Week #2

My second week here has been full and crazy and I have enjoyed every minute of it – well, I’ve enjoyed this week more than I did last, as I still feel like I’m still learning every thing and figuring out what life in Kazakhstan is all about! I made spaghetti for my family – I’m unsure of how they felt about it, but I loved it! Even if it didn’t taste like it would if I had had Ragu – Three Cheese flavor!

There is a Bowling Alley here!! It’s 3000T (it’s like $30) per hour so the more people we have the less we pay, of course, the less we bowl also, but I think like 5 is a good number? Kaz-20s WHEN you come visit me, we are definitely going! I found gummy bears at the bazaar the other day! They were cheap and they were SUPER good! Still no diet coke though – I think I’m over my addiction! I have had regular coke, but only like 1 per week since I’ve been at site!

I did laundry at my family’s house this week! I needed to! I wanted to throw everything together, it’s faster that way, but my host mom did not like that! So I split it up into 3 groups, but only did 2 because the 2nd one was unbalanced so began to make a crazy noise and my host mom got nervous and said I could do the rest tomorrow – I got nervous (because I don’t wanna break the thing) and said that I didn’t need to do laundry .

I’ve watched a few American films dubbed in Russian here – the most recent was Material Girls with Hilary and Haley Duff – it was on TV the other day and I have learned that if I listen closely enough I can hear the English behind the Russian – I’m told that watching TV is a good activity and fun way to learn Russian but if I can’t understand what they are saying, it would be difficult for me to regurgitate what I hear in the correct context.

School here is Monday – Saturday, which is totally crazy and I have a difficult time adjusting to being at school on a Saturday, even though during PST we had language classes on Saturday and all the days are short (school is 830a – 2pm), I just cannot get used to it! Anyway, I went to the bus stop where I normally catch bus #12. I stood there for what seemed like a REALLY long time and the bus never came, so I said to myself “I’m going to get on the next bus that comes.” It was bus #11, which I have seen 11 near my school before, so I thought it must be safe…right? WRONG! The bus went out of town! Not really far out of town, but nevertheless, out of town. It went to the local factory here which makes metals and lets lots of smoke off into the sky. That’s where a lot of people work so my bus was kind of crowded. We get there and everyone gets off – mind you, I know that this bus is going to go back to where it picked me up, so I stay on the bus and people getting done with work get on. They charge me a second time to continue riding and we head back into town! I get off the bus where I got on and decide that it would be a good idea to walk because 1) I can’t find bus #12 and 2) I was a little irritated. So I walk like 25 minutes to work – talking to myself and deciding that I was not going to have a bad day because of the bus mix up. I reminded myself that I want to ride all 4 buses here just to see where they go and now I do not have to ride #11 because I know it goes to the factory

It snowed here last week! But now enough to stay – it has, however, been incredibly cold and I’m still trying to figure out temperatures that are Celsius! Like -5 C sounds REALLY cold, and it is cold, but not –degrees Fahrenheit. I’m told that it gets really cold here – colder than Michigan, but in January / February – I’m told it can get as cold as -40 C – when I realized it was Celsius I breathed a sigh of relief and looked up with -40 C would be in Fahrenheit – yea -40 C = -40 F!! AHHHH!!

One down

One week down, 102 left to go! The first week here at site was full of highs and lows. Some highs: I did manage to find where the internet café is located, I can take the bus to work alone, I have made friends with a woman from my workplace who speaks English well, I have a schedule and will begin English clubs this week, I got acquainted with my town and know where the important things are located, I was able to walk through the bazaar and have a favorite seller, I met two local people who speak English (one has agreed to help me with translation of seminars!), I was able to sign up for my own PO box (all by myself), and made spaghetti for the fam while listening to English music way super loud! My sister from Karaganda (like 6 hours away), came for the weekend just to see me J She studies English there and her English is very good

I’m still adjusting to life here and trying to figure out just what my role will be at the school since I will not be teaching.

So I'm at site!

The end of PST marked a new beginning! I actually hate when people say stuff like that, but I guess it’s true. I know that I will miss my OCAP friends a crapload (you be the judge of how much that is). We all swore in as “official” Peace Corps Volunteers last Friday! Yea for no longer being a Trainee, but now a REAL Volunteer! We had to take a bus from our site to the site of Swear In. On the way there our bus broke down a little and we all had to get off the bus and stand on the side of the road. Thankfully, we had left early enough that a minor set back really was not a big deal and after all, when going to a ceremony where we were the guests of honor, the ceremony really had to wait for us J Our setback was really only like 25 minutes and then we were on the road again in the same bus. At the site of Swear In there were lots of speakers then the actual Swearing In of Volunteers, followed by a wonderful reception with lots of food! Bkycha!

Some people had to leave on Friday because their sites a really far away – I got to stay with my hosts an extra day! But that meant I had to say goodbye twice. Friday I had to say goodbye to some of the best friends I have made over the last 3 months! It was sad and many of us cried, even though, we know we will see each other in just a few short months – yea March!

My host mom prepared my favorite dish Friday night and we exchanged gifts! My host mom asked me why I wasn’t laughing and then I began to cry – I wasn’t ready to leave them. As a girl who has never had to live with a host family, I could not have asked for a better 1st host family! My whole world was changing – and as many of you know – I HATE CHANGE! Saturday my family dropped me off at the school where the Peace Corps van would pick me up! We went there at 1:15pm and the van pulled up at 1:30pm! The minute the PC van pulled up it was time to go and I could feel tears welling up in my eyes as I glanced at my host mom and sister, who were both crying. We all hugged and my host mom told me that “This was not goodbye, but see you later,” and “Their door is always open.” I will definitely be back to visit them!

I had to sit for 2 hours at the bus station alone – I was kind of scared, but felt like an accomplished woman in doing so! It gave me a greater sense of independence in this large country. I boarded the bus in the evening and was here by daybreak. I took a taxi to the house of my new host family, where I went back to sleep as sleeping on a bus proves to be rather difficult most of the time. Later in the day I unpacked the pieces of luggage that I had with me, I still have 2 more at another family’s house, that I hope to gather really soon. I had a successful first day of work and am excited to be here!

“Live and let live, do not judge, take life as it comes and deal with it, everything will be okay”
– James Frey