This is my last week in Almaty! My cohort and I are just getting back from a trip to Astana, which is the capital of Kazakhstan. We were there for about 4 days and we saw a lot. Unlike Almaty, Astana is a fairly new city and most of it was built in the last 20 years. It's bigger than Almaty, but there are fewer people there. It was super cool to see since the building styles are pulled from a lot of different cities and cultures, so Astana definitely felt different than Almaty. While there, we went to a ballet, a museum, some of the city's monuments and saw the rehersal for an upcoming military parade.
Now that I'm back in Almaty, I have final exams coming up. I'm a bit nervous for them, but it'll also be cool to be able to see how much I've grown as a Russian-speaker since our midterms a few months ago. Those will finish up on Tuesday, and then the rest of the time before I leave is mine to buy souveniers for people back home, spend time with friends I've made here and check any last-minute experiences off of my Kazakhstan bucket list.
