I’m hoping to help you explore the various cities of Kazakhstan – so families who have adopted can have city information in one blog. Since I have two children from Kazakhstan, I thought I would start with their birth cities.

Max, our oldest is from Semey, which its full name is Semipalatinsky. The name is derived from the seven-halled Buddhist temple (seven palaces) – found in 1718. It is a river port, rail terminus and commercial center. It has one of the country’s largest meat packing plant. It has a theatre and three museums.

I know many adoptive parents worry about the nuclear testing that took place in 1949 and the site I found with the most details was:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semipalatinsk_Test_Site

If you have children adopted from Semey or are in the process of adopting – you may wish to join: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Semey_Adoptions/ It is a nice group and amazing to see the children grow and thrive.

A gentleman that traveled from California to various cities in Kazakhstan has 10 pictures of Semey along with some detailed information that I found interesting – visit:
http://www.travelpod.com/members/danielgallegos
See October 10th and 11th – well worth to read his journal below the pictures for additional information about your child’s birth city.

A blurb for his entry on October 10, 2006….
Semey seems to be sort of stopped in time. Many Soviet reminders are still here. Unlike Almaty or Taraz very rarely do you see Casino’s on the ground floor of apartments. There isn’t the same rampant remont (renovation) work on the fronts of apartments. To my great pleasure, there aren’t as many automobiles here.

One of the things we did notice here, is how good the food is. You could get Brioche and more European food here than Almaty. The tea is strong and dark with milk that makes you forget that it’s not coffee. For all my foodie friends, the sausage making skills are over the top. I saw all sorts of sausages that remind me of Charcuterie in France. On our way out of town Kuanysh even found small Kazy (horse sausages). around the size of Salami that you can find in Tuscany. Usually this Kazy is around the size of a large green Zucchini found in gardens in California. We kept on eating in the hotel restaurant because it was so good. The restaurant makes everything from scratch. The bread and pemeny (dumplings with meat), are made by hand. The service is good too.

On the same site, I found pictures but no written information --
http://www.travelpod.com/traveler/jamesandsonia.html - see June 25, 2005 for pictures of Semey.

Hopefully this blog gave you a little unknown information about Semey. If you have any information that you wish to share, do not hesitate to email me adoptkazakhstanblog@adoptionmail.com

Photo Credit - danielgallegos