First: Driving is so different here and one of the major differences is the amount of honking. A good portion of the drivers here are very impatient, which is clearly evident by their continual honking. Last month I was waiting at a red light and the driver behind me honked 5 times to get me moving before the light even turned green. Even more annoying is the practice of some drivers of zooming up behind us honking and flashing their brights. We were told early on that, loosely translated, this means "Get out of my lane! Can't you see I'm driving a Mercedes!" Although it is really frustrating, it is best to move out of the way because if you don't, more often than not the driver will pass you and then cut you off or slam on their brakes. We rarely go out without being honked at for something. My friend Gail told us this summer that her and her family started counting the number of times they got honked at and when they reach 100 they go out for a special family treat. So after only three months, we went out today for Chinese food to celebrate our first one hundred honks. It is amazing how linking honks with special treat changes our perspective.Second: Before we even came to Kazakhstan we had read that, unlike in Canada, people here eat horse meat. Eating horse did not at all appeal to me but we were told that horse meat is more expensive than beef so I was confident I would not eat it "by accident". Before I learned how to read the word beef, to ensure I wasn't buying horse meat I would get the attention of the butcher, point at the meat, and "moo" -- just to be sure. Slightly embarrassing, but I really didn't want to eat horse if I could help it. But last week, the grade 12 students at our school chose to raise money for a class trip by making and selling corn dogs (hot dogs dipped in a corn bread batter and deep fried). They were quite expensive but I assumed that this was because it was a fundraising thing. NEVER ASSUME!! Unfortunately I learned too late that the "best tasting hot dogs" here in Kazakhstan are, in fact, horse dogs. To be honest, they were quite tasty but I don't think I'll be able to eat any of the ones left in the freezer. Live and learn. Maybe I should start "mooing" again.
Karla
