apples, dacha

Kazakhstan considers itself home of the apple. The name Almaty is even derived from the Kazakh word for apple, “alma”.  A few weeks ago, I asked Alexei, my adviser, if they had the autumn tradition here of apple picking.  He looked confused and suggested that I come to his dacha and pick up all the apples, because there are so many that they are falling down and rotting on the ground. So today we went to his dacha in the mountains. Oh the apples. And oh the pears. And grapes. And more apples.

Here’s Alexei picking apples:

His dacha is very charming, and appropriately modest.  Some of the dachas being built now are really ostentatious. He designed and built parts of it himself. One day I am going to design and build a simple house for myself like this.

My favorite part was this outhouse he built, complete with a view.

And here’s the view:

Now we are swimming in fruits. Our refrigerator is quite a sight. All the drawers are bursting, and each non-apple item has an apple on top of it. If anyone has any good apple recipes, please send. The more apples they require, the better.

Kulyash had been given property for a dacha from her job around 15 years ago, but she never built on it or saw it. It’s right down the street from Alexei’s dacha, so we visited it on the trip. We thought it was pretty comical that she already has a pear tree, running water, and a dog. Here she is with her invisible dacha.

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