A Good Day

Small things make for exciting days about now:

• Galina told us that our paperwork is now out of the central Almaty Ministry of Education office and on to the Astana (national capital) office. Astana now needs to confirm (we hope) that notwithstanding Otis’ late registration, we can take him home on schedule. The paperwork then returns to Almaty, to be forwarded to the district (borough?) office, then to be forwarded to the judge for our hearing. More importantly, this means that the woman who interviewed us and was ostensibly concerned about our ages vis a vis Otis’ (1) got religion, (2) was prevailed upon by her superior, or (3) never had an objection in the first place, and Galina told us this story to make herself sound effective. You can guess which hypothesis is David’s. (The engines canna’ take anymore Cap’n. – DJ.) Notwithstanding, the last scary boogeyman (of which we are currently aware) has been dispatched.
• DJ -- We also spent the better part of an hour in a notary’s office today waiting to sign some more paperwork. Notaries seem to be the equivalent of storefront lawyers here -- their offices are everywhere.
• David and Otis spent about an hour blowing raspberries at each other, while Zoya and I howled with laughter. Then Otis and I played this Hop Hop Hoppity Frog game that I made up in which, oh, never mind….. Then Otis gave Dad a huge hug and fell asleep.

Pretty fabulous day.

Just so you don’t think we are completely consumed with Otis, another food post! I think we have forgotten to tell you that (amazing) tomato wedges and sliced cucumbers, usually with parsley, are served as the garnish to absolutely everything, regardless of the cuisine’s theoretical origin, i.e. with Kazakh meat dishes, in Russian salads, alongside burgers, etc.

Last night we went out for Chinese food, to one of those places that you can’t figure out where the people are from because there are dishes from all over China on the menu. By in large, the food was fantastic. We had pork with squid and bell peppers, in which fresh bamboo shoots appeared to have been substituted for the squid, excellent if not what was expected. The best scallion pancake either of us have ever had. A dish from Xinjiang (sp?), which is the part of China near here, of chicken, potatoes, and chiles in a honey sauce, which was a bit weird but worth trying. However, the definite highlight was hot and sour soup, which reminded us, once again, of the extraordinary ability of good Chinese cooks to reinvent their food using local ingredients. A clear pork broth that tasted fresh-made, the usual tree ears and tofu, plus egg white swirly things, cilantro, and, as its principal vegetable ingredients, yes, tomato wedges and, radical innovation, julienned cucumbers!