My First Real Glimpse of Kazakhstan

So tonight, while at a friend's, I got my first glimpse of Kazakhstan: I watched the first 20 minutes of Borat. The movie itself was rather disgusting but the first few minutes filmed in Kazakhstan made me very excited! I think its finally sinking in that in less than 48 hours I will be departing. The only challenge left is making sure that the three garbage bags filled with clothes will somehow make it into my suitcase or that I can somehow carry them with me on the bus to the airport! I've got quite a supply -- big thanks to anyone who donated stuff!

Also, in our final conference call the other day, I discovered that our trip leaders -- Ethan and Naomi -- created their own blog: jdcrockskazakhstan.blogspot.com. I will be linking my blog to theirs and because of the lack of access to internet where we will be staying - I will unfortunately not be bringing along my laptop. BUT, Naomi will have hers and students from our trip will be updating their blog daily and I will attempt to post on mine as often as I can. So make sure you check it out!

For those of you who don't know, the trip will take 3 days (yes, we leave on a Tuesday and arrive on a Thursday)! We will be making a stop in Kiev, Ukraine and exploring the city for a few hours before boarding back up and flying into Almaty. Any suggestions to pass the time on the planes are welcome! More to come on our itinerary tomorrow--GOODNIGHT!