Boys Will Be Boys

The behaviour of young boys does not change, no matter where you are.⁣

We met this inquisitive group during our break from the sun on our first day in Kazakhstan. ⁣

We pulled into a market after 70kms – the first glimpse of shade and civilisation. We planned to drink cold water and chill there for a few hours to pass the hottest part of the day. We guessed we were near a school as the boys were kicking a football around. We couldn’t see any girls but I asked one of the boys who said it was a mixed school.⁣

I fell asleep in the shade, on the concrete floor; shirt under head and hat over face. During my siesta the boys had edged closer and closer when I finally woke they had a giggle and got a bit more excited. ⁣

One of them spoke to us in Russian to which I replied with the word “English”. ⁣

Our first exchange was mocking, “English, English” they repeated mockingingly, copying my exact pitch.⁣

The noise picked up and I can could only imagine what they were saying.⁣

Finally, the chosen one, the bravest of them all crept forward and pushed his phone to my ear. ⁣

A robotic voice asked “where are you from?”⁣

I replied in English and they understood well. They could speak well too, but I think they were too shy.⁣

The boys got excited as we talked and they asked many questions and examined our bikes.⁣

The quietest of the bunch had a private conversation with Stew later which started with “do you know my name?” We think he’d taken a liking to Stew, but was too shy to talk in front of his friends.⁣

Before we left I handed them a tub of cakes we’d bought. They were thrilled. Each boy thrust his hands into the box of treats as if they’d never eaten cake before. They ran off manically with one boy holding more cakes than he could comfortably carry.⁣

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#worldbybike @ Zhetybay, Mangghystaū, Kazakhstan