23rd August

23^rd August

So, I chose “The Last King of Scotland” as my light reading option. After reading 1 or 2 non-fiction, I like to try and read something fictional, even, in this case, if its based on true events (and is hardly light reading).

For those of you who havnt seen the film, its about Idi Amin, “His Excelleny President for Life Field Marshal Al Hadj Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of all the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular.”

A number of you reading this probably remember him, but for those of us who don’t, he was an African dictator in Uganda in the 70s. The book so far, just like the film, is very good, and I am pleased with my choice.

Today I mixed concrete by hand for 2 hours, which is certainly the first time ive done that, all in the name of helping my host brother finish his sauna. This isn’t as bourgeois as it sounds, as this is how most people in the villages wash, especially in the winter months. When there is no indoor plumbing and winter temperatures down to around -30degrees, an outdoor water boiler that also doubles as a sauna sounds very appealing.

Something else I experienced for the first time today was the neighbourhood melon delivery service. Watermelons, as well as a cantaloupe esque melon are grown all over Kazakhstan, and are really rather cheap, which is great. They are also eaten in great quantities and this means a door-to-door service is certainly a great idea :D

Dad and his bi-toothed (?) friend are drunk again. Mum and sister have gone back-to-school shopping in Almaty, so anything goes tonight. I am off to brothers house for dinner, and possibly to sleep the night, as dad is not exactly easy to understand at the moment. The German he throws into things, alongside the Russian and Kazakh isn’t exactly helping, although his jokes about his friend being Dracula, and the only vampire in Kazakhstan are pretty funny.