“Subtleties” continue to acquaint with Russians who have moved to live abroad. Next in line is Kristina, who unexpectedly ended up in Kazakhstan just a month ago. About renting an apartment, prices, features of life with a child and, where without them, the disadvantages of living there – her detailed story. My family and I (me, husband and 4-year-old daughter) moved to Kazakhstan a month ago, we chose the city of Almaty, which is located at the foot of the Tien Shan Mountains, to live. Why Kazakhstan and Almaty? It's simple: a land border, a Russian-speaking population, and not too big differences in mentality. With the choice of the city, too, there was no particular issue, they chose between the capital Astana and Almaty. Of the pluses of the second and the minuses of the first, this is the climate: when the first snow already falls in Astana, the sun still shines brightly in Almaty, and, of course, the mountains. It's nice to go to the store, to the bank, or just for any other business and see the endless and immense mountains right next to you. In my Telegram channel, I help and support mothers who emigrated to Almaty just like me. 
Why Kazakhstan?
So, the suitcases are packed, tickets are on hand, we are going
The city greeted us with bright sun, golden leaves and warm weather at +25 °C (it was the beginning of October). And we immediately knew that it would be good here. There are 25 sunny days, for example, in October, and 23 in February (and we are from Moscow, where there are about 0 sunny days in February). Studying the city, we noted for ourselves the areas in which we would like to live, but, unfortunately, our move fell on the “hot” season for renting housing. So there were no apartments left for our budget and we had to take what we have. 1/1
Almaty is conditionally divided into two parts – top and bottom. And the whole city seems to be one solid mountain and, accordingly, the “higher” the house is located, the better and more prestigious it is, and the “lower”, the vice versa. The conditional border between parts of the city is drawn by Raiymbek Avenue, in fact, in the west, near which we settled.
If earlier a two-room apartment with a good repair in these places could be rented for about 150,000 KZT, then in October 2022 we had to pay all 500,000 KZT. What to do, there were no other options – and there is, in principle, still. The rate jumps daily – from 8.3 KZT to 6.5 KZT per 1 ruble, so I count on average as much as they bought in early October. 1/1
Settled in, exhaled, began to deal with documentsThe first thing an emigrant needs to issue is an IIN (individual identification number, an analogue of our TIN). He is needed everywhere: in a hospital, in a bank, in a kindergarten, school, and so on.
The next step is to issue a local bank card and a SIM card. And now you are ready for life in a new city 🙂 We chose the Beeline operator for ourselves, since we came from the Russian Federation with him. It took a few minutes to register a new number, since in the mobile application you can issue an esim without a physical medium. Tariffs are different, for example, we took for 5999 KZT a tariff with unlimited social networks, 32 GB of mobile Internet, 310 minutes for calls within Kazakhstan (not to Beeline), well, unlimited calls to Beeline, plus you can add up to 3 rooms to your rate.
Public transport
Ground public transport, buses and trolleybuses are well developed in Almaty. The city also has one metro line that connects literally all areas. But, as I understand it, this is not the most popular and convenient mode of transport (one line, the intervals between trains reach up to 10 minutes).
Onay electronic ticket system operates in Almaty! is a single travel ticket (like our Troika), which costs 80 KZT (and 150 KZT if you buy a ticket from the driver).
We settled down, arrived, settled in, now it's time to go to the store
There are several large grocery chain stores here, the most popular are Magnum and Small. They are located all over the city, and Magnum also has same-day home delivery of groceries, which makes life much easier.
The average cost of a food basket for a family of three is 20,000–25,000 KZT: it will include meat, sausage, groceries, fruits and vegetables, and even a bottle of wine for the weekend. In general, everything you need to feed two growing organisms (I'm talking about my daughter and husband & # 160;:) and eat myself.
Speaking specifically, a pack of chicken drumsticks will cost 1200 KZT, a kilo of beef – 5150 KZT, a liter of milk – 560 KZT, seasonal vegetables from 500 to 1700 KZT per kg, a pack of durum wheat pasta – from 300 KZT.1< i>/1
Entertainment
As for family entertainment or our leisure, I would like to note that our life has become much more diverse than in Moscow, and all because of the prices. We have already gone to the mountains (lift 4500 KZT in both directions per person), been to the zoo (800 KZT), regularly dine in different establishments (average bill 6000 KZT per person), we plan to visit circuses and theaters (from 1500 KZT), a water park (from 7000 KZT per person) and much more.
For two weeks now, my daughter has been going to the “razvivashki” in the children's center, where they teach Russian, English, Kazakh, fine arts, music and mathematics for 35,000 KZT per month.
Each barrel of honey has its own fly in the ointment
In the beautiful city of Almaty, this is … air. Although the city is located at the foot of the mountains, the air here is not at all mountainous: the fact is that Almaty is located, as it were, in a “crater”, surrounded by a mountain range, and due to this, air circulation here is reduced to a minimum. And now add to this the endless stream of cars, as in any other metropolis, and coal-fired thermal power plants. All these emissions stagnate in the air: from time to time you can notice a haze over the city with the naked eye – and this, unfortunately, is not fog. Therefore, as I said, you should choose an apartment “at the top” of the city – because the air is cleaner there.
Another minus is the garbage. Candy wrappers, cigarette butts, pieces of paper and even bottles underfoot are not uncommon. Sometimes you want to literally scream in the street so that people do not spoil the place where they live.
What else to read on the topic
- I wear a million clothes: a Russian woman's story about life in Saudi Arabia
- I feel like I belong here: how much does it cost life in New Zealand
- My salary is enough for a comfortable life: the story of moving to Mexico
Summarizing
I would like to note that despite the minuses, pluses there is much more life here. And the most important of them is people. Kind, helpful, calm and friendly! This is perhaps the most important thing.
Thank you, Almaty, for the warm welcome, we promise to protect and appreciate you!
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