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Almaty Rocks II |
Today
was a series of firsts. First stroller ride for Annabelle. First time Mom tries to eat at a
restaurant with Annbelle. First souvenir shopping expedition…. But let me
start at the beginning.
When
I arrived two days ago, there was a stroller in the apartment and I was really
excited to try it out. Sasha said that he was supposed to take it with him
after dropping me off, but I convinced him to let me use it for a day. I didn’t get a chance to yesterday
so today, I hauled it out this morning to try it out. She loved it. And I loved it. So much easier than the Bjorn for long
walks, especially when it’s warm outside! I can’t wait to get back to my
most excellent
stroller at home, given to me by the Target.com Merchants and go for long
walks around
I
got several emails from people telling me I must try Govinda’s a
vegetarian Indian restaurant here in Almaty so that’s what I did for lunch
today on my way to the Tsum store.
I wasn’t sure how Annabelle would do, but I was absolutely
desperate for some good vegetarian food so I decided to chance it. The food was great, but Annabelle only
did so-so as a lunch companion. She got very antsy when I was paying too much
attention to the food and not enough to her. I pulled her stroller up to the table
and would alternate bites of paratha bread, aloo gobi, or samosa with pokes and
giggles at her. Which meant lunch
took a very long time. Fortunately,
she didn’t scream or anything dramatic but she would start to cry if I
didn’t time my attention right!
After
lunch, I went to the Tsum store with the thought of buying a few
souvenirs. But fate and my
squeamish constitution were against me.
I went up to the 3rd floor where all the souvenir shops
were. I had no tenge left so I
needed to exchange money and there are exchange booths on every floor of the
Tsum. Well I went to the one on the 3rd floor and it was
closed. So I went back down to the 2nd
floor and it was also closed. So I went all the back to the ground floor (this
is lugging Annabelle the whole way of course) and the guy was just locking up
the place. What, did I pick the one 10 minute period when they all take their
lunch break? Have they never heard of staggered breaks?
Well,
I decided that I would go back up to the 3rd floor and at least look
around and get an idea if there was anything worth buying. The Tsum is like the one in Kokshetau,
made up of lots of individual kiosks.
Well, I went to the first kiosk and started looking at the felt yurts,
the Kazakh pointy slippers and the skinned wolf rug with head still
attached. Yes, for some reason,
they sell these poor wolf skins with stuffed heads. Well, as you might guess
from the PETA-supporting vegetarian, the whole fur thing is extremely
disturbing to me in any event. It’s just disgusting to think of what the
poor creatures suffered so someone can wear them (or walk on them). So I left that stall quickly and went to
the next and the next and they all had the wolf skins, as well as tons of fur
items. In each kiosk, I got more
and more upset. Until I finally
just decided that it was repulsive to spend money in a place that sold these
items and what money? Since I had none anyway. And Annabelle was cranky because it was
nap time, so I just left, empty handed.
Sasha couldn’t believe it when I walked out with nothing.
I
still needed money though so on the way home, we stopped at the Ramstore to
exchange. And wouldn’t you know, the exchange place was closed!! I just had to shake my head and think,
it wasn’t my day for shopping.
In
the afternoon, after Annabelle woke up from her nap, she realized that there
was a mirror in her room, or I should say, she realized she had a playmate who
was awfully cute and reached for her but never seemed to touch her. She screamed with delight at this new
creature and I must say, I enjoyed seeing two of her!
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