Shortly before our trip the Kazakh President resigned, and the legislature renamed Astana after him. He is Nursultan Nazarbayev. So our tickets said Astana, but our boarding passes say Nur-Sultan. Kazahkstan moved its capital in 1997 from Almaty to Astana. Everything is new here. When we adopted Kostek and Marlena, the move was not yet complete, and the embassy was still in Almaty.
Independence Square 
Ania in front of the Kazakh National University of Arts 
Our apartment is in there somewhere 
Khazrat Sultan, largest mosque in Central Asia, accommodating 5,000 people 
Independence Square 
Morning view from our apartment 
We’re on Floor 6, but it feels more like 9 or 10 stories up. Our balcony overlooks a courtyard.
