Life Update/Fall 2021
Hey there, folks! Today, on November 11th, I had a random spurt of energy to write! I haven’t written anything substantial in months. So I want to recover from this long hibernation of mine and share some of my life updates with you.
This whole year was definitely full of many events. I quit my job. We sold our furniture and got rid of old things, said goodbye to our friends in Toronto, and hopped on a plane back home. Haven’t been home in 2 years and it was definitely not enough. Almaty in summer eas beautiful, despite pandemic People were going out and celebrating life like never before, I guess they’ve had enough of lockdowns. All while pandemic and covid-19 cases were still raging, people were dancing their shoes and gowns on tois (toi is a wedding in Kazakh) with fake vaccination passports. Classic Kazakhs. But it was definitely a breath of fresh air after a prolonged quarantine in Toronto, stuck in a 600ft condo of ours. I went to yoga sessions on Mon-Wed-Fri at 8 AM. I saw some of my friends. And then I got sick. It wasn’t fun, because we were planning a small girl’s wedding, uzatu ceremony in Tbilisi, Georgia. I couldn’t get sick. Not with covid. It wasn’t happening. Except it was. I took two tests on two different days, one positive, another negative, but inevitable because of the local application and regulations I had to quarantine for 14 days. Which I did. On the last day though was my flight and I know it might seem irresponsible but after another negative test came through, I took the risk and we went to the airport. I was so worried and stressed out because of this. I felt better within days, but I was afraid to transmit the virus to someone else. I called everyone I’ve met as well, but they were quite chill about it — most of them already had COVID before. I guess if I was in Toronto things would have been way more serious and dramatic.
Anyway, after all this craziness of having to plan things in a different country while being stuck at home, with help of my parents (thank you Mom and Dad), and friends we made it to Tbilisi! The plane landed, we showed our PCRs and vaccine passports, filled out some forms, and made our way to beautiful Tbilisi. Needless to say, the old town where we stayed was breathtaking, filled with small hotels, shops, wine boutiques where wine was cheaper than water. I was still stressed because we only had like 2 days: one for meeting the parents of my fiancee and another for the actual ceremony. Only handful of relatives made it to the event, so we kept it small and cozy. Very intimate.
Everything went well. Live music, the Georgian choir, the Georgian food and wine, special flowers. The ceremony was in Vinotel Hotel, which my Dad helped to reserve and organize everything. My mom also organized Kazakh ceremonies like me walking down on a white “carpet” which symbolizes a girl leaving her family and for her to have a happy marriage. The choir even played a famous kui by Abai. When I heard it, every inch of my soul was trembling. I love that kui and it felt so dear to me, the songs of my homeland. I couldn’t have been happier. After the official ceremony, some guests left. My fiance and I stayed for a few more days, had a lovely romantic photoshoot in the mountains (which was quite extreme considering I was walking IN hills ON hills.) had more Georgia food (think khinkali, phali, hachapuri and more). I definitely want to come back for more!
Then after another round of prodding and pocking into our nasal cavities, we safely embarked on our next journey: a much-awaited and well-deserved vacation in Turkey! Albeit Turkey is a popular destination for former USSR countries, I have only been there once in my life and in Istanbul, not in Antalya. We wanted to avoid those crowds and went to Fethiye, Mugla province instead. We found a newly opened and very nice all inclusive hotel, so we didn’t have to travel back and forth to restaurants and completely relax on the beach. We call it sausage vacation. Because you are frying like a sausage under the sun. I guess :D
And after nice 10 days, we flew to Baku! Meeting relatives, exploring local culture, the city, the food — it was fun and great. Some days though I kind of disliked Baku. Some days, I loved it. I definitely miss the Toronto lifestyle: walking in Trillium park, brunches, seeing friends on weekends. But at the same time, Baku has a lot to offer, so I decided to take the best from where I am, be present and enjoy because there are so many exciting things ahead! We also officially got married in Azerbaijan! So I am officially a wife now, yay! It feels unreal. Like I was only 18 yesterday, scared and alone in Toronto! Now I am a wife and still, I feel like I am 18. Anyway, everyone goes through changes and milestones and I am grateful to be in this place in my life! Feeling very wholesome, even though I don’t have everything figured out and it's a continuous battle to get my sh** together.
Here in Baku, I’ve been busy freelancing with my clients — mostly tech start-ups and creative/digital agency helping them find tech talent or even ad-hoc projects as I am learning UX design on the side, figured I could put my new skills to some use! So if you are looking for a designer, hit me up!
I’ve also been reading a lot. Finished some great books and will be doing a review here soon! I only have 3 books left to achieve my Goodreads 2021 challenge. I cooked, baked, and started learning how to knit. So a lot is going on and no day is the same… Well, sometimes when I am not feeling it, and just relax on the couch with Instagram or Youtube by my side. It happens to everyone, and let’s not pretend that we’re always busy, productive or having fun. Sometimes we are all just zoning out on Instagram, or watching Netflix and eating pizza, right? And that is okay. I am learning to be gentle with myself and allowing myself to have days like that, so I can have days like today where I feel creative and want to share and write!
That’s the life update for now. Thank you for being here with me and with this random flow of writing. Subscribe to my blog or NTL (my publication) or find me on Youtube (Simply Aizhan), a new video is in production!
Have yourself a wholesome November, friends! ❤
