Southern Exposure

The Kazakh New Year, called Naruyz, was celebrated this year on March 22-24^th. Combined with the weekend, everyone in Kazakhstan got a whopping 5 day holiday weekend. I spent my 5 days doing what I called my “southern tour”: traveling to Southern Kazakhstan, and specifically the city of Shymkent.

Shymkent is about 13 hours or about 700ish kilometers, to the southwest from Almaty, and was easily reached by a “sleeper bus” that left Almaty in the early evening and arrived in Shymkent at dawn the next day. I had images that the sleeper bus would be like the “knight bus” in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but I was deceived and sorely disappointed. However, getting there was almost as fun because I traveled with several other cool volunteers.

We arrived in Shymkent in the early morning. I was very impressed with the city. Word on the street is that it is the third most populated city in the country, although it gives off a small town vibe. Shymkent was more compact than I imagined, but very green because everything was already in bloom. Almaty and Esik are big mud pits, and winter still rages in the northern regions but Shymkent had grass, flowers, and it looked and felt like what Spring was supposed to be like.

However, I believe that all of the nice weather comes at a price. If the weather was already averaging 70 degrees already, I’m will to bet that summers there must be literally hot as hell. This just reinforces my belief that there is no perfect spot in Kazakhstan when it comes to weather: it’s always either too cold in the winter, or too hot in the summer. I know what I will do if I have a bad day in August: I’ll call a volunteer in Shymkent and ask them about the weather!

But all in all, I like Shymkent. It has amazing and cheap places to eat (if you are smart), doesn’t get too cold (but gets really hot in the summer), and people are very nice. My Russian skills were welcomed, and I even got the chance to work on my Kazakh language skills. I even had a babushka help me cross the street . Cars don’t really stop for pedestrians in Shymkent. Instead, they slow down. But, they will stop for babushkas, because in addition to babushkas be always right, they also always have the right of way. If you want to learn a bit more about the Shymkent and South Kazakhstan, go here.

While the food, warm weather, and getting to know new people better was great, I was disappointed for two reasons. First, I didn’t get to see a lot of my friend Becca.

Second, I did not get to see the very popular Kazakh sport called kokpar. Basically, kokpar is the Central Asian equivalent of polo, except about 10,000 times more badass. Check this: Kokpar is so awesome the “ball” is a whole goat carcass. The goal of the game: throw the goat carcass into your goal while riding on horseback. There is usually a kokpar game during Naruyz in Shymkent, but for some reason it was cancelled this year. Going to a kokpar game is one of my top cultural priorities in my remaining time in Kazakhstan, and I’m considering going back to Shymkent just to see a game.

Shymkent wasn’t the only place I went to on my southern tour. I also spent a couple of hours in Turkestan, a large town about 2 hours to the northwest of Shymkent. The one thing that stands out about Turkestan is that it contains the oldest mosque in Kazakhstan. Depending on your belief system, if you make a pilgrimage to Turkestan 3 times, it equals the same as a trip to Mecca.

I could drop some knowledge about this place, but I’ll just give you a website link instead, so you can learn more if you want:

Here are some pictures:

One awesome thing about the mosque is that there is a huge defensive wall around it. This picture is taken from atop the wall.

A picture with a fellow volunteer and some schoolchildren who came to Turkestan on a field trip.

According to a tour guide that befriended me and gave me a free tour, the whole mosque is covered in writing. While this may look like lines and "reverse swastikas", they actually say, "God is Great and Muhammad is the Prophet". Scientists and mathematicians are still unsure about the tiles and colors on this dome were created. This dome is the largest in all of Central Asia

I'm smiling because I'm 33% holier than you.

Who is Santa's Helper?

Yesterday, my organization held our biggest New Year’s philanthropic event: a New Year’s party for handicapped kids in our region. In Kazakhstan, many handicapped children and kids in wheelchairs do not go to school. All of the schools have New Year’s parties, and we felt that no child should be left out.

my Director, me, and children from the Ecik.

All of this month, my organization with our small group of volunteers asked businesses, other NGO’s, banks, and private citizens on the street to give presents, candy, or whatever they wanted so that the children could have a great holiday party. I’m still amazed at the response and generosity of the people who gave in the town.

The party was a great time that was enjoyed by all. I know some of the pictures look weird; that the children are in costumes dancing around the Christmas tree “Maypole style”. In Kazakhstan, New Years is a chance for children to dress up, like the US version of Halloween. I think Kazakhstan is the only place on Earth where you can see a mouse whirling a princess around a Christmas Tree on New Years!

Mayday meets Halloween and Christmas

As with all parties, there was singing and instrument playing. The great talent came from a school in the next town over, who generously gave their time to hang out. They are great kids, respectful to everyone, and we even had a “Peace Corps” moment together. A couple of them approached me and asked what a volunteer was. I told them “what we are doing right now is volunteering: working without pay to help other people.” The lights that turned on in their heads was enough to power that big tree in Times Square. They were awesome. If it wasn’t so difficult to get to their town, I’d help them out more.

They may look creepy now, but they are great students!

Дед Мороз, “the Freezing Father”, or simply “Russian Santa” also got into the act. He appeared with his helper, and assisted us in giving out presents and candy to the 81 children and families we had at the event.

For two years, I've wondered: Who is the woman in blue?

I’m still not sure who exactly his helper in blue is. I asked a couple of families what she was, and I got a lot of conflicting answers such as:

• "She’s Santa's granddaughter.”
• "She’s Santa's wife.”
• "She’s his niece.”
• "She’s not married. You COULD marry her, you know. I know her aunt/sister/mother! Let me introduce you…” (this happened more than once, especially when I asked a babushka).

I really don’t think anyone knows exactly who she is. If you know who Russian Santa's helper is supposed to be, please tell me. I don’t want to marry her, I’m just curious.

All in all, it was a great event, and it made me really happy to see all of the joy on the kids (and their parent’s) faces. It was clear that the party made their day! It also made my day too, as seeing happy kids and parents. It was a good reminder of why am here.

Today is our last day at work. We are all very happy with the work we have done this year, and look forward to working together in 2010. While we have a break until the 5th of January, for me, the New Year brings a new adventure: a trip across the steppe to central Kazakhstan to help out at a culture camp.

To all, I wish a happy New Year and the best of luck in 2010!