Spring, dentists, basketball and what not.

Here is what March 15 looked like outside of our west window. It is exactly how it looked like every year in the 4 years that we've been here, and I have a feeling that it will continue to look like it for the next ... zillion years. And we even had the temperatures to match the looks: -19 C (-2 F). It is also the day when I feel absolutely justified in picking our Spring Break destination! This year we are going to Vietnam!

Here is our campus on March 15 - a beautiful Winter Wonderland!

This year is a very good year for our dentist here. We are bringing them a lot of business! Dentistry here is very advanced and it is much cheaper than in America, so we are taking advantage of it. I had some implants put in last month, and this month Nika is getting her braces, and Lina and Lexa are getting the plates to help them correct their bite.  

Here is Lina and Lexa walking on the cold morning of our favorite March 15 to the dentist clinic.

In front of the building where our clinic is. One thing that I love about Astana is that it is a city of sunshine!

Lexa getting ready for her mold

Last week we had a kind of unique opportunity to watch semi-professional teams play in the tournament right in our backyard - at the NU Sports Center. We just had to walk 100 yards from our apartment building and watch! And amazing thing happened that their games started a whole hour earlier than it was announced! Things never start on time here but I have never seen anything start early!

BC Astana vs. Barsy Atyrau

Watching the game! Some of the NU Basketball girls are behind us.

December in Astana

The month of December in Astana was a month of preparing for the biggest holiday of the year  – New Years! The streets were decorated with Christmas lights (here they are called New Year lights), “Happy New Year” signs in Kazakh went up on the buildings, and huge Christmas Trees (again, here they are called New Year Trees) appeared everywhere in town. All of it gave a festive mood all throughout December.

Here is one of the beautiful city New Years Trees in front of the Ice Arena where we take our girls for skating.

This one is the presidential New Years Tree in front of the Opera and Ballet Theater.

In the malls they would have some random performances for the kids – usually scenes from famous fairy tales or performances by children’s dance groups.

Here is a little skit for the kids from "Little Red Riding Hood" that took place in the food court of one of the malls.

Inside of the biggest mall in Astana called "Khan Shatyr" (King's Tent). The high school kids on the bottom floor are practicing for some sort of performance. 

Here is another mall and yet another performance (see the next picture). I took this picture because I thought it was kind of funny to see some Christmas Trees right next to a palm tree. Not that it would be anything weird somewhere in California or Las Vegas, but in the second coldest capital in the world ... yes, it is a bit weird! 

Dance recital at the mall. The little girls were dressed in the "Snegurochka" (Snow Maiden) costumes, and they were really fun to watch.

The only thing we didn't see was the Ice Village. We were told that every year in Astana they build  Ice Village with beautiful ice sculptures and ice sleds. For some unknown to us reason this year they didn't do it. May be next year.

Happy 2015!