First Impressions

We haven't said very much about Kazkahstan, the country, so far. We can tell you a bit about our arrival and first views of the country.

Our flight arrived in Almaty from Frankfurt late on Friday night at about 11:45 PM. We waited for about 20 minutes when we arrived at Immigration and Customs. We were approved very quickly by the Immigration agent and by the time we got to the baggage carousel, all of our luggage was already there. We passed through Customs without an incident, receiving only a cursory glance at our documents. All in all, a quite efficient process, especially considering that it happened at such a late hour.

Many people here are taking the H1N1 virus seriously. Quite a few airport employees who deal with customers on a regular basis were wearing surgical masks. We were also scanned with an infrared detector for fevers when we got off the plane. They're also focusing on it on TV.

Still at the airport, when we moved out of the international arrivals hall into the airport lobby, we were met by about thirty or forty people, all shouting and waving their arms in welcome. Only when we got closer to them did we realize that they were hailing us with a traditional greeting used worldwide at many airports and train stations: "Taxi, taxi?!"

We were impressed by the multiethnic aspects of the airport. All of the signs and announcements are trilingual: Kazakh, Russian, and English. While exceedingly helpful, this does make the PA system sound like an all news radio station at the UN.

Our departure to Karaganda at about 7:15 AM was as efficient as our arrival. Our Air Astana Fokker F50 propeller plane left the gate early. Our first daylight views of the Almaty area were impressive. The city is ringed with Rockies-height snow-capped mountains. The sky was blue with a few fluffy crowds. Altogether a very beautiful sight.

On the way to Karaganda, we saw much farmland under cultivation. But that quickly gave way to steppes. Sort of like the Canadian Prairies, but not under cultivation. There are herds of sheep, goats, horses, and camels there. As a matter of fact, you can buy horse and camel milk in the stores, alongside cow milk. You have to watch for the picture on the milk carton. If it looks like a horse, or a horse with a bad back....

By the way, Karaganda is named after the caragana plant, which is in abundance in this region. Caraganas can be grown in the Ottawa area. As a matter of fact, our next-door neighbours have one.

Our arrival in Karaganda went as smoothly as our arrival in Almaty. We soon had our luggage and met our adoption coordinator's deputy. She doesn't speak much English, but can make herself understood. Not many people can speak English here. The saying that you can always find someone who speaks English anywhere you go isn't really true here. We are fortunate to have the services of a translator on a daily basis.

Those are our first impressions. We'll talk about the city of Karaganda itself soon in another posting.