However, Central Asia isn’t the only region where horse meat is eaten. After talking to the father of a friend, I learned that it is occasionally eaten in European countries such as Switzerland and Italy.
Say what you will about horse meat, but one dish that is not eaten in Kazakhstan: Cat stew.
What can I say? Slow week at the office.
After about 24 hours of constant travel and skipping over 2 continents. I am back in Kazakhstan. God, where to start? I think the first thing is to say the biggest thank you possible to all of my family and friends who I saw in the states. When many people (myself included) think of Peace Corps, they think of it as a solo affair, taken on by one person, on their own, in a foreign land. For the most part, that is true. But while I may be physically “alone”, mentally I know I have so many good people supporting me, helping me, or just thinking of me. Just knowing this goes a long way when I’m having crappy days.
So what did I do while I was there? Lots of stuff. Some highlights:
· My little brother drove me around. This was a bit weird, especially since he got into a car accident the day I arrived in Iowa, and that last time I saw him, he didn’t have his permit. But he’s getting better at the driving bit. Even if he tries to stop like he’s driving a go-kart.
· I got plenty of puppy love and caught up with an old friend that I hadn’t seen since before we graduated. We are both the international traveling kind, so it’s rare that our paths cross. I was glad that they did, at least for a couple of days, as hanging out with her and her family was one of the best things I did in America. Hooray for catching up on life (in person!)
· ate cake, pizza, and Ranch dressing with the family of a high school friend. (No…I don’t think that I can get bridenapped. It just doesn’t work that way.)
· playing (and losing) at pool with my favorite married couple. Also saw their cat, which I think ate a pair of these, because it has a vertical leap of at LEAST 6 feet.
· reconnected with fraternity brothers and college friends at a bar in Chicago. I haven’t been picked up and given bear hugs since…well…college! It was great to see so many good people.
· gave presentations about Peace Corps and NGOs in Kazakhstan at Illinois Wesleyan University. This went better than I thought, because I was very nervous that I’d be boring.
· Tried with her father to convince Hil that men’s bathrooms lack toilets because they only have urinals. She didn’t believe us. Then I watched her choreograph a musical. That was cool.
· Hunted for Jellybeans and “discovered” some new flavors.
All of it was fun, but very overwhelming. When I come back, I’m going to take it slower. Way slower.
One of my fears was that I wouldn’t be able to function in the US after being gone so long, but after the past couple of weeks, I’m not worried about that anymore. I’ll be able to function in American society when I come back (with a little bit of help).
What I am still concerned about: finding a job. America wasn’t all fun and no work, as I did two informational interviews, and visited 2 other not for profit organizations in Chicago and Bloomington/Normal. I wasn’t asking for a job, but I just wanted to know that if the skills I have learned and worked on while in Kazakhstan would be useful in America. The short answer: yes! And who said that the Peace Corps didn’t have any practical purpose on future employment?
So…here’s to beginning the last 9 months of my service. Back to work…hopefully I’ll have a post about a new project in the near future!
Peace Corps is labeled as "the hardest job you'll ever love", but it allow its volunteers the opportunities to take days off. Assuming that a person fulfills their full 27 months of service (excluding the 3 month PST thing), they get a whopping 48 leave days. That's 2 days off every month! Of course, there are limits to taking time off. You can't use all of your days at once. For OCAP and Youth Development volunteers, if your organization is busy you probably shouldn't take days off. For teachers, taking leave is discouraged if school is in session. You also can't use days in your last three months of service. All restrictions aside, I love it, and challenge any organization or business to do better.
As many days I've racked up, I haven't taken many days off. I have seen a fair bit of Kazakhstan; however mainly while on work travel. It's great to see other parts of the country while assisting other NGOs and volunteers but it's exhausting and I find myself more tired after traveling for work than I would be after a normal week at my site. The last time I had a vacation was in July, and while that is not very long ago, in the lifecycle of a volunteer, 7 months is an eternity. In the aftermath of the holidays and our holiday related actions(see previous 3 posts), things have cooled down at my organization, and it is expected for it to be really slow until March. A perfect opportunity to take some time off.
So, I've decided to go on another short trip. My destination is the oddest of all my travels to date: I'm vacationing at home. Although this trip has been over a year in planning it still feels weird for me. Home for vacation? Really? It feels very weird. Never would I have thought that the United States would be a vacation spot for me, but it is. Disregarding all of my nervousness at seeing friends and family that I haven't seen in over a year, I'm thankful that I have the chance to go back. I'll get to see some old friends and hang out with my family. I will *hopefully* get to celebrate my girlfriend's birthday, watch the Superbowl (I'm hoping for a Colts-Saints match-up), and give a presentation at my alma mater about what I do in Kazakhstan.
However, I have to get there first. So far, this trip has been the most boring and anti-climatic event in my life since watching Evolution in the movie theaters on opening day. At 6am on Sunday morning, I went to the airport. I sat around for 6 hours in the airport until the flight to Amsterdam was delayed for about 20 hours. I was then faced with a choice: either sit in the airport for over a day, or go back to Almaty and hang out. I chose the latter.
I was very angry at the delay, but now I'm ok. Since the first 20 hour announcement, the plane has been delayed 2 more times. At this rate, the delays are on pace to exceed the hours in flight time that it would take to go round trip between American and Kazakhstan. And, I haven't even hit my stop off point yet: Amsterdam.
For now, I'm scheduled on the first available plane to Amsterdam, and then from there, I'm not too sure. Oddly enough, I'm not worried about it. I know I'll get to America. Someday.
I think. :-/
***Update***
I did get back to the US eventually, spending 10 minutes running through the Amsterdam airport, having my bags lost in Detroit, and chilling with this cool Russian man along the way.
Presentation on Jamaica
We also showed how to build piñatas, a two day activity that everyone loved. The model piñata was called “Chomp” (after the Chain Chomp from Mario Brothers. Yeah, we are nerds). The kids made some really great piñatas, and loved destroying them to get the candy inside. We also cooked some Mexican rice and beans. They loved the rice (“it’s like spicy plov”, one kid told me) but generally they didn’t like the beans.
The death of Chain Chomp
In Kostanai, and the surrounding towns and villages, ice sculptures are very popular. Many small towns have ice sculpturing contests, where the winner gets a prize. It’s also popular to make ice mazes, and sledding tracks in the city or town square. The temperature almost never rises above freezing, so the sculptures will last all winter.
Perhaps this is Russian Santa and the mysterious lady in blue, riding panthers? Anyway, it's pretty cool.
Ice maze.
ice slide...a hit with the kids
2.It’s cold in northern Kazakhstan, but not THAT cold all of the time.
This makes more sense when I give my definition of “THAT cold”. Simply put, it’s -40. -40: the magical temperature where both Fahrenheit and Celsius are the same. Whenever I said that I was going to Kostanai, the most popular response from both volunteer and local alike was, “oh God! It’s -40 there!” But in reality, -40 is not a normal occurrence. It happens a couple of times every winter, but not very often, and not for very long (hopefully). According to a babushka on the train who lives in a town outside of Kostanai, on average it gets to -40 perhaps 3-5 times during a normal winter season.
I’m not trying to say that winters in the north are not cold, because they plenty are. Kazakhstan is the coldest Peace Corps country. When it gets too cold things shut down. Students don’t go to school, busses don’t run, and people don’t go outside, and rightfully so.
The average temperature in the Kostani area in winter ranges between -15C to -30C (for the Fahrenheit people, this is +5 to -22). That’s pretty cold, but comparable to the cold snaps that tend to hit the Midwest every winter.
While I was there, the coldest it got was to -32C at night. That wasn’t very fun. The rest of the days were more “balmy”: usually between -15C to -25C. I was ok with the cold (as reasonably ok as a person could be when it is cold), as I followed the directions that are universal to all people in cold climates: Wear layers; it is easier to trap body heat. Don’t get wet; it will freeze and you will be miserable. Cover all exposed skin, including your face; you can get frostnip in minutes if you are not careful. Don’t lick metal poles and things made of ice; only idiots do that. Most importantly, don’t go outside if it’s too cold!
Ninjas are impervious to cold.
However, all of this doesn’t count if your coat breaks, which is what happened to me two days before we were scheduled to leave. The zipper broke while I was grabbing my backpack, and it was unfixable. Walking outside in Northern Kazakhstan without a coat is akin to suicide. Fortunately my friend Ashley patched up my coat enough so that I could stay warm long enough to run to the store to get a new one. Not only that, she was patient enough to not knock my head off while I was looking for a new coat. I hate shopping, and the Green Eyed Lady can attest to how difficult I become when it comes to buying clothes. Thanks for helping me out!
3. Train travel is boring, but it’s better than the bus.
guess the subject! The kids did it without missing a letter!
Also, Peace Corps education volunteers are pretty cool. Despite it being winter break, 2 teachers, and at least 10 kids showed up every day to the camp, even though the temperature never rose above -15C. None of them had to come. They could have stayed at home playing videogames and watching garbage on tv, but they showed up with great attitudes, ready to learn and to have fun. That’s some impressive stuff that attests to the rapport that some volunteers build with their teachers and students.
5. Even up north, speaking Kazakh can make you as awesomer than Bono
I’m still working on my Kazakh skills, but my travel mate was trained as a Kazakh speaker. By ourselves, we get by and function in Kazakhstan. Together, with her Kazakh language skills and my Russian, we became an unstoppable force of language comprehension. I won’t lie; understanding what everyone was saying, regardless of whether they were speaking in Kazakh or Russian was pretty sweet.
Kazakh is spoken up in the northern regions but Russian is more prevalent. And just the same like every other place I’ve visited in the country, people are impressed when a foreigner speaks Kazakh. Learning Kazakh is tough, especially if it isn’t your first language. Whenever I introduced my friend as a Kazakh speaker, people would smile and say “Amazing! Great job!” Then they would tell anyone in hearing range that she spoke Kazakh. They would also come over to say good job and congratulate her. This is how my travel buddy became a Rock Goddess. My favorite story about my friend’s Rock Goddess awesomeness happened when I overheard a conversation between a babushka and a male relative on the train. Her end (translated from Russian) went like this:
“There are two Americans on the train. One is normal, but the girl speaks Kazakh! I told her “great job”!
Some silence, as she listened to a question.
“Well…no, I won’t ask her to marry you!”
One day, I hope I will become that cool.
