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...
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