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.

Problem Solving

I'm so proud of myself.  I managed to go to the cell phone store, communicate my problem, and get a solution -- all with no use of English and only taking 45 minutes!

On Saturday, I bought a new SIM card with a local company and a new phone to put it in.  I didn't want to put out money for another iPhone, so I bought a Samsung.  Phones not working in the US may be a minor inconvenience; not working in Kazakhstan means I am completely cut off from anyone who speaks English or may be able to help me if I have a problem.  Major.

 (The offending device)

I purchased what I thought was a monthly plan of unlimited talk and text with 6GB of data.  I blamed Samsung for their inferior product, but apparently, I was wrong (about the plan, not Samsung) and that's where my problem began.  On Tuesday night, I began to be able to receive texts, but not send them.  As my colleague says, like being in a Dalton Trumbo novel.  So on the way home from school Wednesday, I was determined to fix this.

The two young girls in the store spoke no English.  We drew pictures and made gestures.  They called over another person who did not speak English, but somehow they thought he might make things clearer.  He did, by resorting to Google Translate.  After about 45 minutes, I understood that I purchased data, but had to pay as I go for text and talk.  I was apparently out of tenge in my account.  So that's what the texts from the phone company were telling me -- in Russian!

I paid 2000 tenge (which seems to be the going price for just about any service in Taraz) and went on my way with an appreciative "spasibo."  I believe the girls were pretty proud of themselves, also.

All in all, it was an entertaining evening...

Stamps

Remember Michael Palin in the movie Brazil?  The tribute to bureaucracy?  I think they had Kazakhstan in mind when that movie was conceived.

It started before I left.  I turned in my medical form and was promptly told it needed to be stamped to be official.  Stamped?  By whom?  What kind of stamp?  No one could really say.  Just "stamped."

So I called my doctor's office and asked if they had a stamp.  Yes, they had two:  one with the doctor's signature and one with the name and address of the practice.  Which one would I like?  Well, give me both just to be on the safe side.  My forms were now stamped and, therefore, official.

When you enter at Passport Control, they have you fill out an immigration card which they promptly stamp.  If you have one stamp, you have 5 days to register with the migration office; if you have two, you have 90 days.  However, no one can figure out why some people get one while others get two.  NIS Human Resources had to run all over in Astana making sure that everyone had two stamps on their immigration cards.

The Kazakhs love their stamps.  All papers are stamped at least once.  For the medical tests I had to have to prove I was fit to work in Kazakhstan, I had to go to the Interteach clinic to get one form and have it stamped which allowed me to turn that in for other forms with additional stamps.  I now collect stamps!

In the midst of all this craziness, there are many moments of humor and human kindness.  Nikolai, a German of Kazakh descent that sat next to me on the plane, wouldn't leave my side, making sure I got the right papers at Passport Control and insisting on meeting the NIS people who were there to pick me up at the airport.  He wanted to make sure I was in good hands.

Today, a big, tough looking Kazakh nurse was taking care of me at the clinic.  She didn't speak a word of English, and my knowing "good morning," "thank you," "hello" and "goodbye" (in both Kazakh and Russian) was only getting me so far.  She wanted me to pee in a cup.  Through our gestures and facial expressions we created a humorous dialogue, and she started giving me sly smiles on the side.  She became my new best friend at the clinic and smiled and waved every time she saw me afterward.  Most of the people here really want to take care of the helpless English speakers.

I know that somehow this obsession with stamps is left over from the Soviet regime, but I wonder how long it takes for the empty rituals to fade away?