In which Owen's parents discover what cold REALLY is.
It felt like a physics experiment outside today. Minus thirty Fahrenheit and the Siberian militia was on the march (see photo below). Seriously, what kept men this tough from ruling the world?
Another morning visit with young master Owen today. We're discovering his routine-- in the a.m. it's all about counting down to lunch. In the afternoon he's Mr. Party-time. He's not unlike his father in this way.
Still, he made time to chat up the ladies. You can see him with Inna, our translator above, and another of his nurse betties, also named Lena, below that. I've done Inna a disservice in earlier posts. Her name is pronounced EE-na, not EYE-na.
Inna continues to be interpreter extraordinaire. After our visit with Owen, she took the Strelos and us to the Kokshetau Regional History Museum. We enjoyed the visit and were quite impressed with Inna's translation skills-- She'd arranged a tour guide who stepped us through the exhibits.
Inna had to translate the names of minerals, animals and historic events for us. And she did it all during a break from the Kazakhstan version of finals. She's being quizzed on international marketing and finance, both of which seem to have been self-study courses.
Note to self: You, Donn Hess, are not smart enough to be a translator.
Back to the museum.
You can see me in my oh-so-subtle enormous red coat standing outside the front door. (By the way, I've gotten a couple of e-mails about my hat that suggest I look a bit dorky in it. May I remind everyone that it is THIRTY DEGREES BELOW ZERO outside?)
Inside we saw the Russian version of stained glass windows. They're kind of interesting-- lead outlines designs on the inside of glass panes with some sort of colored glass beads affixed to the outside. The curator of the museum shrugged them off when we asked. A holdover from the Soviet Union, she explained. (Kazakhstan declared their independence in 1991.)
In the minerals part of the exhibit, we were told that Kokshetau is one of the leading producers of gold in the world. The mine shut down for a time, but re-opened in 2002 when a group from the Netherlands injected new financing into the operation. It sounds like the mine is a significant employer of the Kokshetau population.
In the world of flora and fauna, we were surprised to see an exhibit on flamingos. Apparently the Kokshetau region is the furthest place north you can find flamingos-- they come here in the spring to lay eggs. You won't actually see them in the city of Kokshetau, but they are part of the region and visit the swampier areas further south.
In the next room, we heard about 17th century Kazakhstan. In the January 23rd entry, we talked about the "jutes" (please don't quote my spelling-- that just what it sounds like) and the Khan who united them. The curator told us that while the jutes and tribes no longer recognize physical territories, the Kazakh people still know which jute and tribe they descend from. It doesn't drive much in the way of how they interact with one another, she said, but it does come up when they insult one another.
You can see the curator pointing out the armor worn by 17th century Kazakhs: Chain mail with 6-meter long spears and iron blades designed for fighting from horseback. The saddles are quite elaborate with intricate silver decorations.
Next to the display on the tribes we saw a piece on the famous poets and song writers of Kazakhstan. The way they were described, the musicians sounded like medieval troubadours or bards. Their music is played from memory, often improvised and passed down from generation to generation.
You can see a couple examples of the instruments. The curator told a story about the man who designed the one on the right. (Forgive me, I don't recall his name and couldn't spell it if I did.) He had wanted to discover the secret to immortality and when, in his old age, he failed to, he instead created this instrument to insure he would be remembered. The curator told us that the Kazakhs believe they can communicate with the spirit world by playing it.
In the next room we saw samples of Kazakh weaving. We'd already known that the Kazakhs are famous for their rugs-- its a standard keepsake brought home by adoptive parents. Here we learned that the rugs were originally quite functional as well. They served as the walls to the portable homes early Kazakhs lived in.
By necessity of the climate, the Kazakhs were nomadic and drove herds of cattle and sheep back and forth from winter to summer grazing land. Their homes, though beautiful, were easily disassembled and moved. We didn't quite catch what they were called, but believe it is something on the order of "sebernya."
To the left, you can see a re-creation of a corner of a sebernya. It represents about one-sixth to one-eighth the size of the entire dwelling. The walls are a wooden lattice covered with heavy woolen tapestries and the same weavings cover the floor. Poles, also covered with tapestry, support tenting and lead up to a single window in the roof. Hung from this window are a series of tassels, talismans against evil.
The furniture inside included intricately carved wooden cabinets, many of which were inlaid with silver. Wooden platters for food were hung on the walls and leather bottles, also with intricate designs, contained milk. The leather, the curator told us, helped to preserve the taste.
Leaving the museum, we stopped by some of the national symbols of Kazakhstan. The disc shows the Kazakhstan seal featuring horses-- the livelihood of the traditional Kazakhs-- flanking the window at the top of a sebernya(?). Underneath is the name of the country in Russian.
The seal and the Kazakhstan flag are done in a sky blue. We'd noticed that blue is a predominant color decorating not only the official symbols, but the homes as well. When we asked the curator if there was a significance to the color she pointed to the smaller Soviet flag.
"Everything used to be red," she said. "It isn't anymore."
After seeing the museum, the curator invited us downstairs to see a special exhibit of art done by the children of Kokshetau. It was an impressive display done mostly by 13- to 15-year olds. There were several award winners in the mix and the curator was obviously very proud of them. They'd had their art opening the week before.
As we left, the director of the museum came down to ask us if we enjoyed the tour which we assured her we did. They were renovating and she encouraged us to come back again and see the expansion.
And that marked the end of the day's adventures. It was also the end of our outings with the Strelos-- they fly to Almaty tomorrow morning. We're going to miss them.
Robin and I will be solo in Kokshetau until the fourth of February when it sounds like the McCall family will be our new roommates. Let's hope Owen is on his best behavior. If all goes well in court on the second, the fourth will be only our third night with him at the cottage.
If you're all still praying for us, please toss in a couple for Owen to be a good sleeper.
