Seeing Folks Off to Semey

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Originally uploaded by jakeyd.

Semey is north and east of here, on the steppe. It's supposed to be a pretty cool city, with a long intellectual tradition. It may also be familiar to some by its Russian name - Semipalatinsk - as the city immediately adjacent to where the Soviet Union conducted its nuclear testing operations. 467 tests were conducted over 40 years immediately southwest of the city. The area is one of the great environmental disasters of the world - to the point where adoptive families worry (apparently with some legitimacy) about the wisdom of adopting children born or conceived here. Pity those who have no choice.