We just wrapped up our second weekend in Almaty. It was equal parts socializing and unpacking. The kitchen was our main focus and I’m pleased with how it turned out. There’s still a lot of house left to organize and decorate, but having the kitchen functional makes a huge difference.
Friday night our neighbor hosted a get-together for all the Consulate families that live in our neighborhood. It was a fantastic way to meet everyone and we immediately felt at ease with the group.
Saturday was also significant in that we got our Kaspi accounts set-up with the help of our sponsor. Even before getting here, we kept hearing over and over, “You must have kaspi. You can’t function without it.” We heeded everyone’s advice and decided to join the kaspi bandwagon. So what is kaspi, you ask? It’s essentially a bank that only offers debit card accounts (meaning you can only spend what you deposit into the account). I’m still learning all its uses, but so far I have learned that it works for these things:
- transferring money person to person (like Venmo),
- e-wallet (like apple and google pay),
- online marketplace (like Amazon or ebay),
- bill pay.
According to this article I found on Forbes, kaspi is used by half of Kazakhstan’s population and captures 68% of all electronic transactions. Given those kind of numbers, I can see why it’s a necessity to have. Many businesses have QR codes posted at their establishment that allow you to scan and pay quickly. I already tried purchasing a blow dryer and batteries through kaspi as well and had them delivered to my house within hours with zero problems. Definitely a game changer.
On Sunday we signed up to participate in a Consulate back-to-school bowling event. The bowling place was in a mall that was a 15-minute taxi ride or 45-minute walk, so we opted to walk it and see a bit of the city in the process. The first thing we passed was the Central State Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The building was massive and gorgeous. That will definitely merit its own standalone visit another day.
Next we ventured into an area that houses a number of the government buildings.
In between the buildings were spacious parks and several lovely fountains. A perfect spot for walking or biking. I’m sure we’ll be back.
We arrived at the bowling alley around 10:30 and checked in and got our shoes. It looked like a typical U.S. bowling alley, except for the dance floor, and Russian ads. The event drew a big crowd from the Consulate, enabling us to meet a good 40 or so people, including lots of kids.
We all enjoyed the bowling and capped off our morning by trying out the mall’s food court. Nia was in a exploratory mood opted for the Korean place, choosing an odd combo of vegetable sushi and a Korean corn dog. I applaud her adventurousness. I stuck to my usual burger and fries. Not feeling very adventurous in the food department yet. And Hardee’s burger (yes, THAT Hardee’s) is surprisingly good here. Tastes just like home. :) More to come tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
P.S.- For marital harmony, Nick gets Instagram and I get Facebook. He kept beating me to posting on FB! He’s doing a fun photo a day on Instagram, highlighting unique aspects of Kazakh culture. CLICK HERE to follow him on Insta.
