Borovoe Day 4 - Beach and Another Hike

Sunday, 26 June 2011

On Sunday we went to the beach at Lake Borovoe. The weather was hot and sunny, perfect for the beach. The beach is narrow but long, and it was very crowded. The path to the beach is through a woodsy area, full of mud due to the recent rains.

My friend and I rested and read our books while the girls played. They spent three hours there, perfectly happy and rather upset when we finally said it was time to leave.

I observed the people around us—Kazakh and Russian, old and young, families and friends. Most women wore bikinis, regardless of their body type, the men wore tiny Speedo's or other tight-fitting swimsuits. And very few people were skinny.

Some people smoked. People walked by, selling fish or shashlyk (Kazakh kebab) or other food. The pathway was crowded with walkers and bike riders. In the lake, people swam close to the shore; further out, people were in boats. Borovoe's majestic mountains outlined the lake.

The mountains are most likely just large, steep hills, but still magnificent, and rocky, covered mostly with pine trees but with rocky tops, quite a sight.

Finally we dragged the girls out of the water and went home. After a rest and dinner we went out again. This time we took a taxi into the park, to the monument—a tall pillar with an eagle on top of it. This seems to be a central location in the park.

There were two eagles there, one even had head armor on it. For 300 Tenge we could hold the eagle. We chose the shorter line, with the smaller eagle with no head armor. I think the bird's species is related to the eagle, perhaps not an actual eagle. It was not too big nor too heavy, as I've heard the real Kazakh hunting eagles are.

A boy about Sophia's age put on a large, thick black mitt and picked up the eagle, and then transferred the mitt and eagle over to Sophia. The mitt is needed to protect your skin from its claws. Sophia was quite happy for the few minutes she spent with an eagle on her arm, having her picture taken and passers-by pause and stare.

We walked towards the hilly woods and started to go up. It's a forest of tall, skinny pine trees, golden in the light of the setting sun. They are spaced apart, allowing much room for roaming and wandering. The girls ran ahead and had to be warned to stay within sight.

Soon the way got steeper and rockier. We found ourselves scrambling up rocks, out of breath, attempting to keep up with Sophia's friend, who has the energy and agility of a monkey.

Finally, we stopped for pictures and to take a breath. We could see the lake below us through the trees. We convinced the girls to head down carefully.

Sophia's friend didn't listen and ran so fast that she tripped and flipped over a fallen-down log. I don't think she even came out with a scrape, she was perfectly fine.

At the bottom we looked up at the hill we had tried to climb—we had wanted to reach the top. Near the top the trees slowly die out, leaving a rocky cliff face. We had to laugh—no way could we climb that!

The next morning we would leave Borovoe to return home. It had been a marvelous few days and we are already making plans to return. There's so much we haven't done—more hiking, a pedal-boat ride, mud baths, a nearby lake called “Swan Lake”, animal sight-seeing.

Till next time, Borovoe!

Photos: The eagle; climbing the steep hill; the top of the hill we wanted to climb--yeah, right, we can't climb that!

Borovoe Day 3 - Walking by the Lake

Saturday, 25 June, 2011

Today we all slept in and left late. We had promised the girls the beach (swimming by the lake side) but the weather forecast was light rain all day. So we walked through the town to the park and then walked by the lake side. There is a small paved walkway going around the lake, and many people were walking or riding bikes. The girls loved to run off the walkway and through the trees, or climb rocks by the lake. We had plenty of fun taking their pictures.

The lake is so beautiful, large, and round and surrounded by mountains. Granite rocks are everywhere, plenty of places to scramble up. Sophia caught a butterfly and later a large caterpillar, making her quite happy.

We spent several hours on our walk; afterwards we ate and looked in various shops. And maybe tomorrow the weather will let us go swimming.

Borovoe Day 2 - A Hike, A Spring, and A Camel

Friday, 24 June 2011

The town of Borovoe is full of tour agencies, and people in booths on the side of the street, offering tours. You can take a tour to a cave where the famous khan Kenessary once hid; go to Astana and take a tour of the new capital; go to a place which offers mud baths; go on various hikes.

We signed up for a 2-hour tour. We were driven through the town of Borovoe into the National Park area. Then we went on a short yet steep hike to the top of a rocky hill, from which we could view the entire area. It was a lovely view; we could see Lake Borovoe, many mountains, another lake across from Lake Borovoe. A wonderful place for picture-taking, after a hike that's suitable for children.

(Disclaimer: really, the "mountains" are just steep and beautiful hills, but they look like mountains, especially compared to the surrounding steppe.)

Then we traveled further into the park and hiked to a spring, where the water is said to be very fresh and drinkable. Alas, we had no empty water bottle to fill up, so we cupped our hands and drank.

That was the tour. The girls enjoyed running uphill and through the woods and scrambling over rocks. I enjoyed the views and the fresh air. The tour guide also gave us information about the area and legends as to how Borovoe was formed, which my friend translated for me. (In sum: when God created the world, he gave mountains to some people, forests to other people, and the flat steppe to the Kazakhs. They were upset, and so he granted them Borovoe.)

After that, we ate lunch and then decided to go back to Shchuchinsk to ride horses. There are many horseback riding tours in Borovoe, but a woman staying at our guest house had recommended this one.

Since there aren't that many cars in Borovoe, it was hard to get a taxi, but after standing for a while, waving down cars, we finally found someone willing to drive us. (My friend didn't want to drive her car over the mud-filled potholes again, understandable.) It was an old man, in an even older car. As he sped through the winding road to Shchuchinsk, he warned us not to touch the doors, he wasn't sure how sturdy they were. The car had no seatbelts in the back, and so I held onto the girls and made sure they didn't touch the doors! Scary!

The horse place was about a kilometer off the main road, through muddy, pothole-filled, windy roads. Finally, we arrived, but there was another group of people there about to ride all the horses—no horses available for about 45 minutes.

But there were donkeys and a camel nearby. One donkey was wandering free; a mother and baby were in an enclosure with the camel. I had carried croutons with me (Sophia likes them), and soon discovered that donkeys love croutons. We fed the donkeys and an elderly man offered to have the girls ride the camel.

First Sophia's friend rode the camel. She posed for the camera by hugging its hump. Then it was Sophia's turn, but the man said that the camel would not sit down again and be willing to get back up. So she had to climb the fence to the top of a dumpster-like thing and from there get onto the camel. This was a bit too scary for her, so I got on the camel and rode for a bit.

The man was extremely friendly and understanding of Sophia's fears, so he found a small pony. First, her friend rode, and then Sophia. He even had the pony rear up on its hind legs for the friend (but not for Sophia).

Then we fed the donkeys and the camel some more (even camels like croutons). The girls also got on the donkeys to ride. The donkey Sophia was on refused to move, so I tried offering it croutons to move, and it moved a little.

Then it was time to ride the horses. We were worried about the girls' ability to control a horse, and so we convinced them to ride in a trailer pulled by a black horse. My friend and I got on horses and we had a nice 40-minute walk through the woods. It was very pretty and pleasant, except the woman guide kept yelling at me, something about my legs that my friend (who translated for me) couldn't understand. It was also very slow, as the horses were well-trained to only walk for strangers. They will only move quickly when told so by their owner. (Smart horses, smart owners, I think.)

Then the man who'd helped us with the camel and donkeys drove us back to Borovoe.

That evening our host took out a telescope and the girls got to look at the stars. They saw Saturn and its rings. Sophia was very excited about that.

So it was a very good and very exciting day! I'm so happy I got to ride a camel, although walking around a small enclosure isn't too exciting, but at least it was on a camel!

Borovoe Day 1 - Getting There

Thursday, 23 June

Borovoe is the name of a lake and the town next to it, about 250 km north of Astana. There are several small lakes in the area, surrounded by a few small mountains, making the place a picturesque oasis in the middle of the Kazakh steppe. It's a very popular resort area, a touristy place with visitors from Kazakhstan and Russia.

I first heard about it last year when I had the students bring in pictures of themselves; one of them brought in a picture of himself in a woodsy, hilly area, much unlike the flat steppe I was used to. I asked him where he was, he said Borovoe, not far from Astana, and from then on I have wanted to go.

Sophia and I went with my Kazakh friend R and her daughter A, who is best friends with Sophia. We left on Thursday, 23 June. Classes ended at my school on 21 June, and the last teacher workday was 22 June. I had a little over a week before my flight out of Kazakhstan.

The drive takes between 3 and 5 hours, depending on how fast you're willing to go on the freeway. The road to Borovoe is one of the nicest in Kazakhstan, I've heard, and resembles a freeway more than a highway. (The road to Karaganda resembles a two-lane highway.) The bad thing about freeways is that you can't just pull over on the side if you have to use the bathroom, you have to find an exit. And since most of Kazakhstan is the middle of nowhere, there aren't too many exits.

There are rest stops, marked by signs with a picture of picnic table and a pine tree. So we stopped there once. I got no closer than 10 meters from the outhouse when I decided I'd rather use the side of the road than that bathroom. Seriously, it stunk that bad. Luckily, no one was around, and we were able to use the bathroom outside.

Finally we got to the town of Shchuchinsk (I've yet to be able to pronounce that name!), which is about 20 km from Borovoe. If you take the train from Astana, you get off here and then find a taxi or a bus to Borovoe.

My friend had found a place for us to stay; we met our host outside Borovoe's small bazaar. He was on his bicycle, which we soon discovered was a faster way to go. The muddy ground was full of potholes that were filled with mud; we progressed rather slowly and fearfully in our tiny car.

Finally we arrived at the guest house. It's a large 2-story brick house, converted into a guest house with many rooms. We had the largest room, with five extremely narrow beds (but only paying for 4, since there's only four of us.) There is a shared living room and kitchen and 3 toilets—one on the 2^nd floor, one on the 1^st floor, and one outside (outhouse). There is also one shower.

Two families from Russia were staying there, and between them they had 3 boys. We learned that our host and his wife are from Astana, they are renting this place for the summer and using it as a guest house to make money. They also are living here, so we share the tiny kitchen with all the other guests plus the host and his wife. It can get rather crowded!

It's nice to have a kitchen, but it can get awkward with so many people. The kitchen is small and poorly equipped. The refrigerator is stuffed full. And the host likes to stay up late, drinking beer and listening to loud music. However, he is a very friendly and amicable man, and he is good with the children.

And this place is better than a log cabin with no bathroom or shower! (One of our options, at 4000 Tenge a night. This place is 10,000 Tenge a night for us four.) And I'm sure a nice hotel would be more expensive, and not have a kitchen.

The kids love it. The yard is overgrown with weeds, but of course they don't care. There is a place to throw darts; there is also a volleyball. The neighbors have kittens.

Our first day we arrived at dinnertime, so we just walked until we found a place to eat. We'll get to explore Borovoe tomorrow!

Bike Shop in Astana!

(Scroll to the bottom of this post for information on how to find Astana's bike and bike repair shops.)

We finally found a genuine, "Western" bike shop in Astana! We'd bought Sophia's bike in the bazaar. We'd looked for bikes in random, tiny, crowded sports stores; as well as MegaSports, the sports store in Astana, which is pretty pathetic and small compared to sports stores in the US, although nice and large compared to the other sports stores in Astana. All of these stores are extremely seasonal; you can't find anything when it's not in season, and if an item runs out before the season ends,well, then, that's it. Wait till next season.

The pedal came off Sophia's bike and I was unable to fix it myself--I had bought two wrenches, but neither were the right size. Luckily, a co-worker had brought his unicycle and unicycle-repair kit with him from the US, and he knows a lot about bikes. So he was able to identify the problem, but, unfortunately, the wrench he'd brought with him was the right size for most pedals, but not for Sophia's.

Luckily, the school has a wide array of tools, we found the proper tool there and the co-worker fixed it.

But that left me wondering, what would I do if my co-worker were unable to fix it? Or if we needed some part? My Kazakh friend who'd recently bought a bike had brought it into a car shop when the tire got a hole. Unfortunately, they said they couldn't fix it.

My co-worker suggested I talk to an Austrian couple, parents of two sweet children at our school, who are leaving soon to return to Austria. The husband is an avid cyclist, and they have been in Astana for 3 or 4 years.

I'm so glad I talked to her! She knew of two places and told me how to find them. The next day we were shopping for souvenirs at the mall across from Congress Hall, on Kenessary Street, and when I realized how close we were to the funky blue buildings (landmarks for finding one of the bike repair shops), we decided to look for the bike shop. It was easy to find, and had bikes for sale out front.

Inside, it looked like a normal bike shop--bikes for sale, as well as bike parts--pedals, seats, etc. There also were some other outdoors supplies--sleeping bags, fishing poles--and biking clothes. I asked about bike locks, they were out, but would have them again soon.

They had helmets, and the sales assistant seemed more knowledgeable than me (I know nothing) and we found a helmet for Sophia that he said was the right size. It was about $25, and it was nice to get one here, rather than tote one back from the US. Since I know little about bikes, I can't give a great review of this place; it seemed to be a good place, the staff seemed knowledgeable (although not English-speaking); and I was quite pleased with it.

All in all, it's nice to know there's a bike shop here in Astana!

So now, instructions on how to find one of these places, if you're in Astana and would like to find a bike, bike repair, or bike parts shop.

One located somewhere near the American Embassy, and is hard to find. The International Women's Club of Astana has its name and address on their web site, as well as a photo of it. Scroll down on the "Shopping" page and you'll find it.

The other one is the one we ended up going to. It's easy to find due to the landmark it's under. Next to the river, across from the huge Central Park, there are these 3 tall blue buildings. Down the center of each blue building is a yellow squiggly line. Yes, they look very strange and are very recognizable. At the bottom of the buildings are shops (mostly empty, I think) and the bike shop is located not on the side facing the river.

Astana can be a confusing city to navigate, due to its many alleys and tiny roads, but it's full of unique landmarks. If you find yourself in Astana, you're bound to notice these buildings; if you head to these buildings and wander along the shops at the bottom, you're bound to find the bike shop. As we did. I'm attaching a photo of these buildings. It's on the bottom floor, on the other side of the taller middle building.

***Update: The shop does fix bikes; we brought Sophia's bike there to be fixed, but unfortunately they don't have the part that's needed to fix her bike. My guess is that it's because hers was some cheap bazaar bike and not a normal model or something. This shop also rents bikes, about 800 Tenge per hour, 1200 Tenge for 3 hours. Also, they seem very friendly despite not speaking any English. When I came in to buy a helmet, one of the workers followed me outside to check my bike for me, although I hadn't asked. He pumped the tires then because he said they were low.***

***Update:   Recently (Sept 2012), I went there and was told that they only do maintenance/check-ups on bikes they've sold.  They have a good selection, but not everything I'd like (such as a mirror).  Bikes and a smaller selection of bike accessories are sold in Sportsmaster in the Mega shopping mall.  They do repairs there, I'm unsure if they'll do repairs on bikes they didn't sell.

Attempting to go Swimming

Today we attempted to take the upper elementary to the swimming pool for their 3rd lesson.

We arrived at the sports center to learn that the pool was closed. Why? Because there is no hot water. I was confused--so? The pool water was fine, but there was no hot water for showers, and so they'd closed the entire pool.

Really?

Luckily, the PE teacher had the presence of mind to call the principal and ask permission to just take the kids to the park. We had 40 kids with us, in swimsuits and standing in the hot sun, most of them fully expecting to have fun, all of them expecting to be out of class for the afternoon. We couldn't just take them back to school and go to class.

Another teacher there remembered seeing a large fountain near the Pyramid, and we caravanned to the Highvill apartments, which are located near the American Embassy and the Pyramid.

We parked across from the apartments and trekked through the large park until we found the fountain.

The word 'fountain' doesn't do it justice. It's more like a wading pool and fountain combination. It's very large, but the water never got over my knees. And lots of fountains and sprinklers shooting off water into the pool/fountain.

The kids really enjoyed this. The water was murky, the ground underneath it was slippery and mossy, and so no teacher was trying to get anyone to put their head underwater, or to do a back float or a breast stroke. It was just pure fun, splashing about in water on a hot summer day.

We only had about thirty minutes, but it was a blast.

Later that evening, the PE teacher and I went back to the fountain with our kids. We stayed for about an hour, maybe more, even though by now the air was much cooler.

The fountain is directly in between the Presidential Palace (aka White House) and the Pyramid, and the sun was beginning to set behind the White House. (Astana's new downtown is set in an east-west direction, with the Pyramid in the east, a a bunch of other landmarks in a straight line between it and Khan Shatyr in the west.)

A "stream" broke off from the large fountain-pool and led towards the river. We waded this way--it looked as though we could wade right up to the White House, although of course we couldn't.

It was a very fun evening and definitely a place worth coming back to on a hot day!

Swimming with an International Mix of Kids

Today I went swimming with the upper elementary kids (grades 3, 4, 5, and 6). Swimming is a selective unit in PE, meaning that the PE teacher doesn't have to choose this unit, but our teacher chose it. I give her credit for that, I'm not sure I'd be willing to put up with the hassle of taking 40-something kids to the swimming pool.

We have kids from over a dozen countries and kids with widely varying swimming abilities. We have kids who are at ease in the water, love swimming, and are far better at it than I will ever be.

And we have kids who had never been in the water until their PE teacher made them. The PE teacher says it's usually the Asian kids (Korean, Japanese, Indian) who have never swum before.

This was the 2nd time this year, and there will only be a few more times left. So not enough to really teach a lot. But enough to teach something.

I was asked last-minute to go today, because some of the aides who were supposed to help didn't have swimsuits. I live nearby, so it was easy for the PE teacher to drive me home during lunchtime to get my swimsuit.

We left around 2:10; everyone changed at school. We arrived at the Sports Center, the one I've been to a couple times, swimming with friends. It's very cheap and has a nice-enough indoor pool. One pool is about a meter deep the entire pool, and there is a water slide going into it. There's a little kiddie-pool; there's also a hot tub, attached to this pool.

Then there's a larger pool, maybe not Olympic-sized but your generic, rectangle shape, with lanes. This one is several meters deep at the shallow part. Someone said it gets to 15 meters (about 49 feet) deep. Last year my brother tried to find the bottom and he couldn't.

We waited, crowded around the entrance, for about ten minutes until it was time to be let in. We also had to wait for someone to make a photocopy of the receipt--apparently, they give you a receipt at the cash desk, but but then you have to turn it in when you enter the swimming area. So we needed to make a copy of the receipt for the school records.

Also, you can't wear outdoor shoes in the swimming area, so we all had to change into flip-flops before we entered.

Finally, we got in; we had a room to ourselves, with a key, so everyone got ready and we could lock our stuff in there. We all showered and then we got into the pool.

The principal had called ahead of time and asked if he could pay over twice as much and have the entire pool for himself. It was about $60 or $70 for all of us; he offered to pay $150. They said no.

So it was a rather crowded.

The PE teacher gave me a group of beginners--6 boys--a Kazakh, a Russian, two Indians, a Japanese, and a Korean. Several of them are my students, and the Korean boy is the one who arrived shortly after Easter with absolutely no English. His English is better, but still extremely limited.

The Russian and the Kazakh can do some basic swimming, probably about as good as me (I'm not much of a swimmer, I can do some basic strokes but rather poorly). The Japanese boy was willing to do what he was asked, but always came out of the water with a shocked look on his face, spitting out water. The Indian boys, I think, had done this last year, but were still very wary of putting their heads under water. One Indian boy managed to blow a few bubbles with his head partly submerged. He was extremely proud of this accomplishment.

I'm rather positive that this was the Korean boy's 2nd time in the water, last week being his first most likely. He refused to put his head under the water, saying "No, no, no!" and making all sorts of motions.

One boy taught the others how to go under water--cover your entire face with your hands (make sure you're plugging your nose!) and go under quickly, and then pop back up.

Then they had to jump in, and land with the head under water, popping back up. For the most part, this did not happen, and the Korean boy wouldn't even dare to jump. He did get out and then climb in.

Next, they had to hold onto the side and do the "scissors-kick"--kicking with their legs straight back. How do you say "Don't bend your knees" in Korean? I remember learning this kick; I had found it impossible to not bend my knees, and these kids were no different.

Then the back float. Three of the boys tried on their own, and weren't good, but not entirely unsuccessful either. The other boys I had to hold up, their bodies extremely tense, their heads kept above the water. I couldn't tell if the Korean boy was asking me to do it again, or to never do it again.

He did discover that if he grabbed onto my arm and lifted up his feet while I walked, I could pull him through the water, and he seemed to think that this was a lot of fun.

For the rest of the time we worked on blowing bubbles and putting our heads under the water. Finally, the Korean boy agreed to go under water--with me. And I couldn't explain to him why I can't, I wear gas-permeable contacts which are very expensive and very liable to pop out when wet. So he didn't put his head under water.

Then they were told to go down the slide and then shower. The Korean boy was adamant that he would not, and he managed to "sneak" off without the PE teacher noticing. I myself am scared of the thing, so I didn't chase him down to force him down the slide.

All in all, it was more fun than I'd expected. I enjoyed being with these boys, so nervous & tense in the water, yet so obviously delighted at the same time. At times I think the Korean boy thought I was trying to kill him... but I like to think that he also enjoyed himself, just a bit.

Water is fun for kids, and hopefully they'll leave this school feeling just a bit more comfortable in it than before.

Picnic at the Lake

Last Saturday was the school's 2nd or 3rd annual end-of-the-year staff picnic at a lake. The lake is outside a village, about an hour's drive north of Astana, where the parents of our secretary live.

The school provided a van for those of us without cars; we all brought a food dish and boarded at around 10 am.

We drove north out of the city, onto the steppe, amazing in its dullness and beauty--flat land, greenish grass that goes on and on and on and on and on. Every now and then we'd see a flock of birds or a herd of cattle--"Oh, look! Cows!" someone would cry and the children would squeal.

A co-worker commented that we could be in the middle of the United States, judging from the view.

After a while we took an exit and went through a tiny village, mostly small one-story houses, with random animals hanging around. Dogs, goats, geese, chickens, other random birds. We even saw a bunch of baby chickens or ducks, fluffy yellow.

We still didn't see a lake.

We exited the village and rode on a dirt road through a vast, grassy field--no lake in sight. The road was more of a muddy path made by the wheels of a car. (It's been a rainy week.)

We passed some mounds of dirt with a few people hanging around. It looked like it might be the village landfill.

Still no sign of a lake.

We felt like we were going to tip over, the road/path wasn't easy for a large van to navigate.

Finally, we saw a small "forest" of dozens of funnily-bent, white-trunk trees. We pulled up in front of that.

In front of us was a steep hill, an embankment, and I guessed correctly that beyond was the lake.

We got out, some people started a fire to make shashlyk (kind of like a Kazakh kebab), and Sophia, a co-worker and I wandered through the trees. The grass was tall and the ground was littered with feathers (and bird poop). The birds' cawing was extremely loud. When I looked up, I saw dozens of birds' nests.

Then we went up the hill to see the lake, not a very large lake, but pretty nonetheless, the sun shining on it, dark clouds hanging in the distance--and children already splashing in it, swimsuits on.

But then we heard thunder, and so we told the kids to get out of the lake.

As soon as we'd started our picnic, the rain started. Sophia and I, and a few others, headed into the van, while others stayed outside. The rain lasted for about an hour; we ate and talked inside, while some people remained outside through it all. Finally it ended, and the world was soaking wet and buzzing with flies and mosquitoes.

Sophia and I went back up the hill to the lake.

The steep path up the hill was pure mud now--some of the teachers slid down it barefooted as if on skateboards or surfboards. My sandals picked up new layers of mud every time I stepped down. At the top, we realized that others were going swimming, so I went back down to get Sophia's swimsuit.

Sophia and the other children (teacher's children, plus two friends) and a small group of teachers went swimming. The children stayed near the shore. Three teachers swam rather far out. They said that it got rather deep, but you had to go quite far to get away from the seaweed. They also said that it was very cold, but not ice-cold.

To get to the lake you had to go down a small embankment--extremely muddy of course. One of the kids discovered the pure joy in trying to climb up the muddy path. He couldn't, but refused to take an easier path. Scrambling up a path made of pure mud is fun! Soon, the kids were turning the path into a "mud slide" and throwing water onto it and having a contest--who could get up it on their own?

The mud slide turned out to be more fun to make than to slide down. Sophia was the first and last to slide down--she went too fast and at the bottom of the slide were rocks that she slid over. She wasn't happy, to say the least.

Sophia's teacher spent most the time sitting on a rock with her 2-year old (who went in the water for a short while). Sophia's teacher is rather artistic, and she noticed quickly that the mud was very clay-like, and so she sculpted a few animals out of the clay-mud. She had her husband put a bunch of the stuff into plastic bags to take home, to use as clay.

Finally, the grown-ups left the water and the remaining grown-ups got tired of watching the kids. So we told them to clean up and helped them up a less-muddy path. I cleaned my sandals as best I could.

Some teachers were playing catch with the kids; some more were eating & talking; another was taking a nap on the picnic blanket.

Soon it was time to go home, we loaded back into the vans. If the way in had seemed a tad iffy, the the way out was plain treacherous. The path was much muddier and more slippery than before, and quite frequently we felt that the van was going to tip over. It was safer, too, to drive off the path than on the path.

We passed through the village again and back onto the freeway.

What a wonderful, pleasant day! And Sophia had a ton of fun too, of course!
Photos: All the mud! and the picnic and trees as seen from the top of the embankment; the lake; the treacherous ride from the lake to the village; the village

Vodka on the Porch

A story a co-worker related to me:

One winter, on a really cold evening, her neighbor knocked on her door. He'd come to inform her that it was going to get below -40 that night, and so she'd better take her vodka off the porch.

It hadn't occurred to him that she might not have vodka, or that if she did, she'd keep it in the fridge and not on the porch.

But it had occurred to him that being a foreigner, she might not realize that vodka freezes at -40.

So there's an act of kindness for you--a stranger telling you to take your vodka off your porch so it won't freeze.

Lights

Lights are a problem here in Kazakhstan, as I found out a few months after my first arrival. The light in the bathroom had gone out. A co-worker had recently bought some extra bulbs, so she gave me some. I tried them, and nothing happened. So I figured maybe faulty wiring. But the hallway light was good enough, and so I did nothing more.

Then the hallway light went out, so I talked to the principal, who had the secretary call the electrician. He came by, looked at the lightbulb, shook his head and spoke to me in Russian, then left and came back in 5 minutes with lightbulbs that worked. Apparently, my co-worker's lightbulbs were either so old they didn't work, or they were the wrong kind. The electrician seemed to think I was crazy.

So I've been wary ever since. If a lightbulb goes out, I carry around the exact kind with me until I find a store that sells that bulb.

Because, almost every light here uses a different kind of bulb. Very few use the standard-type bulb that most lights in the US use. Most lights here are "fancy" to some degree or another, making it a pain to find lightbulbs. (Every apartment seems to have at least one chandelier. Mine has 3. Plus "track lighting.")

Most large stores here sell some lightbulbs, but very few and not a great selection. So, yeah, if you need lightbulbs, it can be a hassle.

I went most this year without having to worry. I have 5 lights (4 bulbs and one fluorescent) in my bathroom and slowly, one by one, they went out, until right before Christmas I was starting to worry. But during Christmas vacation my landlords came by and replaced them, so I was happy.

Then, again, they started to go out. I carried a lightbulb from the bathroom with me for weeks, hoping to find a replacement. I brought it into school and showed my assistant and a student, who didn't think I'd be able to find it at the nearest supermarket. Ugh.

Then, I went to Artyom--which is about 40 - 60 minutes away by bus or walking, maybe 10 minutes by driving--and I was in a store with the largest selection of lightbulbs I'd seen here (maybe a dozen different kinds, if that many). I searched my purse--uh-oh! I'd left the lightbulb at school.

Finally, I went to the school secretary, with 3 or 4 different lightbulbs from different lights that needed replacing. Please, could she have someone go out and buy these bulbs for me, and could she possibly have someone replace some of them for me? (I couldn't figure out how to get the bathroom lightbulbs out.)

She said no problem.

Within two days every burnt-out lightbulb in my house had been replaced. And the guy who went to my place also went to the other teachers' apartments, checking and replacing their bulbs. So everyone was quite happy.

That's what my school does--helps us poor teachers who sometimes feel at our wits' ends dealing with things in a foreign country. It's the minor things that bug you, and the minor kindnesses that make your day so much better.