Car City Here We Come

Almaty, Kazakhstan
03/10/2012 12:50 pm

Hey guys,

     I have been lazy.  You can take that as a sign that I begun to lose hope.  Work is slower than I ever imagined.  Russian is a really damn hard language to learn from the bottom up.  Almaty is dirty - the air is not great and everything from the buildings to the roads to the cars are just covered in a mixture of dirt, snow and, ice.  Yet, people say this place has a future.  Perhaps it does but, I think Almaty's time has not come just yet.  There are plenty of signs of the old Soviet infrastructure that are decaying in the midst of development and modernization efforts.  These people may be used to it - I am not.  Needless to say, it is difficult to call this place "home" for the next few months.

     Taking photos of things I see has been more difficult than I thought as well.  Many people here do not like it when someone is walking around taking photos, regardless of what is in the shot.  I have had someone throw something at me and plenty of people stare me down.  I even had a slight confrontation with a security guard because he thought I was being suspicious.  Yet, I have done nothing illegal nor have I done anything unethical or anything of that nature.  My goal in taking photos is to have a way to connect to you what I see here in Almaty and this part of the world.

     But, I digress...So here we have a few photos of my trip to Car City - a large venue in Almaty where vendors sell auto parts, accessories, and other such things for your car.  It's a car market.

See how dirty it can get?  Back that car up - we've got to get to Car City!

Car City (Indoor portion) There was a kid roaming the aisles of vendors but, alas this guy got in the way.

One of the vendors that my father sells parts to.  It was after this photo where I got into an "Imperial entanglement."

CARCITY.KZ You can find them on the internets unlike most things and markets here.

This is the building for the indoor market.  Only half the building though.

"Brunch" at Car City, we went to one of the shaslik vendors for some food.  Onions soaked in white vinegar and red pepper with Russian black bread.

Possibly the best kebab I've had here thus far (the only kebab I've had here thus far).  Three lamb, one chicken.  The lamb was cooked to perfection - the fat was crisp and the meat was soft and tender.  The chicken however tasted like lighter fluid...........

Gotta wash down that lighter fluid taste with some cold beer.

Happy International Women's Day?  Need last minute flowers, gifts, chocolates?  Get ripped off and buy them or else you a bad bad man.

Well, I hope you kids enjoy.  There is more to come, if I ever get to it.


'Till next time,

Shaak.