Fire station

Mason and I went to the local fire station today. Mason loves fire stations and firefighters so he had a blast. There was as small museum inside where we learned that an oil fire lasted an entire year. The people from Kazakhstan, then Russia, then China could not put it out, but the good USA did. That made me proud.
Mason liked looking at the uniforms the firemen wear, including what looked like a space suit, but it was actually used to battle 800 degree heat for 20 minutes.
Overall the people were very nice and I felt safer knowing they have a fire station here. Enjoy the pics.

Cameron's 6th Birthday Party

Cameron had a pirate themed 6th birthday party. He was very excited about the treasure hunt and all the activities we had planned. Some of them were: Pin the eye patch on the pirate, getting tattoos, treasure hunt, drinking crocodile blood, eating chocolate spiders, rice crispy skulls and finger puppet cup cakes, and of course musical chairs. We had kids from the US, Australia, Venezuela, and Russia. Stacey had lots of goodies for the kids including, tattoos, rings, finger puppets, hats, eye patches, binoculars, necklaces, bandanas, and lots of candy. Everyone went home happy. Cameron received many nice gifts and is already talking about his next birthday party.

A night out in KZ

The other Saturday night we went out with friends to a local bowling alley. We can a good blend of couples from the US, UK, and Australia. It was a typical bowling alley with lanes, colorful bowling balls, an assortment of beverages, and loud music.
An interesting difference is that the pins were held by strings. Needless to say the pins did not fall as easy and often times the same pins that were knocked down were put back up. Even if you knocked down the same pins again you would not get the points.
In addition to the bowling, Stacey had an interesting experience when using the restroom. First, there was no toilet seat. Second, there was a bucket of water next to the toilet to put into the toilet so you could flush it. Third, in order to wash your hands there was a bottle of water you had to use because again, no running water. Bowling anyone.

Clinic

With the weather changing people are going to get sick. We have not escaped the common cold and all have been sick at one point or another. I had a cold, but I guess it did not go away quietly because it caused me to get a middle ear infection. Worst of all is that it caused by ear drum to burst. I stayed up all night because of the pain. I went to the clinic without an appointment, but the doctor (from South Africa) was able to see me after he attended to an emergency. The emergency was that a Frenchman was traveling thru Atyrau the night before on his motorcycle and hit a camel. Not unusual for around here. I asked the doctor if he was injured and he said that he may have broken his legs. After a week the doctor wanted to look at my ear and I followed up on the Frenchman. The doctor just causally told me the he won't be walking out with both legs. Needless to say my ear drum busting was not that big a deal compared to this guy. Now if only I could get my hearing back. I like to show you pictures with my blog, but the only good picture of the clinic is the sign. Except for the other picture, this is a building just across the street from the clinic.

Halloween

Happy Halloween!!!

Cameron was a pirate and Mason was a fireman. They had a wonderful filling up on sweets. We did the trick or treating in Dostyk (the community where we live) and it was very nice. People were overly generous on the candy and it was nice to be in a neighborhood where there was no cars, your felt safe, and you knew everybody.

Enjoy the pics.