Springish Moods In Astana

I am surprised by the number of people, locals in particular, who have been shocked by the extra 8” of snow we received the first week of March. I assumed winter would run through June, honestly. I can’t complain, the freshest batch nicely covers up the shades of gray, brown, and yellow crusty snow, but we are running out of space in the yard to shovel it. The piles are so high the dog could easily jump over the neighbor’s walls and I fear she might, given an opportunity. On one side is a school, the other a Kazakh family with a guard dog, and the house behind us, we think, is a private banya. So, not great options for Ginsburg to explore.

At any rate, spring is near. I didn’t see any effigies of Maslenitsa get burned to bid winter farewell, a common Slavic pagan tradition, but we did eat many pancakes/blinchiki - another custom that decrees  "spring-is-nigh!" Ramadan began, a time honored tradition too. Once the pancake binge has finished, fasting begins… and blood sugars plummet. The pre-spring vibe is full of renewal, devotion, declaration, hangry people, and dumb amounts of traffic as people distract themselves from their empty tummies by running errands, planning meals, and driving aggressively into a sea of cars and road blocks. 

In the spirit of our own renewal and distraction, we’ve been trying a few new things. Small things, like horse meat flavored peanut snacks (salty), camel milk (salty), dried fish crisps (salty), shelf stable yogurt (not salty). Fairy dish soap now comes in watermelon scent, so now the dog smells like a Starburst when we wash her. Mark and his buddy dug out a snow bar in the backyard, while smoking pork loin and enjoying a sunny day that got above 30F. Then there's big things, like Margo and Deets joining volleyball teams at school, which I am to understand is the sport for which the school is known. It’s a short season, lasting less than 12 weeks, but it’s a fierce period of practice and tournaments. We went to our first KZ Premier League match with the FC Zhenis club and bought team scarves, so I guess we are Zhenis fans now. The capital has two teams, them and FC Astana, an oligarch owned team. Naturally, we picked the underdogs.  

As for my personal attempts at springtime renewal, I’ve been focusing on trying to be an overall softer human being, and less of the jaw gnashing shrew I feel I have become these past months (I completely disagree with this characterization, the author is now and always has been awesome.-ed). A while ago, when I was struggling with an uncomplicated, simple yoga pose- the seated forward fold, my teacher pointed out that I’d get more benefit if I relaxed more into it than muscle my way through it. I later heard this same suggestion from a work colleague about a problematic, bullish person whom I had no control over (why can’t people just do what I want them to, when I want them to do it?? Ha ha). And the same advice to soften and chill out came a third time when I felt my anxiety bubble over when I was leading a triage review and emergency preparedness. 

I don’t know if I need more reminders to CTFO (chill the eff out) than the average person, but I have literally forced myself to set alarms and calendar invites to do just that: Breathe. Meditate. Read a Pema Chodron or Anne Lamott quote. Doodle. Sing karaoke, make beaded bracelets with affirmations saying “Let Them” or whispering “very demure, very mindful” to myself every morning or before a staff meeting. I’m doing the work, but is it working? I’ll let you know come spring, or at the end of winter, whichever comes first.

horse meat peanuts:
neither thumbs up, nor down. 
fantastic crunch, not good for mindless snacking

I get shelf stable milk,
 but shelf stable yogurt?
I can't wrap my head around it.

soapy fruit

fishy snack bites - they all taste the same. fishy.

ginsburg and her two toys: winter and margo

deets and ginsburg CTFO better than anyone

bar babes

office amulets

FC Jenis Logo. I think it's a leopard. 
Mark thinks it's a polar bear.
Margo reckons it its monkey-cat.
None of us know what the 2nd tail is for.