Ellen's Blog
From Dubai to KazakhstanArchive for Holland
I’m back!
Found a house – only 200 boxes to go….
Have neglected this blog for a while, mainly because of no internet connection readily available. The times I spend in an internet cafe was cramped with email-stuff, info for new bathrooms and “how to drive to…”
But now I am back in town baby!
Got a lovely house, containers arrived from Dubai and the essentials like bed, plates and toothbrush found a place in The Hague. Many, many other boxes to unpack…..water, electricity etc to re-install, phone/tv and internet took 4 weeks (!) but the weather is gorgeous..and my first guest spend the weekend! Fantabulastic!
My dogs are a little confused and very insane: all these bikes, people on skeelers, birds and all the other 3000 dogs in the area!! We are working on that one too.
Pictures will follow my friends…..
Ellengate
Click Map to enlarge
Indeed – Holland will be a perfect transition into Kazakhstan. Today the Dutch Newspaper warned the temperature in the North would feel like -17C, because of a northerly wind. January is the coldest month in Kazakhstan, with an average temperature of -5C in the south to -30C in the north. Here you go: moving there couldn’t be easier! Is it a good thing to try to prepare yourself, do research and google till your fingers are blue and the eyes watery? Hmmm ,,,let’s see? I just found a sort of official looking site which states that there is a current environment issue: “radioactive or toxic chemical sites associated with its former defence industries and test ranges are found throughout the country and pose health risks for humans and animals” (http://www.cac-biodiversity.org/kaz/kaz_country.htm)
Immediately I sit up straight and I feel a little itchy excitement creeping up my spine. WHAT? Halleluja I will go to the bottom of this – CNN here is Ellen reporting for you… how come all these guys missed this important item? Ok we had Haiti, terrorists with heavy groins and what about Brad and Angelina? I check the website again and see that “current” means 2003. While scrolling through the info I also notice that Kazakhstan is so enormous that it is divided into three time zones! But the journalist in me has emerged: Ellengate is born – welcome to the world.
to be continued…….
Ellen's Blog 