On Astana
I came to Kazakhstan in 2008 when the first Copacabana club was opened in Almaty. As for Astana, I came here in August, 2014 with my husband. Now I sing and dance in the band called Raven band with my husband. He’s our director and plays the piano.
Coming here, I saw a very beautiful, developing city. This winter is said not to be as severe as the previous ones, I guess that’s because of us. Astana loves us, and we do love Astana. I like this cold, as I haven’t caught cold while being here probably because of the dry climate.
Our daughter’s in Cuba, she studies at the conservatory, plays the clarinet and the piano. We hope she’ll visit this amazing city while she’s on holiday.
I’ve got a good friend in Astana. His name is Rustem, he’s a writer, whose house is decorated in Kazakh style with yurts’ paintings hung on the walls. His people’s culture is reflected there, and he knows the whole history of Kazakhstan. That’s great. He treated us with beshbarmak and shubat which I like a lot. My husband adores small salty pieces resembling cheese made by hands and called kurt.
Your culture is different from ours. During my stay here, I’ve learned that each culture has its own world view, its own priorities. We must respect each person, his/her thoughts and beliefs, since all the people have something to teach others. I'm lucky to see happy families. The main point is to be happy, despite the place you come from and things you believe in.
We’ve got a different mentality. My husband helps me in the kitchen and we love to cook together, although some of my friends say that it’s a girl who must cook. Our views diverge on this issue.
I believe that art unites people. I like to learn something new, different from my culture and expanding my worldview. I want to learn more incredible and amazing phenomena of our world.
Our collective consisting of Cubes sings two songs in Kazakh which are "Kyzyl orik" (Қызыл өрік) and "Aspanga karaimyn" (Аспанға қараймын), which were quite difficult to learn. People like it and that is the main thing.
I’m happy to be here, because Kazakhstan has given me many loyal friends. I feel comfortable here, as I've been here many times and know lots of the locals. When I leave for Cuba, I start to miss Kazakhstan. I feel a strong connection between me and your country. I miss people, food, and snow, because Cuba is too hot and sometimes you think that you need little snow. I love Kazakhstan, it’s my second home.
