A New Place

Now I have been living in this city for almost 6 weeks, and have been alright with it….not complaining to much (no comments!), but today the mountains were calling to me and I had to go to them. I planned a day trip to a place called Borabay (pronounced borabya). It is about 3 hours north of Astana as part of the Kokshetau steppe. It is a mountainous area with fantastic lakes and rock formations. Many of the huge rock formations form shapes of people or animals and have legends that are associated with them. It is a mysterious place that is filled with the beauty of the mountains. One of the pictures I have posted is of a rock formation in the middle of one of lakes. Looking at the rock from one side it is a young girl and from the other side, it is of an old woman. Legend says that she was separated from her love and when she couldn’t find him again, she jumped into the lake and drowned. After this, the rock was formed. There are many other legends associated with this place, even how Borbay was created. Legend says that when the God created the world, one country was bestowed large woods, green fields and wide rivers, another beautiful mountains and blue lakes. But the Kazakh people received only steppes (a steppe is barren piece of land with trees). It hurt the Kazakh feelings and they began to ask God to give them a small piece of the wonderful nature. God scratched from the bottom of his bag and threw into the middle of the lifeless steppe the remnants of the picturesque cliffs and lakes with crystal-clear water. He covered the mountains with forests, animals and birds, lakes with fish and meadows with insects and butterflies, which cannot be found in the steppes one hundred miles around. Thus Borbay came to light. (It is really in the middle of flat barren land).
I have to say that it was great to get out of the city and be in the fresh air of the mountains. I am thankful to Sian for driving us there! He brought his son and niece and since Zukra was away, we had a student who is studying English go with us to help with interpreting. Considering it was cloudy and very foggy when we left, by the time we got to the mountains, it was sunny and fairly warm (probably 30F). It was a great day!

I have about 10 days left in Kazakhstan….but I only have 2 more days to visit Juliana in the babyhouse! I can take her out of there on Wednesday. I can’t believe this day is actually almost here. She is doing so well… so smart and so sweet! She is starting to pull herself up, but can’t quite get there herself. I have no doubt it will be soon. She is a spirited child and very determined. I can’t wait to bring her home to meet everyone. My fellow playroom friends from NYC went home yesterday after their court date. I will miss their company, although I will be leaving Astana by the end of the week and going to Almaty.

Anyway, I hope everyone is well at home. Thank you for reading about my latest adventure. I will see you soon!

Mae nailuchshie pozhelaniya
Best wishes to you