Disappointing, but not really

Today I was scheduled to fly to Semey in the northeast to teach at the med school, returning on the 25th. I awoke to beautiful gentle yet heavy snow and a cancelled flight. Given that the airline in question has a rough safety record, it was probably a good thing. Instead I took some photos:

Abay Square. Lots of traditional Christmas displays.
Some are actually mandatory in store fronts

Abay (pronounced Abai)

 Not sure if this will publish, If it does it is self
explanatory

This little guy was squealing all the way down the hill

A pillar at an apartment building after a minor earth quake

You can see that the only reinforcement is wood. So when the

big one hits, and it is due, this building is in trouble

I don't recall the names of the figures but they are central to Russian lore.

This is in front of the old communist headquarters, now a British-Kazakh

University.

This used to be a statue of Lenin. Now it is a highly stylized

memorial to the women of KZ that fought in WW2