Sputnick!

With the Kazakh New Year, Nauryz, the entire city has undergone Sabotnik (which I fondly and the amusement of my coworkers, call Sputnick!) Sabotnik is spring cleaning and here in KZ it is taken very seriously. People will shovel out the ditches that run along the street, will burn branches and leaves, will rake up the collected winter trash for collection, and will put a fresh coat of paint on fences, benches, and trees (yes, trees!). It’s said that when you find it beautiful when the trees are painted white, then you can call KZ home. ...I’ve already found them to be beautiful!

It’s common for western tourists to be a little disdaining of the way many parts of KZ are littered with every kind of trash imaginable. However, it makes Sabotnik all the more wonderful. I so cool to see the entire city (and nation) come together to clean up. It gives an incredible sense of community which is not often seen! Here are some pictures of my small community cleaning inside and out of the office.