Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Day 2 in Almaty: Kok-Tobe Cable Car




Monday we decided to take the Kok-Tobe Cable Car. It's a cable car that takes you up a very large hill on the edge of Almaty. The ride up is fantastic, as we watched the city get distant, and the houses beneath us. There were plenty of unfinished houses and plenty of shacks, crammed into tiny spaces on the steep hill with few roads (some dirt paths).

At the top of the hill we could see the city--now I realize that it is much larger than Astana, with many tall buildings. The city was in a haze, however, which I've heard is most of time time.

And in front of us--to the south--were the mountains. Again, they were in a haze.

As the day went on, the sky became clearer, and the mountains more breath-taking. Sharp, jagged, snow-covered peaks that went on seemingly for forever. The tallest peaks seemed to arise out of the sky, especially when it was hazy; I had to squint and double-check--was I seeing mountains, or just clouds?

So behind us was the city, in front of us the mountains, and to our sides rolling hills, spotted with houses. The hill we were on was immense, and we had a lot of walking in front of us.

There were several restaurants, a Beatles statue where we all posed for a picture, and a small zoo. Sophia loved the reindeer; there were also peacocks and majestically colored pheasants.

The grass at the top was green and well-tended to, but my favorite part was the un-tended slopes on the sides. They looked just like the mountains in South and North Carolina towards the end of fall. Sloping hills, mostly bare trees, dead leaves on the ground. I hadn't dressed for hiking, but I ran down the hill, high heels and all. Sophia and her friend enjoyed playing on the hillside. In the distance we could still see the snow-capped peaks.

Mostly we took pictures and basked in the shadow of the mountains. How glorious!

After, we took the cable car back down and walked the short distance to the Pizza Hut where we had eaten last year.

Then it was back home and to bed.

Sophia and her friend have been getting along amazingly this week so far, better than sisters, with very few and very short spats. Mostly, they hang out, talking and giggling and letting us adults be. Her friend's English is amazing, considering she's been taught by her mother and hasn't really had it in school, and Sophia is her only English-speaking friend. But every now and then she'll have to ask her mother for a word in English. Once the word was "trash", another time "war". You have to wonder what they're talking about!

They both are very much into imaginative play, and the language barrier seems to be no issue for them. They love to play with stuffed animals when they are inside; pretend they are riding horses when they are outside. They love to collect nuts--large acorns--outside; inside they like to draw and color. Sophia enjoys putting Russian-language movies for the two of them to watch on their computer.

Monday morning, R and I were woken up at 6 am by the most delighted-sounding, "Dobri utro!" ever ("good morning!") as R's daughter pranced into our room. R responded as I do when woken up that early, with a low growl and something like "go away." Luckily, this did not upset her child, and she and Sophia played quite happily together until we did feel like waking up.

A wonderful vacation for all!!

Day 1 in Almaty


We arrived in Almaty on Sunday morning and spent the morning getting to our new apartment and then showering and resting. We were tired after our train trip (more tired than after last year's train trip... but last year we arrived late in Almaty and so had been able to sleep in on the train.

We took a taxi to the apartment complex, where the landlady met us. She seemed very professional; she and a man who spoke a bit of English helped us up the four flights of steps to our apartment.

Our apartment--so cheap!--is large, with 2 large bedrooms and a living room. My friend R & I are sharing one bed; my coworker L and our new American friend are sharing another; and
Sophia & my friend's daughter are sharing the pull-out couch. We are three pairs of generations, all single women: two women in their sixties; two women in their thirties; and two girls under ten.

After showering and resting, R went to church (I was still un-showered by the time of the last Catholic Mass at noon). Around 5 pm we decided to head out to find something to eat.

We wandered a bit and R and I kept getting a feeling of deja-vu--had we been here last week? Almaty is a great city for those who love maps and cardinal directions--the streets are all parallel and perpendicular and run north-south and east-west--but not good for those who find their way via landmarks. Every street looks identical--large, about 4 lanes, sometimes one-way, large sidewalks for walking, ditches between the sidewalks and roads for drainage, trees, and several-story tall buildings. Pretty, but every block and street corner looks the same!!

We passed a few places that seemed OK, but finally settling on a restaurant called City Cafe (with City spelling in English and Cafe in Russian). It was a great choice! The food was delicious and not too expensive; I had lamb shashlyk (like a kebob), and Sophia was able to have her favorite--cheese pizza. The menu was in Russian, English, and Turkish, and some of the food was Turkish; they also served more local cuisine, such as "manty" (dough-like noodles) and Uzbek plov.

We had beer and dessert, and just a nice time relaxing. The girls let us chat--they sat at a different table and amused themselves. We walked home slowly, taking pictures along the way.

A great first day in Almaty!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Train Ride to Almaty


Saturday 27 - Sunday 28 November 2010

A big OSCE Summit is happening in Astana for a few days this week (1 and 2 December, maybe a few other days too) and the city has basically been shut down. At first it was going to be just for a few days--Tues - Thurs--this week that the city would be closed, schools closed, roads closed--I was told I couldn't even leave my apartment! I wasn't looking forward to this!

Then the government announced a couple weeks ago that the shut-down would last the entire week, Monday - Friday--school closed as well. Well, I didn't go anywhere over Fall Break, so this seemed like an excellent time to get out of Astana!

In the end, I don't think the shut-down is going to be as bad as I'd feared, although I think I live in the "Red District" where there are more restrictions, the main roads are closed for most of the day, and even the mall will be closed for most of the day. But Monday and Friday might not be so bad, and the other side of town has a lot more freedom.

But I'm still glad I took this opportunity to go somewhere!

My friend R, her daughter, my daughter, my co-worker L, and I all got tickets to take the train to Almaty and back. My assistant helped us find an apartment in the center, and last-minute, L met another American who was going to Almaty and needed a place to stay.

So now there are 6 of us in a very nice 2-bedroom (3 rooms with double beds--one's a pull-out couch) apartment in the center of Almaty. Paying about $25 a day for this. Very nice!!

Train tickets are really cheap too--I can't remember how much I paid, but I think it was well under $100 for round-trip tickets for Sophia and me. Because everyone wanted out of Astana, the train was getting booked, so we weren't able to get one whole room for us.

The train ride was 19 hours--it cost twice as much for the 12 hour train, which didn't seem worth it. Waiting for the bus, I was so nervous we'd be late. Bus 12 arrived, which I had thought would take us to the train station, I asked, however--"Vokzal?" and the bus attendant said no. But then he said, "Ya pomagu," which means "I'll help you," and he easily lifted up my huge, heavy suitcase and ushered us on the bus. He wouldn't let us pay, but explained (in Russian) that we would get off at the next bus stop and take 21 to the train station. He helped us get our luggage off, too. He was very nice, as was the bus attendant for bus 21, who confirmed that, yes, this bus goes to the train station, and he helped us with our stuff.

I love how friendly and kind the Kazakh people can be!

So we made it in plenty of time, before our train even! On the train, we were a bit separated--Sophia and I had the top bunks in one room, L and my friend's daughter had the top bunks in the room next to us, but R had a room in the neighboring car! We were hoping someone would be kind enough to switch with R!!!

Her daughter was crying, and I thought this was because she was worried that she wouldn't sleep with her mother. I kept reassuring her--L would go and sleep in the other car, so R could be with her daughter. But it turned out that she was crying because she wanted to sleep with Sophia and was worried that she would have to sleep in the other car with her mother!

The people in L's room said they could not switch places, they had to sleep on the bottom bunks. The people in my room did not show up until the Karaganda stop, so we had several hours with one room to ourselves. We relaxed, had tea and ate. The girls drove us crazy, going up the bunks (and needing help) and then changing their minds and coming down (and needing help) but they were so happy.

R asked a guy in the room next to us if he would switch with her--she explained her situation that her daughter was over here. He very rudely said no, what's the point in switching, she'll be running around anyways?

But at Karaganda, when R asked the guy who had the bunk under me, if he would switch, he said yes without hesitating!

While they were off in the other car making the switch, the other passenger--the one with the ticket to sleep under Sophia--arrived. He had a TON of stuff, perhaps the hugest bag I have ever seen, and he was a large man. I didn't think he would really want to switch and have to sleep on a top bunk. He was settled in by the time R returned, so we didn't bother asking him to switch. It would have been nice to have a room for ourselves!

As awkward as it was to share a room with a strange man, he was perhaps the best cabin-partner you can have. At dinnertime, he took out some chicken to offer to Sophia and her friend. He was very pleasant, let them sit on his bed to eat, smiled at them and talked to Sophia's friend some. If he minded how active and giggly they were, he never let on!

At nighttime, I was starting to fall asleep to the bumps and jolts of the train--I was the top bunk, having given the bottom bunk to Sophia. The top bunks have very tiny rails to prevent you from falling off, so Sophia was sleeping on the bottom. But now I was watching my friend's daughter. She had moved in her sleep and was now so close to the edge.

R came in; she was sleeping now in the room next to us and was worried about her daughter. We considered the different options--how to make sure the girl didn't fall off during the night? We agreed that I would sleep in the other room, and R might try to squeeze into the same bed as her daughter, or just sleep across from her and keep an eye on her.

Then, the man woke up and offered to switch beds with R's daughter!!! This huge man, recently sound asleep, waking up and offering to sleep on the pathetic top bunk so R could feel safer about her daughter! How incredibly kind!

No one slept too well, though, the train rocked quite a bit--L pointed out that were were near where the two cars attached, which must be why it rocked so much. L was next to the bathroom, and drunk guys kept throwing up all night.

But we did sleep, and in the morning the man offered oranges, rolls, and chocolate to the girls to eat. Really, he was so kind after putting up with two giggly girls for so long!! (They woke up early and played for quite some time before the rest of us awoke.)

Finally, we made it to Almaty. We thanked the man as best we could and dragged our lugage off the train.

The men here who offered to help with my luggage weren't just being kind--they were trying to make money! R had to ask how much--500 Tenge per bag--so we had to forcefully say no. Not much longer, a guy pretty much grabbed my large suitcase from me and wouldn't let go. R again had to talk to him--he promised he wouldn't charge much, but no! we said.

We had to go up some steep steps, a woman speaking good English kindly offered a hand then. Going down some steps, a man offered to help--he offered politely, and did not grab, and when we wearily asked if he would charge he laughed and said no, of course not. He helped, we said thanks, and off he went.

Some people are kind, some people are drunk, some people just want money...

Although the train was dirty and it lurched a lot, it still was a good experience. Drinking tea, good conversation... and now we are in Almaty! Former capital of Kazakhstan, a large city situated in the shadows of the mountains!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Karpatt

Saturday, 20 November 2010

So we saw the French band Karpatt last night.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karpatt
http://www.myspace.com/karpatt

Over the past two weeks, I've tried unsuccessfully to go to an event sponsored by the Alliance Francaise (they've had several recently), and it was nice to finally make an event.

It was at a fancy German restaurant called Tre Kronor, which is across the street from my apartment building. It started at 8; we arrived at 8:30. I went with Sophia and my friend R and her daughter.

The band was on a small stage, there was a small dance floor in front of them. The dance floor was already getting crowded (with women, no men dancing!) and the tables were all booked. Although it was a bit crowded, there was still plenty of room for us to push our way up front.

The band consists of four members--a drummer, a lead singer/guitarist, another singer and guitarist, and a bass player. They were very lively and very good with the audience. I strained my ears to listen to them when they spoke French, and was pleased that I understood some. The lead singer, Fred, spoke in English, too. An audience member came on-stage to translate what they said into Russian.

They were very good with the audience, sometimes coming onto the dance floor to dance with audience members. The lead singer saw my friend's daughter and improvised a song to her, "I love the little girl in the pink dress."

They had a routine about a fly--the bass player played his bass to sound like a fly while the two guitarists pretended to follow it around the room with their eyes. The lead singer pretended to catch it, debated killing it, and then let it free. The whole thing was synced pretty well, the sound of the fly buzzing corresponding with what the other two were pretending that it was doing.

They also made noises to the beat of the music and had the audience repeat it -- hums and other rhythmic sounds. When they saw the children, they also meowed to the beat and the audience meowed back!

They sang one song in Russian, that they had either written or someone had given them. They also sang the "Champs-Elysees" at the end and really wanted the audience to sing part--but we were pathetic and didn't know the words.

A French boy who looked maybe 12 or 13 years old came onto the dance floor and started doing some amazing footwork--absolutely fantastic. The lead singer saw him and pulled him on stage to dance. At first the boy seemed nervous but then he got into it. It must have been a great experience for him, to dance on stage.

The audience cheered so much that they performed one song for an encore. Then, we kept on cheering and hollering, that instead of a song, he sang a quick ditty in English--telling us where we can buy their CDs and how to find them on the Internet.

Then it was over.

We found the lead singer, Fred, signing autographs; he recognized my friend's daughter as the girl in pink to whom he had sung; and he signed his name on the back of a business card for her. Then Sophia wanted an autograph soon. The girls ended up with 3 autographs each, and they are quite happy with that. And it wasn't until we were in the parking lot, leaving, that I remembered how to say my ABC's in French--I had tried to explain how to spell my friend's daughter's name, but it came out wrong each time.

It was a fantastic evening--great music, a good experience for the kids, and listening to the French language.

I have to visit France again!