Ordinary Days...Extraordinary Adventure

Life can sometimes be just ordinary here in Kazakhstan. But I have come to realize that “ordinary” for me…as I have come to know it can really seem like such an extraordinary adventure to some. For example, the other day I received a phone call from the receptionist telling me that the K’GB was at our office to take a statement from me about a matter involving a former student at our English Center. Now how many people get to say that they’ve been interviewed by the K’GB?

A regular part of my grocery list is buying “abresca” which basically refers to the leftovers after butchering a cow. This gets added to macaroni and fed to my dog since this is cheaper (and probably healthier) than buying dog food. The other day as I was dividing up the abresca into smaller bags, I cut up an esophagus because it was “too big for the pot”. It was routine, something that has become a part of my simple life here…and I chuckled as I thought of how many people would be able to just talk about such a thing.

Canning tomatoes, blanching beans, carrots, beets, freezing mushrooms, homemade sausage, making pizza from scratch, or cake that didn’t come out of a box…all a part of life in KZ. I have recently tried my hand at making beef jerky and I have decided that I will never buy it in a bag ever again.