So long, Old Man Winter!

I can see the ground again. After the longest and coldest winter of my life, signs of spring are in abundance in Aksu. My mood has improved greatly and I’m just enjoying life. It’s amazing what warm weather and sunshine can do to make things better.

At the end of March the students have a break from classes. A break for the students means it’s a good time for training for PCVs. So I had a date with destiny in Almaty. But before going to Almaty for a week, I decided to join several other volunteers in Shymkent to celebrate Nauryz, the traditional Kazakh and Muslim New Year.

Getting to Shymkent was accomplished by spending three days and two nights on a train. For the first time, I rode platzcart instead of coupe. Platzcart is the cheapest way to travel by train. It’s an open car that houses quite a few people. One side of the car has two sets of bunks that flank a table. These beds are perpendicular to the train. On the other side of aisle is one set of bunks that runs parallel to the train. The bottom bunk converts into two chairs and a table. This configuration continues for the duration of the car, except for the ends, which have toilets and conductor cabins. Coupe, on the other hand, has cabins with locking doors that contain two sets of bunks. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, but I felt like platz would be an adventure.

When my trainmates and I arrived in Shymkent, we took our bags to the apartments the local volunteers had rented for the visitors to share over the weekend. After dropping the bags, we caught a taxi to Turkestan to meet with the other volunteers on the cultural tour. We wanted to go to Otrar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but our cabbie didn’t know how to get there, so we just ended up in Turkestan. Unfortunately, the bus went to Otrar first…so we waited. But we had shashlik so it was OK.

Once the rest of the group caught up with us we toured the mausoleum in Turkestan. It’s supposed to be the holiest Islamic site in the country, and it also has one of the largest domes, I believe. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside, but I tried to get plenty of exterior shots. Some were pretty decent. It was an amazing structure and a great cultural experience. Check out my flickr photostream for the goods.

Before entering, I went to a toilet building that was nearby. Inside I noticed that it was set up for the ritual washing that Muslims are required to do before prayer. I’ve learned how to do the ablutions, and I thought that it would be respectful to do them before entering this holy site. I wasn’t alone in the building, though. You should have seen the looks I got! At first the men were confused, then many of them started asking me questions in English. Later I realized that they must have thought I was Muslim and wanted to know how long I had been studying Islam. I told them since December, which was when I had first been to our local mosque with a co-worker. Technically, I suppose I have been studying the practices of the religion, though I haven’t actually converted. It’s a fascinating religion with myriad tradition and ritual, and the more I learn about it the more I learn about the Kazakh people.

When we returned to Shymkent we all went out for the evening. It was a good time, though there were several fights at the club. Fortunately the fights were all between locals. Usually one of us would grin and say “Texas” after things cleared up. A lot of Kazakhs call Shymkent Texas because they say it’s like the Wild West.

The next day was Nauryz proper. I headed to the hippodrome to watch traditional Kazakh games. It rained, which was kind of a bummer, but it definitely made kokpar more interesting to watch! Kokpar, as I believe I may have mentioned in a previous post, is an equestrian game that might best be described as goat carcass polo. The kokpar, as I understand, is the game ball. The game ball is a goat carcass that has been relieved of its head and hooves. It’s violent, fast-paced and fascinating. The other games were fun to watch as well, but kokpar was something special.

After that, another volunteer and I took the overnight bus to Almaty. Some other volunteers booked seats on a sleeper bus. If I ever do an overnight bus again, I want the sleeper. Sitting in a cramped seat for 12 hours on a hot bus was one of the most miserable experiences of my life. The headrest wasn’t high enough for me to comfortable rest my head, so it was a long, brutal night. Not to mention that Kazakhstan’s roads aren’t always the best. There were times when I was fairly certain we were driving across a bombing range because the potholes were so numerous and deep. Trains are definitely better, even if they’re slower.  The tracks are much less bumpy than the washboards that seem to pass for roads here.

The payoff was that I got an extra day to go visit my PST host family. From the Peace Corps office, I got a minibus to Altyn Orda, one of the transfer points to Shemalgan. It was an adventure. There was a man passed out in the middle of the front seat. I had to push him over to sit down. The driver knew him and tried to get him up and out when his stop came, but the guy was just too far gone. He ended up going all the way to Altyn Orda with us. Toward the end he stopped leaning on the window and started leaning on me. I’m fairly certain everyone in the bus was having a good laugh about that. When we finally arrived and I stood up to get off, I had to do it carefully so the poor guy didn’t fall in the floor!

Then it was off to my first home in Kazakhstan. I’d told my host sister that I was coming to visit, but never gave her a time. I got off at the bazaar and bought some fruit and then took a taxi to the house. The driver took a turn I would have never taken, but it was a turn for the best. We drove right past my host dad! We stopped and he got in and rode back with me. When we got to the house he ran in and yelled to my host mom that Baurzhan was home. She came around the corner with her hands over her mouth and I swear I thought she was going to cry.

My host sister was visiting a friend, and my host brother was working. Although I got to see my sister, my host brother didn’t make it back before I left. I did, however, meet his new wife! She was super nice and absolutely beautiful. Erzat landed quite a catch! We sat around and chatted, ate dinner, showed pictures from Nauryz and just had a good time. Between Shymkent and the host family I was really feeling great about my Kazakh.

In Shymkent, Kazakh is spoken much more than Russian and we Kazakh speakers really got to show our stuff. My host family told me how great I was doing in Kazakh and how I wasn’t struggling for words as much and was much smoother in my speaking. In fact, I hardly spoke any English the whole time I was there.

Then it was back to Almaty for the Volunteer Action Committee and check-in to our hotel for training. The training was good, and it was great to catch up with all my friends from PST. Plus I got the chance to get some of the other 20s a little better. This time we were all a little bit more relaxed and most of us had a party every night. Good times, little sleep.

Now I’m back at site with renewed energy and elevated spirits. I don’t know what the future holds, but I think I can do some good while I’m here. I guess I’ve already been doing some good for seven months, but now maybe I can add some extra value to it.