Merry Christmas!!
“Walkin’ in a Winter Wonderland…”
No, I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth, I’ve just been, well, living in Kaz I suppose. Today’s Christmas, so I thought it appropriate to get some thoughts down.
The first of two Christmas’s I can expect to spend here in the frozen tundra has not been too bad. I didn’t work today, as Pragma celebrates both US and Kaz holidays, and I don’t teach on Wednesdays. I had a few gifts sitting in the corner for a couple weeks, compliments of my brother Mike, sister Kathy and my parents. I have to admit I opened a couple early, because I knew they were DVDs, and I was dying for a new movie. By the way Mike, thanks for 61*, it brought me back to Yankee Stadium, but I suppose you knew it would.
So I spent the day alone, but before you feel sorry for me, please don’t. First of all, they don’t celebrate Christmas here, so there were limited options. Second, Christmas to me is a family affair, so I wouldn’t feel comfortable being with strangers. Third, I need some downtime from the locals, and finally, I am enjoying reflecting on how lucky I am to have this tradition, after spending the week talking to my students who have no concept of this day. I just put on some holiday music, made some coffee, and opened my gifts, slowly. I talked to a couple other volunteers on the phone, and also my cousin Jerry, who called me after he put together a tricycle for his boy Jack on Christmas Eve (Christmas morning my time). For Kathy, I’m burning that scented candle as I type this, and believe me, this little place could use a bit of nice aroma, so good call J
It is so strange being in a place that doesn’t celebrate
Christmas, or any religious holiday for that matter. Since religion was outlawed by the
The town is getting ready for their largest holiday, NYE, which they celebrate for like a week. The center of the town has an elaborate ice sculpture and a huge decorated pine tree. I really need to get a couple pictures of this for the site, its impressive. I won’t be here for NYE as I’m headed to Astana, but its going to be a blowout apparently. I think they may even have a bit of vodka, that’ll be a switch.
My attitude of late has been pretty negative, but I’m thinking it’s a natural progression. Some things are starting to wear on me, like the total lack of customer service anywhere, the inefficiencies (I open my windows to cool the place down, since the heat is central and unchangeable), especially at the post office (aarrgh!). Most of my problems arise from a lack of language skills, and I get frustrated that I will never learn this language. I’m sick of the drivers devoid of skill or manners, I’m sick of the cold and falling down all the time. See, the side roads aren’t really plowed, the snow is just packed down, so now all the roads are basically sheets of packed snow, very treacherous. Probably the biggest reason for my attitude problem is Megan’s departure almost a month ago (wow). As you might have inferred, Megan was more than a simple site-mate to me, we were pretty close, so I’m a bit lost without her here. She basically led me around, hooked me up with the social scene, helped me with the post office, helped me pay my phone bill, all those important things. Her Russian is excellent, so I didn’t have the issues I have now. I feel like my Peace Corps experience is starting all over now. I’m sure it’ll pass once I get used to it, but right now it’s a bit difficult.
Plus I don’t know what to do with the radio show. Right now I’m calling it “The Andrew Bez Megan Show”, bez meaning “without”. Not exactly a great title, I know. I’ve had guest DJs with me since Megan left, random local females that speak a bit of English. I’ll figure it out after the new year.
Here’s something morbid yet interesting. A local woman’s husband (I’m trying to maintain privacy for her, I know her very well) was found frozen to death last Friday, apparently passed out in his garage and never woke up. On Christmas Eve I found myself eating those three dishes, more vodka shots. The irony is that the man was an alcoholic, so naturally we celebrate his life with shots of vodka. Oy.
What else is interesting…work has been going ok, I’ve been consulting with a few companies. Funny thing is, they all have these random business ventures going, with no real thought of what they want to be when they grow up. Two of my clients are building these sauna operations, where there’s a small pool, a steam room, a pool table, a room with a bed. Personally I think they’re just houses of ill repute, but what do I know. Teaching is rolling along, but I think I found out the answer to a question I’ve always had: I don’t like teaching, at least at the high school level. I don’t really look forward to it, because it takes constant energy from me to keep their attention, and it drains me. I just can’t take people not caring, and I know a good teacher instills caring. I have newfound respect for my old teachers. My best student just moved to Russia to finish out his high school there, so he can attend a good university more cheaply. I’m bummed, he was the most active in the class. Now I’ll just stand up there and mutter “Beuler, Beuler” for forty minutes until the bell rings (that’s a movie reference for those scratching their heads right now). I did bring Christmas music in yesterday and played it during my lesson, just because.
Oh, I have a cook now (sshh, not the PC way, I know). I pay a university student 3000 tenge ($20) a month to cook me food a couple times a week. Yesterday she fried up some hotdogs, boiled some rice and opened a can of corn, without heating it. I smiled thinking “hmm, I could do this, in fact, its making meals like this that caused me to look for a cook”. She’s made other good dishes, so its not all bad. I figure I’ll do this for a couple months, till I get a handle on what she’s cooking then venture out on my own.
Sunday I leave for Astana via train. I’m traveling with another volunteer, Kristen, who’s in a town about 3 hours northeast of me. Its about 30 hours, but its because the train doesn’t go straight there. All the train lines run north/south from Soviet times (the grand plan I guess), so its hard to get east/west. I’ll be there for a few days, returning Saturday. I’m very much looking forward to getting away for a couple days, and it’ll be good to see a few other volunteers I haven’t seen since August.
Weather update, we have about a foot of snow, it’s often dark and dreary, snowing lightly, heavily, for days, but some days are bright and crisp, and the wind isn’t much different than in the States right now. The temperature swings between -15 and -30 C, which I don’t know in Fahrenheit, I just know its cold and getting colder. They say this is tame, and that in a month winter will really be here. Looking forward to that.
I wanted to thank Megan’s mom for calling the radio show last week, that was a nice gesture. I also want to thank my brother Mike for the cool DVDs, shirts and snacks. If anyone needs lessons on what to send someone overseas, talk to Mike! Oh and there’s a party on my feet today as well, thanks to these comfy socks compliments of my sister Kathy!
I hope you all had a great Christmas and will have a fun and safe New Year. I’ll fill you in on the Astana adventure in January.
Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas to All,
Kazman