At the other end of the resort there is a back entrance with a guard house. It is one of the very first things we noticed when we came to this country. Everyone has a fence around their home, all the apt. bldgs have fences around them and there is a guard house that watches those who come in and out. Sometimes if the know you they will raise a bar or open the gate for you. If they don't know you they will come and talk to you to find out where you are going and what you want. They have security guard written on their jacket. They literally live in these houses year around.

This is the group of people that we went to the resort to give the power point training of the Family Enrichment Program(like family home evening) to. There were a lot of young mothers with small children. We adored the children and got to hold and play with them.

When we got back to the resort there was a meal prepared for us. Jack, Pamela and Ramazan,are the only ones who ate and the reason the others weren't eating was because they were observing the Muslem Ramidan.That is a 30 day fast. You cannot eat during the day, from sunrise to sundown. This was a typical Kazak meal- salad, hot soup, and a main dish which was cubed potatoes and some strange meat which we thought was horse meat, so we didn't eat the meat.

We are in the north of Kazakhstan, close to the border of russia. Siberia is a little farther north of where we are at. Also the famous Trans-Siberian Railroad is just about 100 miles north of us at this point. In this pic, Jack and Pamela are standing by a statue. there are others also in this area. No one seemed to know what they represented.

Lake Kapau, with a kind of pine trees that we aren't familiar with that looks alot like the trees in Island Park and grow about the same size. the thing that is different is how the pine needles cling together and they are mingled with some quaking aspens.

This big rock out in Lake Kapau is a very famous rock. In our apt. above our dinner table is a pic of this rock. you can see pics like this allover in Kazakhstan. The people we went with rented paddle boats and we went out to see it. It was a perfect day and we enjoyed this alot. Can you see a face in this rock?

In this pic is a beutiful mountain. Our translator said that if you look at it with an imagination you could see a rat with a long nose, laying on its back with its big tummy sticking up. we thought it took a good imagination to see that. This area looked alot like home in the mts.

In this pic there is a famous stone. When we were coming close to it an enterprising young man rushed up to us and said,"Do you want to know about this stone?" and the people with us said, "how much do we have to pay you?" He said,"let me tell you my story and you decide how much." He proceeded to tell us about this rock. He said three kings ruled Kazakhstan but one of the three was the main king. An invading country wanted to take them over. the main king said if we all came together we can save our country. so the other 2 kings gave him command over all the armies and met at this spot with their armies, where the main king rallied the armies with his speech on this rock at this place, and they prevailed. the young man also said that if you walked around this rock seven times and made a wish that legend says your wish will come true. We paid the young man pretty good, he also had a stash of goodies, soda, popcoen, and candy, that we could purchase any of if we wanted. He looked to be between 12 and 15 years old and had a thriving business. Of course we walked around the rock seven times.

These are the pople who invited us up to the resort and to do a power point training on the Family Enrichment Program. from l eft to right-Murat, Alma, Pamela, Jack, Kamka, our champion and angel, Ramazan-Kamka's husband, and Mira in front.

Sat. morning they took us for a drive about 30 miles away to what they call Borovoye. In this pic there is a tower over looking a Lake Kapau which represents the Kazak symbols on top, a golden eagle, and their flag symbol.

This pic is inside the resort, the pools are empty in this pic and the resort is only about one third full because it is so late in the year and it is so cold. The days were absolutely beautiful while we were there. In the morning there was frost on the ground, and they only heat the main building. The room we stayed in was very cold but we slept with lots of blankets. No hot water and the shower was ice cold, but we didn't mind. we were very happy to be there to see the beautiful landscape with the trees and mts.

On Friday Sept. 18,09, we went to a resort which is north about 4 hours, close to the russian border. This is the front gate to the resort. The words say the resort by the lake. there is a nice lake about half a mile away. Everything in Kazakhstan is fenced off and has a guard house. It is a tradition left over from the russian empire. Our apt. bldg. is fenced off and has a guard house.

This is a Christian church that is being restored to what it looked like before the Russians destroyed all the Christian churchs in the 1930's and 1940's When we first got here they were at the very beginning of the restoration. they have come along ways in 3 months.This city has 2 Christian churchs in it of 700,000 people.

This pic is of the Kazak people when they were nomads and fought invading countries.

This monument that Jack is standing in front of is a war monument. There is a flame burning in front of the monument, we assume it burns all the time. It is very big and has side panels of different wars that the Kazak people have been involved in. This one is WWII.

We went to a park on teh other side of the city today, it was a beautiful day. the last 10 days have been very cold and windy. But today was beautiful and we had a few hours, so we went to an area of the city we have never been to before and took pics of monuments, parks and buildings.

This pic shows how long we have been here. When we came the first of June we took a pic of these 5 swans as baby chicks. These 5 swans are all grown up now. We realize why they grow so fast, as you can see they have their butts in the air and their mouths on the bottom getting food.

A couple of blocks away is a big park, big. about 100 acres, lots of trees and paths. It has a big carnival mixed in the middle of it. It is here year around. On a good day, a warm day thousands of people go through the park. This is a fountain in the park.

They brought in another drudge to make the bottom of the river deeper. This is not a real river just looks like one. It had a very small stream of water they have made to look like a river. The water looks like it never moves, just ponds up. We have walked to the end of the manmade river to see it is just a small stream of water, about a ditch full of water. It is funny people fish the river every day- 10-15 fishermen are in eyesight. They catch very tiny fish but seem to be very content in what they are doing.

Right out the door of our apt. the children play soccor all day long. Pam talked them into taking a pic and then we ran up to our apt. and made a copy on photopaper and took the pic and a plate of cookies. we gave them the pic and cookies.They absolutely loved both.