Chiakartu(I'm making up my own spelling here)

We spent three days in Chiakartu before coming back to Urumqi due to Ziya's illness. Chiakartu is very small, and we spent most of those three days walking around the area, checking out the shops, talking to people. Lots of cows and goats and snow. I no longer feel embarrassed by my snow boots. There is really no vegetarian option out in the country, so I've been eating around the meat, which doesn't bother me as it's better than starving. The Kazahks think I'm crazy.

Yesterday was the New Year, so there were lots of firecrackers being set off everywhere, it sounded like everyone in town was making popcorn all night long. We'll be heading back out to Chiakartu in a few days, and we'll be going to the breeding center and one of the enclosures to talk to people about the horses. We're finding out things we hadn't expected in regards to the monitoring of the horses, mainly how ethnocentric it was to assume that there is monitoring. There have been a lot of things that I'm finding I took for granted; though I came in knowing things would be different, I subconsciously assumed there would be some commonalities. It's proving to be an eye-opening experience.

This is Chiakartu.

Cow.

Crossing the frozen River.

Cashmere Goats.

This is the building we're staying in.

Han Chinese Cemetary.

And just in case you think I'm not really in China:

I have ice forming on my eyelashes everytime I go outside.

And yes, that is ice forming on my scarf from my breath.

Separated at birth?