Day 10: Going strong till the end

Today, we took one last stroll through the neighborhood, visited a beautiful gallery, trekked to a well-renowned artist’s shop, and explored a supermarket. Suffice it to say, on this last day, we helped contribute to Kazakhstan’s economy. We also stopped in at the US Consul’s Space Maker for a Q & A with a US diplomat. The discussion lasted much longer than expected. The diplomat was very generous with his time, addressed many complex and challenging questions, and was forthright about representing the US. We closed the evening with a time of reflection, acknowledging how our group members made this travel program so fun for each other and highlighted key themes from the two weeks. It is now 2:20 am, and we are packing up for the airport. We cannot believe that this adventure in Almaty has ended, but the memories, the lessons, the conversations, the discoveries, and the pushing of our comfort zones have certainly made this travel program a truly transformative experience. We thank Ms. Bocquin for conceiving of and organizing this travel program, family members for their support of our participation in this unique travel opportunity, and for Poly’s administration for supporting such special learning experiences.

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Day 2: Nowruz Celebration

Prior to the sun rising, we embarked on our epic and beautiful excursion through the open, yet lively and bustling Kazakh landscape. After a pre-7am departure, we first arrived at the Kizilsharik village, where we were put to work popping popcorn and serving the children (while some in our group helped with blowing up and tying balloons for the little ones). After our initial opportunity to serve this village of Uyghurs and Kazaks, we watched their children perform traditional folk tunes and dances. I was starstruck by the exciting melodies, which I wished I could have added to my gym playlist. However, because there is no way I could have remembered the names of the foreign songs, I had no other choice but to appreciate the performances as they were, for I knew that I would never get to experience the phenomenon again. After waiting twenty minutes to perform, we seized the opportunity to showcase our American culture to the sea of Kazakh villagers, dotted with numerous balloons. We r

Day 0: We arrived- worth the wait!

Greetings from Almaty on Monday night (we are 14 hours ahead of Pasadena). Well after two days, make that three days (actually 30 straight hours) of traveling, we arrived in Almaty. Thanks to Turkish Airways and their three plentiful meals and a collection of movies (comparable to bringing our own Red Box), we kept our sanity. We enjoyed a tasty meal in Istanbul: PIDE (a boat shaped pizza style bread), DONER'S (lamb or chicken sliced over an over roaster) or LAMACHUN FLAT BREAD ( a thin and crispy bread with a spread of tomatoes and ground meat on top). After arriving at the Almaty airport today, we dropped our gear at the hotel and ventured out into parts of the city of Almaty: the Mega Mall, a pizza lunch, city walks, a trek to the Presidential Park, our first subway rides, and a delicious meal with samsa, milk tea, salad and shashlik (chicken or horse meat on a bed of noodles). At dinner, we were treated to hearing from two men, one a Kazakh and the other an American, about t

Day 4: Religious Culture Day

Monument to Kazakhs who fought for USSR A Monument WWII USSR Brendan downs a doner Central Mosque entrance Central Mosque Happy Nowruz Kaz cups & West capitalism Kazakh musical instruments Nowruz decor Nowruz decor Nick's Doner lands on shirt Playing Ms. B's Nomads of the Steppes Zenkov Cathedral (outside) Zenkov Cathedral (outside) Zenkov Cathedral (inside) Yummy Georgian dinner Uyghur musical instruments Doner assembly line- made FRESH!!!

Poly GIP Kazakhstan

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