Finally, Aktobe

If I may first just fast forward to now, the one month anniversary of my arrival in Aktobe, I will describe for you a city that I am thrilled to live in, and a community that surprises and pleases me on a daily basis. How’s that for an optimistic Peace Corps blog intro? In your face, South Africa.
My daily walk to the university takes me down a narrow boulevard lined with benches and trees, with shops and apartments on either side. I don’t know how to say it other than that I just get good vibrations when I’m walking down this boulevard. It’s about a 5 minute walk, and usually at some point a random thought makes me smile while I’m walking down it. Such as: This boulevard is named for some soldiers of the 101st division of some army. [How’s that for historical background…], and locals refer to the street as “101st.” So, even though I am now on the absolute opposite side of the Earth as California, I am still cruising down the 101.
Oh what, that’s not funny for you? Remember, I’m in the Peace Corps here…it’s all about simple pleasures.

That’s right. The 101.

Speaking of simple pleasures, thank goodness Aktobe has some great cafes with WiFi where I can enjoy a delicious espresso while surfing the net. Did I mention…I’m in the Peace Corps?

Some of you will think, “Oh what a pity…she’s completely missing the Peace Corps experience.” And you will be right. Make no mistake- I mourn a future without such experience and insight into the world under my belt. But I mourn it over a tasty mojito at a trendy local lounge bar.
It’s a subject for a whole other blog, but the thing is that development just isn’t what you imagine. It’s not just living in a village with no electricity and carrying buckets of water for miles. At first it’s that, but then it’s a whole continuum of some areas staying unflinching in traditional ways for longer than you can imagine possible given the developmental bursts forward in other areas that to you seem necessarily and innately connected. And it’s the state of people’s minds when society struggles to reconcile drastic, sometimes sudden changes with a way of life that may have been in place for 5,000 or 100 or 70 years.

Now back to the blog.
how can I explain the lack of posting? I have many excuses. My computer crashed for a couple of weeks. We all thought it was the end, but sure enough the univ technicians resurrected the old girl at the last minute. To be honest, I had a rough first couple of weeks here, and I’m glad I didn’t post because it would have probably given you a shady first impression of Aktobe.

After three months already living in Kazakhstan, I really felt culture shock for the first time when I came to Aktobe. I can’t even place the exact cause, nor will I try on a public blog because my theories will come across as less than diplomatic. Sufficed to say, for the first time in my life I really witnessed a fundamental difference in values between two cultures. And while the terms “East vs. West,” or “individualist vs. collectivist,” aren’t bad candidates for possible explanations, these don’t quite accurately encompass the frustrations I felt in recent weeks. I’m back on the upswing of the W curve now though, and now look back on those weeks with amusement as the only words I can really find to describe my main frustrations sound something like “my host family was just too damn hospitable.”
It really doesn’t sound so bad, does it. I know.

Rest of intro in 1 min or less: Everything is great. My classes are going great and plans are running wild for teacher training workshops to start next semester. Language is awesome- my Russian is totally conversational and I’m starting-just starting- to get some ideas across in Kazakh. Other vol’s in the area are also great- Melanie, who also lives in the city and works for an NGO, and I are going out to a remote village at the foothills of the Ural mts. to visit another girl, Katy, this weekend. Should be a nice taste of the rural life.