Ed & Charlotte's Visit

Ed and Charlotte, our close friends from our neighborhood in Houston, hopped over the pond for a long weekend.  We gave 'em the Scotland 101 Tour - River Dee, Stonehaven, Dunnattor Castle, Glamis Castle, St Andrews, Gardenstown, Crovie, Balmedie and the train to Edinburgh.  Whew .... a whirlwind.

Obama - From Freedom of Religion to Freedom of Worship (monumental shift)

Since the initially strong language on religious freedom used in President Obama's Cairo speech, presidential references to religious freedom have become rare, often replaced, at most, with references to freedom of worship. A purposeful change in language could mean a much narrower view of the right to religious freedom .... READ ON

Update on Land of Kaz

Almaty is a beautiful city with thousands of trees and with the Tien Shan mountains framing the background. We found it a city in transition from the old Soviet days to a western look (1991 to 2010). Much progress has been made. Many new modern buildings have been completed in the last few years. Marriott has a 40 story tower that will be open in a few months. Almaty and Astana (capital since 1997) are hosting the 2011 Asian Winter Games so it will be crazy in late January/early February.

We found a house, or shall I say a MANSION (see pictures in previous post). In some ways, I am embarrassed by it as it is SOOOO nice. Way more than I would pay on my own. It is definitely above my pay grade!

As usual, we Jaspers are very interested in food. There are numerous restaurants. We ate a variety of cuisine - Uzbek, Indian, Kazakh, Italian, and continental - and enjoyed them all. The Kazakhs have a saying .... the number one meat eater in the world are wolves and number two are Kazakhs! They do enjoy the meat. We visited the grocery stores and Lauri's cooking talents will be severely challenged. Fresh, green vegetables (green beans, asparagus, broccoli, carrots) were almost nonexistent. Fruits and veges tend to be seasonal so the exapts tell us that when you see something, buy in bulk!

There is plenty of shopping. We saw Cartiers, Tiffany, Nike, Timberland, Zara ... if you want it, they got it. It's just a question of how much you want to pay. Almaty is the business and wealth capital of KZ.

Geographically speaking, KZ is a HUGE country. You can put Europe inside. It is 2/3 the size of the US. Yet, the population of the country is only 16 million. Check out the Wikipedia website for more info on the Land of Kaz ....

Land of Kaz

As most of you know by now, we are transferring to Almaty, Kazakhstan, September 1.  Our plans are well underway.  Below, you will see A LOT of pictures, 286 to be exact.  It shows a bit around town and a couple of sets of the house we are getting.  Enjoy ....