Kazakhstan: Year One

August 24, 2008

I am writing this entry to celebrate the fact that as of yesterday, I have survived one year in Kazakhstan. Furthermore, rather than being the worse for wear, I am better than ever. There were tough times to be sure, but overall the experience here has been a rather positive one. My organizational skills have improved, and I am much more comfortable in large groups. I now really do like teaching, and what’s more I think that my students are actually learning. Also, when I lived in America I hated studying new languages; I never thought that I was good at it, especially when it came to speaking. In only one year however, I am reasonably conversant in Kazak and am looking forward to starting to study Russian. Another positive change is that I am even healthier than I was before I left. My allergies have calmed down significantly, and while it might just be the fact that I live somewhere without much plant life, I like to think that the bad air was just the shock to the system I needed. The diet may also be somewhat responsible. Before I got to Kazakhstan I worried about eating so much meat, especially because I only at chicken and fish. While the diet is high in red meat and can be heavy, however, the massive increase in protein consumption, coupled with the fact that it is fresh food has done wonders.

That said, I think that the biggest change has been in my ability to understand and empathize with the people around me. There are things that drive me crazy about Kazak culture; men are often spoiled, women are sometimes overly submissive, and “cooperative learning” is second nature. Still, I have done my best to not let my aggravation seep into my personal friendships. I have come to realize that these flaws are not the fault of the individual, but the culture, and that if I had grown up in such a culture, I would probably behave in much the same way. When I first got to Kazakhstan, everything, the people, the clothing, the language, seemed so different that it was at first hard to imagine forming such close friendships and working partnerships with the local community. After a year among them however, while I have not totally mastered the language or the dress code, I am getting closer, and it is now easy to see that our similarities far outweigh our differences. This is the most important function of the Peace Corps. While much emphasis is put on quantifiable achievements like number of students taught, or liters of water purified, etc., the most important thing that Peace Corps does for both volunteer and host country national is that it forces each other to recognize their mutual humanity. We all have similar ambitions and dreams of success, we celebrate the same milestones, and we mourn the same losses. Perhaps we might do certain things in different ways, but that does not deny the fact that we both do it. I think the moment that this realization truly broke was a few months ago when I was at the wedding of one of my “cousins.” The bride was about to leave to go to her husband’s house and all the family was gathered to say goodbye. I looked over and I saw that the father of the bride, my “uncle”, a pretty stoic guy, was weeping. It was then, watching my uncle say good-bye to his daughter, and remembering similar scenes from past weddings, that I realized how universal our emotions and thoughts actually are. Think about it, what parent, no matter what country, does not cry at their kids wedding? Some people, including some fellow volunteers may believe that I am being to sympathetic to the locals and their often corrupt and chauvinistic behavior, but again I remind them that I do condemn that behavior, and I certainly do not emulate it. Furthermore, I know that one of my main responsibility as a PCV is providing a different example. Still I refuse to condemn the individuals themselves.

I am happy that I have done and seen so much in my first year here in Kazakhstan, but I am also a bit worried because I realize that I have so much left to learn and only one year to do it! I have several goals and projects that I want to see completed before I go home, a departmental newsletter, and an “American Corner” for starters, and I wonder how it will all get done. Ultimately though, if I have had half as much personal growth as I have had in this past year, I think it will still turn out to be a successful year. Just to let you know, I do miss you all, although I am no hurry to return to the States. I will just remind you that this past year flew by, and I know that this next year will go even faster. So do not worry. I will be back before you know it, and maybe even before you want it!

A Note on Peace Corps Fashion

August 18, 2008

I know that it is a little late for this note to be of much us to the incoming Kaz-20 group, but maybe it will offer a brief example of how the Peace Corps gives pretty useless advice. I remember going around to REI, Eddie Bauer, and Wal-Mart this time last year to get the clothes the Peace Corps said I needed for Kazakhstan. Now, I know that part of the problem may have been my own images of what a Peace Corps volunteer should look like, but following that list, I ended up with lots of khaki’s, a couple of collored stripped shirts, and no blue jeans. Basically with the clothes I brought with me I look like I am either ready to go hiking or ready to go to the country club, neither of which helps me a whole lot. Kazakhstan may be a developing nation, but the people here have a fully formed sense of fashion. People here dress really nice, and not just on certain days and occasions, but everyday. At my university in America it was normal to see my female classmates role into class in sweatpants and a t-shirt, but here in Kazakhstan no girl would be seen wearing that outside the house. In fact, clothes like that are explicitly referred to as house clothes. All of my students come to school in the latest styles, and I often feel underdressed next to some of my male co-workers, many of whom wear a suit and vest to everyday. Ultimately, the only real good piece of advice PC gave about clothes was the suit. It is indeed a necessary piece of equipment. However, in their haste to include such items as zip off pants and boots, they forgot to mention that you are probably going to want your stylish jeans and leather jacket too. While it is true that after two years of hand washing those clothes are going to be shredded, but I promise you that the sense of wellbeing you get from fitting it just a little bit more will be worth it.

One Last Interlude

When I got back to Kyzylorda, I was glad to be home. It had been almost a month since I had left for Ust-Komen and I actually like my desert city, most of the time at least. Once I got there though, I realized that I should have been careful what I wished for. It had been pretty hot in Kyzylorda when I left, but once I returned the heat quickly became almost unbearable. The temperature was regularly in the mid 45 degrees Celsius, and the wind did nothing to help the situation. All it would do was just blow dust everywhere and make the heat even worse. Luckily, Kyzylorda has a nice big river, the Sidaria that has a man-made beach where we all go swimming every afternoon. On a side note, the locals call this the “Jewish Beach” because, and this is a direct quote, “its free.”

Still, as much fun as I was having staring at the ceiling and cooking in my own juices, I was glad when my friend from Zhezkazgan invited me to come up to one last camp before classes started up again. Unfortunately, he only gave me the heads up a few days in advance, but it was all right because a bus goes from Kyzylorda to Zhezkazgan daily and it was not that hard to get a ticket. The bus was an old soviet type school bus, although an all-terrain vehicle would have been more appropriate. The bus did not so much follow a road as a really bumpy dirt path, and it was even forced to leave that at times and just drive across the open step. To make matters worse, the bus kept stalling outwhich not only extended the trip from eight hours to twelve, but was rather scary because there was absolutely no sign of life between Kyzylorda and Zhezkazgan, and if we had gotten really stuck it would probably have been a full day until a replacement arrived. Ultimately however, all of the trouble was worth it I guess. Zhezkazgan was hardly the hole in the ground that I expected after hearing Robert complain about it for eight months. In fact when I finally got there, the second thing I said to Robert was “what the hell were you complaining about?” Zhezkazgan had, unlike my beautiful Kyzylorda, clear evidence of urban planning, and a fully functional downtown. Zhezkazgan has its drawbacks to be sure, even disregarding its isolation. Zhezkazgan also has a great deal of air pollution due to all of the copper mines and processing plants in the city. In fact, some days it was so bad that when I blew my nose I thought pennies were coming out.

The camp in Zhezkazgan was a lot of fun and a great success. It was a nice middle ground between the crazy schedule and counterparts of Alga and the apathetic students of Ust-Kamen. The camp schedule was busy but not super overwhelming, and the kids were interested and active in both lessons and sports. In fact, it turned out that I had four students in my class who showed considerable talents in Ultimate Frisbee. Another great thing about the camp was that it was one another chance to meet and hang out with other PCVs. Not only did I get to see my friends from training one more time before school started, but I also got to meet Robert’s site mates from the Kaz-18 group, Dusty and Valerie. Both were really nice, and it was good to see that all of the Zhezkazgan volunteers got along pretty well. Of course, with the next nearest volunteers being eight or twelve hours away, they had better right?

All in all, it was a great two weeks and I was glad I had that one last trip. I feel that I have fully recharged my batteries and am ready for the coming year. Also, I am happy that I got the chance to see a lot of Kazakhstan has to offer. It is kind of funny actually, despite their similar size, it took me much longer to see as much of America as I saw of Kazakhstan this summer. My family traveled a lot to be sure, but it was usually on the East or West coasts, rarely the middle. Now though, I am back at site, this time for keeps. Summer is officially over, but I have to say it has probably been one of the best ever.