Ridin' the Bus

I really enjoy riding these mini-buses- they take me on direct routes across the city to language lessons a few days a week, to the office, and places to shop. These are converted vans with manual transmissions. Some are big enough for passengers to enter through a sliding door on the side, but smaller vans have passengers enter through the front door. I plan to write more about the buses later, but I also enjoy them because each one is decorated a little bit differently, giving them their own unique 'flavor' :-D

Host Mom's Rose Garden

My host mother's roses were in full bloom a few weeks ago, so I snapped a few photos.

Um... Have any Tide?

Don't think this Iranian laundry detergent would sell very well in the States... For the record, this is the first time I've seen such a big difference between the message intended and what would be received by an English speaker.

A Night at the Performance Hall

I bought very reasonably priced tickets from a woman singing in a classical music group last Sunday and was able to enjoy beautiful music performed in a beautiful music hall! Musicians performed two Beethoven pieces, one Chopin, a choral arrangement of music from Great Britain, and two traditional Kazakh pieces. (Details for those who know composers. For those who don't, think piano, violin, French horn and clarinet music) I recorded a video of one Kazakh piece below, and also one Beethoven piece. I've enjoyed classical music since college, and it's a great treat when the intricacy of the surroundings matches the music. I couldn't come close to capturing all of the details of this music hall with my camera, but I tried in the photos below.The entire hall was sparkling clean, and I kept thinking how much effort it must take to keep the place so clean!

Clockwise from top left: Close-up of the emblems decorating the perimeter of the stage; Large light fixture in the middle of auditorium ceiling; Stage with brass organ pipes along back wall; Side of auditorium showing balcony and musicians' portraits.


Left: The full ensemble of choir + musical accompaniment. Right: Kazakh musicians in traditional costumes.


(I think these videos are choppy when first played, even with a fast internet connection. To watch the whole video smoothly at one time, click the 'play' button, then pause the video until the bar running across the bottom of the video is solid. The bar will probably grow slowly, also, so come back to the video after you've handled other internet tasks :-)