Lost in Translation

'Nuff said.

Shopping

Sorry for the long breaks between posts.  Things have been busy, and I have been exhausted.  But, I've been anxious to talk about shopping in Taraz.

While there are a few stores I would call typical Western style, most shopping is done in the large markets -- or bizarres.  There are three that we go to, one bigger than the next.

The smallest and most manageable is named Sultan.  It is a combination indoor/outdoor.  Earlier, I posted a picture of their meat market.  At Sultan, you can buy anything from wall paper to underwear, plumbing supplies to shoes, appliances to spices.  I like this market the best because it is the most manageable.  It is one "stall" after another, grouped by what they sell.  So, the shoes are next to the shoes -- and they compete against each other for the sale.

One of the shoe aisles

The back of my friend Charlene.  She's looking for boots.

The two pictures above were taken inside a big covered area.  Kind of like a huge airplane hanger.  On the outside, there are some open stalls, but also some individual shops.  Those are the most expensive.  In one that sells appliances, I bought an oven.  The guy told me it was 10,000 tenge.  We communicated that we would be back for it after we finished our other shopping because I couldn't carry it around.  When we went back, the price had dropped to 8,000 (about $35).  It is often to your advantage to walk away.

My new oven. Made in Turkey.

About a month ago we went to a very large market: Atakent.  It would take a couple of days to go through it all.  Again, it is a combination of inside and outside.  Again, like giant airplane hangers with individual booths selling anything and everything -- including formalwear.  I found a winter coat I liked but wanted to look around more before I bought it.  Of course, it took me about a half hour to find the store again once I decided that was the one I wanted.  Most of the clothes and coats have price tags on them, but you never pay face value.  I always think about what I would pay for something of similar quality at home and judge from there how much I am willing to pay.  If they don't meet my price, I just don't buy.

But the mother of all bizarres is Awlbirket.  I can't even begin to say how big it is,  probably the size of a small town.  Acres and acres of produce and shops selling grains and beans by the 10 kg bags.  A whole area for power tools, woodchoppers, and generators.  Linens, curtains, furniture...everything.  Again, all the stalls are grouped by the products they sell.  Here are a few pictures so you can get the idea:

This is one of the bike shops.

This is a whole building devoted to spices, teas, and dried fruits and nuts.

Every item in this shop is 50 tenge (about 30 cents)

Miles and miles of clothing.

These places make TJ Maxx look like Neiman Marcus!  

All of these markets also have food vendors.  The smell of shashlik (shish-ka-bob) cooking over an open flame is heavy in the air.  There are also booths cooking samsas (flakey pastry filled with meat and/or vegetables) and fresh bread.  You can get a "fast-food" to eat as you walk around or be served at one of the cafes.

These markets are all part of the cultural experience.  Even though there are more and more shops in town that cater to the wealthier residents or those who want to have a more European experience, the markets are where you see the real Taraz.

Speak Like a Native

This week has been end of term exams for our students.  I must say, it is brutal!  The kids are exhausted, nervous, and now, sick.

For the past two days, the 7 of us international teachers who are certified in English (although some teach a class called Global Perspectives) evaluated the English speaking abilities of our grade 12 students.  We did one student after another for 2 hours each evening.

So, this is what I have learned:  I never want to hear the words "interesting," "fascinating," "delicious," or "tasty" again.

Many of our students have the dream of attending the very prestigious Nazarbayev University when they graduate.  Others, dream of studying in the UK or the USA.  In order to do this, they need to have scores of 7 (out of 9) and above on the IELTS test -- a test of academic English proficiency in reading, writing, speaking and listening.  Remember, this is our students' third language!

The use of idiomatic expressions and slang is what can push a student from a 6 to a 7 in the speaking portion.  The more they sound natural, the higher their score.  I've been trying to teach my kids some common terms as they arise:  bricks and mortar, suburban sprawl, sell out, so-so . . ..  I overheard a colleague teaching his students "meh."

So, here's where I ask for audience participation:  What terms do you think I should teach my kids?  I am taking all suggestions!

Food

The Kazakh diet is very meat centered. They even joke about how much meat they eat.  It amazes me when I see what the women at work eat.  They load up with meat and carbs for breakfast and lunch -- and they are so slim!  They must have the metabolism of rabbits.

I went to the market the other day and stumbled on the place they sell meat.

Take a look at how big the meat counter is.  There were three this size in the building.  Along the windows on all four sides were counters selling chicken, duck, and things I have no idea about.  It was amazing.

While I haven't worked up the nerve -- or vocabulary -- to try buying meat to cook, I have enjoyed many nights out in restaurants.

This is one of our favorites.  It's called The Friendly Bar.  It has a huge outdoor dining area -- like most of the restaurants in Taraz.  The building with the pointed roof is a little private dining area with one table.  You can have a party of about 6-8 people in there.  There are several of these surrounding the outdoor dining room below.

When it gets cool, they move a gas heater/lantern over by your table or bring out blankets.  Really.  It's a beautiful setting with good food.  

This is my favorite dinner there:  lamb and vegetable shashlik. Delicious.

The place we frequent the most is Cafe Mokko.  Styled after a French cafe.  My new favorite dish there is beef medallions with a mushroom sauce.  

Check out the presentation!  Especially the tomato rose.

Each of the above dishes runs about $10.  It is easy to eat very well for very little here.

I never imagined that I would find such beautiful and delicious food in Kazakhstan.  

A Day in the Mountains

On Sunday, we had a whole staff outing to the mountains.  I'd estimate that about 150 people or so were in attendance: every one from administrators to bus drivers to security. We left school at around 9:30 in the morning and arrived back about 8:30 at night.  I enjoyed the opportunity to get out of the city and see the landscape of southern Kazakhstan.

It was a day of travel, food, games, dancing, more food, more dancing, and football.  The party continued on the buses for the 1.5 hour trip home.

Here are some of the sites and people:

We traveled in 4 buses.  We decided ours was a rolling fez.

It was especially fun when we had to get out and walk -- or even push -- going up the mountain.

We traveled for miles through the mountains along the border of Kyrgyzstan

All along the border is a fence -- with barbed wire fences on either side of it.

This most likely is a border patrol outpost on the Kyrgyzstan side.

The vast Kazakh steppes

Me and my colleagues -- both local and international at the campground in the mountains

Breakfast when we arrived at the campground.  The ubiquitous round bread, salads, meats and cheeses, soup, sweets.  The bottle contains horse milk.  No, you really don't want to try it.  The locals drink it like crazy.  If you look toward the end of the table, you will see Coke bottles reused to hold horse milk.

As soon as we got there, they set to preparing dinner.  We had this lamb served over seasoned rice.  Very good.

The locals love to dance.  They can't get enough.  They even travel with a sound system! 

This guy started hitting the vodka around 11:00.  I took this picture around 6.  He was dangerous by then.

Possibly the most beautiful woman I have ever met: Nurgul.  Her dancing was a major event.  (Check out vodka man in the back!)

She is a Global Perspectives teacher with a lot of potential.

I'll leave off with that picture because the look on Nurgul's face expresses the vibe of the whole day: pure joy!

Put That In the Irony Box*

So, I finally retire, get a job, go to the opposite side of the globe, and what am I doing?  Leading the school self-evaluation process and developing the school improvement plan!  Put that in the irony box.

The idea of self-evaluation is new here in Kazakhstan.  My guess is only the NIS schools are doing it.  We use a program developed for NIS by Cambridge based on 9 common standards for curriculum, leadership, and student development.  NIS has put forward an aggressive timeline for all 20 of our schools to be internationally accredited by 2020.

It's interesting leading the process.  The document and the supporting evidence are all in Russian -- and of course, I don't read, write or speak Russian.  Yet, the teachers I have been working with have been astute students of the process, and many have shown great leadership and ingenuity in gathering our evidence.

I have been assisted by the international teachers.  Many of them have been through the process at schools in other countries, so they have been a great resource and have taken on the roles of facilitating the working groups we have for each of the 9 standards.

Last Wednesday, we had dozens of teachers throughout the school collaborating; drafting their portion of the evaluation; cross-referencing their evidence documents, photos, and videos; and engaging in productive discussions about the steps we can take to improve the leadership, teaching, and learning in our school.

This -- along with the absolutely beautiful children -- is what I came here for.  I believe in the NIS project and what it means for the education of these students and what it means for the broader education of all the students in Kazakhstan and what it means for the future of Kazakhstan.  If significant change takes 3-5 years of concerted effort in a US school, it will take 10-15 years here.  I just hope that my little part pushes them forward.

*with affection for BGHS English

Teachers' Day

A big day of celebration here in KZ is Teachers' Day.  The students, led by the 12th graders, go all out in showing appreciation for their teachers.  They greeted us in the morning with a red carpet, escorting each of us down the carpet, to the photographer and into the building.  All day we heard "Thank you, Teacher.  Happy Teachers' Day!"

Here is my colleague, Stephen, with his escort:

12th graders volunteered to teach our classes.  They made us cards, brought us flowers, and put on a concert and show for us at the end of the day.  It truly was a special day.

Here are some excerpts and photos from the performance:

Traditional dance:

A little Hip Hop -- apparently a universal language!

All the performers taking a final bow:

Scenes in Taraz

Thought I would just post a few pictures of Taraz.  Just some places and things I thought were interesting and wanted to share.

This picture was taken early in the morning as I arrived at school.  The sun was shining off of the mountains.  Not as distinct as I would have liked them to be, but you get the idea.  That, I believe, is the border with Uzbekastan.

This is another picture taken at school.  This one from a window on the second floor.  A few days ago, it was so windy that there was a weather warning.  All day the dust blew around and clouded the air.  This was taken at around 1:00 in the afternoon.

The kids always ask me what I like about Taraz.  After I tell them that THEY are what I like about Taraz, I mention the beautiful parks.  The city is loaded with parks and green spaces.  This one is not too far from my apartment.  I like to walk through it when I can.  It's nothing fancy; just benches in this peaceful area loaded with trees, hibiscus, sumac and some flowers.  In the US, a park like this would be very manicured.  Here, it's much more natural.

This last one just shows how trees are planted all along the walkways -- especially in front of the older apartment buildings.  These tall, skinny trees create a canopy over the walkways, keeping the pedestrians in the shade.  It's a great idea considering how hot it is here much of the year.  The white stuff on the bottom is some kind of insect control.

That's it.  Just some scenes around Taraz.

It Doesn't Get Any Better

Many of our students ride the same city buses as the teachers to get home.  Today, as I was getting off the bus, I heard a chorus of "Goodbye, Ms Susan!"  Kind of shocked the other passengers.  The kids are so sweet and take such good care of their international teachers.  Made my day. :)

That's all.  Just made me happy.

How I Live Now

This blog post has been updated.  The video that did not work has been replaced with pictures and narration.  I'll try video another time! :)

Sorry it has been so long between posts.  I knew what I wanted to post, but was having trouble getting the footage.  But now, here it is.  My new home!

This is the outside of my apartment building.  This is taken from the parking lot in back.  My apartment is on the top floor.  The one with a wooden exterior.

I go in the door in the corner and climb 70 steps up this stairway to my apartment.

Here it is: #37.

Come take a look inside.

This is my entryway.  The inside of my front door is "pleather" with studs.  We don't wear shoes in Kazakh houses, so I leave my shoes by the door.  From the entryway, we can go into the bathroom:

My bathroom is nice and big.  I have a huge bathtub and a small washing machine (one sheet at a time).  The hot water heater (boiler) hangs over the toilet.  It wasn't working my first week here, so I am very grateful every time I take a warm shower.

My kitchen is also big.  I have a table with seating for 6 and a refrigerator that is twice as big as most of my colleagues.  I get to make ice!  Last week I had ice for the first time in 4 weeks.  I was very happy :)

Along the back of the kitchen is a little enclosed porch.  That is where I can hang my clothes to dry.

My living room is also big.  The wall paper is a silver foil.  Gold and silver are very common colors here.  Even though I have a nice TV, I only get Kazakh and Russian stations.  I'm hoping I can learn some language from those.

The houses don't have carpets, just area rugs.  It's probably because things are so dusty and dirty outside that it wouldn't make sense to have carpet.  Almost all floors are the laminate you see in my place.

The bedroom is the smallest room in the house.  I took a closeup of the wall paper so you could get the full effect.  My room is like a tribute to Kazakhstan.  The Kazakh flag is turquiose and gold with an eagle and a sun, so those are very common colors, also.  Not only are those the colors of my bedroom, I have the Kazakh sun on my ceiling!  I love looking up at it.

So that's it.  My flat and my new lifestyle.  Not as bad inside as you expected from the outside, right?

Raison D'Etre

Meet class 7E.  They were running around school yesterday in mass eager to interview the international teachers.  It was an assignment designed for them to practice their English, and they embraced the spirit of it. 

This is the first year for 7th graders at NIS Taraz.  We are now a 7-12 school and at capacity at around 700.

Here are some of my new friends who wanted to take a picture.

Besides working with students, our job here is to work with the teachers as they adopt Western style pedogogy.  My colleagues Aaron and Rae, two English teachers, have already provided the English department with professional development in writing learning targets.