Yes! I am back to my blog and, man, how much I missed this stuff! Since my last entry I managed to have 3 week holidays and travel to the west and west-south of Kazakhstan. I've been to Aktobe - the city where we moved 5 years ago and Aral - the town we moved from. In short my trip can be described as 'getting back to roots'. In details it will take, I guess, several entries here to convey all the philosophy of traveling and re-undergoing the past.
In defensing our fields our old ancestors-heroes did a tremendous job: this large land's cities never can be reached that easy and in a short period of time. If you take a train to travel to any city of my land, in half an hour the picture from the train-car's window will change from high sky-scrapers, trees and farms to a large flat steppe which will be seen more frequently than any city or town. Cities here are located so far from each other that I hardly believe (better to say I doubt) that some day we will have metropolises: cities bordering and imperceptibly changing from one to another. For example, a train that takes you from Astana (my current place) to Aktobe will actually have a stop in two big cities: Astana and Aktobe, but it doesn't mean that your trip will be a short one: 27 hours. The whole trip you have a good chance to view the silent steppes, except for some time when train has to make stops at stations and small cities and of course time when you eat, read a book, chat with neighbors and sleep. Any other time you view and can hardly take your eyes off this breath taking picture and gradually you will feel as if these silent steppes are talking to you. Usually I end up making conclusion that whatever I think of myself , be I a city's daughter, used to the civic luxuries, I am still a daughter of my nation AND land and no place can give the satisfaction I have when I see the flat landscapes of my Kazakhstan.
Beside looking at the landscape and making up phenomenon of talking steppes, you will do many other things: usually it will be sleep; tossing away and again trying to read the book you took; getting bored to death (sometimes) and speak to your neighbors starting with politely answering their questions. Do you think you won't chat with neighbors? Ha! You can try but I bet that in an hour you will be drinking tea with them sharing your best with them and being polite, because going against the kazakh nature of hospitality is equal to a crime, you better sit back, relax, try to get the best from communication and enjoy yourself. Good for you, if you are an extrovert and your trip-mates are polite, of your age and interesting people with a sense of tact. Nevertheless old people can be the best neighbors of all, too! BUT not all the people are the same and the same good. Anyway, they are not the same bad as well, so if you ever happen to take train in Kazakhstan - wish you the best ever trip and the best neighbors!
I can't complain about the trip: finally, when the job is done, we remember only the good parts, if not the best ones. Indeed, my trip was on time and I feel as if my charger now have enough energy till the end of old endless studies, intern and work. In fact the holiday lasted only 2 weeks instead of 3 as I had to get back to work and busy city life. It was more than enough and in the end I grew bored. I am more than happy to be engaged with tons of things now - I could never understand why people are happier when they have nothing to do. I guess staying busy is my euphoria.
So, what did I accomplish during the holidays? - I executed my duties and got rid of some tasks I owed to my family, friends and relatives. This is the debt all the people have - to visit your friends, here comes the only bad side of having many friends: you have to visit and see them on regular basis at least once in 6 months. The bigger is the number of friends, the bigger is your debt :) Am I saying it is bad? - Not at all, if you have many people looking forward to seeing you and saying how much they missed you, then you can't be a bad person. Earlier, when I still lived in Aktobe seeing friends was something usual and ordinary, something good, yes but now it has another "feature": it became something exciting, remembering and appreciating the time we've had and things we've done together. All the time I had a sense that I am happy. I AM happy. As for the family, it's been 4 years since my grandpa passed away and I visited his grave. According to Kazakh traditions, we believe that you have to visit the dead people's grave, otherwise they will get offended. Kazakh saying says: "The alive cannot be happy, unless the dead is content". Right now may be I sound not pragmatic but I do believe my grandpa knows when I visit him. It is my duty as his granddaughter (I'm his called daughter) to visit him as often as I can and pray. We are Muslim, so all our prayers are in Arabic and I do not know them, but someone older can join me and pray for me. Anyway, even if there were not an religious obligations, I'd still visit him. This visit was my main mission.
All in all, the trip was not bad, it was simple, quiet not that rich with events, but still felt pretty nice. Now I am off to celebrate the fact that "the wizrd is back to blog" so wish me a little piece of luck and much sun!
See ya later, mi amigo and thank you for staying here with me ;)