Hello Readers – I had intended to write again shortly after the earthquake but COVID had other plans. Nick got the positive diagnosis first and I followed two days after. We had the good fortune of sending Nia away to a friend’s house for five nights and thought she’d been spared, but...
We had a wild night here in Almaty and I can now say I’ve experienced my very first earthquake! Well, technically, I slept through it—as did Nia—but, still! :) The earthquake hit at 12:09 AM in China, just South of the Kyrgyzstan border (the epicenter was where the red circle is on...
I think what I love most about my new church is that it’s so vastly different than any church I’ve attended before. For starters, it doesn’t look anything like a church. You would never know it was a church if you passed by it, especially since there’s no signage and the entrance is next...
Hello everyone – Happy 2024! I hope you had a memorable holiday season with friends and family. We spent our holiday here in Almaty soaking up the marvelous wintery wonderland atmosphere and crossing a few more local activities–like the cat cafe!–off our to-do list. Here...
I did it y’all. As of Friday, I wrapped up my 16-week Russian class (3 hours a day, 5 days a week!). Taking into account my sick days and our week in Paris, I figure I logged right around 200 hours of class time. When you add that to the 105 hours spent on Duolingo, the 160 hours...
Hello Readers – Look what finally came our way last night! Our very first snow here in Almaty (and about a month late, from what everyone tells me). Nia was beyond excited, but I only let her go out in it for 10 minutes because she’s battling a nasty cold. We’ve been blessed with a mild...
I am woefully tardy on this update, but here goes, because late is better than never, right? So, about Paris. It was grand. But you knew I was going to say that. Because who DOESN’T like Paris? Oh, I’m sure there are a few people out there, but it’s hard NOT to appreciate a city so...
Hello friends – Happy November! Hard to believe it’s November. Was it just me or did October go F-A-S-T? It has been oh-so-glorious here and I’m savoring every last bit of fall. We’re still getting highs in the 50’s, which makes for very pleasant afternoons. I know winter is just around...
Hey everyone – Sorry for the radio silence. It has been a crazy- wonderful ten days of birthday fun and I chose to consciously be present for it rather than rushing to get photos and posts up. Rest assured though, the posts and pics will make their way up eventually! :) The friend...
I’m glad so many of you enjoyed the observations that I shared yesterday. The next three in the “Surprises” category are all tied to the country’s soviet past (FYI: Soviet rule lasted from 1920 to 1991). Allow me to explain the connections. What’s Surprised Me: Centralized water/heaters:...
We have crossed the 60-day mark in Almaty—can you believe it? We are so entrenched in our routines that it feels like we’ve been here forever, and yet, the house still isn’t put together, nor is it running smoothly. My frustrations these days definitely stem from the house (lack of décor...
It’s hard to believe, but not-so-little-girl will be turning 12 on the 22nd! This year we’re opting out of a friend party since she’s still solidifying her new group (always tricky when your birthday falls just two months after arriving in a new place). However, we still...
One night, while Nick was off on a work trip, Nia and I decided to try out the hot dogs here. I don’t recall ever eating hot dogs at our prior posts (except one 4th of July when someone hand-carried them in a cooler from the U.S.). However, the meat here is of notable quality and...
There is no shortage of activities to fill our days here. This past weekend we decided to give the circus a go. Almaty is unique in that it has a permanent circus arena called the Kazakh State Circus. I’m not 100% sure on this yet, but I believe Almaty has its own group of circus...
Photo by Unseen Studio on Unsplash I love being in school. Always have, always will. It’s all my favorite things in one–mental stimulation, community, personal growth, and rigid structure. So it will come as little surprise to you that I’ve already enrolled in school...
Ughhh. Today sucked. It started with a 3 AM wake-up from throbbing back pain of unknown origin. All I’d been doing was sleeping, which clearly is a liability now that I’m middle-aged. And DANG did it hurt. Took some aspirin and flopped between various sleeping positions for a...
On Saturday night we had the great privilege of seeing a Kazakh Opera at the stunning Abay Opera House. This 82-year-old building is one of a dozen or so theatres in Almaty but is THE premiere place in town to see opera, ballet and classical music. The theatre is named after...
We found out last year that Nia would need braces. We intended to start in D.C., but she still had some baby teeth that needed to come out and the Orthodontist wasn’t keen to put on the braces and not be able to see it through to the end (we had max 1 year in D.C. and braces are...
First off, if you haven’t read part 1: READ IT HERE first. Now, on to Part 2! We reached Timur and introduced ourselves to the two visiting NGO workers. “Ready to go in? Timur inquired. “Well, first I better tell Nia and Sarah what we’re doing,” Nick said. “I’ve kept it a surprise thus...
On Friday night Nick told Nia and I that he had a surprise outing planned for us on Saturday. All we were told was that we needed to be ready to leave at 10:30 and wear pants, a t-shirt and tennis shoes (no hiking gear needed). I was intrigued and excited, and assumed we’d be going to...
On Wednesday I told you about Nia’s new school schedule, so today I’ll focus on the new routines Nick and I have been developing. Nick has been going into work for two weeks now. Thankfully, work is just a 10-15 minute walk from our home, so it’s relatively painless to...
Nia started school on the 21st of August (just days after our arrival), and has been busy adapting to her new school for the last week and a half. There were three great schools in town, but we chose the Kazakhstan International School (KIS) because they offered the International...
We just wrapped up our second weekend in Almaty. It was equal parts socializing and unpacking. The kitchen was our main focus and I’m pleased with how it turned out. There’s still a lot of house left to organize and decorate, but having the kitchen functional makes a huge...
If you’ve been around me for any amount of extended time, you know that when I’m in a good mood, I generally do one of three things: sing, hum or whistle. Half the time, I don’t even realize I’m doing it, it’s just a happiness by-product. So, yesterday I was...
Today I want to tell you a bit about the complex process involved in getting our things from here to there. As many of you may remember, each post we’re given a certain amount of poundage that we can bring with us. The poundage falls into three categories–hand carry...
Our hike on Saturday was so enjoyable that we opted to venture out again on Sunday. We’ve noticed that Kazakhs are late risers, which makes mornings the perfect time to go out exploring. This time, our destination was Kok Tobe (literally, blue hill), a 3500 ft mountain at the edge of town...
New houses (especially ones in countries other than your own), require an adjustment period whereby one must acclimate to the nuances of that specific house. Much like a teenager goes through growing pains, we always go through a period I like to call “moving pains”. Common...
It feels quite fitting to be sitting in the kitchen at 4 AM writing to you. In fact, this middle-of-the-night blog post appears to have become a rite of passage for each new home we inhabit. Remember when I wrote to you in Malawi? And India? Feels like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it? Well...
The time when: I spend more hours at the dentist and doctor’s office than my house, in a futile attempt to get every last thing addressed in the U.S.’s unmatchable but spendy healthcare system. I start kicking myself over how much crap we amassed in the last X year(s) and panicking over...
Today is Nia’s 5th grade “graduation” ceremony, which has me reflecting on how much she’s changed this year and the fact that we’re about to have a bona fide middle schooler on our hands. When we started the year, she was still solidly in the “little...
For Memorial Day weekend we decided to do a short road trip to the nearby Shenandoah Valley, a place knowing for its peacefulness and stunning vistas. We had the good fortune of getting a unique Airbnb place to stay in. The property was built in the 18th century and was formerly a grist...
Almaty at Night, Photo Credit: Edgarpo01 Yesterday was a big day for the Novaks–we learned where we’ll be living in Almaty! Receiving your housing assignment is one of the foreign-service-life milestones that happens with each posting. It’s important though, because it...
As we all know, D.C. has an abundance of things to do, see, and eat. It’s definitely the thing I love most about the city. It’s an epicenter of culture with museums, festivals, and international cuisine offerings. If you can’t find something to do here, you’re...
Nick isn’t allowed to take any vacation days during his year of language training, so when Nia’s week-long spring break rolled around, we came up with the next best thing–we had her Grandparents come here! This is no small thing, as Nick’s Parents, Robert &...
Happy Easter All! Today I wanted to share a bit about a unique experience Nia and I got to take part in last weekend. As I’ve mentioned before, Nia’s public school is the equivalent of a mini United Nations–a diverse mix of kiddos from different religious, cultural and...
Hey Readers- How goes it? We’ve been having the most glorious non-wintery weather here in DC (recent high of 78!) and I am absolutely L-O-V-I-N-G it. Turns out that the winter weather I was longing for in Mumbai is much nicer in theory than reality (as I learned the hard way on my...
My name spelled in Russian Cyrillic cursive I am back, as promised, to fill you in on my first month of Russian Language class at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI). For starters, the language is beautiful but complex. For example, Russian uses cases to show what function the noun plays...
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash Continuing our story… If you didn’t catch Part 1, read that first. I didn’t have much time to mentally process the news because Nia and I were headed to Minnesota the next day for our week-long Christmas visit. You can read about that here if...
Photo by Miguel Alcântara on Unsplash Last November my mental health was suffering greatly after being trapped inside for the entire month with a nasty cough and sinus infection. I was feeling very down and lonely and knew something needed to change. I was spending too much time alone...
I can’t tell you how many years I pined for a snowy, Minnesota Christmas–especially during our first two tours overseas. In my head, the best Christmases happened in Minnesota and came complete with laughter, cuddles under blankets, fresh coats of white snow, warm winter...
Hello Everyone – Happy Holidays! I realize I have a lot to catch you up on since I haven’t written in so long. I guess I just haven’t felt like I have much to report lately. Our big news is that Nia and I came to Minnesota for Christmas. Yes, you read that right. Nick...
October is Nia’s birthday month, so to celebrate her 11th bday, we invited her cousin Armin and grandparents to come stay with us for five days. It was such a fun couple days. We had the most glorious fall weather and took full advantage by being outside as much as we could. We...
Some of you will be pleased to know that today’s update has no heavy emotional stuff in it (or at least I’m not planning on it but I guess one never knows where writing will take you…). Anyhooo. Mostly I just wanted to touch base and keep my promise to blog once a week...
It’s fall, my absolute favorite time of the year. You may assume it’s my favorite season because of the beautiful colors or the cooling temps or the delicious crispness of the air (cross my heart, I will never take clean air for granted again after living in Mumbai). And while...
Photo by Hello I’m Nik on Unsplash I was incredibly touched by how many of you read (and commented on) yesterday’s post. I did feel your love and support, so first and foremost, thank you for that. I wrote the post on a whim, and if I’m being honest, my ego was likely...
Good day all – Several of you noticed that my recent blogs have primarily been about Nick & Nia and asked that I give an update on what’s been happening with me. I’m touched to know you care about my goings-on and have decided to oblige your request with an entire...
Nick was originally scheduled to start language classes on Tuesday, September 6th–the day after labor day. That would have been fine and dandy if we didn’t have the kid with us, but we did, and school just so happened to start on Monday, August 29th. Given how nervous she was...
Well, look at that. I’m back already. How’s that for keeping my word?! In Tuesday’s post I filled you in about how we spent our summer, so today I’ll tell you what brought us to DC and how Nick will be spending his working hours this next year. But first, we need...
Happy Fall y’all! Sincere apologies for my neglect of Novakistan these last three months . . . guess I needed a little break from blogging. The good news is I’m back, (mostly) refreshed and fully intending to post at least once a week going forward. Since I’ve been...
The relative normalcy of the last few months deluded me into believing I had control of my life again, that I could make intricate plans requiring everything to go ‘just so’ with no contingencies whatsoever. Silly Sarah, you never learn! The crazy part is, I get that control...