Some other details

I feel like my blog postings haven't been substantial enough. I've lacked the time and real energy outside of my 3X a week Kazakh lessons, clubs and classes to update you all on what my new site is really like. So, let me indulge. The small city, large town here in the middle of the steppe has about 70-100,000 people. There are two indoor, western style markets, a few upscale clothing stores, many cafes and a very substantial bazaar. The city itself is adjacent to a prominent mining city called Satpaev. This city is named after a scientist from the 40's who settled there, discovered its natural resources and was the first to make a profit on them. Thus, the people who live there are rich, there are stable jobs and the people are happy. Zhezkazgan is similar in that it is mostly a mining city. Because of this there is pretty bad water pollution and not a very serene or beautiful landscape. I will say this, that the snow helps tremendously to mask the distopia. For such a barren place, speaking only from this winter frame of reference, the people here are so good natured and friendly it's uncanny. It is as if they make up for the lack of rolling hills, mountains, rivers and beautiful lakes that are in so many other parts of Kazakhstan. I don't think that the lack of natural beauty here is going to be a huge deterrant for me. I know the winter will be long, it will be cold and I will find it rough, but I really do enjoy the snow. I like the feeling of crisp, clean air and the snow crunching under my feet. It's all very new to me and I'm definitely embracing it with open arms. 

Anyway, back to the people and my surroundings. My college is great as well. I am working closely with 2 teachers at present and starting in March I will work with all 7 I hope. I have had a lot of support, understanding and guidance as I make my way around my new classes. In training, I was given training on solely secondary aged classrooms. It was only at sight announcement that I found out I was going to be teaching older students. So having this new status means longer classes, technically less work hours, more autonomy and freedom away from the texts used in this country (which are appallingly bad). This kind of set-up is right up my alley. This whole last week I gave a 3 classes all about New York City. The music, the culture, hip-hop, the history of graffiti and we watched a beatboxing clip from a beastie boys concert. I am reaching into what I am interested in, and in turn the students are interested as well. I am really having a blast working with this age group (15-19). 

There are a group of 6 girls, who are the 4th year students, who are my student help group. They are my leaders in training. They will assist me in organizing numerous bakesales for children without borders, the upcoming Christmas party for the english groups, a school wide talent show and fundraiser in february and any other event to take place in the school. I am lucky to have such a group of students willing to help out. 

There are already 4 volunteers close by, 2 in Zhez and a married couple in Satpaev. I have been working with them already with english club on thursdays, film club on tuesdays and the new teachers club on wednesday. I hope to also work with a literature club, begin a volunteer club, art club and possibly a monthly writing workshop. I really want to focus on the teachers I work with too. I want to help them with their TOEFL preparations as much as possible. There is such a wealth of opportunity here, I have been in Zhez only a month and I feel like I fit here like a glove. 

So for now, I am focusing mostly on learning Kazakh, getting to know Zhezkazgan and finding out my niche. Tomorrow I will go to Satpaev with the other 2 volunteers here in Zhez and we will have a thanksgiving celebration with the other volunteers. I am so excited! 

Happy Turkey Day everyone! 

The Holidays are Here

Just like at home, in Kazakhstan, the wintertime is one of many festivals and traditional feasts. This weekend we will celebrate Kurban Ait. I found a little passage that explains the tradition waaay better than I could ever. This writer is telling about it from his point of view, so it is not me talking....  :) oh and the game of Kokpar does really exist, it's a very big deal here. There will be a huge festival in spring called Nauryz, and there will be multiple games of it then in Toraz.

I know for a fact that my family will slaughter a sheep as an offering on saturday. I probably will skip on the invitation to attend. They understand I can't really stomach the sight. 

Kurban Ait
Every family usually tried to slaughter a sheep for this holiday, and Kazakhs tried to prolong this event for several days. Preparing food beforehand, families would fry fat cakes and baursaks. They'd also buy new cloths for this occasion, prepare their harnesses, and clean their houses. It is hard to imagine how pleasant it was to ride a horse or go for a walk during this time of year. Ladies would wear their best clothes, laugh and joke with one another. It was great for a zhigit to ride nearby the beautiful ladies; to chat and joke with them. People would enjoy kokpar a national game in one place; close by one might see zhigits wrestling. Every yurt would be open, welcoming the visitor to have some meat or drink some tea or kumiss. It was also interesting to visit the bazaar. Earlier we said that; people prolonged this holiday because of kokpar. Kokpar is a national game, in which zhigits would be given a small goat and proceed to grasp it from each other while riding their horses. Struggling to maintain possession of the carcass, they'd ride far into the distance, returning sometimes only at night. If they returned too late to go to their aul, they might stay the night at the yurt of another contestant. Their host would slaughter for them a sheep to treat and entertain them, the next day their game would continue until their horses were too weary to continue.

Basically, Ait is another traditional feast dating back to Kazakh Nomadic days. Is is celebrated during the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca and commemorates the willingness of Abraham to sacrafice his son Ishmael at the command of Allah. 

There will be lots of meat, sweets and just plain eating. In most houses there are sacrifices but for the most part, the game of Kokpar is left for Nauryz, when the weather is better. This description is a very very traditional view of the holiday. 

Tomorrow our classes will be shorter, only 40 minutes each and school will get out earlier to prepare for it. I also don't have to work this whole weekend! It is surely welcome. I will be getting together with the other american volunteers in the city for a thanksgiving celebration. My friends Nick and Corinne actually found a turkey! for one kilo it's about 900 tenge, or about 6 dollars. Not too bad I'd have to say. I am looking forward to it. I don't have too much else to add at this point. It did snow for the first time two days ago. I was in my class and came out and it was snowing. My fellow teachers came up to me and said, "congratulations on your first real snow day in Kazakhstan!". It definitely added some more beauty to my surroundings. The steppe doesn't have much to offer in the way of "natural" beauty. Especially when all the trees are bare. I will update again soon. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  

Almonds

I decided to entitle this next blog post "Almonds" because I have to say that they are the best here! This may be a mundane way to start my post but it's surprising how comforting good almonds can be when you are so far away from home. All of the fruits, vegetables and nuts that I find here in Zhezkazgan, come directly from Tashkent, Uzbekistan on what's known locally as the "fruit and vegetable bus". Supposedly, the people that drive this bus decided to be economical and make some extra money by letting people hitch a ride on this bus for a pretty cheap rate. The way its been described to me is basically a charter bus that has been gutted, filled with crates of produce with mattresses strewn on top of it all. The bus ride itself is close to 12-16 hours from Tashkent to Zhezkazgan.The volunteers who have taken it say its one of the craziest things they have ever done and highly recommend it for the experience, not really for the ride itself. Needless to say, that bus is what carries my "comfort" almonds to me every week or so. Bless it. 

    

I went "ghosti"-ing tonight. I went directly from the college to my host sister-in-law's apartment. Their place is really nice and spacious for the size. They prepared an amazing table with all this fruit and I had cauliflower for the first time in Kazakhstan! They prepared chicken for me, the word has gotten around that I'm not that into eating all the red meat they love. They are the most hospitable family ever! I am very very lucky. 

I think right now, I'll go more into the culture and what i've discovered from just being around so far. The Kazakhstani family itself is one of high tradition. In which the women are in charge of the household, the children and making "a home". The men are the bread winners and they have the final say when it comes to decisions in the house. They rarely help out with any labor in the home, and the men I've met love to watch TV when they come home from work. This is, of course, the very very traditional homes. The women are also in charge of pouring chai (tea), at every meal. The Kazakhstani's looooove their tea. black tea, that is actually not loose leaf. It looks like instant coffee almost. They take a teaspoon or so of this chai, boil it in a tea kettle and with each cup they mix a small portion of the concentrated tea with a boiled water from a bigger kettle. They then add milk and loads of sugar. Its pretty crazy the obsession that this country has with sugar. There is always candy on the table, taunting you. Anyway, there are some families, like the first one I lived with, that are somewhat progressive. My host father helped prepare food and take care of the kids on occasion. He still worked all day and watched a lot of TV and did most of his labor outside but he made some exceptions to the rules. 

The cultural motivations behind marriage are also vastly different from our own. Most women here get married before they are 22. When you reach the age of 23 you are considered an "old maid", ready to be put out to pasture. As for me, I'm already in the warning stages, and the minute I reveal my age to someone they ask "Are you married?", "When will you get married?" "I will find you a husband, don't worry." and To this I can only nod politely and say "yes, thank you". If any woman makes it to 25, like my fellow teacher at the college, then they are basically given up on. Not in a total "disownment" but pretty close. They are not exactly celebrated in the same way anymore. 

Especially if they work, which most likely they do if they have no husband. Most of the married women will leave them to take care of responsibilities that should be shared, simply by using the argument that they have nothing to do because they have no children or home to take care of. Luckily,I have been comforted by my two fellow teachers, with whom I became closer to recently. One is married but she has broken all the molds that "tradition" has created. They share responsibilities and she is not suppressed in any way. Its great to see. The other teacher is over 25 and unmarried but she has chosen to be so and enjoys living that way. I see these two women and I am amazed by the mystery that is human nature. What made these two women the way they are? If they grew up in the same environment as all of the other women in Kazakhstan, shouldn't they follow in the same footsteps? These women want more, they want to see more and they know they deserve more than what their society says they can get, and the best part is they make it happen for themselves. Truly inspirational. It's sappy but from what I have experienced and seen as far as family dynamics, it's extremely hard to live they way they do. Kudos to them.

The city itself has mostly Kazakh people (60%), Russian (30%) and others like Korean,Mongolian,Turkish(10%). The public bus system is basic and simple. There are a few private lycem's, which are private colleges that are much better than the other ones in Zhez. Competition is definitely a huge motivator here, especially in the schools. The only thing that really matters, it seems, is what everything looks like on paper and in open lessons. Also, "cheating" as we know it, doesn't exist here. It seems to be a remnant from the "soviet hangover" that seems to keep itself present here. Teachers "help" students by prompting, giving answers, and even going so far as to do tasks for them. Especially for country/oblast wide competency tests, etc. Every school wants to look to best, so there will be more funding their way. I'm sure you all can see that kind of motivation. Nonetheless, the students that want to drift through school do and the ones that really want to learn do. In this respect the "cheating" really has its place.

I taught two classes today and I am really enjoying working with the 4th course English students. There are a good number of 5 or 6 of them that are really promising and very active in class. They make me feel like I might actually be making a difference for them. I finally took a Kazakh tutor this week. I hope to get much much better with my grammar and vocabulary. My goal is to learn at least 100 more verbs and 200 more vocabulary words in the next 6 months. As well as work on more complex grammar. We'll see how it all goes!

What else are you all wondering about? I am so ready to answer any questions you all have. Since I have been here for a few months the things you might have questions about may not be apparent to me. So, please leave me comments with your questions!

Zhezkazgan Update

I've reached my second week at my site. Things are going really well here and I am fitting in just fine. In this small city/big town there are many opportunities for projects and "clubs" with teachers and students. I am working at a college, which is  a little bit like a high school and trade school combined. I am working with kids aged (15-18). I have my very own classroom 3 times a week and we basically practice speaking English with a variety of materials. I like to have them listen to songs and talk about the meaning. They love to act out role-plays too. I am really having fun with my students in the classroom. The school itself is well off with equipment, as far as printers, faxes, chalk, internet, etc. They actually have a great library collection and there are two "smartboards" I can use. I've been able to use powerpoint too which is so great! Currently, I arrived in Zhezkazgan on  the 4th and it has only been 10 days since i've been here. It feels like I have lived here for months! I feel so at home here, the other volunteers have really welcomed me into their community. I have met locals already and made friends with "the fruit lady" in the bazaar. I have connected with the other English teachers as well, and they have welcomed me warmly. I am living in a "suburb" outside of the main part of town. I am about 25 minutes by bus and walking distance from my college. So far, the distance hasn't proved to be too much of a problem. When the weather gets to be really stormy and snowy I have options to stay at the other volunteer's apartments if I need to. So I will always have options. My host family also has a car, so on days that are too cold to wait outside for the bus, they said they will pick me up in the car. I feel so taken care of here!

Here's the breakdown of my family: I have a host mom, she has a traditional Kazakh name which I can't really spell out well, I have a host dad, his name is Mustafa, he works with taxes, thats all I know. My host mom is a house wife, but worked as an accountant at the bank in Zhez before she got married. They have 3 boys, the oldest is 18 and he studies English in Almaty at the University, the second son is Alikhan. He is 16 and he attends a private Turkish/Kazakh school. They actually have some lessons given only in English there, which is pretty impressive to me. The third son is Tanjaruhk, he's only 4 and super bright. All of the kids in this family, the boys, nieces and nephews, etc are all very smart kids. Most of them know at least 4 languages. Since here is Kazakhstan, everyone speaks Russian, they have 2 right off the bat. These kids also studied Turkish which is similar to Kazakh, since Kazakh is a turkic language. 

Needless to say, I am surrounded by very loving, open and caring people. I couldn't have asked for anything better. The other teachers are great too. We just celebrated Gulshat's birthday a few days ago. She made mante and salads. It was great food! 

I have added another link to my photo album where we celebrated my Host Grandfather's birthday. I hope you enjoy the pictures and I'll be sure to update again soon.