Independence Day=2 days to integrate

On December 16, 1991 due to the fall of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan followed the lead of other Soviet Republics and declared its independence. So in true Kazakhstani fashion we got two days (Wednesday and Thursday) off for the occasion.

Come a long way

Kazakhstan is still a very young nation but citizens who have lived through the Soviet rule can argue that it has come a long way since the early days of independence. The other day during my Russian lesson my tutor was telling me about how difficult life was in the first few years of independent Kazakhstan. Utilities that were once run by the U.S.S.R. no longer functioned since Soviet influence was out of the picture. For two to three years residents here faced shortages in electricity and in gas for cooking and heating. Now that winter has begun here it painful to imagine how those first few winters were spent. These days those basic utilities are available in the city as Kazakhstan takes advantage of its abundance of oil, gas, and mineral reserves.

Our independence

During English discussion club, following the two day break, some locals and I got to talking about independence in the U.S. and what it means. Two of the locals had lived in the U.S. for a summer as part of a program called Work and Travel. I asked them what they missed the most about the States. One woman answered, "Freedom, it's in the air. There is freedom in everything. You can do what you want and be who you want". I thought it was an interesting answer because if someone asked me right now what I missed the most I probably would not have the same reply. Sometimes other people remind you of what you are grateful for and should not take for granted.

Celebrating

In order to not take my two days off work for granted I enjoyed them to the fullest. On Wednesday, I caught up with a few chores at home and just relaxed. That evening I met up with volunteers for dinner and ending up going out to the disco at night. The disco, called Cinema, is attached to a movie theater. It was a fun night of dancing to a lot of loud electronic/dance music.

At Cinema with volunteers and local friends.

The next day I got up bright and early to get ready and head off to the Burguluk Mountains about 40 minutes away from Shymkent. I was a bit apprehensive about the trip since the weather has been funny. One day it's snowing and the next day it's gross out, but it turned out to be great weather. There was fresh snow on the mountains and it was sunny out. I went with local friends who regularly attend English club: Olessya, Tanya, Sasha, Olga, Artur and Masha. And we were accompanied by our very own alpinists, Vitalya, Saveli, Dima and Vadim. It was a beautiful but difficult 3+ hour hike up through the snow.

If you thought hiking up was difficult, getting down can be just as tricky.

In Kazakhstan there is chai time no matter where you are.

Thanksgiving in Kazakhstan

It's been way too long since I've posted but that means alot has happened! For the last few weeks I've been settling in to my new city, with my new host family, and at work. I can pretty much get around the center of town without getting lost, which is an achievement for me. Work is still slow but I've been keeping busy with weekly activities. On Mondays I will begin training the English Olympiad team from the school where my office is located; on Tuesdays I have an English club for the students at School 8; Wednesdays we have Women's club and an English movie club; and Fridays we have a English discussion club. In between those clubs I try to make it to our local heated, outdoor swimming pool once a week, Russian tutoring and hip hop dance classes.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving day itself was pretty uneventful since it falls in the middle of the week and we don't get a day off for it. A volunteer from a town a few hours away from Shymkent came into stay with me for the weekend so we did have a nice Thanksgiving lunch: pizza and Pepsi. Many of the volunteers from the oblast (state) came into town during the weekend so we celebrated Thanksgiving together on Saturday with tons of food and costumes. Traditional food matched with what might be a new tradition. I dressed up as Judy Funnie from Doug. Check out the pictures below to see other costumes.

It was nice to have so many volunteers in town since I hadn't even met everyone in the oblast yet. A few people handled grocery shopping and we spent the day cooking and hanging out at Joe's apartment. For dinner there was: turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, corn, corn bread, salad, apple pie and pumpkin pie. Like after any good Thanksgiving dinner we were stuffed. More than half us could not move while the rest entertained us by dancing.

Galadriel and Edward Cullin

The spread!

Apple pie....mmm!

My new host family

In other news, I've been with my host family for about 5 or 6 weeks so it's about time I tell you about them. When I moved to site I stayed with Britt, a current volunteer, for a few days while I looked at host families. My organization had 3 potential host families for me to look at but after visiting all three I wasn't sure I wanted to live with any of them. During the course of this search I happened to meet Ira, a local friend of Britt and Joe's. So once I found myself scrambling to find a host family, they suggested I speak with Ira about living with her. And that's just what I did!

I'm really happy with my decision because my host family and their apartment are great. My host family is Korean. I have a host mom named Luisa. She is retired from a long career of teaching. My host sister's name is Ira (short for Irina). She's 24 and used to work at a place that sells massage beds. Actually when I came to check out Ira and her mom's apartment before deciding to move there, she tricked Britt and I into going to her workplace and getting massages. I can't complain! Ira studied music and dance when she was in university. She can sing, dance, play piano and draw. On top of being multi-talented she speaks English well. This is pretty helpful since my Russian is still not so great. She mostly speaks to me in Russian but I speak to her in English and broken Russian when I can. Sometimes Ira and I go to the local movie theater on the weekends. Recently we saw 2012 and New Moon, but of course they were dubbed in Russian so I can't tell you what happened. No spoilers here!

Unpacked my few belongings.

My room, but the piano is now gone!

Friends came over to gosti (visit/guest) with me and my host family.

L to R: Luisa (host mom), Ira (host sister), Alex (local friend), Zach (volunteer, KZ-19), Becca (volunteer, KZ-21) and Janara (neighbor).