Weather Report

Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful

Our first couple weeks in Karaganda were unbelievably cold (even for John who grew up in the windy city). Average temperatures were -10 degrees F. (Today, as I write this entry, it's 0 outside, but feels like -20 F.) Imagine the Siberian desert in winter (which isn’t far from here) and you get the picture. Like Chicago in winter, most days are overcast. The way in which this town handles the snow, however, is different from back home. When there’s a heavy snow fall, a barrage of trucks appears. The snow is plowed and immediately emptied into dump trucks; then it’s hauled away (perhaps to the Siberian desert?). For all but the largest roads however, cars just make tracks and these huge grooves show the way. Imagine a nice layer cake of snow, ice, snow, ice, etc. Needless to say, we’ve seen quite a few traffic accidents.

Walking around Karaganda is not much easier. They don’t shovel sidewalks, but rather leave them to form a nice buildup of ice on which pedestrians can slip and slide. A couple times I’ve seen store owners with a whisk broom brushing off their front entranceways (as if that’s going to melt away the 5 inches of laden ice.) I have only seen 2 snow shovels since we’ve been here! There must not be any personal injury attorneys in this town, otherwise this lax behavior would not be allowed. It’s a miracle we haven’t fallen, yet. In my case, that’s because I’m constantly clinging on John’s arm. Speaking of walking, the crosswalks have countdown meters on many corners. This is helpful in knowing when you can begin your skate across the street.

The Kazakhs don’t seem to be put off by the bitter winter. Men wear the Russian-looking fur hats and almost all women are in long fur coats, with a fur hat. The ladies also parade around in high heel boots. I don’t know how they stay upright walking around in 4” stiletto heels. This must be a skill attained in charm school. John has a theory that the heels actually keep the women from slipping, as they can dig them into the ice to maintain their footing. Even if that is the case, I’m still thankful for my flat, insulated, North Face boots that I purchased just prior to leaving for this trip.

Walking In a Winter Wonderland
One of our winter wonderland outings was traversing a nearby park. This park is quite expansive and runs through the center of town. It has a lake (frozen over), ice rink, and in the summer, amusement park rides. It’s a very pretty area in the winter: with lovely birch trees, walking paths, and ice sculptures. We enjoy walking through it when it’s not 20 degrees below zero. A number of photos we’ve posted to this topic were taken in the park.

Sleigh Bells Ring, Are You Listening?
Note the close proximity of the horse and sleigh to the photographer in the photo above. I hope our readers fully appreciate the risk taken to capture this action shot! As Sherri was setting up the perfect photo of John amongst the snowy birch trees, backing up to get just the right distance…John was saying “Watch out for the horse.” “What, I can’t hear you,” said Sherri, continuing to back farther away. Luckily, I got the message just in the nick of time, as the sleigh whisked by. If nothing else, I was glad to see that the horse was used for transportation. They eat horse meat here!