Summer... ish.

Well, at least summer TIME is here, even if the weather isn't reminiscent of what I consider summer time weather. Two nights ago the temp went down to 1 degree Celsius (about 34 in Fahrenheit). The days are warming up, but in Astana, you always need a jacket and pants, as you might turn a corner and be blasted with high winds from some random corridor that's concentrating light gusts of wind into some type of game show air cannon that will literally wipe the sunglasses off your face (yes it happened to me twice). So it can get pretty chilly in the shade.

One of the CAT graders outside the workshop.
Pretty cool to be working with this type of equipment.

It's been a while since my last post, more like almost two months. Work is still pretty boring in my view. I'm basically updating reports, creating material vouchers, and inspecting machines. Kinda like a slave, with benefits. But all in all, I realized that I don't even care. I'm planning on moving to New York to live with my sister at the end of my contract in February, so I'm elevating that future situation to reward status for myself, as I complete my penance of acquiring the elusive "work experience" that is so unnecessarily necessary to even have an employer consider throwing your resume right in the trash. Learning Russian has slowed down for me quite a bit, as I'm usually pressed for time either at or outside of work.

Atop one of our buildings, watching some welders work on a
new base for a derrick crane we're moving.

While on top of one of the towers on the site, I was looking out across Astana and realized I have the most amazing unobstructed view of this city that anyone might ever wish to have, and I guess that's something to be thankful for. Maybe when I think back to my time here I'll at least have the memory of the amazing view. So I got that going for me....

In the past few weeks I've tried to stay busy on my days off, and even sometimes on nights where I have to be at work the next day, but even when work is slow, being hungover at work is the worst, so I pretty much stopped going out on Friday, especially to the bar. I did go to see a ballet at the ballet house here in Astana, and that was a new experience for me. There was a classical ballet component with a stringed orchestra, then an intermission followed by a new-age type of interpretive dance performance, without the orchestra. They even had a section of dance to Pink Floyd's "Great gig in the sky", which I absolutely loved.

I also got a chance to go skateboarding one Sunday, although this entire city is filled with shitty pavers and even shittier asphalt, so it's not exactly skateboard friendly. However, there is supposedly a skate park somewhere that I have yet to find. I was able to find some nice granite flat ground with a few 3 stair gaps near the opera house and also near the Bayterek monument park. I even ran into a few skater kids that spoke pretty good English and they were super stoked to meet a "real skater" from the US, even though I'm really bad at skating nowadays and get slightly out of breath just walking up a few short flights of stairs.

More recently, I've been planning on when to go to the 2017 Expo here in Astana, which is starting June 10th and ends sometime in September. There's a show I'm going to on my birthday called "Beatles go Baroque" an orchestral performance of some 20 songs, along with a video component. Also there's a few concerts during the expo. Some artists include Britney Spears, Limp Bizkit, Chris Brown, and the one I'm going to, 30 Seconds To Mars. There's also a few weeks where the Cirque du Soliel company will be performing, so I'd like to catch that also.

It's somewhat funny in my opinion to see how much hustle and bustle there is around the city in the week leading up to the expo opening. Here in Astana the work ethic on my job site is comical at best, but is still miles ahead of the local workers' motivation to complete municipal or private projects on time. So, there's two new 'roads' that lead directly to the expo that are individually on either side of the area where I work. Since February, when I moved here up until about 4 days ago both roads were a sad excuse for a dirt road. Boulders of concrete scrap with re-bar spiraling out of them like crooked defunct branches of some wicked gnarled graveyard willow with no leaves. Heaps of dirt and rubble haphazardly piled at the discretion of the excavator operator, lined by barricades that have been moved by pedestrians to suit their needs of travelling a path that is two or three yards shorter, or perhaps to keep their shoes cleaner than by walking an alternate path.

Now, with 2 days until the expo officially opens, the excavators are running day and night, workers are digging on Sunday evenings, paving machines are being unloaded off of trailers, cobblestone pavers are being laid, streetlamps are being wired. Still, only one of the roads is paved, while the other remains as a slurry of mud and rocks, due to recent rainfall. I'm almost sure the opening day will consist of  a series of "Wet Paint, Do Not Touch" signs, daisy-chained along barricades preventing unsuspecting pedestrians from stepping into wet concrete.

In other news, I've moved to a new apartment, still very close to work. I couldn't stand living in the other apartment anymore. Coming home to a constant construction symphony of hammer drills, saws, and banging was getting old, fast. Not to mention the ventilation system would sometimes route secondhand smoke INTO the apartment. The elevators were often either out of service, turned off, or held up by construction workers lading trash debris into them, unknowingly exceeding the maximum safe weight limit, rendering them useless to residents, and probably unsafe. Clouds of dust from sanding and drywall would settle just outside my doorway, conveniently allowing me to track them into the apt.

But that's over now.

The building I'm in is a still new, but not under constant construction. It's actually got a BED! Well, the bed frame was alright, however, the mattress left something to be desired. Lets just say I would be more comfortable sleeping on a slab of granite. So I also recently purchased a nice memory foam mattress, because I would wake up with INSANE neck and back pain from the mattress. I even slept on the floor one night and it was better than the bed. So now my sleep has improved greatly. I still am waking up at 5 or 6 a.m. automatically, but the neck and back pain is gone.

The new apt is a bit more expensive, about $30/month, which is no big deal, as it comes with the utilities included, and internet as well.

I'm REALLY looking forward to the month of July because I'm travelling to Dubai for company training on the 7th-15th, then going to Spain on the 20th-31st. So the whole month will be pretty much travel! Gonna be tons of fun.

Until next time,
Auf wiedersehen.

View with the Bayterek monument in the background.

Some food I cooked in the new apt.
Rice w/ green lentils, mushrooms w/ garlic & thyme, and some toasted pine nuts.
Yeah I guess you can still eat pretty good even in Kazakhstan!

Went back to Shashlikoff with Iyad for a meat mountain and a few beers.

A panoramic view from the top. Not sure how this will show up on the blog, but you get the idea.

New to me...

Today at work, I actually feel as if I've completed my first constructive task. It was a small task of visually inspecting a boom arm that places concrete in a desired area. It wasn't difficult or intensive, but it was SOMETHING. Works been soooo boring otherwise. I am challenged daily to not fall asleep. Even the little video game I play on my phone isn't entertaining because I play so much. I've started putting more time into practicing Russian at work. So at least I'm not just staring at a wall, or walking around the job site with no direction. Also, recently I've been planning this trip to Spain, so that takes up a bit of time also, and gives me a future vacation to work towards. But even with all that, I've got free time coming out my ears, which is ironic because outside of work I have no free time! Fuckin way she goes...

Yesterday was pretty eventful for me. I went to lunch at a really great place called 'The Chef', a brand new restaurant that has it's own farm from which it sources the menu ingredients. It was really great. Afterwords I met with my new friend Elena, a masters student and English teacher here in Astana. We went to a nice cafe in a small library, Eagilik Books & Coffee, that has English printed books and had some delicious coffee and cake. After relaxing and talking in the cafe for a while, we went to meetup with a few of her English students. I participated as a guest in their speaking club, asking questions of the students, soliciting responses in English as a way for them to practice conversational English. Mostly we talked about travel, life in Astana, societal norms and behaviors, and just generally anything that came to mind. Luckily US politics, or any for that matter, never really came, as I am totally indifferent to these types of conversations. I find them to be mostly unproductive exertions of energy.

So that was a new experience for me, and something I was nervous about, but it went swimmingly. We went and met Elena's classmate/friend for pizza afterwards, and eventually ended the night afterwards. What a full day! I was beat.

I'm really excited about Spain! I'm hoping my friends Emily and Jordan are gonna join my sister and I for the trip in Spain. It's gonna be awesome! I've found out that when we're going to San Sebastian there's an annual jazz festival happening with concerts on the beach. I wish I could bring everyone I know with me. Well, gonna get back to work, or uhhhh whatever.

-Till next time.

What I tend to eat on Saturday or Sunday during the evening. I found some good salami and cheeses. Also found a horse salami that I've yet to try.

Beer and Beef. Had a pretty good burger, good drink selections, and some live music. Definietely WAY CLASSIER than most places. I was out of place with my T-shirt and jeans. Won't be going back.

So on my way to lunch at The Chef, this was a surprising scene of military trucks and tanks. A little bit up the road there was a large march of soldiers up and down the street. It was some type of preparations for the upcoming Victory day, celebrating the fall of the Nazi's.

Accidentally walked by the US embassy. A nice sight to see my home country's flag.

A swanky butcher shop, that was closed. I'll have to go back and check it out.

A nice gift from Marina, the headmistress of BrainPower, the school where Elena teaches and I met with the English students. It's a little ceramic Kazakh Yurt.

The cake in the office the day after Easter Sunday, with dyed quail eggs.

Sitting with the speaking club at the BrainPower school. You can see it was a mixed group of old and young alike.

Mid April.

All of the snow has pretty much melted away, and the days are mostly sunny. The temps are getting up to around 45 degrees F, which is nice. No more need to wear 2 pairs of long underwear underneath my pants accompanied by layer upon layer of thermal shirts and scarves. But now the puddles of muddy water are vast, at least on the work site and in various spots around town. The rest of the city is just covered in dried dirt dust, covering the buses and cars all with the same color scheme, fading from any color of paint to deep brownish dirt color at the bottom.

Work is the same. Not much going on there. I've been going to the main site more to sit with the mechanic, electrician, and laborer that work on small repairs, but nothing ever seems to happen, except for the random headlight replacement or flat tire repair. Most of the major repairs are done at a different location, where I'll sometimes go just to check out what crane or forklift is under repair at any given time. But still, no work for me to actually perform. I just work on excel worksheets, and when that's done, try to study my Russian vocabulary or help someone else with their work.

I did get to go out with some co-workers last Tuesday, yeah Tuesday for some reason. It was a pretty good time. It was a dinner with drinks and then everyone went dancing in the downstairs bar. But I'm quite averse to dancing, and stayed with two others at the table eating and drinking.

I'm going to try and make it to a ballet or opera one of these days, as I've been told the opera house is very beautiful and the ballet house is brand new. Also working on planning a trip to Spain in July with my sister. We're just in the theoretical stages right now, but I've been looking into trains and destinations. It will be a nice change of pace from work, and my first visit to Europe. I think we'll end up in Portugal, after visiting maybe Barcelona, Madrid, and possibly this coastal town called San Sebastian. We're only gonna have a week so I'm not trying to pack too much into each day and get burnt out just travelling all the time. I'll have an update as soon as the plans solidify. Until then, here's more random pictures for ya!

-Nick

Not sure what this place it, but I approve.

Some roasted chicken, veggies, and quinoa I made at home. Yum

Saw this at the bar. Beer-connecting people, my kind of networking.

Shot of the city at night. I was actually trying to find a couchsurfing meet-up, but never did...

Lil'big ben.

Always on the menu, coffee. This cafe, "Espresso Bar" was very good.

Horses that used to stand out front of a mall, displaying different countries' flags, sorta.

Banana bread before...

...After.

Panoramic view of the city from atop one of the job site buildings. Not sure how this one is gonna turn out on the blog. 

The old "What were you born in a barn?" saying gets translated to this I guess?

The following are a few pictures I took from the top of the work site. The weather is usually clear and sunny like this, but the wind can still be brutally cold!

Back from NYC. Back to work.

Arrived at the Astana International Airport at around 4:00 am on Tuesday, where I went smoothly through customs, picked up my bag, and got a ride back to my apartment from the hired driver. Pretty normal, except that now I was in my apartment at 5 in the morning, somewhat rested, waiting to go to work at 8:00 am. So I waited, and showered, and unpacked, and ate, and went to work, feeling mostly normal. Around 3:00 pm that day, it hit me. The nefarious jet-lag. Yup. It was a real bitch. All of a sudden I was tired. Really tired. So I pushed through the workday until about 6:00 pm, an hour before I'm supposed to get off, and left for home. I slept and slept and slept, until about 5:30 am the next day. But over the next few days, my condition worsened, from jet-lag to flu-like sickness. It got bad enough where I took some time off from work, got some medicine from the doctor, and had to sleep and just drink water and eat soup for two days. It was actually really hard to just lay in bed, as I get restless and there's not much to do at home. But I'm feeling somewhat better now, still not 100%.

You can tell I'm pretty healthy lookin'...

 

Through the peephole.

w/ my sis @ 30 rock

I did have a great time in New York with my sister, eating great food, having some delicious libations, and buying some stuff that isn't available in Kazakhstan, like Mexican hot sauce. I also got myself a new skateboard deck so that I can start skating once the snow melts here! Really stoked about that. The trip was short lived, but a fulfilling getaway from the mundane work days. I also got to see my friends Hope and Bill, whom I make an effort to see whenever I can. So that was also great.

w/ sis and Bill at the bar

my sentiments

The snow is melting, turning roadways and sidewalks into muddy horror scenes of shoe print patterns, like a dirty third world Pollock painting. You'll be lucky to get back to your house with only ankle high mud caked on your boots.

I'll be meeting with the main site mechanic on Monday to start working with him on maintaining some of the heavy equipment, so that's a development at work I'm somewhat excited about. Other than that, I've just been trying to get back into a healthy sleeping and eating schedule after being sick. 

EWOK!

I feel ya...

Found this just stuck in a newspaper dispenser. Evidence of some debaucherous night life.

People are people, they eat all the food.

Vacation from working abroad?

I'm writing this at the office, because I've got internet access on my work computer now. Score!

 I've been keeping busy at work with emissions reports, equipment time card reports, availability and utilization reports, reports, reports, reports, excel, excel, excel... It's becoming very apparent to me this is NOT where I'll spend my time in the future, no matter how much it pays. For now, it's fine, and I'm happily putting my best effort into my work.

 Every 3 months our on site machines go through inspections and, if they pass, a sticker with the appropriately color coded background gets put on the machine, valid for another three months. I just finished making the stickers, dating them, assigning them to certain groups, and eventually handing them off to someone else. When I get back from NYC next week, I'll actually be able to take part in the inspection process, which will be a nice change of pace for me.

I've actually been out quite a bit when not working. I visited an art show with Iyad in the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation. Yeah, that's the actual name. It's a huge multi level glass covered pyramid with gallery space, banquet hall, opera theater, library, historical exhibit, and other various offices and areas.

The smoke in this photo is actually my breath that night. The top of the pyramid isn't lit up very bright.

Here's a paper cross-sectional model of the pyramid and the interior layout.

 I got to meet the artist, Anastasia, and talk with her briefly, in English. Some of her art is pictured in the photos posted here.

After checking out the exhibit, Iyad and kinda wandered around, and stumbled upon a rehearsal show in the theater. The show was to commemorate the 25th year of Kazakhstan's National Olympic Committee, with the president himself in attendance.

The glimpse we got of the show was a very strange mix of some performances, children giving speeches, singing, recognition, and other stuff I'm sure I have no idea what it is.

I've also been out to some different coffee shops, grocery stores, a new to me bazaar, and made my way to O'Hara Irish pub on St. Paddy's day! What a blast.

Met some fun people, drank too much, ate more than enough, and had a huge bar tab. Fun all around! There was a great cover band that played sang in English. Surprisingly, everyone knew the song ins English even better than I do.

The upcoming holiday of Naurys [nouˈɾuːz], is the historically Persian and/or Iranian celebration of the new year. So we have a few days off from work, and I'm taking a few days off additionally to fly to NYC and visit with my sister. I'm really exctied! And I know it'll be a blast. Flying first to the Ukraine, then to JFK. It's only about 18hrs travel time, no biggie. It'll be refreshing to eat some good food in NY and speak English to complete strangers. I'll try to take a bunch of pics for the blog.

As always, let's end with some random photos from my days out.

C-ya later.

 KazMunayGas building in the background and Khan Shatyr farther past the archway. 

(WAY in the background)

 Some decorations set up for the new year.

These metallic animal sculptures are all around a park near where the opera house is.

Opera house.

Snow gently clinging to the trees at work.

Beautiful dried fruits and nuts, meticulously arranged.

Reads: "Franklin Cafeteria"

A vape shop, haha. Even Kazakhstan must have hipsters.

Peanut latte. YUP.

Doner! Shawarma meat wrapped with fries, pickles, lettuce, tomato, and mayo sauce... Yes it's good.

Home made apple sauce from the leftover apples from lunch!

The stately Hazrat Sultan Mosque