Yes, It's Cold

According to the locals, November was outright balmy, and really, it wasn't that bad. In early December we transitioned to what I am used to as "regular winter", which is the 15-35 degrees F range. That too was probably "balmy". Last week the temperatures really dropped, heralding the start of the real Kazakh winter. I still haven't figured out exactly how cold it is because I have yet to see a thermometer in this country. The locals don't really care exactly how cold it is and perhaps they actively don't want to know. I suppose the novelty of -30 C wears off after the first few years.

It hasn't gotten to be too bad yet and I don't think the temperatures have fallen much below zero degrees Fahrenheit. It's only the beginning, though. And yes, mom, I am already wearing thermal underwear. All that said, I have always liked winter and I want more. -40 degrees is about where Fahrenheit and Celsius meet each other so we might as well go all the way. I was promised miserable, freezing temperatures and I'll be disappointed if Zhez doesn't pull through.


Over the last week and half, Zhez has been blanketed with frequent but light snowfall and we probably have eight inches on the ground now, where it will stay until...April? We'll see. In any case, the snow has brought out an interesting development. From what I could tell from the summer, Kazakhs were never big on baby carriages and while they exist, there isn't exactly a suburban-mom-baby-stroller convention going on here. However, they are huge on "baby sleds". I see mothers dragging their 3-year-olds on tiny little sleds everywhere. Occasionally a man will come by dragging food or other random items on a big sled. The kids here are extremely sledding-deprived here, as you might expect from Children of the Steppe. Now that there's a little bit of snow, there are scores of little embankments up to and including snowed-over steppes to "magazines" (the identical convenience stores that make this country function) have been intentionally iced over and turned into pathetic little sledding hills. Better than nothing, I guess. But if those skiiers out West think it sucks in New England, they ought to come down here.