While I lived in Astana, Kazakhstan the city was in a constant state of growth. Blink and a new block of high rise buildings was up. Leave for a week and a half and there may be no real way to know which way is home.
Over the time I was there, I could see the delicate tug of war between the old ways, and the increasingly standardized modernization of life. The roadside produce stands always gave me a feeling that I was somehow interacting with a cultural touch point that was loosing way to the rapid commercial culture being imported and domestically produced for residents.
Photos: boy with corn, woman with cabbage hat, men with a multitude of melons