Monday Evening Update

Since we were not able to see Lincoln we decided to take a walk across town to the business center for pizza dinner at the Ale House. They sell the best pizza in town. Along the way we stopped at the large Ahbap super market. These markets are all over town and there is one near our apartment but this particular one is much bigger than the rest. We had gone to this market on our very first day here and bought some coconut flavored wafer cookies that we both loved. I was also was looking to buy a cereal that I had gotten at the Sulpak super market out at the new mall. I was so happy to find both items at the market so we stocked up on our supply. It took us about 20 minutes to walk over and the way back took us 25 minutes. It was slower walking on the way home because it had started to snow and it was blowing in our face. Gen & Joel’s apartment is on that side of town but down a bit farther. It would probably take us a half hour to walk to them. It was a long chilly walk but it felt good to get out and it helped past the time by so we were not so bummed out for missing another visit with Lincoln.

Funny thing happened we were using the atm machine inside of the business center and all a sudden someone grabs my shoulder. I swung around thinking who is touching me. Especially who is touching me while we are using the atm machine? It was Biyanna. We only know a handful of people in all of Aktobe and we run into someone we know while out.

We really stand out when walking around town mainly because we dress differently and that we wear sensible boots. If we were to buy coats and boots more like what they wear here we could get away with people thinking we were Russian. Until of course we would speak then they would know. The women here all wear knee high black leather boots with high heels. They are amazingly steady on those tiny heeled boots out in the snow. Besides our clothes Eric and I are always holding hands. We get plenty of looks for that. You never see couples holding hands. Occasionally you see a couple girls helping each other stay up right in their 4” spike heels. At this point, we are pretty much use to people starring at us constantly. Crossing the road is a bit of a challenge. They do have crosswalks with lights but that doesn’t necessarily mean the cars are going to stop for you. The car exhaust fumes are another challenge while out walking or even sometimes riding in the car. If you are going to have to walk close by the back end of a car, I would advise to take a deep breath and hold it till you get past. You also have to always be watching where you are walking because it is normal for the man-hole covers to be off. I wonder how many people have fallen down them?! You would think they would put something next to them to indicate an open hole in the middle of the sidewalk.