Another Weekend in Petro is Over

So last night we all had a night out on the town and saw the Anatoli concert at the Russian theatre here in Petropavlovsk. As it turned out, Anatoli was a big singer in the 70s and 80s with a ton of hit songs in the former Soviet Union countries. The theatre was very nice inside and there was quite a big crowd for the show. We were very lucky to have met him in the hotel and to of received the tickets for free. The tickets were 3500 Tenge a piece which is about $28 USD...which is a lot of money for anyone here. The show started at roughly 7pm and went for 3 hours or so. It turned into a big sign along as he began to perform a lot of his hits and everyone in the audience was getting into it clapping along.....we didn't understand a word since it was all in Russian but it was fun all the same just to be able to experience some local culture. One thing that was odd from a concert back home was that people would write down questions and pass them up the aisles during the show, eventually the questions would make their way on stage and Antoli would answer them inbetween songs. As Valentina our interpretor explained to us, many of the questions we very direct like "Are you lip syncing to the music?", "Why did you move to America?" and "Did you get a face lift?" (We were told he is about 60 but he looks much younger with his perfect teeth and wrinkle free skin). I have never been to a Tom Jones concert, but my mother has and I am going to compare notes with her when we get back to Canada - I deffinatley didn't see any underwear being thrown on stage that was for sure!



After the concert we came back to the hotel and ended up in the hotel restaurant for a drink and a late night snack. We asked 'Dan' our good friend and waiter for some peanuts or chips. He didn't have anything like that, but did have a 'meat plate' which cheese and butter....we were starving so we went for it. Out came a plate of what looked like sauage and roast beef'ish looking meat. As it turned out it was Horse intestine sausage and sliced beef tongue. I have seen beef tongue in the grocery stores back home....but don't think I have ever had it. We know we deffintatley never had any kind of horse before. At first we all joked around egging each other to be the first to try anything....then Kim and Laura just picked up a piece of each and took a bite. We all sat there quietly waiting for the verdict...."It tastes like beef" was the verdict on the horse from Kim. The sliced tongue tasted like roast beef accroding to Laura.....which is good since it was cow tongue. After watching the women go for it I decided I couldn't leave Kazakhstan without having tried some horse.....so I plucked a piece of it into my mouth. It was good...but nothing I would crave. Guess it is an acquired taste. After watching that show 'Fear Factor' back home......we had nothing on the guys on that show and some of the things they eat - but that was as exotic as we have gotten with the food since we have been here. All in all the food is really good here.



Darya is cuter than every and teething a lot. When we got here she had like 4 teeth and now she is pushing 6 teeth showing. Naturally she is grabbing anything and everything and putting it in her mouth. She groans a little bit but doesn't scream or cry at all.....she is a very mellow, easy going baby. With every visit we are getting closer and closer with her. She now sits in our arms and listens to us as we say things in English or sing songs to her. She is recognizing words like Mama and Papa now which is really really cool! At the end of our visits now she just lies in our arms and stares at us while we just stare back in utter joy and content. We couldn't of asked for a more lovely baby girl to be our daughter.




Tomorrow is a big holiday here and they have decorated up the town square. We plan to go down there to check out the festivities.....more culture to soak up, can't wait!