Heatin’ Up!

With weeks of moderate temperatures (read anything above -5*F), I hardly know what to do with myself. And things are heating up not only in regard to weather, but my schedule as well. On Monday, though, I taught only one lesson. Why? It was “Emergency Day”. “What’s the emergency?” I asked my counterpart. She kindly explained that this is a day for them to practice exiting the building quickly in case of a fire. So students have only three lessons before a fire drill, after which they go home. (Maybe they can’t get them back in the building??) I vaguely remember loathing fire drills. Probably because it cut into my recess time, rather than being yet another day off that won’t ever be made up, as it is here. But oh, we’re embracing the wonders of life in Kazakhstan. Yep, like a big bear hug, where the line between wrestling and hugging is mostly indistinguishable.

But before you go getting the wrong idea, I’ve gotta say, the last few weeks have been quite enjoyable. Without further ado, some highlights:

Trip to Balkhash
Over Valentine’s Day, I made my first solo train trip! With tickets in hand, I found my way to the waiting room at the train station, convinced I would not be able to distinguish any words that blasted over the loudspeaker. See, that’s the only cue I’ve figured out – there’s a garbled announcement when a train has arrived and is now boarding. I can rarely make out such announcements in English. How in the world could I hope to understand anything in Russian?!

I found a seat, dug out some snacks, and glanced often at my watch. And then… over the loudspeaker… “starting…” “606…” “Karaganda to Balkhash”. I heard it! I understood some of it! Oh yeah! Delighted, I joined the mass that I could have instead used for my cue, and waited in the cold to board the train. The trip proceeded without incident, with the ride to Balkhash bringing many questions from nearby passengers.

In Balkhash, I joined another Kaz-21 and then we met up with a Kaz-20. A wonderful time of relaxation. I enjoyed seeing yet another piece of this huge country; the same, yet unique in its own right. Being on a huge lake (Lake Balkhash), we hear it’s a wonderful place to go in the summer. I’ll see what I can do to find out.

To make the trip back by train, I had one option: leave about 7:00pm and arrive in Karaganda around 6:30am. Karaganda is an hour bus ride from Shakhtinsk, and my first class starts at 8:30am. I figured, heck, I can manage this. I’ll be cutting it close, but totally doable. To the chagrin of other passengers, I hogged the train bathroom to don my teaching outfit, now ready to go straight to school, if need be. We rolled into Karaganda around 6:40am. I hustled over to the bus station, and after clearing up some confusion, found a place to buy a ticket for a bus ride to Shakhtinsk. That bus pulled out around 7:15am. Yep, that means I got to town 15 minutes before the starting bell.

As any business-minded person would guess, taxis are waiting at the bus stop, ready to whisk people to different parts of town. For 200 Tenge, they’ll take you to a specific address. Usually I say “School #1” because it’s on a main road very close to my house. But this day, that’s precisely where I needed to be. The driver, having placed my backpack and duffel bag in the trunk, asked again, expecting a home address near the school. In my fine Russian, I replied, “I teacher. I late.”

Upon arrival, I rushed to the teacher’s room, dropped off my luggage, and heard the bell ring. So close! I scampered up to my room, expecting a room full of 8th graders. But I found only my counterpart, patiently waiting. Ah! The all-school meeting they have each Monday morning! Whew! Saved by the extra 15 minutes this took, I was prepared just in time to set the week in motion.

Taxis
Now I’ll return for a minute for this issue of taxis, realizing the beauty of the system they’ve got going over here – especially in Shakhtinsk. Taxi “businesses” abound in this town. So, unlike other places where you may rely on gypsy cabs (let’s call that hitchhiking), these taxis at least have signs. Sure, it’s more like the sign the high-school boy puts on his car to deliver Domino’s pizza, but at least it’s something. So, if I want to splurge and pay for a ride to, say, the post office, I can go to the main road near my house and wait for a taxi to drive by. That’ll be a whopping 40 Tenge (27 cents). And this gives me a ride that’s like a never ending carpool. The driver is constantly picking up people and dropping them off along the main roads, making up the route as he goes. So I won’t go directly to the post office, but I’ll get there soon enough.

Sometimes these are quiet rides. Other times, like when saliva is dripping off the bottom lip of the tipsy Kazakh man sitting shotgun, I get to answer more questions. (I prefer the quiet rides.) To guarantee a ride absent of drunken passengers, I can call a taxi or go to one of their main locations. There, I can pay 200 Tenge ($1.33) and be taken straight to my chosen destination. As someone who prefers walking 20 minutes rather than spending 27 cents on a taxi, there’s a slight possibility U.S. prices will be a shock to my system.

What will you give me today, Kazakhstan?
Over a month ago, my regional manager visited my site to check in on me, my school, and my host family. During her visit, she mentioned the possibility of encouraging organizations in the area to apply for a Youth Development (YD) Peace Corps Volunteer. She envisioned my counterpart and I visiting an organization (or maybe 2), and then inviting a nearby YD PCV to check it out, with her knowledge of this new PC program. Sounds simple enough. Check out a couple places, relay some information about Peace Corps work, and assist with an application for a volunteer, if it seems like a good fit.

I reminded my counterpart of this, who in turn consulted our school director. Instead of the proposed low-key visit, she planned to meet with someone at the local Akimat (read City Hall). Then the plan was a meeting with various leaders in the area. In the end, a round table discussion was arranged at my school. Being the rock star she is, my school director organized a round table discussion with 15 leaders from this area plus a local news reporter.

At 9:30am, we bunched around tables arranged in a square, each set with a plate of pastries, a plate of candy, and two teacups on saucers. Two young English teachers made fine servers, pouring tea and watching how few people ate any food. As for the round table discussion, it proceeded in typical KZ fashion, beginning with many monologues during which everyone spoke about themselves, their family, their hobbies, and, oh, maybe a mention of their title of employment. KZ rule of thumb: socialize first, business later. Thus, an hour and a half had elapsed before we had coaxed out concrete descriptions of two (of the six or seven) organizations represented. Elena, the YD PCV who came over for the meeting, mused about how long the meeting might have gone if we hadn’t drawn things to a close in an effort to continue with the working day. Somehow… miraculously, work is accomplished here …I think.

No news yet on results of the meeting. If any of the organizations applied for a PC Volunteer, there is the possibility a volunteer would join me this coming November, working somehow with the youth in the area. Time will tell!

Where does the time go??
As I mentioned, my schedule has certainly been filling up. Currently, I teach somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 classes each week. Within those lessons, I work with three different teachers. Not bad. But when you add the out-of-class activities I have been leading, I want to bury my head under my pillow. How can it be, that in a place still largely unfamiliar, I can still stuff my days to the gills? Busyness is a disease that seems to have followed me on my journey thousands of miles from home.

I’m running two English Clubs – one for 4th-6th grade and one for 7th-8th grade. The 7th-8th crowd is a bit easier to manage, with the English level of all participants being more comparable. Within the 4th-6th grade, I have adorable girls who speak next to no English, and other students who are quick as a whip, impressing me with their knowledge at such a young age.

I also gather together with English teachers once a week. Sort of mini-trainings. I have brought different games, which we play and discuss. How can we modify this game for young kids? Older kids? I enjoy this time and see that as having longer-lasting benefits. Help these teachers fine-tune their teaching methods, and the benefits will reach many more children than I could hope to reach.

Finally, I spend extra time with a handful of students. I meet one-on-one with an 11th grade girl, and then with 4 or 5 seventh and eighth grade girls. The 7th and 8th graders are preparing for the FLEX competition, which provides students from former Soviet countries with the opportunity to study in a U.S. high school for one academic year. My focus right now is developing their writing skills – something that seems to be lacking in their current education.

A Wonderful Discovery
And… I have uncovered a gem! I found a place to join adults playing volleyball! First I joined the P.E. class at my school. Upon seeing that I have played a fair amount of volleyball, the instructor invited me to go with her to a place where, “people can actually play”. Lol! The plan: wait near the mosque at 5:30pm on Wednesday. This being KZ, I proceeded to the mosque near 5:30pm, not having any other information. No phone number, no knowledge of what would happen next. I blindly trusted that it’d work out, and sure enough, after waiting about 10 minutes, I heard someone yell my name. I hopped in a car with Nastya, the P.E. teacher, and her boyfriend. A short ride later, we got to another school in town, where more men than women had gathered to play. Even with my chock-full schedule in mind, how could I pass up volleyball with funny old Kazakhstani men?

Only the beginning…
More stories continue to float around in my head, both from recent experiences and upcoming events. Next Monday is International Women’s Day. You silly folks in the U.S. may say, “Huh?” But here, this is huge! Friday the teachers will celebrate at a café. Saturday there’s a concert. And Monday… get excited… no school! Go Women’s Day! So if I haven’t lost you yet, check back to see if I can milk any stories from the upcoming weekend! And spread the good news of this wonderful holiday to the women in your lives!