Day 2

 

Today, we woke up to a majestic sight: every corner of the block was covered with fresh powdery snow, which only magnified our excitement for the day ahead. We started our adventure with a trip to a Kazakh grocery store, called a “Magazine”. There, we were astounded by the variety of snack options that the shop offered. We bought several exotic chip flavors such as lobster, kebab, and cucumber flavored Lays.

 

Next, we took a 40-minute bus ride to the outskirts of Almaty to visit a village. Once we arrived, we instantly noticed the improved air quality and cozy vibe of the village compared to the city. We took a quick stroll to the house and were immediately greeted by several of the dogs living there. We learned about the international school program and the intriguing backgrounds of the various teachers and planned what games we were going to play with the Kazakh children who were going to visit later. Once the children arrived, we split into three groups by age and played together for a couple hours. Through this cultural exchange, we learned about cultural norms and practices of the Kazakh people such as the sheep bone game Assyk. Additionally, we participated in non-Kazakh games like football and volleyball. These more physical games decreased the significance of the language barrier by allowing us all to interact without needing to communicate out loud. Through all of the games, we were able to quickly bond with the students and enjoyed interacting with them.

 

We ended our day with doner wraps, noting the difference in bread wrap and style of cooking the meat compared to the Turkish doner wrap at Istanbul airport. We are looking forward to the remainder of the trip ahead.

 

-          Aikam，Max H，Jack