Today began with a delicious hot breakfast of fresh cream of wheat. It tastes completely different than the kind back home, probably because the wheat is so fresh and the milk is unpasteurized. Right after that Timur, his father and I drove through Almaty up to the snow-peaked Chimbulak mountains.
This is one of Almaty's treasures; these grand, snow-peaked picturesque mountains that surround the city like one of nature's fortress'.
We drove all the way up and reached a well-known ski resort, for it's ski lift, and purchased tickets for the ride. I knew the view would be worth it, but once we were sitting in it my nerves kicked in and it began to feel like a mild roller coaster. Thankfully, Timur's father used his psychiatry on me and calmed me down. I shot quite a bit of footage and think some of it might be good.
This was really my first sight-seeing trip of Almaty because for the past 2 days we've been indoors with the National Folk Orchestra conducting individual workshops and meeting each player. There are so many interesting instruments that are just not known in the West. There's even a harp-like instrument that was restored after a few hundred years and now has its first player who is in the orchestra as well.
The workshops have gone really well and Monday we're going o have our first big rehearsal with the entire orchestra and the conductor. I've been working on questions to interview a lot of the key players. Monday will be busy because right after the rehearsal is my screening.
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