2012 Atyrau

After the first 5 months in Atyrau it became very clear to me that this assignment was definitely not like the other.

West of Kazakhstan, where we were is not like the capital or many of the other cities in Kazakshtan.  Even the locals don’t speak very highly of their city.

In comparison to Thailand, tourism is not very big for them.  It does not generate money in their city or the country for that matter.  It’s the oil, I think they call it Black gold.

And really that’s why we were there.  For work.  yes for my husbands job, not as tourists, even on the weekends there was not very much to go see.  Yes we went to the camel farm and a place called Saraichik where we visited.  I do have myself to blame, we (or I ) rather didn’t actively seek out places to visit.  my regret.

Anyway here are more photo’s of my 2nd year in Atyrau.  And of course you’ll notice, it’s more photos of our life their.  Not too many local pictures of the place.

a local coffee shop – and probably one of my favorites.

the blue mosque across the road from our camp.

bridging ceremony for Tanysha – Girl Scouts

Renee’s middle school play – Shakespeare in the Park.  “Romeo and Juliet”

new friends

International Day @ school – so happy to have pushed for this to happen at school.

a picnic the Kazakh way.

and a whole lot of other random pictures.

2011 in Atyrau, Kazakhstan

every time we move, it’s different.

And with each move we have faced different challenges.  In fact each one has come with it’s own unique issues!! 

In all honesty when we started thinking about moving on from Bangkok, Thailand – Kazakhstan was not even in the picture.  In fact we had our minds set on South America.  We were ready Maracaibo.  But of course things change and you go with the flow.

So when we were finally told that Kazakhstan would be our next location – we thought, that’s cool!

I guess it really would not have mattered either way, cause we were ready.

Looking back,  I think that’s probably the reason why I have enjoyed this assignment/location and that things have really been great.  We came ready.  Either way, we were going to enjoy this stop.

And we have!!

Here are some photo’s of our first few months in Atyrau, KZ.  Actually it was the last 5 months of 2011.

Kazakhstan bound!

Our house, DV153 – all the houses are the same.

new friends

getting used to the local currency

evening view of the Ural – from inside our community camp.  Dostyk Village

local restaurant.

local fisherman

streets of Atyrau.  Russian Orthodox Church in the background.

DAIS – the school getting ready for 1st day of school

first day of school for Renee and Tanysha (Josh just wanted to be in the picture!!)

air shipment arrived

Saturday sports – a parent led activity for the children on the weekend.

our first snow ever!!

and I had one happy boy!!

and girls!

And we had a white Christmas that year and it was gorgeous!!

What can I say – our first 5 months in Atyrau were beautiful. 

We went with the flow…..we opened our hearts and were ready for anything.

Last Saturday??

could this be my last Saturday here in Atyrau, Kazakhstan??  If all goes well with our visas, this may well be my last Saturday here.

As I sit out here on my patio I’m choosing to slow down just for a while (because there’s a million and one things to get done!!)

I’m not going to deny it – I am an expat.  I get that adrenaline rush when my hubby tells me that it’s time to move again.  I love it.   It’s exciting.  A new country, a new city, new opportunities, new relationships and of course the challenges.  I would be in denial if I did not admit that there are challenges.

there are so many emotions all at the same time but I don’t think I would want it any other way. 

Stay too long in one place and I start to get this itch, like I can’t sit still and little things that only happen in the location that I’m currently calling home,  start to bug me.  Yes that’s what happened in Bangkok.  4 years felt a little too long.

This time around – we are leaving just before we would hit our 3rd year. But  I feel ready.  3 Kazakhstan winters is good enough.  I am at peace to leave and for my family we feel like we are leaving at a good time. 

Of course I’m going to miss the place, the people and the community. And I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t.

Don’t cry because it’s over. SMILE because it happened. 

Dr Seuss

this week I’ll share photo’s of our past 2 years, 11 months here. 

It’s been a joy.

6

you light up our world Josh and you certainly keep us on our toes.

Even being our third child you are so different to your sisters……….and that is a gift.

Happy Birthday Joshua! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afVj7xc-pGg&feature=youtu.be

We love you.

13 days

that’s exactly how many days we have left on this adventure of ours  here  in Atyrau, Kazakhstan.

I’m sad, but it is time to move.

school finishes this week and I’m pretty busy getting our stuff ready to be packed and shipped.

even more busy times ahead.

hope you all had a great weekend…..we did.

hooray for Fridays

so I left one daughter back in Kazakhstan to bring the other back to school here in Sydney.

this is the first time I’ve been away from her and that she’s gone to a friends place for a week.  I almost changed my mind at the last minute  and brought her along with me,  but I’m glad I didn’t.  Because I think she’s done some growing up this week.  And she definitely has proven to herself that she can do things for herself and not always rely on mommy.

Hooray for independence and hooray for Friday. 

Soon I’ll be heading home to her while I leave the other one behind.  Not ideal but I believe with all my heart that my girls are learning some things that can’t be taught any other way.

Hope your week was lovely and now your looking forward to a happy weekend.

hugs…

(another) late corner view

Well as you may have guessed I’m not in Kazakhstan right now so I was able to check out Fuoriborgo and jump into this weeks Corner view.

The theme for this week is small things…

well with a boy in the house there are many small things and I know right now he’s missing his toys., (because he’s travelling with me).  He is especially missing his legos which are so small.  Some are too small for my liking, but Josh’s little fingers are just perfect for these small things.

For more views around the world of ‘small things’ head on over to Francesca’s blog.

30 hours

yep, 30 hours of travelling time to get from one side of the world to the other to bring my daughter back to school for another term.

It was long, uncomfortable at times and stressful.  Oh yeah, airports can be stressful.  But when you’re 5 year old is going with the flow and being such a trooper you gotta put on your big mama pants and ‘go with the flow’ too.

Well we finally get to lie flat and every time I do this I am so thankful for the simple things – like lying horizontally!!

Renee goes straight back to school not long after we arrive,  but at least we’ll get some shuteye before that.

good night….(somewhere in the world it’s night time!!)