Just an Update

It's monsoon season in Nepal, and with the change of weather I thought it would be a good time to send an update about life in South Asia and what's on the horizon for Steffen and me. I know what you're thinking - it's Steffen and I - but it's not, so come on people, focus. 

This is not an update of epic proportions. There are no babies on the way, so let's just get that out in the open right now. But we did have a wedding anniversary in Thailand, which was gorgeous.

Uh oh, we're starting to match

Part of the reason we decided to rendezvous in Thailand was that Steffen has been working there for the past four weeks. So, BOO for Steffen's boss making him travel on our anniversary, but YAY for giving Steffen the weekend off to explore the island of Phuket with me. 

It's cool to wear a helmet

The second reason we decided to take a trip to Thailand together is because this November will mark one year since we moved to Nepal, and we have decided to wrap up a fantastic year, and move on. 

Just like the baby disclaimer, I'll spare the parents and grandparents the suspense and get this out there right away- We are not quite ready to move back to the States yet. We are just too good at being abroad. The languages, the foods, the constant challenge to figure things out and learn the ropes. We want another adventure, and as of right now the front runners are Thailand and Singapore. 

Why Thailand and Singapore? 

Mostly because Steffen is always traveling around Southeast Asia for work. I know what you're thinking - "Didn't you move to Nepal for Steffen's work?" Yes, but we chose Nepal over a lot of other more practical options because, well, it was the most adventurous one! We figured that now was the best time to be somewhere like Nepal because we're young, used to roughing it, and able to enjoy the place in spite of constant political turmoil, cat food shortages, lack of electricity, etc. 

I think we would stay in Nepal for a while if Steffen didn't have to travel so much. We have a nice routine here and there is still so much we haven't seen. I have an amazing job here that I love and owe much of my professional development to. But alas, we did the long distance thing for long enough to know that we can make it, but also long enough to never want to do it again.

I have a few leads on jobs in both countries, and (for all of the Nevadans out there) even had an interview today with UNLV-Singapore. Yes, they have a campus in Singapore! So, look for an update soon on where we decide to move. 

In the meantime, [drum roll please] we are planning on coming home for a trip this winter. There is no itinerary yet and Steffen will be working remotely for a lot of the time. Tentatively we will be on the West coast during a couple of weeks of Thanksgiving time, and in the Midwest for a couple of weeks of Christmas time. Let the planning begin.

An Ode to Visitors

For my entire adult life and a good portion of my youth, I have fantasized about my sisters and I all being grown up, paired off with dazzlingly attractive mates, and having glamorous adventures together. This past April, one such dream was realized....

in...
Angelina and Travis's 
Epic Visit to Nepal

When you live abroad, you always fantasize that people will visit you so that you can show off what a savvy member of the host community you have become. Believe it or not, previously the only visits I had had abroad were in 2005 when my BFF Aimee visited me in Europe where I displayed mostly my inability to function in cold weather, and lack of knowledge about the Autobahn; and in 2009 and 2010 when Steffen braved two Kazakh winters to be with me, and I again had trouble functioning in sub zero temperatures. 

Both visits featured my loved ones and I being pickpocketed (actually, digital cameras in both cases), and both visits were just way too cold. But without those visits my stints abroad would have been incomplete, and I have rarely felt more loved than when waiting nervously to pick these two up from the airport.

And then, a few months ago, there Steffen and I were at the Kathmandu airport, welcome wreaths of marigolds in hand per Hindu tradition, waiting nervously for my sister Angelina and her husband Travis to emerge warily from the relative safety of the Arrivals terminal and out into the chaos of the city.

Luckily, there were no robberies reported when Angel and Travis came to Nepal. But, as Travis will testify for all eternity, there was one very cold night spent at 3400 meters in a too-small sleeping bag in a tent covered in hail.

Part of my work is taking the occasional field visit to the various rural communities my organization supports. Angel and Travis's visit was the perfect time to visit our most popular placement, "the monastery in the mountains" - a small Buddhist nunnery in a village called Bigu.

Bigu is about 7km from the Tibetan border, and as such, the air is thick with spiritual ethos and the promise that there is a meaning of life to be learned. After a seven hour jeep ride from Kathmandu to the town that serves as a trail head, and two incredibly long and arduous days of back country trekking, the remoteness and serenity of Bigu was perfection.

Sure, there were some bumps along the way - the sleeping bags we had rented for Angel and Travis were about two feet too short, and the Chinese knockoff Thermarest that we got Travis was fully deflated before he was able to nod off. Stef and I were psyched to get some use out of our camping equipment, especially the new 2+ tent and camp hammock...but we regretted opting out of the rustic tea house lodge when a hail storm started in the middle of the night. This mistake was not repeated on the trek back down, and the we gladly kept the camping gear packed in exchange for the warmth of the tea house (attributed mostly to the newspaper pasted all over the walls for insulation, and kitchen fire pumping carbon monoxide throughout the structure).

Hands down though, nothing beats sitting with your childhood best friend (sister) and adulthood best friend (hubs), and awesome brother in law, dangling your feet off a 3400 meter ridge in the Himalayas.

An Ode to My Job

A recent article reflecting on my work in Nepal:

http://www.volunteernepal.net/blog/2012/06/28/reflecting-first-half-2012

Me and the staff of Volunteer Nepal in Kathmandu

Past the Three-Month Mark

It's been a pretty eventful three months in Nepal. I don't know what I expected, but this ain't it.

Kathmandu is not a peaceful city. It is loud and overcrowded. I am reminded of the old tale of a wise professor filling a large jar to the top with stones and asking his students if it was full. Of course they fall for it and most say yes, and then he pours in pebbles to fill all of the spaces, and asks again. About half still fall for it, and say the jar is full, and then he goes on to blow their minds by adding sand, and then finally brings it home by pouring in water.

His moral is that you can fit all kinds of things into your life, but you have to take care of the big things first because they won't fit if the little things are already in the way. All I think about when I hear this story now is the streets of Kathmandu.

Add just the cars and trucks, and Lazimpat road- the main road in my neighborhood- looks not too different from any road back home. Those are the big stones. Then you've got rickshaws, most of them motorized on this road, but sometimes rigged to bicycles. And speaking of bicycles, there are also the people who have strapped a massive bookshelf to their bicycle, and are slowly walking in down the street to some unapparent destination. Then, like the sand rushing in to fill all of the empty spaces, are the thousands of motorcycles, always weaving, cutting in, swerving, with two, three, and sometimes a family of four people riding on one bike.

Coming to the main road from my small street, I see the road as most of the students saw the jar of stones. My brain tells me that it is full. But then people push past me (politely - gotta love the Nepalese), and proceed to glide into empty spaces, timing their advances with the moving vehicles, crossing the street in a feat that looks like it belongs on some Japanese obstacle course reality show.

I'm still terrified enough of traffic that I wait for comically long periods of time to cross the street, but it is funny how my brain now sees that big jar full of stones, pebbles, sand, and water, and feels no shock. And sure enough, as I pass a goat tied to a telephone pole in this urban center, or a monkey traipsing along the electrical cables, I know that there must be some type of molecule that could be injected into that full jar to make it even fuller.

Latest news:

• I'm hiring staff for the Volunteer Nepal office..."How to conduct an interview" is now on my Favorites tab
• Steffen leaves Monday for New Zealand. He'll work for a few weeks, and then I'll fly over in March!
• Motorbike has happened. We took a road trip to Bhaktapur (UNESCO world heritage site, Newari village). We wore helmets!
• Kathmandu is in the middle of a gas, petrol, water, electricity, and cat food shortage. The power is out around 11-14 hours per day, and people sit in line all day to fill their gas tanks. The cats are in heaven because we're feeding them tuna, chicken, and the occastional Puppy Chow (which, oddly, is abundantly available).

R.I.P. Chaka

Chaka passed right before Christmas, from an unknown genetic disorder that claimed two kittens from her litter. She will be remembered for her insistence on talking while eating, and her cute tiger stripes. R.I.P. Chaka.

Still within the bounds of non-creepy cat owership?

Two is within bounds, right?



Meet Chaka. She's hungry and loud, and she doesn't take any crap from anyone. No, Chaka is not a Nepali word, it's the name of a neanderthal from a Will Farrell movie.


-Photos of Santa still to come. The Embassy club works on their own time.
-We still don't have an address - post a holiday photo or video for us on Facebook and we'll cherish it always.

Day in the life: Working in Kathmandu

It's morning in our cozy apartment in Kathmandu. The sun is just peeking over the top of the building next door, and I've been woken by the incessant bell-ringing and conch horn-blowing of a neighbor. I know that all that noise is meant to help carry their prayers to heaven, but it's a lot more intriguing of a cultural tradition when it's not the crack of dawn.

I shamble out to the kitchen, led by a frantically whining cat who knows it's time for wet food. Cats don't speak English, so I can only infer what he's trying to say from the various squeaks, purrs, and howls that he makes. At this time every morning, his sounds say:

I WILL DIE IF I DON'T GET SOME FRIGGIN WET FOOD NOOOOOOW!

I make him sweat it out while I grind beans for coffee. As a novice pet owner, I still fail to understand why wet food is so superior to dry food for little guy.

After a couple of hours of coffee, oats, and watching the news with Steffen, I pack up and take the five minute stroll from our quiet alley (I like to call it a cul-de-sac), past kids playing with trash in the street, past the Danish Embassy, past an empty lot with cows grazing in it, out to the insanity of the main road. I pick my way past beat-up taxis, trucks belching smoke, sleek UN and Embassy vehicles driven by private drivers, bicycle-drawn rickshaws, and in every square foot of free space between all of these vehicles, an endless stream of motorbikes and scooters weaving their way to the front.

I often take the micro to work. The micro is a little bus manned by a driver and a young guy hanging out the open sliding door whose job is to collect bus fare and yell at pedestrians as we fly past. I believe that most developing countries have some version of the micro - we sure did in Kazakhstan, but I'm sad to say that that one was a little more organized than its Nepali counterpart. I used to take a taxi to and from the office, but now that all of the culture shock has worn off, frankly I'd rather take the bus than haggle for a non-tourist cab fare every single morning. There was talk of hiring a car service during our time here, but with Stef working from home and me just going to the office, the poor guy would just sit there in the car all day and wait.

Anyway, so after about thirty minutes in a moderately crowded micro (Lord knows I've had worse commutes), I hop out in a neighborhood called Dhapasi Heights, and arrive at work. For the past three weeks or so, I've been training as Program Director for a small, U.S.-based nonprofit called Volunteer Nepal. For those familiar with the org structure of Peace Corps, my job is basically that of a recruiter combined with the duties of all the in-country staff, minus about 99% of the bureaucracy. Somebody's interested in volunteering, I e-mail with them for a few months of questions and advice, process their application, find them a placement, and once they're in-country I manage their financials and coordinate a small staff to get them out to whatever school, orphanage, clinic, or NGO they've chosen to volunteer at.My office shares a building with the Volunteer House, a hostel style outfit where our volunteers stay while they're not out at other, more exotic placements.

So far, I love it. It's all of my favorite jobs from the past combined. One part Chico Study Abroad, one part USAC Madrid, one part Camp Adventure, a generous portion of Peace Corps, and on some days, a sprinkle of Leatherby's and Volleyball Festival when the Volunteer House is full and buzzing with activity and things to be done. When there are volunteers in the house, my best backpacking memories flood back from the corners of the past: meeting new people, simple spaghetti dinners with cheap wine, and the excitement of exploring the unknown and opening one's eyes to a bigger world. It's nice to be in a place now where I'm making these experiences happen for other people.


Coming soon:

-It's kitten eve: The Sgaz man gets a little sister tomorrow
-Photos: Steffen played Santa Clause for a horde of Embassy brats, and only two cried. But was it enough to buy us a membership to their gym?
-How many more makeshift ornaments can our potted plant hold? [Not many]

An Ode to Indian Cable TV

Rafting on the Trisuli was a blast. It wasn't exactly as wild as the River Wild rapids or anything, but one of the French guys on our raft was easily on par with Kevin Bacon in terms of obnoxiousness (even his Hollow Man role).

Speaking of Hollow Man, yes I did just watch that film on our Indian cable. The availability of dozens of channels of Indian cable was a pleasant surprise - we didn't know our apartment came with that and it's been fun discovering the odd lineup of entertainment on that network. Last night there were four episodes of Game of Thrones, with random DVD special features thrown in between episodes. It's like they got hold of a one-season box set up at Indian cable headquarters and just hit PLAY ALL for the night.

Top 6 Indian Cable features so far:

6. Fashion TV. Fell in love with in in K-stan. 24 hour runway shows set to the most fantastic electronica.

#5. Prequels and Sequels. You'd better have already seen the original, because this movie channel only shows the before and after stories.

#4. HBO. Inaccurate subtitles and weird censoring policies, but HBO.

#3. LOUD SPORTS. It's an unreasonably loud sports network that's one channel above all the movie channels. Unless you follow cricket, its main purpose is to shock you out of your channel surfing daze and alert you to the fact that you are exiting the movie channels.

#2. Access Bollywood. Shahrukh Khan every other video + Bonus: Cartoon animals dancing Bollywood at bottom of screen.

#1. 24 hour yoga channel. Camera is fixed on a traditional Indian yogi. All. Day. Long.

As most friends probably know, I'm not a big follower of many TV programs. But you, Indian cable, are awesome.



P.S.
Unfortunately, none of the photographs the rafting guide took include the Frenchman. He was only with us on day one of the trip, and then he and his brother continued downriver to Chitwan, the area of Nepal where you can go on safari and see black rhinos and tigers and what not.





Stay tuned for: Scenes from my first day of work today - That's right, I finally got a job! This blog is now authored by the Program Director for a U.S.-based nonprofit called Volunteer Nepal. Similar structure to Peace Corps, but only in Nepal and not gov't affiliated. And now instead of being the volunteer in the field, I'm the gal in the office doing logistics and recruiting and what not. I start in an hour, so wish me luck!

Welcome to Kathmandu

Thanks to Sacha Baron Cohen, my time in Kazakhstan was peppered with Borat jokes, some hilarious and some altogether inappropriate and confusing. Just when I thought the Borat jokes were thankfully getting old, someone would mention a cockroach, or baseball, or Pam Andersen, and the can of worms would be re-opened.

Luckily, my experience in Nepal thus far has been very different, thanks to the one popular reference to Nepal that appears to have stuck in public memory - a nice, repetitive little ditty by Bob Seger titled "Kathmandu." The closest this song comes to enlightening the listener on the mystery of Nepal's allure is to clarify the first letter of the spelling of its capitol city: "K-k-k-k-k-Kathmandu." Fine by me. No wildly false stereotypes about Nepalese culture, no hidden criticism of Americans (indeed, Bob uses the rest of the lyrics to make sure the various regions of the U.S. are not offended by his desire to relocate) - just a nice, wholesome song about wanting to go to Kathmandu. Leaving you, dear friend or loved one above the age of, say, 35, but one option: You heard that Steffen and I were moving to Nepal, and after a moment the memory of that one song surfaced and you sang, "You're goin to k-k-k-k-k-Kathmandu..."

...and that was it. Unless you're one of the people who asked if we were going to try guinea pig here (I'm not going to name names, but come on people- that's South America, not South Asia). Because other than Mt. Everest, Sherpas, and possibly Maoists if you really keep up with the news, Nepal doesn't make too many headlines where I come from.

So I'll try to keep you updated as I learn things here- and I have a feeling there's going to be a lot to learn. I've only been in this small country sandwiched between India and China for almost two weeks, and I'm already confused about Buddhism and Hinduism, why we can eat water buffalo but not beef, and how so many NGOs can function and so much foreign aid can be distributed in such a tiny place. If the heavy stuff is not your cup of tea, though, don't fret- the abundance of tourism opportunities will probably outweigh the political stuff more often than not.

So sit back, relax, and re-subscribe to this blog for all the news and latest updates from Nepal. Stef and I took a two-day whitewater rafting trip this weekend and we should get the photos back from our guides soon.

Who is the crazy Frenchman smoking on the raft?
How is the Sgaz man adjusting to daily visits from the local housekeepers?
How will Steffen and I fare as the honorary Santa and Mrs. Clause at this year's expat holiday celebration?

Answers to these burning questions and more in blogs to come.

My blog is being censored!!

The time sure flies.

I got wind of a lapse in the gov't censor of blogger.com, so I thought I'd post a quick note to say that it's almost spring, I'm still here in K-stan, and things are going just fine. Steffen and I went to the UAE and were wowed by the tallest building in the world, fantastic Indian food and beautiful weather, among other things that are definitely absent here.

I resurfaced into the internet world to learn that people were getting engaged, running for congress and becoming way too successful and educated while I was gone. I'm almost ready to start the 6 month countdown until I come to America (which is pronounced here the same as the PRs do it on West Side Story: A-MAY-rica with the soft R). But in the meantime, there are a lot of things to do here.

For all of the adventure travellers/hiking enthusiasts: Get a few friends together and sign your team up for the first annual Hike For A KAZ event in the Tien Shan Mountains above Almaty, Kazakhstan. Visit one of the most off-the-beaten-track corners of the world while raising money for local charity programs that promote development in various areas. www.hike4akaz.org

I'm off to the university to meet with the IT people. We're planning a teacher training on using the internet ;)

Take care,

CB

Sgaz the cat is curled up under the radiator and I just got back from dropping a bunch of t-shirts off at a print shop to get the ‘Hike for a KAZ’ logo printed on them. There is a pilots’ college behind my house, and the trainees are out there marching and singing very soviet sounding songs, just like they do about 3 times a day every day. And this punk kid outside is yelling up at his girlfriend’s window:

SAMAL ! [with a heavy stress on the MAL.]

He does it every day around early evening. Exact same intonation every day, and he never says anything except her name. Not sure what the deal is there. I live in one of these big block housing projects, so there are about a hundred windows he could be yelling at.

The printers think I’m crazy for getting t-shirts printed in January, even though I explained that I’m just planning ahead (not a popular concept). I can see their confusion, because it’s not t-shirt weather, it’s -30 outside. It’s the kind of cold where you have to factor an extra 10 minutes in for getting bundled up before you leave the house. The kind of cold that I was definitely not an authority on before, and maybe I’m still not. But if you’re about to move somewhere cold for the first time, I’m pretty sure I can give you some advice. Things that a warm weather person never wanted to know but does:
• Mittens are warmer than gloves
• Some chapsticks freeze if it’s cold enough
• Most lip glosses freeze if it’s cold enough
• All scarves are not created equal
• It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing under the coat and boots, nobody’s ever going to see it. One time when the university’s heat was out, I wore my pj’s to work because I knew I’d never take my coat off. In case you haven’t seen a photo of my winter get-up, the only clothes that are visible under my coat and boots is about 2 inches of my shins.
• Electronics freeze
• Mascara = pain
• Zippers are better than buttons
Etc.

The question I get most these days is: “Do you have snow in America?”

How do I explain that, Yes, there is snow, but where I’m from you can escape the snow by driving a couple of hours west. It would be hard to grasp because you can literally take a train for 3 days across this country and see the same empty, flat landscape and the same bitter cold the whole way.

Right about now that grass hut in the jungle village is sounding pretty nice.

It’s not all bad though. I mean, it’s all a cultural experience, right? I get to see the parents pulling their kids around on sleds, and the baby strollers that are fitted with ice skate blades where the wheels should be. In the winter everybody has a cool hat (me included now!) and you can’t see any of the trash on the ground. The thick steam of the Russian sauna down the street is all the more fabulous on a day this cold, and there is a certain pleasure of walking through your front door and ‘being home’ after the tedious walk back to your house on the icy road. This is a new pleasure for me, never having experienced a place where being out in the elements can be so hostile. Ducking off the street into a cozy hole-in-the-wall café feels like a valiant escape accomplished, and a hot drink is more comforting and can feel luxurious. And there’s no arguing with the fact that a fuzzy purring cat on your lap is way cuter on a cold day.

So, the main reason that I have sought out an internet connection today is to post photos. In some of them you can see various classrooms, my apartment, and other places where I spend a lot of time (including the “marshrutka” bus :-/ )

blog jan

Some other things you might notice:
• They start in July and end in January. You will notice that there’s not much of an autumn in between.
• I didn’t get a dog - it was Melanie’s. We went a little pet crazy over here. What’s worse is that I suspect that Sgaz is just using me for my American passport.
• The petite Kazakh woman is my friend Mira - we’re buddies.
• I taught Spanish classes all summer. Lots of fun.
• Disaster averted: I was trying to hug a horse and it tried to head-butt me.
• Lots of mosques and Orthodox churches next to each other. Not sure why.
• Even babushkas wear Gucci knockoffs.
• The two young Kazakh boys playing scrabble are Nursultan and Danyar, the neighbor kids. They come over twice a week to play with Sgaz, play various games and practice English (which translates to “tease the hell out of Sgaz, cheat at various games and talk trash using several choice phrases in English”) They’re cool kids though and we have a lot of fun…although, the older one has repeatedly threatened to ‘gobstop’ Steffen on the street. ‘Gobstop’ is apparently a slang term that roughly translates to mugging someone. What?! More on gobstopping at a later date.
• I saw the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, when he came to visit Aktobe. It was a huge event for the city. Pretty big deal.
• Christmas was fun. Many thanks to: Our neighbor, China, for providing a cheap fake tree and countless gaudy decorations; family, friends and the Monterey Institute for sending packages and cards; and all of my colleagues at Zhubanov University for throwing a great Christmas/New Years party.
• There aren’t a lot of picture of cold weather because it’s too cold to take my hand out of my glove to take a picture. I miss hooooome.


Also I just want to tell all of my family and friends in Sacramento, Chico, Monterey, Reno, LA and beyond: I love you, I miss you, and I think about you all the time even though I don’t write. I know that’s a lot more sappy than the average me, but I guess that’s what this kind of stuff does to a person.

Happy New Year

So…it’s been a while.

At the time of my last blog posting the temperature in Aktobe was a wonderful 85F, I was enjoying trips to the lake and picnics with local friends and volunteers, and being treated to fresh produce from the summer gardens of my co-workers on a daily basis. At the market I could fill up this huge tote bag with eggplant, sweet ‘bulgarski’ peppers, tomatoes, and garlic for about the equivalent of two dollars - a total steal considering the fact that prices of a lot of groceries and consumer goods here are actually pretty comparable to those in the States.

Traveling with my friend Melanie to the UK to hike the 3 Peaks Challenge and to see my mom, grandma and sisters, and going to Oman to see Steffen were by far the highlights of my summer [Oman is, after all, the home of frankincense.] During the warmer months I also had a good time getting more comfortable in Aktobe, a city that by the summer I had only known for 7 months as cold and gray. Typical depressing post-Soviet montage of dreary block housing set on a stark white sky. After all that snow melted and the spring mud dried up, it turned out that the streets were full of fountains and flowerbeds, and that good-weather Aktobe was actually a pretty bright place. Now, my perception of natural beauty was a little skewed after that first winter [recall the Ode to Leaves posting], but it just made the colorful summer seem all the more spectacular.

Just before the fall semester started, Steffen finished his fellowship in Oman and came to Aktobe after a visit with his family back in the States. One highlight can be mentioned above all others when recounting this time period: Sgaz the cat!! We rescued him from certain malnourishment and possible abandonment: he was the lone runt with a full coat of hair among a litter of kittens born to two cats of the Sphinx breed. Not familiar with the Sphinx? Think Dr. Evil. Yep, they’re hairless. Bald. Which is great if you have allergies, but not so great if you like, well, cats with hair. So now little Sgazum (Russian for “with gas”…he farts a lot] has a nice home where he eats cat food and gets tons of love. His antics keep me and Steffen laughing- sometimes you’ll just be walking around the house and BAM! Sgaz sneak attacks your leg with a flying leap, just like Hobbes does to Calvin. Couldn’t be more perfect.

The fall semester gave me about a hundred new students’ names to remember and a couple of new teachers to work with. It makes it harder when my students have names like Nurdaulet, Aibupe and Bakhitzhan, and the teachers go by first name and patronymic. So, instead of Gulshat and Olga, we have Gulshat Bazurbayevna and Olga Leontivna to remember. Big projects currently include introducing to my university the idea of a syllabus, grading rubrics for oral exams, and an online forum to supplement lessons. I just finished giving final exams, and a memory that sticks out is last week, when out of 13 people: 5 arrived on time, one arrived late with a huge bag of meat, one arrived even later with flowers and juice for me, one arrived even later with chocolates for me, and one arrived even later with her baby. The rest just arrived late without any spicy excuses. Blurg. I can’t even blame them, because the exam schedule that’s posted for the students is different than the exam schedule that’s posted for the teachers. Why would it be? I’m constantly reminded of a professor, Jean, from MIIS, saying, “Just keep swimming…”

Otherwise work at Zhubanov university is great. I work with fabulous women who make me feel like one of the girls, especially now that my ability to gossip and eavesdrop on gossip in Russian and Kazakh has become pretty high. Yet another argument for Natalie’s Need Hypothesis. I have also been teaching Spanish now for about a year, and it’s super popular. Although I work in the Foreign Languages department of the university, the only options are English and German. Next week all the Spanish students are coming to my apartment to learn how to make Fajitas and Spanish rice.

In November a group of new volunteers came to the region, and now along with Melanie and Steffen I get to have fun with Dawn and her husband Aaron. It’s definitely cool to be the seasoned veterans, feeling like locals- so different than a year ago. So, a quick checklist of 2009 in Aktobe, KZ goes as follows:

-Survived an almost-Siberian winter that lasted from late October to late April
-Lived with a Kazakh host family for 6 months
-Taught my first full year at the university level
-Raised a bunch of money with Melanie for the Ubuntu Education Fund in South Africa
-Trained for and Hiked at the 3 Peaks Challenge, June
-Traveled to the Middle East for the first time to go to Oman, June
-Moved into my own apartment in Aktobe, July
-Went to a Kazakh dentist, July
-Started leading a yoga class. August
-Welcomed Steffen to Kazakhstan, and Aktobe, and the craziness of life here, August
-Saw Football Club Aktobe become the National Champions of Kazakhstan, October
-Hosted 10 noisy Americans for Thanksgiving Dinner, slash, bought a goose at the bazaar and cleaned it out for Thanksgiving dinner…Nov.
-Steffen’s visa ran out and he went to Dushanbe, Tajikistan for two weeks to get a better taste of Central Asia and a new visa…brought me and Mel back the coolest socks ever.
-With Melanie and two local friends, started the NGO “Hike for a KAZ” [Pronounced “Hike for a Cause”] modeled after the 3 Peaks Challenge, where teams of hikers will fundraise and hike Soviet Peak in Almaty to benefit quality development projects in Kazakhstan. Stay tuned for more info, or wait a few weeks and then visit www.hike4akaz.org
-Invited some people over, bought some ginormous fireworks that would be illegal in the states for sure, filled the fridge with Russian vodka and got mom and grandma’s Christmas packages this week, which were full of CHOCOLATE. It’s going to be a great New Year’s Eve.

Plans for 2010 include:
-Not accidentally sleep through the night tonight (I did last year)
-Keep trying to do good work at the university
-Kick off the first annual Hike for a KAZ event this August in Almaty
-Go to India, Thailand, Turkey or Egypt to get some sun during the long winter (tickets are pretty cheap from here!)
-Take some horses up into the mountains in Kyrgyzstan this June and go yurt-camping
-Maybe introduce my mom and/or sister(s?) to Kazakhstan if they visit
-Find a good tutor and get fluent in Russian
-Make peace with the Soviet mentality
-COME HOME IN NOVEMBER ! ! ! ! ! !

And, of course, not suck so bad at remembering to write blogs.

Happy New Year 

Christina

summer vacation : )

Quick Oman photos -- they're the same ones that are on my Facebook fyi. Enjoy.

3 Peaks Challenge

Here's a picture of Team ALPHA at the top of Ben Nevis in Scotland -- first stop of the 3 Peaks Challenge this year





(PS: Although we are in fact totally awesome, the name Team Alpha was assigned to us). That's me, Angelina, Sophia and Melanie. Thanks to the generosity of our families and friends, our team raised over 2,500 pounds for the Ubuntu Education Fund!! So thanks for your help, warm thoughts and good vibes. Now if only my muscles would stop aching enough to let me enjoy these last couple of days hanging out at Angel's house in England before I go to Oman TOMORROW!

Quick UK lowdown:
-Here with mom, grandma, Sophia and Angelina, plus BONUS: Mel got to hang out with the fam for a few days!!
-In the past 5 days I have eaten pizza, chinese food, pub grub, had a delicious meal at a French Brasserie, and kicked back a few lovely English pints, and this will continue for the next 16 until my tastebuds begrudgingly return to the oil-soaked carb fest that is Kazakhstani cuisine.
-I had a Flip video camera delivered here, so stay tuned for my debut as a videographer.
-Bury St.Edmunds, Suffolk UK is to me, like Cleveland is to Liz Lemon. I like to think I'm a pretty nice person, and I have had to stretch my friendliness to levels that would be unthinkable on the streets of Aktobe just to remain barely within the norms of social pleasantry here.

Thanks for checking in -- CB

Fake Out!

Two blogs in a week?! I know what you're thinking, but: No, I didn't move back to the States thus affording me such luxuriously frequent internet access, nor did I get bride-napped by a wealthy Uzbek mafia boss working secretly out of an underground Aktobe palace that has surprisingly reliable wifi.

I just came to the cafe twice this week. It's finals week, and Melanie left yesterday for a business trip in Kyzlorda, and I said: Dammit. I'm going back to that cafe.

Annnd. Today is also a very special day and I couldn't let it go by without saying:

CONGRATULATIONS NICOLE ! ! !

That's right ladies and gents. She's a veritable Catch Phrase prodigy, her milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and her unwavering ability to match even the most unwieldy of outfits has left me awestruck on many occasions. Already clearly a master of many arts and trades, only today does Nicole finally officially earn the title and the fabulous little piece of paper to go with it. I wish I could be there. Love you girl.



(begin parenthesis...
Meanwhile, I don't even know how to start the MIIS congratulations. At the great risk of half-assing it with this meager preview, I will say that I have a group of friends and colleagues who have just finished something pretty spectacular. I think it may have been a harrowing experience, but I'm hoping that by the time this blog posts, the anxiety will have all melted off -- leaving nothing but joy, relief, energy, and dare I say: an inclination to get crazy and visit me in Kazakhstan. Hmm, Sofya? :) BUT. This is not the congratulations, it's just a preview. SO just know that I'm thinking about you guys, feeling a little surreal that I'm not there with you. Pozdravlaiyu.)

An ode to leaves

May has been a pretty feel-good month. My birthday was great - I rented out a big sauna for the local volunteers (remember those guys from my Christmas posting?), and we ate, drank, sat in a hot, sweaty sauna, and took daring (but possibly unhygienic) dips in an icy pool. A two hour reservation got drawn out into a four hour celebration of camaraderie, life, and the unbeatable carnal pleasure of a cold, fresh beer after a steamy, hot sauna. It's not just relaxing- it's sooo comfortable, so CLEAN. I am totally hooked.

For the last bit of April and the first weeks of May, there was this thick anticipation of leaves. It was like everyone and everything was lacking life for 5 months, and then it started to warm up, and melt, and dry off, and then you could see little branches start to grow on the trees that had been totally dead, and little brown growths that appeared, and started to get ripe, and riper, and then....LEAVES. My count down to leaves was prolonged and tense. It got to the point that on my walks around town I was scouting out the trees that I thought would sprout some green first, because I was so impatient to see it. There was a promising tree over by a field that Melanie and I run in sometimes, and I would take little detours by there to see if my prediction was right. I walked around for about 5 months without seeing green, and then one day it was everywhere. There was one drizzly day and all the buds just exploded and the whole city was full of that fresh light green color- not a mature shade but a totally delicate and almost neon one.

Around that time I watched American Beauty and there was one scene that perfectly captures that feeling of standing on the street and looking at that neon green: It's when Kevin Spacey's in bed looking at the ceiling and fantasizing, and he says:

Spectacular.

That's how it felt. Anyway. As previously noted in my last post, Spring also means freedom from training in that smelly, dusty stairwell. Now instead of weirding out my neighbors, we weird out local elementary school kids as we run around the school track while they do their Soviet-style P.E. drills. Even creepier is that Melanie and I randomly have a lot of matching clothes...somehow we both came to KZ with the exact same pair of Nike pants (by now, affectionately referred to as 'the uniform'). The surprise highlight of training so far has been my new guilty pleasure: Mel's Billy Blanks Cardio Bootcamp DVD (Don't judge me), but I also had a chance to break in my new boots out on the steppe on a nice, long hike last weekend [photos included in the slideshow]

I'm in finals week right now- working to end 'Intercultural Communication - Spring 2009' with flair. The final exam includes information about Mel Brooks, Weezer, West Side Story, and other fabulous little cultural media that were conveniently hiding on my hard drive, and I think my students had a good semester on the whole. The colleagues I've been working with have also been troopers, going with the flow when I wanted to try out some wacky methods [like making a scoring rubric to grade the oral exams].

Am I going to post again before I leave on June 1st? I want to say yes, but let's be honest. I might not. So I will leave you with some highlights to look forward to in the next post: tentatively called '3 Peaks & Oman debrief.'

-Will we climb the 3 highest peaks in the UK in 24 hours? Will the perilous 'loose shale' and 'gale force winds' the preparation guide warns of get the best of us? And does it really even matter, since it's just an awesome chance for 3 sisters to get together and do something crazy?

-Will I rock the hijab in Oman? Or maybe go with a tasteful sari? Will we swim with the sea turtles? Do they even exist? Once again, I have a feeling it won't matter since this is going to be hands down, the coolest trip I've ever been on.

-Also stay tuned for the final tally: How many 30 Rock jokes can Melanie and Christina crack in the period of 24 hours, and how much will it annoy the rest of our team?

Vremya pakazhet. Or, as my host brother Adilet says: Only ze time will tell.

We're still working on our fundraising goal, so if you haven't checked out our web page, go have a look:

http://www.justgiving.com/IHikeForAKaz

The 3 Peaks Challenge kicks off about a year long project that will end in Melanie and I designing a similar event in the mountains above Almaty next summer. The inspiration for our making this trip to the UK is the incredible work that the Ubuntu Education Fund is doing in South Africa, and we're hoping to learn from them and from the 3 Peaks to make a similar difference for forward-thinking nonprofit organizations here in K-Stan. Anything you can give helps, even $5, and it's easy to donate online.

Big hug

Christina

Spring

Sorry to tease you with the promise of a delightful, new posting, but I just have time to quickly document that it is now Spring. I walked to this cafe from the university WITHOUT A COAT. Which is a first in about 5 and a half months. That's me- avid lover of all things outdoorsey, worshipper of the sun, and huge aficionada of parks and park-related activities such as laying in the park, reading in the park, and playing frisbee. In the park. Condemned to winter clothing and subject to the wrath of all my colleagues should I spend so much as 5 minutes outside, FOR FIVE AND A HALF MONTHS. What were you doing in November? What have you done since then? OK, now picture all of that, with a huge coat and fur boots on, and a numb face. 5 and a half months.

And now, Spring.


On another note- now I can finally train for the hike in June somewhere other than the stairwell of my 9 story soviet-project apartment building. (My neighbors were so weirded out). In June I, my sister Angelina, maybe my sister Sophia, and my friend Melanie will hike the 3 Peaks Challenge- the 3 tallest mountains in the UK during a 24-hour period. The event raises money for a great nonprofit organization in South Africa. If you have an extra dollar or two laying around, we have a lofty fundraising goal that we'd love for you to help out with. Check out the fundraising site at: http://www.justgiving.com/ihikeforakaz


http://www.justgiving.com/ihikeforakaz

I'm alive.

I must be in some kind of time warp or something because it turns out that it’s mid-March and I haven’t posted since January!

To the worriers: Sorry. It got away from me, as things do. I think: “Oh I’ll do it when I have a good solid couple of hours to really write a good one…” but then who has a good solid couple of hours to sit and write?! It’s not like I’m in the Peace Corps or something, people. [mental slap on the wrist: I should write more.]

So here it is. Long belated, and I’d like to think, long awaited. An update. The question is- how to approach such a massive amount of material? Surely you didn’t log on expecting to read a novel, especially considering my recent track record of nonposting.

I recall leaving my last posting on an optimistic note: February was going to be a good month. And actually, it was. February brought an unexpected (glorious but brief) warm spell, the discovery that I’m a total natural at ice skating, and last but not least, a visit from Steffen. My first visitor to Kazakhstan! It was really something to have somebody from home come here and have all the reactions and first impressions that I had back in Almaty. It turns out that I must have adapted to the culture a little bit, because it was interesting to be strolling down the street [or as close to strolling as you can get when you’re walking on perilous ice] and watch him be surprised by things that have become normal to me. Such as: mass hocking of lugies in public, odd goods being sold at the bazaar, dead silence on the bus, and the fact that when you go somewhere as a guest, everybody’s life goal is to make you eat more than is humanly possible.

[FYI: Despite a few close calls, I have not, as of yet, had any shoes fall victim to the lugie hocking. If everybody reading this could now knock on wood…that would be grrreat.]

But there’s so much to tell, so I’ll leave it to bullet points:

-It was a really great couple of weeks, and what PC volunteer gets to actually go on a Valentine’s date with anybody other than creepy-local-guy?? Lucky lucky girl I am.

-My classes are fantastic. At first the students thought they were signed up to passively hear me talk about American culture, but noooo. They’re looking at how values and beliefs influence behavior, language, and customs! They’re reflecting on their own culture! They’re analyzing movies and pop music! Questioning their stereotypes! I love my work.

-My colleagues are also great. There are 14 teachers in my department and by now I’m pretty good buddies with most of them. Went to a concert with Zhanna last night and heard some really good traditional music. They had little tiny cellos that sit in the lap. Sophia can you play your cello on you lap? You should probably try and send me photos. From your iPhone. Grrr.

-Smartest and most annoying piece of marketing ever: The message “Sent from my iPhone” that accompanies every single piece of correspondence that is, well, sent from an iPhone. I get it, you have an iPhone.

-It’s still winter. I fell on the ice. I don’t like winter anymore.

-I’m going to Almaty on Friday for a big conference. It’s a two day train ride- did I mention Kazakhstan is huge? Go look at a map. All my pals from training will be there, and I’ll probably get to see my Almaty fam, so stay tuned

-Stopping in Shymkent for a couple of days to take in the celebration of Nauryz, the Kazakh New Year. There will be yurts, vats and vats of the traditional seven-ingredient-dish (that’s what it’s called…not sure what the 7 ingredients are but I’m just going to eat it and then ask), and a much-celebrated game called kokpar, where dozens of men on horseback fight over the headless carcass of a freshly sacrificed goat (maybe one of the ingredients?). Also advertised is a dance contest. Which I am going to win, with my secret weapon dance move. The move that wows locals every time I find myself in the “this-is-the-cheesiest-music-I’ve-ever-heard-but-it’s-going-to-be-a-long-awkward-night-if-I-don’t-dance” situation: The Cast Out The Line and Reel In The Fish. This baby won me some sweet prizes at the university’s Rector’s Ball during New Years, and there’s no way it’s going to fail me on Nauryz. I don’t know how this one didn’t make it under the curtain earlier, but as far as people around here are concerned, I invented it.

-(I’m so bad at bullet points)

-I found a killer flat that - knock on wood - I will move into next month. Details to follow when knocking on wood is no longer necessary.

-I went to a village, Kandagash, and was presented with my first chapan. Chapan: velvet garment embroidered with traditional pattern, traditionally presented to honored guests. The women’s is like a long vest, and the men’s is a big long robe with a matching hat [kind of Mongol-looking, but don’t tell anybody that, because it’s Kazakh.] When Stef was here, he was presented with a chapan…and I’m not gonna lie- I was jealous.

-But apparently I was an honored guest in Kandagash, so booya.

-I just booked flights for my summer travel.

In short: Aktobe-Almaty-[Istanbul]-London-Edinburg-London-[Bahrain]-Muscat-Salalah-Muscat-Dubai-Almaty-Aktobe.

-I’m: EXCITED. Stay tuned for the UK plans. I’m going to see my mom and sisters!!!!!! Also going for a little adventure. It’s called the 3 Peaks Challenge. 3 tallest mountains in the UK, climbed in 24 hours to raise money for AIDS education in the township that the Peace Corps originally invited me to in South Africa. Randomly, run by an NGO whose director is Mel’s friend, so we’re going out there together. Can. Not. Wait.

-Love, CB

The village of Shalkar

Visiting Shalkar was a really cool trip. It's a village about 7 hours south of Aktobe- my host family's hometown of sorts. {Most of my host family still lives there actually} Where to even start.

I went to Shalkar because: the university was on break, I visited the school there and gave a seminar to the teachers, I wanted to get to know my host family better, and I have been itching to get out of the city. Don't get me wrong, it's great to live here and take showers, and sit here and write my blog at the cafe...but it's not exactly what I had in mind when I signed up for the Peace Corps, you know what I mean? You do.

To be totally honest...my two greatest motivations for going were also that they have snowmobiles (!) and a ton of camels (!!) . And if that wasn't enough there was talk of ice fishing. Icing on the cake! {If you can't tell if I'm being sarcastic or not: I'm pretending to be, but actually I did want to ice fish} [They look like they're having so much fun on Grumpier Old Men] (Don't judge me)

Ha ha, anyway. So when I got there with my host bro and cousin around midnight, we were met with a huge platter of beshbarmak (#1 local dish- see photo...I'm holding back commenting here for the sake of diplomacy) and the news that in 3 days we would be hosting 35 guests to commemorate the anniversary of a relative's death. Thus began a 3 day blur of preparation, a day of feasting, and 2 days of recovery. With many trips to visit the camels, play with their 5 dogs, and meet with English teachers at the school, interspersed throughout. Hopefully this slideshow works. If you click on it, you should get to a site where the photos have captions. Enjoy!




FYI, my last post, while sincere, was a shameless plea for more comments on my blog. I try to play it cool, but it's true. I live for your comments, and I check them every time the internet powers-that-be let me. It's been 5 months...I miss people.

Good luck NICOLE ! ! !

Nicole - Good luck on COMPS! I got no worries, sista.

and, while I'm at it...

Dad & Janice - can't wait for your package!

Man & Jan - I'm so happy to be back in contact, I missed y'all

Stef - Get over here already! almost 2 weeks!

Jenna & the City - keep the blogs coming.

Aims - Come on you know you want to visit Kazakhstan and see what all the hype's about...

Eliza - Keep swimming. I'm so looking forward to March

Angel & Trav - Cheerio! [Next time we talk maybe you'll say that?] [That was a request]

Greer, Meg, Natalie, Sofya, Pinar, Claire, etc...I MISS YOU. Thursdays at the Duck without me are not the same, I'm sure. Right?!?!

and Mom, Sophia, Pat, Grandma, M&M, Nonni, Gio, Jeff, and Bryan...I just plain love you guys.


Uh oh, now it's not comprehensive enough to have included everybody...but so comprehensive that it'll be obvious if I left somebody out. I'm stopping now because I have a meeting at the univ...but know this! If you care enough to be reading this...I probably have a similar thought for you as the ones above and am just too scatterbrained to think of it right now. xoxo