From 9/7

As stressful and annoying as the previous week had been, yesterday (Saturday) made up for it. We had our first field trip to Almaty, the busiest city in Kaz. Almaty was where we first landed in country and where we stayed for two nights for cultural entry. However, due to a lack of sleep and stress I didn’t get an accurate portrait of the city. It is by far the busiest and most populated city in Kaz and is not too much different than New York City in activity. Almaty actually even means “apple” in Kazakh, but this appellation is even more deserving than our “Big Apple” as the region used to be known for the delicious apples it was famous for producing. Years of pollution and a shift in focus from agriculture to commerce has diminished the importance of apple production in and around the city. I can’t imagine that the apples from old Almaty could be even more delicious than the amazing apples that I have had everywhere else here, but the locals assure me that they were the best apples in the world.
Anyway, we had our first Kazakh language class on Saturday morning. The town has been buzzing for two days because on Friday, the big 4 story market in our town caught on fire and from what I heard two people died. It is actually pretty spooky because my friend Sagar and I had gone to the market the day before so that he could buy a pair of hair clippers so we could get haircuts without having to speak Russian. Good thing he got the clippers the day before, because I don’t know when the store will reopen… talk about a fire sale. After a couple of hours of Kazakh language we left to go to Almaty where we had to take a crazy bus taxi and then an autobus or two in the city to arrive at the PC headquarters. I probably can’t describe the headquarters in much detail, but it is basically a slice of America in the midst of everything exotic. There was high speed internet and most importantly a volunteer-run LIBRARY!!!!!! So I was able to replace the four books I have finished with “Even Cowgirls get the Blues,” “The Sound and the Fury,” “Tortilla Flat,” (Oh sweet and glorious Steinbeck!) and Dostoevsky’s “Notes from the Underground/The Double.” The library was much better than I expected and it will be used to the utmost.
Also, I got to see about every person that I had been really missing since staging and our separation to other cities. More specifically I saw AC and Jenn with whom I had gotten really close in the airport in Frankfurt and beyond. The two of them were placed in the same city and I was really bummed to be separated from them, but they hadn’t forgotten about me. They said that they had been thinking about me and talked about me often and were also bummed that I was not in their town. They got cell phones in Almaty and if all goes well we are scheduled to meet in my town today and hang out. Now that we are able to communicate and are allowed to leave our cities, we are going to try to see each other on Sundays. It really raised my spirits to see them and to know they were thinking about me. We were split up pretty quickly after our reunion, but we are at least able to get in touch now.
Shortly after their group left, another group arrived at HQ and I got to complete the reunion with my other friends I had been missing. Almaty reentry was really the most necessary activity that has been planned, and I think it renewed all of our spirits. Our group left after the second brief reunion and we went to the mosque (which was beautiful… I don’t think I’ve actually been to a mosque) which was built in 1999 on orders from the president Nazerbayev and has a huge two tone crystal chandelier that he gave as a present. It must have cost millions of dollars. I took pictures, but I don’t really have enough a computer fast enough to upload them, so I will have to figure something out. After the mosque I ate at a traditional Kaz restaurant where I had plov. It was good, but not nearly as delicious as the kind my host mom makes. They also had manti there. Manti is a steamed meat dumpling that is a traditional Kazakh dish. It is also a close race between it and plov as my favorite Kaz dish. When my host mom made it the other night she secretly put hot peppers in about 3/50 manti dumplings. I was lucky enough to not get the peppers, but when Tima and Saniya bit into one and started screaming, mom sweetly says “Surprise!” I laughed harder than I have laughed in the past month. Evidently this is common practice in the manti ritual and I heard that sometimes they are filled with sugar and even a lump of charcoal sometimes. I wish we did more things like this in America. Sans peppers I can eat about 10-12 of those dumplings in a sitting. They are so tasty.
After the mosque we went to the green bazaar which is huge a crowded. We walked around there for awhile and I saw this sweet soviet jumpsuit that had the hammer and sickle on the front and CCCP (which is SSSR in Cyrillic) on the back, but it was about 80 bucks and I don’t really know when or where I would be able to wear it without fearing for my safety. It looked cool though. After the bazaar we went to a Russian Orth church which was beautiful as well, and had this amazing Soviet war memorial in the park next to it. The statues we amazing and they commemorated the defense of Moscow from the Germans. The design is much different from American statues (which can really be said about all Soviet design) and it was really incredible to look at. A lot of people go there after they get married to take pictures and so we saw a lot of brides and grooms. It was pretty surreal and was the first breathtaking manmade display I have seen in Kaz. The mountains near the house are a constant wonder, but there are not many incredible constructed sites in my city other than an interesting statue of a bear. The trip back home from Almaty was a sleep blur, but it was weird getting in at night. I realized I have never been out at night because I am afraid of getting mugged or something. Once I am home I am usually home for the night, but it was nice to see the lights and nightlife of the town. Luckily my language teacher’s husband drove me home so I didn’t have to walk to the two miles or so back to my place. All in all it was an amazing day that was much needed as I am sure next week will take it all out of me again. But I have to cut this one short as I got word my friends are indeed coming into town soon and I have to get ready. Commence another good day.
Yours Drewly.