...to be continued

Site Assignment

Yesterday was the big day where all got to find out where we'd be serving for the next two years and just about everyone had been nervous all week, waiting to see whether they'd gotten their preferred choice. It's a rare thing that Peace Corps trainees get to choose their sites, mostly because that makes things much more complicated but since Kaz-14 is the first NGO group in Kazakhstan the training staff wanted to place us at a site where we could use our specialties more effectively. Over the past week everyone had interviews with the country director as well as with the regional managers of the sites that we were interested in and we were all presented with their top matches for us while we told them what our preferences were. In some cases they didn't match at all but I was lucky enough to have my top site match theirs but in spite of that I was still nervous because I wasn't 100% sure whether I'd be sent there or not. Saturday morning it was confirmed though that I'll be working for the Social Fund "Local Center of Self-Governance Development" in Ust-Kameongorsk (Oeskemen in Kazakh) for the next two years. The city is located in the northeast of Kazakhstan, not far from China and Mongolia, and has a population of about 334,000. There is a lot of natural beauty in the area with mountains and nature reserves to the north and east and it looks like the city itself also has plenty to offer. The organization I'll be working for promotes civil society development through information and educational programs as well as through local administration development. I know this must sound like Greek to some of you but until I'm there and can actually see what my daily routine will be I'll only be able to pass on descriptions that are passed on to me instead of putting them in my own words. The reason I really wanted to work here though was because this position lets me do some project management and also lets me work on more "business" type activities - both things I really wanted to do within the Peace Corps. From the sound of the position it looks like I'll be kept busy and that was another important reason why I wanted to work with this NGO. I'll get into contact with them this week and will go from there - I was also provided with a choice of three host families, one of which I'll be staying with for at least the next six months. So as you can see there's a lot of preparation going on but I'm really looking forward to finally getting started with my assignment.

Wringing The Most From Your Car

Yesterday I experienced my first car breakdown in Kazakhstan! I was heading from the center of town towards Microregion 3 in an old Lada with the two other members of my language class when its engine shut off in the middle of an intersection. After several attempts to start it the driver decided to push it out of the intersection; when I got out to help he told me to sit back down so I complied. Once the car picked up enough speed it rolled downhill towards our destination with our driver blaring the car's horn as it approached intersections. A little over a kilometer later he dropped us off about 5 minutes away from the apartment we were heading to and started breaking out the tools to fix the car. Many cars here are on their last leg but I'm impressed at how long their drivers keep them on the road. I just hope that this scenario doesn't happen in the middle of the steppe where everything's flat!

Trip to Karaganda

The city of Karaganda is pretty impressive; it is the second largest city in Kazakhstan with roughly 420,000 inhabitants and many remainders from the Soviet era remain such as the Miner's Culture palace, a big statue of Lenin and many murals with a space theme on buildings around the city. Many of the Soviet cosmonauts lived here in years past and the big museum and government buildings still give the city an air of innovation, as do the many university students who attend school here. The first differences I noticed about Karaganda as compared to the other places in Kazakhstan that I'd been to was how wide and clean the streets are. In the center of the city they are easily as wide as two normal city streets and there's usually a strong wind from the steppe blowing down them which can be a pain if it's blowing dust into your face. While I was there I got to see Die Fledermaus in Russian (with added ballet sequences) and the symphony and liked both performances but Karanganda also has creature comforts such as the Johnnie Walker Pub where you can buy Franziskaner beer, hamburgers and haggis or Mario's Pizza which serves personal pizza along to the sights and sounds of MTV Russia on their widescreen TV. These two establishments are much more expensive than the places that serve local food though and are not in the everyday budget of the average Peace Corps volunteer as the local PCVs told me. One pleasure that does come cheap there is Karaganda dark beer; a half liter bottle costs less than 70 cents and rivals the taste of many American microbrews. While there many ways to be entertained in Karaganda the NGO I visited was well worth the trip as well. I worked at the EcoMuseum (www.ecomuseum.freenet.kz) for the week that I was there and was impressed by how organized everything there was. The main mission of the EcoMuseum is to educate the public on the environmental problems that Kazakhstan faces and to get them involved with solving these problems. The EcoMuseum plans on doing this by finishing their museum which will contain exhibits of some of the larger environmental problems as well as projects that the NGO is working on such as building biogas generators in small villages and cleaning up the Nura river basin from the high levels of mercury that are found there. The museum itself is still very much under construction but when it opens (scheduled for September) the NGO plans on inviting every child in the vicinity of Karaganda there so that they can all be educated on environmental issues. The legacy of the Soviet nuclear testing in Semipalatinsk and the rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome are two of the biggest issues that the EcoMuseum deals with today. Nobody knows for sure which areas in the Semipalatinsk testing area are radioactive so families can easily drive right through the middle of it without having any idea of what they could be dealing with. As far as the Baikonur Cosmodrome goes as rocket parts are detached during space launches they fall over a wide area of the steppe in Mangistau oblast (oblasts = provinces, Karaganda is the capital of Mangistau oblast) and the people who live there use these parts for everything from car garages to barns. When you consider how much the American public was warned not to get near any of the space shuttle parts after last year's explosion you can imagine the potential health problems that could arise when you hang around these parts every day. The government in Kazakhstan does have ministries that are supposed to deal with these issues but for whatever reason it is not effective in handling them; this is where the EcoMuseum wants to step in to make changes. The NGO is funded by several aid organizations and participates in exchange and training programs so the techincal expertise exists - it will just take some time to solve these problems. When I was there I proofread several documents and talked with Dima, the head of EcoMuseum, about some IT and political issues that the organization faces and was surprised by how many different things it does. The EcoMuseum is an available NGO for the trainees here so I'll have to get in touch with whoever is sent here to see how things are going several months down the road. All in all I really enjoyed Karaganda and would definitely return for a visit once I'm at my permanent site.

Trains

On my trip to Karaganda I got to experience the trains here firsthand and by the time I returned to Ecik I liked traveling this way a lot more than flying. It takes a lot more time of course but you get to see and experience things that you otherwise wouldn't. The train ride from Almaty to Karaganda takes about 19 hours and 18 1/2 of those are spent chugging across the endless Kazakh steppe. I looked very hard for anything interesting and while I occasionally saw the lone horse or flock of sheep there really wasn't much else out there. Once the passengers board the train they usually change into something more comfortable like a training suit. I shared my kupe (compartment) with three other trainees and it sleeps four quite comfortably with upper and lower bunks. The window in the kupe can't be opened but you can always step out into the hallway for a breath of fresh air. A water boiler at one end of the car provides hot water for tea and you can buy sheets and covers for your bed for about $1. While some of the trains have restaurant cars you're much better off boosting the economies of the villages where the train stops buy buying food from the vendors there. Every time a train pulls in they flock around the train exits selling all kinds of things. Fried fish, smoked fish, manti, pierogis, soda, beer, vodka, ice cream - you name it it usually doesn't take much of a walk at all to find what you're looking for. Depending on where you are the sellers will even bargain with each other to give you the lowest price and they'll climb underneath trains to get their wares to you; I really was impressed by how much effort they put into it. The only thing you have to watch out for is where some of the food comes from and how it was handled; one of the trainers told us that some of the fish may be smoked in toxic fires and I saw one lady drag her fish on the gravel as she climbed under one of the trains. Some other things I found out during my train trip was that almost all trees around Karaganda are not native to the area and that they were planted when the area was settled en masse in the 1920's. Many buildings around the tracks seem to have fallen into disrepair since the Soviet collapse; it must not have been profitable to operate many of them once that took place. After this trip I'm definitely looking forward to my next train ride to my site next month - I just hope it's not a 40 hour ride next time!

It's The Culture

To prove that I'm not only focused on work and business these days I've decided to write about some of the things that the average American might find strange or hard to deal with. This isn't meant to be a complaint but rather a reminder of how much Americans take for granted!

1. Hot water is a luxury - I don't know about the big cities but in Ecik hot water definitely isn't easy to come by. We only have it for a few days each week where I live and whether I'm attending a language class in Microregion 3 or a business class in the city center I always find myself washing with cold water. Very refreshing in the summer I'm sure but when it's below freezing outside it's not fun!

2. Learn to hover over toilets - The times when I have to use an outhouse or a bar toilet are the times when I'm glad that I'm a guy; some of them make the one in Trainspotting look like a model of cleanliness. BYOTP (Bring Your Own Toilet Paper) is a rule you will learn to follow after a few days and during the times when you do have to sit you learn to develop some way to hover over the toilet as you really, really DON'T want to actually sit down in one of these establishments - trust me. Finding some way to not breathe through your nose will make using the toilet a more pleasant experience.

3. Carrots and potatoes are your favorite foods - The sooner you can convince yourself of this the better as you'll be eating a LOT of both in Kazakhstan for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'm getting used to eating them all the time after a month but I like to change things around every once in a while by eating something spicy like a salad sold by one of the Korean ladies in the bazaar.

4. Get used to being stared at - This was one of the harder things to get used to. No matter how I dress or where I'm going people are somehow able to discern that I'm an American and stare at me as if I just stepped off a spaceship. It used to make me feel uncomfortable at first but now I just take it in stride. Many of the kids will take a chance to practice their English by saying "Hello" or "How are you" and several times this has led into a more interesting conversation. People are naturally curious so it's to be expected that they'd be wondering why an American would come to Ecik or any other town or city in Kazakhstan.

5. Russian is spoken loudly - The first time this happened at my host family I thought that all hell was going to break loose but it seems to be natural for them to raise their voices and to talk loudly at each other. Even when they really seem to be angry with each other the conflict is usually resolved quickly. I'm sure that I'll find out over the next two years whether all Russians speak the same way or whether it only happens with my family.

6. Animals are everywhere in Ecik - From the stray dogs that run across my path to the flock of sheep that I have to dodge on my way to language class in the morning there's never a shortage of animals here. If I stand in my family's yard I can hear chickens, geese, sheep, dogs and possibly a few other animals. Horses on the street aren't uncommon sights here and I'm sure that there plenty of things that I haven't seen yet.

7. Expect the unexpected - It's a cliche but it's also a reality of life here. From the taxi driver who invited me to a local cafe for a few shots of Schnaps last week to an impromptu chat at the bazaar with one of the vendors there are always plenty of opportunities to experience something new that just might change the way you perceive people and their culture. Even though some days may not go as well as planned it's important to keep an open mind and to stay positive - you might be depriving yourself of a great experience otherwise!

Midway Training Point

Looks like I've officially reached the midway point in training; the vast majority of time until now was spent studying Russian and listening the the lectures of NGOs that came to visit us as well as some training on what to look for in an NGO, how to adapt to our sites once we get there, etc. - generally high level training. Next week we go to our practicum sites and once we return the 25 of us in training will get to choose between 34 available NGOs for our permanent site placement. As far as I see it it's more important for a volunteer to help by assisting in the creation of mission statements and project plans while doing things on the side such as teaching English and writing grant proposals. Even though I'm in the IT track I was told that I wouldn't be doing anything more sophisticated here than data entry and building websites but there is the possibility of me teaching some things at the university level if that's what I want to do. I'm slowly getting the idea of how busy my life will be once I get to my site and while I'm looking forward to it it's a little scary too. Over the remainder of training our schedule will become more flexible; today we were asked by the training director to help design it and it looks like we'll be having more detailed technical sessions on grant writing, etc. Kaz 14 is often described by the training staff as being reserved in the sense that we don't leave many comments for improvement but the truth of it is that most of us are content with the way that things are going. There are a few things that I'm sure will be changed for the next NGO training group (Kaz 16 in October) but the trainees in the current group won't be able to effectively judge how useful the training we received was until we actually begin to work at our NGOs. I'm looking forward to getting the chance to see a different area of Kazakhstan and to make new acquaintances and friends once I do get to my site.

Exodus

Today I had an interesting talk with my host father about the plight of a lot of Russians in Kazakhstan. During Soviet times they were dominant here while Kazakhs were the disenfranchised group (the ratio was roughly 60:40). After over ten years of independence many of the Russians and Kazakhs who lived here have emigrated which resulted in a flip of this ratio in the Kazakhs' favor and depending on who you're talking to a massive brain drain as the people who knew how to run certain businesses and factories left the country. Many Russians (including my host mother, who is a former school teacher) were replaced by Kazakhs in government jobs and work can be hard for them to come by these days. My family is going to Belarus from June-August for this reason and based on what my host father told me they'll be leaving for Belarus for good once Marina graduates from high school since university tuition here is much more expensive. For the reasons I mentioned above many Russians don't see much of a future in Kazakhstan and decide to emigrate instead. This whole situation sounds a lot like the issue of affirmative action in the US and it remains to be seen if the government here will allow this emigration to continue or whether they will introduce incentives for the Russians to stay. Since I'm living with a Russian family I usually get their perspective on things but I'd be interested to hear more about how Kazakhs see things as well; sometimes you have to work at getting a balanced view on an issue instead of expecting it to be handed to you.

Taxi Driver

Riding a taxi in Kazakhstan is an experience very different from riding one in the States. A few weeks ago I wrote that any vehicle on the road here is a potential taxi but that's not exactly true. More often than not the Ladas and Volgas will stop for you instead of the Audis and Mercedes because the people who drive the former cars do so for a living and the people who drive the latter generally don't. So you tend to get used to the Soviet makes of vehicles that don't have any seatbelts and that have most likely been on the road before Kazakhstan existed as a country. So while the ride can be an adventure in itself it's the people who are driving these cars that make the trip most interesting. A lot of times I'll be the last one left in the car at night after other Peace Corps trainees are dropped off at their homes and at that point I'm asked where I'm from, etc. My Russian isn't the greatest and my Kazakh is even worse but I still always manage to maintain a conversation with the driver. Every once in a while something totally unexpected will happen as well; last night for example I was going to a cafe and once we got there the driver insisted on inviting me inside for a few drinks. I mentioned that I had to be at my cafe at 9 and that I didn't know exactly where it was but once he pulled me into a nearby cafe I decided to go along for what could turn out to be another cross-cultural exchange. So he started to order shots of Schnaps as I desperately tried to understand what he was saying while trying to add whatever I could to the conversation. Some things I got from it were that his name was Aziz, his normal job was an architect in Ecik and that people living in Ecik generally understand Russian, Kazakh, Turkish and even some Chinese and Japanese but that it's not easy to find people who can speak English. About 15 minutes later he left with a handshake and when I went outside to try to find the cafe I was supposed to go to a few Peace Corps trainees were heading into the very cafe that I was walking out of - it turned out that I had been brought to the right place to begin with! So all in all I've found taxi drivers here to be friendly and curious and I'm looking forward to getting to know more of them during my stay in Ecik.

Karaganda

In one week I'll be going on an 18 hour train trip to Karaganda for my one week practicum assignment. This basically means that I'll be monitoring and taking notes about a non-governmental (i.e. not-for-profit) organization while I'm there and that I'll hopefully pick up some things by doing so that I can use once I'm sent to my real site assignment in mid-May. Karaganda (or Qaraghandy in Kazakh) is the second largest city in Kazakhstan with a population of just under 500,000 and was originally formed around a gulag that was operating here in the 1950's. According to Lonely Planet there's a town just to the north of the city that has 80% of the HIV/AIDS cases in Kazakhstan so that's a little strange; there are cities in Kazakhstan that are dealing with the results of ecological disasters etc. but I don't know why so many AIDS cases would be centered around one area. In any case the NGO that I'll be monitoring is called "Ecomuseum" and in a nutshell tries to raise awareness of ecological issues and problems in Kazakhstan. Some of the problems that they mentioned were the fallout from decades of nuclear explosions in Semipalatinsk and the environmental impact of the space launches at the Balkonur Cosmodrome. I don't know what my final site placement will be and our trainers insist that what we do for our practicum has no bearing on that but based on what happens during my week in Karaganda I might be working at an ecological NGO. Ideally I'd like to do something business-oriented like marketing research and project development at the place where I end up but realistically I'll probably spend more time teaching English and writing grants. Nothing's set in stone though so I'll try to find out more about the workings of the Ecomuseum at practicum and will move on from there.