13 Sept. – Greetings from Kazakhstan!!
So much has happened since my first entry that it does not seem like I have been in Kazakhstan for over three weeks!
Orientation (officially referred to as “staging”) in Philadelphia was the beginning of a never-ending whirlwind of activity. We began with 62 trainees (4 have since decided to return home) and two days of intense classes covering policies, safety issues, responsibilities as volunteers, and cultural concerns. Amongst the jam-packed schedule we checked out downtown Philadelphia, where I visited the Liberty Bell, saw Independence Hall, and ate dinner at the oldest continuously-operating bar in town.
Following staging we rode buses to JFK Airport in New York City. The flight to Frankfurt was uneventful. In Frankfurt we learned that our next plane was broken, resulting in an extra eight hours there. Everyone handled the situation well, playing cards, sleeping, and continuing to get to know the other volunteers. Lufthansa took very good care of everyone on the delayed flight, providing us lunch as well as pop and snacks. We were amazed at their generosity and overall customer service, unlike experiences with delays in the U.S. where food vouchers might be awarded IF you wait long enough and IF you talk to the appropriate person. Finally they found us another plane and we headed to Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The biggest problem with the delay was arriving in Almaty at 6 a.m. and being whisked off to orientation at a local hotel. We were not afforded the opportunity to sleep and were expected to leave our bags in our rooms before proceeding directly to breakfast. This made for a very long day, which included staff introductions, cultural introductions, more health and safety information, and the beginning of the human pin-cushion experience (a.k.a. immunizations). I actually went to sleep about 5:00 that afternoon, slept through dinner, and did not wake up until almost 6 the next morning.
The next day (Aug 22) we had more informational sessions in the morning, followed by bus rides to our towns/villages where we will be until early November. That afternoon our host families picked us up and whisked us to their homes with open arms. That meant some of us were stuck with non-English speakers for the better part of our first weekend in Kazakhstan. A few of us were a bit more lucky.
Peace Corps tries to place volunteers with families that are in a middle income bracket, or approximately the salary range of what we would make were we actually working here. That being said, there is still quite a range of living situations amongst us.
I am pleasantly surprised by my arrangements. While I was not exactly anticipating a mud hut experience with no running water and an outhouse, I certainly did not expect what I have. I live with a Russian family—mom, dad, 16-year old girl and 20-year old boy. Grandma lives next door. And they have a cat, which adopted me soon after my arrival! (But I really haven’t adopted him due to the lack of veterinary care here.) My large bedroom (with a full-sized bed) is upstairs in their two story house, which is relatively “normal” by U.S. standards. There are 2 bedrooms and an office/guest room upstairs. The main floor boasts a covered eating area (for the summer), kitchen, dining room, the master bedroom, and a bathroom. There are two refrigerators (about ½ to 2/3 the size of a regular U.S. fridge) and a microwave. There is even a washing machine!! And a shower!!! Well not exactly the shower you are thinking of but it works! It is an extremely shallow (maybe 4-5” deep), square tub with a kitchen sink-type faucet about 3 feet up. Then you can switch the water to a hand held sprayer. I was so happy that I could take a shower and not a bucket bath!! And that is a shower EVERY DAY!!
Aside from that, the yard is a giant garden. They have many types of flowers including roses and sunflowers. They have cherry and apple trees, as well as grapes, cranberries, and strawberries. There are ample cucumbers, tomatoes, and potatoes. I am sure I am missing something…
I am getting along well with my family and like them very much. My host-mom is a teacher in Almaty. She goes there on Monday mornings, comes home one night during the week, returns to Almaty the next morning, then returns on Friday afternoon for the weekend. My host-dad builds houses from what I understand, but apparently he hasn’t had work lately because he is home nearly all of the time. My host-sister just began school in Almaty, so she leaves on Monday morning and comes home after classes on Saturday. She speaks English and is studying to be an English teacher. My host-brother also studies in Almaty and is also home only on weekends. He speaks English as well, and is studying to be an airplane mechanic.
While at the very beginning it was a blessing to have English-speaking siblings, this is also a hindrance to my Russian-learning. They want to speak English to practice with a native speaker. I want to speak Russian. So it is not an ideal arrangement for me, but it helps that they are in Almaty all week and I am forced to speak Russian with my host-dad and babushka (grandma).
The food is, well, exactly what we heard from current volunteers before arriving – food. It’s not bad, but I haven’t encountered anything overwhelmingly good. The food definitely lacks seasoning. My host-mom cooks a variety of soups and stews, which I am still getting used to considering it is still summer (i.e. hot). If it were winter I would have no issues with this. But when I just walked home from school and am sweating in my business casual attire, a bowl of cold cereal seems so much more appetizing than hot soup. Nonetheless, all the soups have been good, with plenty of fresh vegetables. They also eat white bread with every single meal. I try to eat as little as possible, knowing I am probably consuming way too many carbs. In addition, I get all the apples I care to eat. My host-mom also tries to get me to eat cucumbers and tomatoes. I can eat cucumbers now if she really wants me too, but I would still rather not. As for tomatoes, I think I may have finally convinced her that I really don’t like them. But they still appear in my lunch bag some days so maybe she is holding out hope that I will learn to like them. If they are cooked, no problem most of the time but plain, fresh tomatoes? No thank you.
One strange aspect of food here is that there aren’t foods designated as breakfast foods. It is common to have the same soup (or whatever) for dinner and then breakfast the following morning. Occasionally my host-mom will make porridge of some kind and I make sure to thank her sufficiently so she knows I really like this in the mornings. Early on she asked what I normally eat for breakfast. I told her cereal with milk. So the next morning I got corn flakes with warm milk! I ate it happily. So once or twice a week now I get corn flakes and the milk is usually cold now instead of warm.
I am extremely surprised at the amount of fried food here, and the amount of oil with which they cook. Every soup has a little oil floating on the top. Nearly everything that my host-grandmother cooks for me during the week is fried. But at least I get meat when she cooks. When my host-mom cooks, it is mostly vegetables with little or no meat. So I do the best I can to eat healthy. Some days I even buy yogurt to help with my protein intake.
Kazakhstanis drink lots of tea. And I mean A LOT!! Tea breaks are common, and along with the tea breaks there is a variety of cookies and candy. Most everyone drinks black tea, although green tea is also available here. I will drink tea with my host-mom a couple of times on the weekend, but usually decline because (1) I don’t want that much caffeine and (2) the weather is still so warm that it doesn’t sound appealing!! In the dead of winter I may drink more. Especially since hot chocolate probably won’t be a viable option.
As for my daily life, the schedule is intense. Typically we have four hours of Russian class each morning beginning at 8:00. We eat lunch and then have about four hours of technical sessions in the afternoon. These consist mostly of how to apply our existing skills to NGOs in Kazakhstan. Our in-country Peace Corps doctor also speaks to us about once a week on some health-related topic. (And since arriving at our training site, we have had the opportunity of being pin cushions two more times—this means I have had something like 7 shots so far since arriving in Kazakhstan, and there are more to come.) Two days a week we go to a local NGO in the afternoon for a mini-internship. We are also required to have one hour of tutoring each week. In addition, we have English clubs set up in two different schools and the city government. We must hold one club meeting each week, and the city government wants two a week. All of this means that we finish anywhere between 5 and 7 p.m. each evening, and occasionally later. And usually there is homework for the next day’s language classes.
On Saturday mornings we have Kazakh lessons as well. So not only are we preparing for life in a predominantly Russian-speaking country, we are also learning survival skills in the national language (Kazakh). And to complicate things further, I continue to inadvertently throw in a Spanish word (or two) while attempting to speak Russian. Very mind-boggling!! My Russian is progressing, although not as quickly as I would like. I’ve been told by various people not to fret too much because it will get easier and I will learn to speak Russian. I want to spend more time studying in the evenings, but by the time I walk home (a brisk, 20-minute walk), eat dinner, do my homework, and relax for a bit, there is rarely time to study and I’m typically exhausted. I’ve made it a priority to get plenty of sleep to help keep myself healthy. (Thankfully I have not been sick yet with the exception of a cold and possible sinus infection the first week here.) So my want for sleep may be at the expense of learning Russian.
Last weekend we had a group excursion to Almaty to introduce us to the city, learn how to get to the Peace Corps office, and learn the ropes of the public transportation. I am surprised at how clean the city is, complete with ample trash cans on the streets. There are many wide boulevards, lots of trees, and the roads are well kept. There are city buses, trolleys, and trams making it easy to get around. Well, it’s easy once you ask around and find out how to get where you are going. There are no published routes, so asking a local or the bus driver is the only way to find out the how to get somewhere. Supposedly we stayed in the nice parts of town nearer to the mountains. I was told that things are not as well-kept as you progress farther from the mountains.
There is so much more to tell but this entry is already much longer than I intended. So much has happened since I left Kansas on August 18, though. Hopefully the next entry will not be so far in the future but with our hectic schedule there is no guarantee. Take care, everyone.
