The 'Alia Museum'

Okay, how cute is my baby's pompom hat!!! Ms. Marla, a wonderful friend of mine in MN, bought Z a super cute little pompom hat, but sadly this is not the exact hat that Marla bought. Marla's gift prompted us to ask the little old lady that made the hat to please get us another 15 hats for me to then donate to the orphanage, well, I kept one of those hats also, just in case I needed a good hat for Z in Kaz. Glad that I did because I need a hat from Aqtobe to Almaty, so today we tried it on, and it is so darn cute!!! Thanks Ms. Marla!

There is also a photo of Z and Irena, Irena is the other family's translator, Z likes her too.


Today, between our visits, we went to the indoor market to pick up some random items. I bought some cabbage and carrot salad, and it is so good!!!! I also picked up some marinated mushrooms and they too are super yummy! It is ‘illegal’ to take photos in the indoor market, from what I heard it is potentially because of ‘Black Market’ items, so I was not able to grab photos of this section of the market. There are many tables that have plates full of salads, mushrooms, shredded carrots, chicken, beans, etc. When you buy these salads, the lady scoops up some with a measuring cup and puts it in a plastic bag for you. I was very nervous to buy any food at the market up until now, but Evy and Davy were buying food like it was safe, so I thought what the hay. I am so glad that I did. The cabbage salad that I bought was only 200 tenge, which is less than $2.00 as were the mushrooms. Mmmmmm! Oh yeah, I nearly forgot my favorite purchase today, I bought smoked cheese. Oh my heavens this stuff is good, a bit salty, but really good! We tried it for the first time at the Asia Bar last weekend, it is just as it is named, smoked cheese and it is awesome to eat while drinking beer. Make a note to try this in Kaz!

At the Market, I also picked up 3 local music cds, 2 with Dombra music and one of a local Almaty singing group. Fun! Of course, I had to get more local chocolate, mmmm. One of the bars was Nestle and it was milk chocolate with raisins and cookie in it. Yep, I have already eaten it all and it was delicious! I got fresh sliced bread, juice & yogurt for Z, etc. We then had lunch in the basement of the Mall next to the Alia Market, there is a cafeteria here and not only is the food really good but you can get a soda, soup, salad and rice meal for about $5.00 This is the cheapest and best restaurant/ cafeteria we have found. We all also agreed that seeing the food choices and being able to point and say da or nyet is super helpful as well. Hehe

After lunch we went to a Museum dedicated to the Aqtobe Region’s local WWII Hero – Alia. Yes, Zahria’s middle name is Alia, so this museum was extra interesting for me. Our travel guide was great, her English was so-so, but she was a wonderfully nice lady that did a good job of explaining Alia’s life, and get this, our guide’s name was also Alia. Too funny. This is what I gathered of Alia’s short life: Early in Alia’s life her mother died, and when her father remarried, she was disowned. Her uncle ended up taking her in. After many moves in her young life, her uncle’s family grew so much so that he could no longer financially take care of some of his children, so with Alia’s agreement, she was sent to an orphanage in her late youth / early teens along with one of her sisters. There she grew very close to her orphanage family. After finishing her schooling, which I believe was at about the age of 16, she started to attend a University studying Aviation. After only 3 months at the University, Alia was accepted and started training as a sniper in the Army, preparing her for service in WWII. While serving in WWII, Alia wrote many letters to her father (uncle) and her sister, so it sounded that she had no hard feelings against her father (uncle) for her time spent at the orphanage. Alia lost her life at only 18 years old, she is considered to be a Hero in Kazakhstan due to her stellar involvement and service in WWII. At the end of our tour, Bayan let Alia (our guide) know that my daughter’s name was also Alia (at least her middle name) so she brought me out a free book on Alia’s life, written in Kazak, an a photo book of the Aqtobe Region’s WWII heroes. Alia gave these items to me as a gift. I was so impressed and grateful for this, not that we will ever really be able to read the book on Alia’s life, but what a wonderful momento. The first photo is of the front of the Museum, the writing says, "Alia Museum." This museum is also located on the main level of an apartment building, interesting hu.