04/03/10 Walking in Panfilov Park in Almaty, Kazakhstan . . .

[The statue in memory of soldiers from Kazakhstan who fought in WWII is from the Heroic Stalinist school of sculpture.]

[A tradition has grown up where the newly married from Almaty come right after their wedding to place flowers at the eternal flame in front of the statue. I saw 4 couples this Saturday]

[Voznesensky Cathedral or The Church of The Holy Ascension was built without using nails in 1905 and is one of the few Tsarist era structures to survive Almaty’s earthquakes.]

[It’s not a bake sale. These women are waiting for the priest to bless the food they will eat on Easter Sunday.]

[Madonna icon.]