This evening, so Anna could have some fresh air (and a snooze, as she had been cranky all day – teething?) we walked over to Mega (see previous tweet with picture). On the way there (we still take an extra few minutes to use the proper light controlled pedestrian crossing, compared to the main cross roads next to Mega, where cars don’t have to stop when turning right, even though the little green man is, well, green, for pedestrians) we cut across a little patch of grass to get to the pavement. It had previously been raining, and I suddenly found it very difficult to push Anna along. Looking down, I saw the wheel and lower part of the frame caked in mud. Lesson learned – stick to the concrete where possible. It looks like we may be needing some pressure washers to clear the mud off the frame for the pushchair. Hopefully the Akim here in Astana will consider building a proper pavement (sidewalk for American readers), as the one on our side of the road is actually just a series of (usually) connected concrete covers over large pipes.
Speaking of construction in Astana, NewEurasia.net has an article explaining how Kazakhstan hosting the Asian Winter Olympics has benefited Astana now that the city is co-hosting with Almaty (the old capital city over here). See here for the full run down.
Anyway, despite the use of big puddles, leaves and tissues, the pushchair was still leaving a muddy streak behind it when we arrived at Mega, so Ira ran in to pick up a few essentials from Ramstore, and also a couple of takeaways from Star Burger (I think that was the name) – I had a relatively tasty cheese burger, with no scary rabbit food (lettuce, tomato, gherkins etc), which filled a hole nicely.
On the way back a water tanker (one of the smaller versions, compared to what you might see in Europe) was drifting across lanes, apparently trying to drive through a car, rather than overtake it, luckily they both stopped in time for the zebra crossing, so we arrived back home in one piece, though a little wet, as the clouds broke again for a few minutes.
Jun 18 2009
Air, Teeth, Mud, Concrete and Burgers
May 27 2009
Made Me Mad
Walking back from our flat a couple of days ago, I saw a baby being carried by his/her mother in a car. This, sadly, isn’t too unusual in Kazakhstan, and I think I’ll have a few battles in the future when it comes to insisting that Anna is able to use her car seat over here when we get a lift.
Part of the problem is that the law in Astana (laxly enforced) only applies to the front seats as far as seat belts are concerned. This means that even if belts are fitted in the rear when the car was made, they are often ignored, left under the seats or in some truely kcufed up cases removed!
Anyway, back to my story… Not only was this small baby held loosely in her mother’s hands, she was actually sat/leant against the dashboard in the front! So we now have a baby inches away from the glass windscreen, should any accidents occur. But it didn’t end there, this car was an almost new Toyota (Camry? I didn’t notice the exact model), and I’d bet 100 dollars against your 5 that it had air bags.
This means that should even a relatively minor shunt occur, the air bag would… well, lets just say that that baby’s parents would most likely be grieving.
It doesn’t matter how many people tell me that there isn’t the culture of safety over here, or that people don’t consider things like seat belts & car seats for children as necessary/affordable, it does not take a fricking genius to look at the little bundle of joy in their arms and wonder what would happen if this car was crashed into, right now. Anyway, rant over, and just to show that this sort of problem is obviously not just restricted to Kazakhstan, here is a quick picture from failblog I noticed recently…
- how many countries with stan (2), pwned owned (1)
May 23 2008
White Lines
No, not a reference to the seminal track by Melle Mel and The Furious Five (not Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel, as often quoted – this was a marketing ploy by the record label, who listed ‘Grandmaster’ as a track artist), nor Duran Duran’s version of said song. No, I’m happy to report that Astana has had it’s road markings reapplied. Drivers still don’t seem to exactly stick to their lane (or even stick to the principle of three marked lanes should equal a maximum of three real life lanes of traffic), but it does seem to have a small effect.
The reason for this being done now is probably the birthday celebrations Astana will be holding soon – many construction projects and visible improvements are being rushed through to completion in order to make sure all looks well in time. Sadly, they took down the rainbow road ornaments; DaveG had a point that they didn’t really fit in with the image of a modern capital city, but at a personal level, they looked pretty. Also, with the (necessary) ice scraping done all winter long on the roads, not only do the lane markings disappear, also the pedestrian (zebra) crossings have no visible clue left to their whereabouts. Now you could just cross where you know they are supposed to be, but the rainbow structures over the roads hopefully used to give some motorists a reminder that the pedestrians were supposed to try and cross there, and should therefore be avoided a little more often.
May 03 2008
Train Horn In A Car?
I have seen these for sale before, as well as MP3s of the isolated sound of the horn, but this video shows what happens when you put said train horns in a car, and drive round scaring people.
Personally, I would love one if I ever drive over here in Kazakhstan, just to make sure other drivers were aware of my presence, but I’m not too sure how well the police would react. In any case, it seems like a better idea than the one an old boss implemented – he managed to import an American police siren, installed it in his Volvo, and used to tear down the fast lane on motorways, using it when people wouldn’t let him pass!
Search Terms That Led To This PostMay 01 2008
It Could Be Worse
The next time I complain about Kazakh drivers not stopping for you on zebra crossings, or the way cars are driven when a pedestrian is on the road for some reason, remind me to look at this video from India…
Nov 20 2007
This Week’s Annoyances
1) Cars that drive round at night without any lights on. WTF? Police will stop cars for executing a U-turn when the road is safe and clear in both directions, but seem not to give a damn about a tonne or two of metal speeding along with no illumination.
2) Cars that only have one headlight or brake light working. See above re. lack of police action.
3) Pupils that are otherwise incredibly polite, but do not turn up for a lesson, meaning their teacher either wastes an hour walking to and from the office, or needlessly spends money on a taxi.
4) Pointless lists on blogs 
Nov 15 2007
Up Late
My lessons for the rest of this week were cancelled on Wednesday, as the student is busy organizing his relocation to Moscow. This means less money coming in, so I have tried to catch up with a few more sponsored posts. Karra and Muska are a little confused, as since I started giving conversational English classes, my bed times had been closer to midnight than 6am. They have wandered in and out of the living room a few times, demanding strokes, and eventually giving up, to return to the bedroom. Hopefully they’ve not woken Irina up.
Anyway, the following animation was posted to my Facebook funwall, it portrays one cat’s not so subtle attempts to wake its owner.
I think I will check for any blunt objects near the bed before sleeping tonight
Sep 13 2007
What I Will Miss…
Although I’m obviously hyped up over going back to Amsterdam and Britain next Friday, my mind can not help dwelling on just how much I am going to miss some things over here in Kazakhstan
Obviously my wife, Ira, comes first. I will be away for just under a month, which will be the longest we have been apart, at least since we got married, possibly since we met. (I can’t remember the longest she ever returned to Kazakhstan without me before).
Our friends and family in this country. Although my communication with Ira’s family is still at a pretty basic level, I feel as though they have got to know me a little better at least. Not spending Saturday evenings with Walton and Asel will be strange, though I hope to make up for lost time (and steak, chips and vodka ) when I return.
Our kittens. As I work from home, Karra and Muska have someone in the flat with them nearly all day everyday, apart from Sunday’s when we visit the in laws. I recently mentioned just how much I’ve changed when it comes to cats – before moving to Kazakhstan, cats were something to look at from a distance – past a certain comfort zone, I always felt like they were liable to claw me without warning. Since we have our own cats, I have learned how to read them a little better, and when they mis-behave, I feel comfortable telling them off – not something I felt able to do with other people’s cats.
Taxis – or rather the fact that almost any ‘normal’ (read not rich) driver would consider stopping to pick up a pedestrian to earn a little extra cash. In Britain, walking everywhere is a lot cheaper than the taxis there, and other than long distance hitch hiking, your options are limited.
Irina – I know I’ve mentioned her already, but I’m not sure what life will be like without her being next to me…
Jul 13 2007
Kazakhstan Shows Solidarity With British (Weather)
The past couple of weeks have seen temperatures around 30-35 degrees, occasionally reaching for 40. I just spoke to Dad who said Britain has had pretty miserable weather, or Evesham specifically at the very least. This appeared to trigger a big rain storm back here in Astana 
.
It was actually nice to feel a breeze, though without a sewer system, the rain has nowhere to go really.
See the pictures below for a little idea of how they cope with it.
Basically a big tanker comes along and a couple of guys get out. One sweeps the water to the other, who sucks it up with a big hoover type attachment.
As I write this post another thunder storm has started, and the big puddles all over the road have returned. Sadly, not all the motorists respect the weather, and still speed along the 6 lane road as if nothing had changed. No crashes yet, luckily.
May 26 2007
Life Continuing Probability Rises!
Long term readers of this blog will remember from previous posts on driving in Kazakhstan that crossing the road, especially in front of our flat is a scary experience.
Well today I noticed that cars were seemingly randomly slowing down and even stopping on the road, with people crossing. As I couldn’t see a policeman anywhere, I couldn’t figure out what was going on till the daylight disappeared – it looks like they have installed a proper pedestrian crossing
This may not seem like much to any American or British readers, but trust me, go ask Mum, John, Nick, Dad or ChrisD if you need to hear just how much things differ over here… I’ve said it before, imagine a UK motorway with no central barrier, and even the zebra crossing at the other end of the road doesn’t cause drivers to stop – if you are lucky, they will slow down enough for you to wonder about the driver in the next lane across. No more
Please excuse the low quality piccie, it is night time without a flash, and zoomed in – I’ll try and get a better quality picture tomorrow daytime. Slightly better quality picture now
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