Local Commerce...

There are no visits to the baby house on Sundays so we toured the local markets. There are two of interest -- The Green Market is grocery clearinghouse. Venders set up there wares in permanent stalls and sell a variety of meats, vegtables, baked goods and dairy products. The US health department would drop dead with the conditions. You will see from the pictures that sanitary conditions are not the priority. Everyone in town buys their goods from this market. Scary!! The Bazaar is a series of outdoor stalls that different venders set up every day. They sell everything from shoes to furniture, but it is all OUTSIDE IN THE COLD! Today was a balmy -23*f. These intrepid sales people stand out there all day selling there wares. There is an inside bazaar as well but the rents and taxes are much higher and are more permanent stores vs. the outside stalls. We did buy some local souveniers and a cashmere outfit for Ryan for $10. Can't beat the prices.
A little background on the local heating system. The photos with the Pipes that look like arches welcoming you into a building or park are actually steam pipes that constitute the bulk of the heating in Kazakstan. It is the old soviet system of comunal heating. The steam pipes are turned on October 1st and turned off April 1st. It's an all or nothing system. You see these large pipes down every street and into every building.
There are five families from our agency now in town. We had a chance to have dinner together tonight at the "Cottage". The Minister of Ecology was to visit Kokshetau so they erected a house for him to stay. Now that cottage plays host to American families here to adopt with our Agency. It was a great group and was fun to exchange traveling and culture shock stories. We are back to visiting Ryan tomorrow, we missed him terribly today. Tomorrow the gang will be partaking the Valentines' celebration here at the hotel. The band has "prepared something". Tune in to find out more. Thanks for all the messages and support we love reading the posts every morning. paka, paka.