Hi everyone! I seem to be blogging less and less often now, but I’m not gone, just on vacation and I want to spend time with my grandma 🙂

As of today, I’ve been in Kazakhstan for a little over 2 weeks and I’m leaving on Monday at around 5am (awesome). I don’t even know where to start with my trip because I’ve done and seen so much. This isn’t my first time being back here; I also made trips back when I was 10, 11, and 14. It was really nice to see my relatives and family friends again so hopefully I’ll have the chance to come back a few more times.

Meet My Grandma

This is my grandma! She’s a super cool human and I really missed spending my summers at her house. She used to be a rock climber and she can still climb a rock climbing wall all the way to the top (she is 76 🙂 ) which is better than what I can do. She also knows all the mountains in the area and she loves poetry.

I had to brag about my grandma, sorry, let’s move on 🙂

Mountains Are Cool

Speaking of mountains, in my opinion, the mountains in Almaty are the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen (mountains in British Columbia being a close second!). Pictures can’t convey the rushing sounds of the river, or the buzzing insects flying by you, or the sense of peace and tranquility, but I’m sure as heck gonna try with this one:

~Just look how pretty~

Recently my grandma and I went up to visit one of her friends, who has a house in the mountains. Her friend had some other friends over and basically, the rock climbing squad was all there. It was really nice just to sit with them and drink tea, listening to stories of old climbing trips and old friends.

The House

Although mountains are nice, my grandma’s appartment is in the city. It’s a small (but cute), one-bedroom appartment that my grandma has lived in for over 10 years. When I come to stay, I sleep on the couch in the living room. One of my most memorable parts of the appartment is the balcony at the back of the appartment building. My grandma loves gardening so naturally the entire balcony is convered in flowers. It makes for really pretty pictures.

Weather

In terms of weather, the majority of the time, it is very. Very. Hot. However, sometimes you wake up in the morning and the sky looks grey and dull. That means only one thing…

Rain 🙂

Personally, one of my favorite things in the world will always be walking home with my grandma after a day in the mountains and getting caught in the rain (If you like pina coladas…and getting caught in the rain… except no pina coladas here). There is a point during this walk where I realize that I felt a drop of rain on my forehead. And another one. And then two more. And then my grandma pulls out the ol’ umbrella. She’s ready. Then suddenly you hear the patter of raindrops on the pavement. Finally, it seems like a dam broke in the sky as water starts pouring and people across the street are pulling their hoods on or running for cover. It’s one of the greatest things in the world and it brings me so much happiness, honestly 🙂

And then my grandma and I start running for home, as we laugh and relish this moment because we know that tomorrow it’ll be hot again.

With this, I’m gonna go and read some more of my summer reading books. Maybe play some card games!

Is there anywhere you love going over the summer or somewhere that brings back childhood memories? Let me know so we can reminisce together.

See ya soon

Anna xx