Hot Tea With Ice

This opinion piece from the New York Times comes at just the right time, as temperatures in Shymkent will reach 109 degree Fahrenheit this weekend.

While the article speaks mainly of Russians the same is true in Kazakhstan. Multiple cups of tea a day are a norm here. I can understand that in the winter when it can help you warm up. However, many people in Kazakhstan have advised me drink a hot cup of tea even in the summer as way to cool down. Wait! I don't get it. The explanation is that drinking a hot cup of tea makes you sweat and thus cool off. I don't need anymore help sweating. But, I've been here for two years so I know that integration is important. I'll take that cup of tea...s l'dom.

Oh a side note, I'm leaving my site, Shymkent, today so I will be one of the lucky ones missing out on the 109 degrees. 

Stay cool. 

Women of the Year!

Happy International Women's Day!!! (March 8th)

Women of the Year

For a few months now our women's club in Shymkent has been putting together a list of women of the year. Each week one or two participants presents information about a woman they have chosen to be on our list. Our criteria is simple, chose a woman, dead or alive, who admire and explain why. Also, we have been trying to deter women from just selecting pop stars. In celebration of Women's Day here's our list:

• Marie Curie - physicist and chemist, first person to win two Nobel Prizes
• Dr. Hawa Abdi - founder of a health clinic for women and children in Somalia
• Rosa Parks - civil rights activist
• Tomyris - queen of Iranic people in Central Asia
• Anna Politkovskaya - journalist and human rights activist opposed to Chechen conflict
• Aung San Suu Kyi - opposition political in Burma and Nobel Peace Prize winner
• Cleopatra - last pharaoh of ancient Egypt
• Mother Teresa - humanitarian and advocate
• Gabriela Mistral - educator, poet and first Latin American woman to win a Nobel Prize in Literature
• Saint Olga - Princess of Kiev who avenged her husband's death and converted to Christianity
• Valentina Tereshkova - first woman in space
• Jennifer Figge - endurance athlete

My short descriptions do no justice to the amazing achievements and qualities of these women! I'm really proud of our women's club for putting together such a strong list.

Women's Day

Women's Day is a very big deal here. It's like Valentine's Day and Mother's Day combined and multiplied. Flower vendors are out in full force, glittery cards are for sale, tons of people are out and about, there's a lot of traffic, and you probably can't get a table at a restaurant. Usually, guys give gifts to the women in their lives. This year the holiday falls on a Tuesday so we got both Monday and Tuesday off of work.

Celebrating

On Saturday, I bought and delivered presents for my Russian tutor and director. When I got to work give my director a bouquet of beautiful red tulips that are now blooming outside of Shymkent, she was already celebrating! My sitemate, Katie, and I joined her and a co-worker for a mid-day celebration break.

The next day I invited a few women, local friends and Peace Corps volunteers in Shymkent, to come to my apartment over the weekend for a spa day. We did face masks, painted our nails, made lava cakes and watched a chick flick. It was a fun and girly evening!

On the actual day I was in Zhetisai a town of 30,000 people about 4 hours south of Shymkent. I went there with my sitemate, Phillip, to visit three volunteers that live there. We got there Sunday afternoon and went straight to a English Club that Tes, Katharine and Lisa hold, but of course nobody was there because of the holiday. On Women's Day I slept in (!!!) and leisurely head over to Tes' for eggs and toast. Toast! It may not sound exciting to you but it's rare here. Despite the availability and use of many modern appliances people here don't have toasters! After filling up Katharine, Lisa and I head off to the banya (sauna) to sweat and scrub away our winter skin. I think I've written about banyas before. It's one thing I'm sure to miss when I leave Kazakhstan. Anyways, our short time in Zhetisai was nice. It's always fun to get out of the "big city" and enter the slow pace life of a town or village. Kids are playing outside, livestock is roaming around, and at night you can see the stars.

Spring

February is a cold and miserable month but just like last year the weather started changing as soon as March arrived. I'm pretty sure March 8th marks the start of spring in Shymkent. On March 8th last year, the weather was warm enough to wear shorts and dresses. This year is much the same. Well, the snow's melted and you can go outside without a coat on. Spring is here!

50 Years!!!

This year Peace Corps is celebrating its 50th anniversary! On March 1st 1961 President John F. Kennedy signed an Executive Order that established Peace Corps.

Peace Corps volunteers and RPCVS (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers) around the world will be celebrating all year. I hope you can join us!

If you haven't seen it yet, check out Peace Corps Kazakhstan's website celebrating the 50th anniversary. The site has great information on how you can get involved in celebrations this year. One of my favorite features is our PC Kaz Family Mapping. On the top menu click "Map" to see where the supporters of Peace Corps Kazakhstan are. You can participate by printing out the PDF sign, filling it out, taking a picture and emailing back to us with your location. I can't wait to see this map fill up!

View Title in a larger map

коммуникация/Communication

A tough part of being away for the last year and a half has been keeping in touch with friends and family. Some people have been more than amazing though. Being a volunteer in a country like Kazakhstan allows me many ways to stay in touch. It's not like the Peace Corps from 50 years ago!

Internet

When I was at my host family's apartment we got internet a few months after I moved in but eventually it stopped working on my computer. I still have no idea why. Also, for the longest time I didn't have internet at work. Well correction, there was internet but it was dial up that my director paid for out of her own pocket, so I generally stayed away from that. For her sake and to save my own sanity. About once a week I went to a cafe with wifi to satisfy my internet needs. They probably hated me there. I would order something and eat it as slowly as possible. Then an hour or so later I'd order a soft drink or a pot of tea if I really wanted to stretch out my time. At that time I did my best to copy emails to a blank document and write out my replies offline. Now things have changed. A month or two after moving out of my host family's apartment and into my own, my roommate and I decided to get internet and a wireless router. Unlimited internet costs about 4000 tenge ($1=~150 tenge) per month after the initial set up fees.

Cell

When I got to Kazakhstan I had some culture shock about the way people use their cellphones here. To an American it could seem rude. People often have more than one pre-paid service provider and some have more than one phone. Also, an important note is that there is no voice mail or free nights and weekends. When people get a call they pick it up right away so that they don't have to call back and use their units. This is common even in class or at a training. Even after a reminder many do not put their phone on silent.

Now I have two cellphones. Very integrated! One plan is cheaper to call people on the same plan for a long conversation. The other is really good for short calls to people on the same plan and for calling America, though I can't figure out why it limits the call to only ten minutes.

Mail

The seven volunteers in Shymkent share a P.O. box. Since my office is closest to the post office I've taken on checking the mail box once a week. It can be the best or most depressing thing. If no one gets mail I leave dejected. There should always be mail in the post office box! Even if it's not for me! I should have probably mentioned this a long time ago but packages can take any where from three weeks to two months to get to Shymkent. When you send the package, you may be told that it will arrive in 10-14 days. Don't believe it! Not that the USPS isn't doing their job but I think that's the time it takes the package to get to Kazakhstan. Who knows what happens once it gets here. Unfortunately, two packages that were sent to me have been lost. A tip for anyone sending mail to me in the next few months, make sure you write the address in English and Russian (Cyrillic letters). My address is written on the right panel of my blog. Getting packages are great but I love receiving letters just as much. I write back to everyone who sends me mail so email or message me if you don't get a reply.

So whichever line of communication you prefer I'd love to hear from you and stay in touch (or get back in touch). That said, I'm down to my last six months so maybe we can talk face to face soon!