.  She wrote simply, "Be well and have a wonderful year as you begin to close the book on a very exciting career."  It is the first written reminder I have received that the official part of my work life is drawing to a close in a few short years . . . even as I tramp on frozen rivers, romp in the snow, and make snow angels like a 22-year-old.

Best 2015 wishes to all!