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 ....

Ben Lomond

Lauri was in the States.  We had excellent weather last weekend (partly cloudy skies, 75 F (24 C), so I decided to take advantage and hike Ben Lomond.  This is a favorite walk for Glaswegians since Glasgow is only 30 miles away.  I think half the town was on Loch Lomond and Ben Lomond.  Must have about 300 people on the mountain.  Great views as you will see ....  

Amsterdam Day 5

This was our last day so we decided to do as the Dutch do ... ride bikes.  We rode for 7 hours exploring most of the city.  Amazingly, we didn't experience any accidents.  A bit scary though when you are competing with cars, buses, trams, and other cyclists.  It was a great time!  Certainly a very efficient way to move about the city.

Amsterdam Day 4

Unfortunately, Chase and Rachel had their priorities messed up ... they had to catch a plane to go back to work in Houston.  Lauri and I stayed around to continue playing ....  We took the train down to Delft (passed through Haarlem and The Hague).  Delft is known for the hand-painted blue pottery - delftware.  We toured the Royal Delft Factory and explored the town.  At 5:45, the church tower bells rang (Nieuwe Kerk) ... we answered and went to church!  Fortunately, they had an English interpreter for us (via headphones ... felt like the UN).  Delft was a wonderful, relaxing day.

Amsterdam Day 3

We started the day with a delightful breakfast, outdoors, at a cafe.  It afforded me the opportunity to shoot pictures of bicycle riders - quite interesting.  I wonder what happens when it is raining?  After breakfast, we went to the Dutch Resistance Museum.  The museum recreates the atmosphere of the streets of Amsterdam during the German occupation of the WWII. Big photographs, old posters, objects, films and sounds from that horrible time, help to recreate the scene. The background of the Holocaust is visualized to the visitor. This is an exhibition about the everyday life during that time, but also about exceptional historical events, resistance of the population against the Nazis and heroism.  From there, we took a 20 minute train-ride west Haarlem - quite an interesting history - click HERE.  We visited the Corrie ten Boom House (helped save 800 jews during WWII) and a windmill.