A sad little funeral for three

These are my dead shoes. There are only two pictured here as the third pair is still in ICU. Those of you that know me will understand. I love shoes, shamelessly love shoes. I am embarrassed by the number that I have here at the office, at my apartment, and in America still. I can’t help it. And Kazakhstan has almost reduced me to tears over…shoes, yes, shoes.

I walk here, a lot! Walking is hard on shoes, especially on rocky, wet surfaces over long distances like I face here. Thankfully flats are finally popular here (I can here my chiropractor rejoicing! You’d be proud of me Dr.Lilkins!) and so I finally bought some shoes to replace the US versions I’d completely worn out. I saved and scrimped and went to the big city of Almaty where I bought three pairs for approximately $60. Not outrageous right, but enough to last me for the summer right? Yea, no. I bought three pairs of shoes that lasted…drumroll please...one week. One week. Yes, Buy a pair of shoes for $20 in the states and they’ll last you at least a year (allowing you to buy another fashionable shoe next year!). Buy a shoe for $20 here and they’ll last you a week. Not even a full seven days!

Solution: Beg friends from home to send you shoes!