Room for one more?

[expatgirl]

Hi! I'm really looking forward to being a part of SP and to learn and share ideas, recipes, successes, failures, etc. I'm a native Texan and currently living in Kazakhstan. Cooking over there is a bit of a challenge (horsemeat is a fav---sorry, have to pass on that one) and very expensive but hubby and I are managing. Cooking is one of my favorite hobbies and I'm happiest when I'm preparing meals for others--I also like to read and collect cookbooks.

[khartman]

I think there is room for another here so I'll scoot down a little for you Welcome! What's it like in Kazakhstan? Hot, dry, wet, cold, etc. It' been a hot summer hear of late in the eastern US.

K

[expatgirl]

Khartman,

Thanks for the welcome! K. is a large country next to Russia that used to be a satellite of the Soviet Union. Both Russian and Kazakh are the official languages spoken. I've tried to learn Russian but the brain cells are not what they used to be---it's a VERY difficult language. Anyway, you asked about the weather--I hope that you are sitting down---it gets down to the minus 40's in winter--Astana, the capital where we are posted , I believe is the 2nd coldest in the world!! My husband is there now (I'm in Texas for the summer---uggh) and said that the temps are in the 70-80's during the day but in the 40's in the evenings. It was warmer last summer when I was there. Astana is on the steppes so it gets a lot of wind and is dry a good deal of the time. We had snow the beginning of November and it wasn't gone until end of March.

Hope that you guys along the east get some relief-----Houston wouldn't exist without a/c--hang in there. Thanks again for the welcome.

[oldbay]

Hey there expargirl!
I'm sitting down, and am wondering how you stay warm in the winter with minues 40 degree temps? That's cold (brrr).

I worked with a guy who had this goal of living in every state. He lived in Alaska in the winter, as well as other cold places like Nebraska, and Wyoming. But what I remember him talking about most was the news stations in Houston frying eggs on the sidewalk in the summer.

It's hot here in Maryland this year. It cooled some today. But I've never seen anyone cook an egg on the sidewalk around here.

So you folks in Houston must be tough! Do you get used to the heat? I mean, I played golf on Wednesday when it was really hot in the afternoon, so by starting early we beat the big heat. We started at 9am, and were done by 1pm. There were only a couple cars in the parking lot when we finished.

Welcome to the forum.

[expatgirl]

HI, Old Bay,

Thanks for the welcome! We stay warm in the winter by having heated garages (no lie) and going from the car to wherever you are going which are usually overheated. If you have to walk in it (and it's not a pretty sight) you wear parkas that have big overhanging hoods and a face cover. Also very insulated pants. Even so, hubby's and my tender tooshes and back, faces, still had to be slathered in "Crisco" like moisturizers. We still had "lacerated" dry skin at times even with that. But our apartment overlooks the river and it is so beautiful to watch the snow drift down------ice fishing is very popular to watch. When the river finally thaws out it is just as beautiful-----it is mostly sunny there so the river just sparkles in the afternoon sun and the sunsets are gorgeous. Lots of paddle boats on the river and many people walking the promenade around it. They LOVE disco music here!!

Yes, you can definitely cook an egg on a Houston griddle road. It's miserable right now (90's and 70-80% humidity)-------only arrogant, old coot wildcatters had the nerve to build a metropolis over a swamp. Like you, we do everything early in the morning and if you're doing sports, you drink lots of water, and bring towels. How construction workers and roofers, etc., do it is beyond me but many of them come from Mexico where it's even worse, so I guess they are used to it. Houston does have great restaurants however and we're not called the fattest city for nothing. Ha!
Thanks again, y'all for the welcome!!

[oldbay]

Wow. I can't imagine it being to cold that you need to grease your face to go outside. And then to visit home and it be so hot

I feel indebted to you for whatever your doing there. Thanks for doing it for us.

[expatgirl]

Yeah, at times I feel like a dry potato from the cold storage bin---grease it up and then put it in a hot oven!!!!!! At times, I'm not sure what we're doing over here either. Kazakhstan is poised to be a major player in the oil industry-----so my husband's company is helping them develop their oil and gas resources----just hope that the oil revenues filter down to the Kazakh people who need it most and not the local government cronies who are wealthy beyond belief-----ah, the joys of graft and corruption!! Thanks for the wave of the flag!!!

How's the weather in Maryland as of today? Better I hope, and your friend, did he reach his goal of visiting every state in the US?

[oldbay]

I looked into Kazakstan on wikipedia and it's a huge country.

We had nice weather here last weekend, but humidity came back today. I like warm weather. It seems it's cold in the winter, then spring comes with a little mild weather, and then it suddenly gets hot for a while, then as summer winds down the weather is delightful. That lasts from about the beginning of September until about November, and then it snows so the cycle starts all over. Some years it doesn't snow until Janurary and in others it's November 1.

Yeah, my friend worked in every state. Including Alaska in the winter and had coal delivered by parachute. He even did emergency surgery on a friend while in Alaska and had to use liquor for the antiseptic. He was quite a fellow, and never ceased to amaze my with all of the different jobs he had done. He moved back home to Pittsburgh about 4 years ago when the economy there had recovered from the steel industry troubles.

[TexasRose]

I don't know a lot about Kazakhstan, but I look forward to hearing your stories!

[expatgirl]

Thanks, TexasRose,

From your handle I'm assuming that you are from Texas and or lived or have lived there? You brought up a 5th grade memory (maaaaaaaaaaaaany moons ago) when I played the part of the Yellow Rose of Texas. I've tried to grow roses in Houston but black spot just defeats my best efforts. Anyway I have lots of stories about Kazakhstan that I will be happy to share. Also, Egypt as well, where we lived for 8 years-----is there a place on this site to do that?? I'm not too computer savvy. Thanks again for the welcome!(: