Inadequate photos

I have been putting off submitting a post because i am trying my hardest to find photos or take photos that show the beauty of the near by mountains. the problem is that when the huge snow covered peaks cover about 120 degrees of the view of the south, it is next to impossible to show you what i see every day. i ride my bike south to work every morning and the mountains and clear blue skies are leading my way. although in the past 2 weeks the weather has changed dramatically - we actually need to wear a jacket in the morning and evening - most days are still sunny and in the 60-70's mid-day. we have had a couple of days of rain in the past 10 days which has dusted the mountains with snow. below are a few photos.

evening view a couple of blocks from my house

A section of the mountains just outside my gate. across and down the street from our house is an outdoor sporting complex. the 'hill' in this picture is actually the back side of a velodrome

one of my running routes. we got rain the night before, so there are still some lingering clouds. the mountains have been even more spectacular with the dusting of snow.

looks like a Hollywood computer generated film back drop. Can't wait to get out into the mountains. 

The Embassy, but just behind it (to the right of the photo) a new one is being build. this one is way too small for the number of people who work here. you can see the faint evidence of the mountains in the back of the photo.

My route to work. if you look closely you can see the shadow of the huge mountains in the distance.

We had a 3 day weekend. very sad, we were supposed to go to Almaty (in Kazakhstan, just north and east of us) to pick up out dog Jackson. Unfortunately we were not able to bring him with us initially and we have been working on getting him over here for the past month. well, there was a problem at the cargo drop in Portland. so, Jackson is hanging out in NY for the next 3 weeks and then we will try to get him again. ugghhh. what a hassle, but we miss him so much and can't wait for him to be a part of our new home. we should pick him up on Otto's birthday - it would be the best present. Otto was so sad when i told him Saturday morning that everything had fallen through.

Otto is on the school soccer team and will be going to Almaty week after next for a tournament. he will go with his teammates and a couple of teachers...no parents! he is very excited. they will do home stays. it is great for him. he is doing really well.

I spend today walking around the Orto-Say market about a 25 minute walk from my house. i will bring my camera next time. Everything you can imagine is there. the produce is beautiful. the goat heads and cow hooves, i could do without. i spend about 2.5 hours wandering around. Otto and i will go back this weekend because he wants a soccer ball (and it will be a good incentive for him to wander around with me for another couple of hours).

Have i mentioned how easy life is here compared to Ouaga!?!?!