Hidden Blessings

Last Thursday afternoon I left for Almaty with the delegation on a train.  It was one of the nicest trains I have been on.  At 5:30 am (yes, in the morning) we headed for the airport only to find out that the flight was postponed for 24 hours.  The nice thing about this was that they provided the delegation (and their translator - me) with a free night at the 5 star Hyatt and free breakfast and dinner. 

Despite being a bit tired from the lack of sleep, the day was wonderful.  It started with an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet.  This included omelets, bacon, plain white toast, and fresh fruit.  All of which were thrilling to me.  We spent the morning shopping and then I went to the dentist.  I was pleased to find that the dentist had technology that beats some of the dentists I have been to in the States.  She proudly showed me that all of the products she used for filling my cavity came from the USA.  She even took me on a tour when I told her I had worked in a dental office for a couple summers.  After two hours at the dentist, I met up with the delegation at the hotel for the most exciting part of the day. 

Dinner was a feast.  We were able to order anything we wanted in a really fancy restaurant at the hotel.  I was a bit under-dressed in my Oklahoma Sooner's sports suit, but I enjoyed it anyway.  I don't know that I've ever had so many pieces of silverware on the table despite having been taught how to set a fancier table and knowing the difference between a salad fork and a dinner fork.  I mean, three knives and forks at one time is a bit much.  At one point I made the mistake of keeping my fork at which point the waiter chastised me and I quickly placed it back on my plate.  You just can't take me anywhere.  We ordered appetizers to share (why not when there is no limit to what you can get).  Then the chef had a complimentary appetizer and bread brought to our table. We were then given some sorbet to cleanse our palates.  This was followed by our meal, which was extremely exciting!  I had tenderloin steak, onion rings, and steak fries.  What a treat!  One of the delegates commented that she could imagine me on Christmas due to my excitement over the food I was able to eat during the day.  If found this pretty amusing, but she had a good point - it felt kind of like Christmas to me.  It was a really special treat and I thoroughly enjoyed every bite of both breakfast and dinner (nope we didn't even consider eating lunch). 

It's fun to see how even a delayed flight can be a blessing!  I was glad the delegation decided to enjoy the day instead of give in to the disappointment of just waiting around to get back home. 

Upon my return to Taraz, I decided to catch a cold.  After three days of rest, I am starting to get my energy back and am feeling much better.  During the next few blogs I will be playing catch up from last month.  It was such a busy month that I didn't take the time to write about all the fun things going on.