A Kazakh Village

After school finished, I had over 2 weeks before my flight to the US.  I had hoped to spend it traveling, but instead I spent it moving into another apartment and taking my cat to the vet.  Luckily, Sophia managed to have a bit of a vacation during this time.

The parents of my best friend live in a tiny village about an hour's drive from Karaganda, a city that is about 200 kilometers to the southeast of Astana.  My friend decided to take her daughter to stay with them, and last minute we decided that Sophia would go with them.

They spent just 2 1/2 days there, but managed to have a lot of fun.

My friend's mother cooked a lot of Kazakh food for my child, who is a picky eater.  In Kazakhstan, the guest is king, and my friend's mother was quite worried that Sophia wasn't eating.  (Sophia eats baursak, a type of fried bread, but that's the only Kazakh food she eats.)  So my friend googled "pizza" and drove from village to village finding the right ingredients.  Her mother made pizza, and Sophia ate it, and everyone was happy.

They live not far from a river where my friend's father likes to go fishing, and twice they went to this river.  My friend brought her tent, which she set up for people to sit inside, which was especially useful on the first day since it rained a lot.

The next day was much nicer, and they spent most of the day by the river.  My friend's father taught the girls how to fish.  They caught a few small fish and they also waded and swam in the river.

At another point during the day, the girls went through the village on their own.  They had an old bicycle, so my daughter biked her friend around.  They saw lots of stray cats and a herd of 300 horses that goes through the village every day.  They didn't see the herd of cows which goes through at a different time.  Sophia's friend's advice on the cows -- make sure you have a stick, in case they charge.

My friend talked to the guy who owns the herd of horses.  He milks them and sells their milk (a Kazakh traditional drink, kumis).  She asked if we could visit his farm, and he was quite surprised.  However, he was happy to have guests, but being Kazakh, he wanted to go out of his way for us.  He needed advance warning so he could prepare, and we could stay there for 10 days.  And he would kill his best sheep for us.

We didn't have time to visit him on his farm, but it would be nice to one day!  And maybe one day I'll have a bit more free time and I can visit the village myself - such a cheap vacation, and Sophia thoroughly enjoyed it.

Exporting Pets from Kazakhstan

I have never had to take a pet out of Kazakhstan, but I have had friends who have. From what I have heard, it is an absolute nightmare, even if you thought you brought your pet to Kazakhstan completely prepared with documents, etc.

First and foremost, make sure you have a pet passport. (Health passports are common in Kazakhstan, every person has one for themself.)

Secondly, don't go off the advice on this blog. I have never done this, plus countries' rules and regulations are subject to change at any moment.

I met a British woman who wrote up her experience and can be contacted through the Astana International Club. I recommend doing this. She just exported her pet in June or July 2014.

Here is what I do know:

To leave Kazkahstan, an extensive amount of paperwork is required. Including a rabies check. Including small amounts of exact-change being paid via various banks. There's some ministry hidden somewhere that you'll have to visit. This doesn't sound too bad, but I do know that everyone who had to go through this process accrued enormous headaches. Also, a friend who left with her cat mistakenly thought that one needed form had to be acquired immediately prior to the flight; when she went to get it a few days before her flight, she learned that the form would take a minimum of two weeks to process. Luckily, someone managed to work some magic for her and her cat did make it to the US with her as scheduled.

I have also learned that to get into the European Union, an additional amount of hassle is required, because the EU has a bunch of rules. Including a paper that needs to be stamped by a Kazakhstan government official, and Kazakhstan government officials won't stamp paperwork that didn't come from them.

I also learned that the vet I go to, Zoosfera, has been recommended to foreigners, because the vets here seem to know the process.

All the pets that I have known have made it safely out of Kazakhstan and to their homes in other countries. But not without immense hassle on the parts of their owners. If you think you may everyleave Kazakhstan with a pet, please make sure you start asking around very early.

Taking the Cats to the Vet

June 2014

Disclaimer:  This post is a rather long post about taking my cat to the vet over the course of two weeks while he was really sick.  You may be interested to hear about my experiences at a vet in KZ, but you may be quite bored.  If you're not a cat lover or just really interested in vets in KZ, then you probably should just skip this post and read another one.

My cat Tesla was throwing up a lot and acting lethargic, and so I decided to take him into the vet, with my British friend (and cat-lover) as translator. It was the Tuesday after school had let out, and I was supposed to be packing to move apartments, but at least I did have some time.

The vet we use is Zoosfera, located near Orbita-2 shopping center, not too far from Kazakhstan Hockey Arena. One of the school secretaries has a dog and uses this vet, and this is why everyone from our school who has a pet goes to this vet. Everyone I've talked to seems to like them, and so far none of their advice has contradicted what my sister-in-law says (she's in vet school in the US, I always double-check my information with her!)

I was worried that they would overreact, as doctors here tend to do, and since I don't know anything and don't speak the language well, I wouldn't really be able to object.

The disadvantage to this vet is that there are no appointments. You come and you wait. You may get lucky and have no wait, or you may wait 4 hours.

We saw the vet, they took some blood and seemed frustrated that I did not know a lot of details—how often he threw up, how much he ate, did he throw up immediately after eating? I have two cats and I've been working, how can I know all these details?

They gave him some medicine and antibiotics, and they did an ultrasound, which showed nothing. They were concerned because they couldn't figure what had made him sick – he doesn't go outside, and my other cat was fine. So they sent us to an animal hospital to have an x-ray.

A few years ago, a co-worker's cat was sick and needed and x-ray, and they sent this person to a human hospital, where she was yelled at for coming at the wrong time (apparently, there's a time when non-humans can use the x-ray machine). But I was sent to an actual animal hospital, so that was good.

It was about half an hour away, outside of town, past the Metro store, on the road to Karaganda. It was in a non-descript Soviet-style building that was unmarked and obviously not entirely an animal hospital. In the main entrance hallway, there were quite a few people in ball gowns and suits. I don't know what was going on.

But we were sent down one hallway, which had large posters of animals and their insides, which is why I'm guessing it's an animal hospital. The room we went into consisted of two rooms; one resembled a classroom, with desks and a chalkboard. The other was the x-ray room.

Have you ever tried to get a cat to stay still and in correct position for an x-ray? It's not exactly an easy task. At first I tried, since it was my cat, but they had to get a guy to do it, since I just don't have the strength. But he was the only one who knew how to operate the x-ray machine, which seemed simple enough (press a button), but took the girl on the other side a few tries.

Finally, we had an x-ray and they asked if I had a flash drive. Luckily, I did, since they had no internet and no other way of getting the x-ray to the vet.

So we drove back to the vet, gave them the flash drive and they hovered over it. They didn't see anything and so decided to flush out his system. My British friend and I were instructed to help hold my cat as they...  (warning: please stop reading if you're easily grossed out!!!!)

...stuck something up his bottom and squirted his insides with water for 30 minutes. Eventually stuff came out this side and water splashed from his bottom to our faces and it was just incredibly gross.

Not too much came out, since he was so sick he hadn't eaten much. But it was still disgusting, and my cat was miserable, and my friend and I both thought we shouldn't have been involved in this procedure! Later, I explained it to my sister-in-law, who didn't think it sounded too gross, just normal procedures for a vet!

Finally, we went home, with instructions to come back in a few hours! With my other cat as well, to give him some medicine to hopefully ensure that he didn't catch whatever Tesla had.

We came back, both cats were given medicine, and this time Tesla was taken away for the flushing procedure, which didn't last as long this time. Whew!

For the next five days, I continued to take Tesla twice a day to the vet, and luckily most of the wait times were short.

The blood work came back showing that he had an infection, but we weren't sure what.

On Sunday, another vet was there, she seemed very confident and well-informed, and although Tesla seemed much better, she was concerned that we didn't know what it was. So she did another test, and we discovered that he had panleukopenia, a virus which is rather lethal in non-vaccinated cats. He'd been vaccinated, but had never received the booster (my other cat had), and we feed stray cats, so most likely we'd brought the virus in from one of the strays, and Tesla had managed to catch it. Luckily, he had been vaccinated, so he survived.

I had to return on Monday, where I waited over 3 hours, and then again on Tuesday, where we discovered that he had a fever – still sick!! – and he was started on another round of antibiotics. So another five more days (at least) of going to the vet, but at least once a day.

On Thursday he was finally down to just an injection that the nurses could do, and they told me that I no longer had to wait in line! Woo-hoo! So on Friday I just waltzed past all the waiters and was able to explain in broken Russian that I didn't need to wait.

I went again on Saturday and Sunday, when they finally told me that I didn't have to come again, which was good timing, since I was returning to the US on Wednesday. They did ask for me to take him a week later for more blood work, but when I explained in very broken Russian that I would be out of town and didn't know anyone who could do that for me, they said that as long as he seems healthy, I don't have to worry.

I have two friends who are taking turns feeding the cats while I am away, but they are both busy, and taking the cat to the vet can be a very time-consuming experience. I didn't want to inflict that on them if I didn't have to!

Currently, I'm back in the US and my cat-sitting friends have told me that both cats are doing.  I can't wait to see them again!

Ultimate Frisbee and Long-Distance Bike Riding in Kazakhstan

Check out the Astana Ultimate Frisbee page if you're interested.

The new 2^nd grade teacher this year was also my neighbor (lived one floor below me) and a lover of Ultimate Frisbee. She connected with a local Ultimate Frisbee player and together they set up some “pick up games,” – where anyone can come and play. I thought about it for most the year and finally one day in spring decided to come play.

There is not much of an Ultimate Frisbee crowd here in Astana, even less so now that this co-worker has returned to the US. The advantage is that someone like me – with no experience and skills – can easily join in a game; every player is needed! The disadvantage is that sometimes almost no one shows up! (One time, just three of us showed up to play!)

In May a couple from Australia, Jess and Dan, came through our town. (You check check out their web site and blog here.)  They were riding their bikes from Creswick, Australia, to London to raise money for a charity called Ultimate Peace, an organization which uses Ultimate Frisbee to teach teamwork and cooperation in different parts of the world, most notably bringing together youth from Israel and Palestine.

Obviously, Jess and Dan did not ride their bikes the whole way; there were some boat, plane, and train rides on their way. They took a train through China and then biked over the border and to Almaty, from where they took a train to Astana to get visas for Iran (which never came through). They spent two weeks in Astana waiting for these visas, and during that time, they taught and played Ultimate Frisbee at the school and after school.

I am so amazed by their journey. Kazakhstan is not known for car-friendly roads, let alone bike-friendly roads. The borders here are known to be tricky for foreigners to cross, and they crossed them via bicycle! They had to wait 5 days at the Kazakh border because it was a national holiday.

When they left Astana, they returned to Almaty and then biked to Kyrgyzstan. The mountains there may be incredibly beautiful, but they're also incredibly high! From their blog, I can tell that it was at times a struggle, but also that the people they met on the way showed typical central Asian hospitality, welcoming them, inviting them in for tea and food, showering them with warmth.

After spending some time with them, my best friend and I are thinking that we need to start planning our own long-distance bike ride. Maybe we should start with a somewhat-friendly 300 kilometer ride to Borovoe (the roads are nice!)

Kazakh Olympic Champion Denis Ten

Three years ago I saw Denis Ten compete in the Asian Winter Games in Astana.  Last year, I saw him perform in a show called, "Denis Ten and Friends."  It was an amazing, spectacular event filled with Olympic champions and other ice skating performers.

This year, Denis Ten won the bronze medal in the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.  Hooray for Kazakhstan!!!

He came back to Astana for another "Denis Ten and Friends" show and this one was even more spectacular than the last.

The cheapest seats were sold out; out tickets cost 5000 tenge each (under $30), which is a far better price than you'd pay anywhere else for such a show.  Our seats were good and the show...

There were about a dozen performers (or pairs of performers), each performed two acts.  The total show lasted about 2 1/2 hours.

The performers included Denis Ten, of course, but also other famous names - Joanni Rochette, a Canadian bronze medalist from 2010; Tatiana Volosozhar and Maksim Trankov, Olympic champions from this year; Evan Lysacek, US gold medalist from 2010; Mao Asada, Japanese silver medalist from 2010.  There also was a Russian duo, Vladimir Besedin and Aleksey Polischik, who we saw last year, who are hilariously funny.  For one act, they came out dressed in tutus, and the smaller guy stood on the larger guy's shoulders, and basically it was amazing (although at times it looked painful!)

The ice skating was amazing, brilliant, fantastic... what other words could I use to describe it?  To see all these incredibly talented performers skating, jumping, dancing, just doing their best and having fun - it was a magnificent experience.

For the final act, everyone came out dressed in traditional Kazakh costumes.  At times like these I forget I'm not Kazakh, and I feel such pride in and love for my adopted country.

Can't wait till next year!

The opening act - all the famous skaters dancing around our Denis Ten

Joanni Rochette

Vladimir Besedin and Aleksey Polischik

Yes, a live orchestra!

Kazakhstan's hero, Denis Ten

Finale

The Tenge Devalues

When I first arrived in Kazakhstan, the tenge-US dollar exchange rate was about 150 tenge per US dollar. This wasn't too easy to calculate, but eventually I got the hang of it. For well over 4 years, the exchange rate stayed about the same. I've never been in a country where the currency changed a lot, especially quickly, so I didn't think much about it.

Then, this spring, the tenge devalued. Rather quickly. A co-worker brought this up at a meeting – how does this affect our pay? People panicked, although not too much, but mostly we worried and mused; and I wondered, what does this mean?

I get paid in US dollars, so what this meant to me was simply that I was fine, except that it took a while for the tenge to stabilize and for the school's exchange to match the actual market rate. (I can take out money in tenge, using the school's exchange rate. Or I can take out dollars and just go somewhere else to change. Usually, using the school is the best bet.)

Store items didn't change drastically, that I saw. Although I heard of some stores closing simply to change prices. And some people panicked and went out and bought a lot.  I think that more expensive items changed quickly.

Mostly, I've noticed that items have changed over time. Every now and then I see the price of an item and think, “Wow! That's expensive!” and then realize that since the rate has changed, it doesn't really affect me – the price in dollars is the same.

A co-worker pointed out that this change in value does affect locals, so I quickly gave my cleaning lady a “raise”--she still makes the same amount as she did earlier (dollar-wise), but gets more in tenge.

When the USSR collapsed, the local currency was the rouble, and inflation was extreme. When the tenge was introduced, once again there was extreme inflation. The tenge was introduced at 5 tenge per dollar, but quickly rose to about 70 tenge per dollar. Most people here over 30 remember those times and, well, have reason to panic when suddenly their currency's value changes again.

More recently, I have learned, is that the currency devalued about 5 years ago, right before I moved here. A similar sort of mild panic ensued, but luckily it stablized soon after. My Kazakh friend works as a translator for mostly international companies, and thus has a lot of her money in Euroes, pounds, and US dollars. She says she wasn't affected much by either of the recent currency devaluations, and is quite happy to have her money in foreign currency! I know I'm lucky too.

So... not a super-extreme drop in value, but enough to worry quite a few people and change some prices. Hopefully the tenge will remain stable for at least the next 5 years.

Irish Dancing in Kazakhstan

Who knew that Irish dancing (the Michael Flatley version) would be so popular in Central Asia? There is an Irish dancing group call Altyn Batyr, which is rather famous in these parts. It is based in Karaganda, a city a few hours to the southeast of Astana.

One of the group's dancers teaches Irish dancing in Astana, which I found out through the school's administrative assistant, who was taking lessons there. Excited, I signed up.

I pay 10,000 tenge a month (about $60 or so), and we have two lessons a week at 90 minutes each lesson. I have learned that Irish dancing is not something you can pick up quickly – it's July now, and I started attending in October, and I'm not yet good enough to show anyone! – but it's also fun and good exercise (so much jumping!)

My British friend joined also, which was lucky for me because the administrative assistant stopped going and my Russian just isn't good enough to get by. Almost good enough, but not quite there.

We struggled getting hard Irish dance shoes and ended up ordering them from the UK.

Through class we learned that members of the Altyn Batyr group would perform at O'hara's Irish restaurant in town on Sunday, 16 March, the day before St. Patrick's Day. We informed others and reserved a table. Yes, it was 10 pm on a school night, but – Irish dancing!!

We were served free green beer when we arrived, but that beer was not good (it probably was Efes, a popular beer here that resembles Budweiser), so I ordered a Guiness.

This restaurant is quite fancy and quite expensive, but for an evening that including live Irish dancing, it was reasonable (especially since I didn't eat).

The Irish dancing was spectacular! It was hard to get a good spot to watch, since this was a restaurant and not a concert hall, but I managed to find a spot in the crowd from where I could tiptoe and watch. They performed several small pieces, interspersed with breaks. They really were amazing! I've watched Michael Flatley's shows on DVD plenty of times, plus I once saw “Lord of the Dance” performed in Atlanta, Georgia—by a group that wasn't very good. This group was so much better. And, being a Michael Flatley fan, I recognized almost all of their dances. It might have been nice if they'd done some non-Flatley Irish dancing (yes, the Irish did dance before he came along!), but it was still great!

At one point, our dance instructor introduced us to one of the dancers (I think the main dancer), who was so excited to meet me (a foreigner!) but seemed to mistake me for Irish, and asked if I felt at home here. I just smiled politely and said I was American, not Irish. But I doubt this bar very closely resembles Ireland!

Overall, a wonderful evening and I hope it will happen again next year!

A British friend stopped by this restaurant the next day – 17 March – and he was unable to convince the wait staff there that it was St. Patrick's Day. They were quite sure that the previous day, 16 March, had been St. Patrick's Day.

The Chamber Hall of the Opera & Ballet Theatre

October 2014

My first visit to the new, lavish Opera & Ballet Theatre of Astana, Kazakhstan, was to a concert in its Chamber Hall. The Chamber Hall is a smallish room, lavishly decorated with painted horses on the ceiling.

This event was a fantastic experience, and I only wish I'd had the foresight to take Sophia with me! But you never know ahead of time...

The first half consisted of short pieces, usually with only a few musicians, usually showing off a particular kind of muscial instrument. There was a “contest” between two violinists, wherein they each played a piece (separately) named after an insect (such as a bee), and they had a time limit. The conductor put his computer on stage and set the timer. They had to beat the timer. One guy almost made it, he was a few seconds short. But the second guy beat it.

Then, a small group played “In the Hall of the Mountain King” by Edward Grieg. The lights were dimmed, and they came on slowly, with makeup on (maybe to look like trolls?) and one wore a fake crown.

I don't know my musical instruments well, I think another group consisted of cello players. They seemed to have a blast playing, smiling and laughing as they twirled their cellos.

Before the intermission, the conductor explained that for the final piece, the entire orchestra was needed and there just wasn't enough room on stage. So the people in the first row had to move. During intermission, they moved chairs to ground level. We were in the second row, so this meant we were extremely close to the musicans.

They played “Carmen Suite” by Shchedrin, music based on the opera “Carmen” by Bizet. I love the opera, but had never heard this version before, and was quite enthralled.

Overall, this experience at the Opera Theatre was quite marvelous. The musicians were quite happy and thrilled to be there, the music itself filled the air, and the setting (Chamber Hall) was exquisite.

The gorgeous ceiling in the Chamber Hall

Playing "Carmen Suite" - so close!

The exquisite entrance hall to the Opera & Ballet Theatre

The Grand New Opera and Ballet Theatre of Astana, Kazakhstan

October 2013

Link to the Ballet & Opera Theatre web site in English

Last year it was being built – this magnificent structure, reminiscent of European opulence and elegance. The old opera and ballet theatre was nice, although small, and located near the train station – about an hour or so by bus. This new theatre is located near Khan Shatyr, and near my house. I was so excited for it to be finished.

It was finished last summer, right before I left for the US.

This year I learned how quickly the new theatre sells out! It is much larger than the old one, with much more expensive tickets, yet several times I went to the ticket booth only to be told they were sold out. Once, I was told they weren't selling the tickets yet, come back in a week. I came back in a week and they were sold out!

At the former theatre, tickets usually ranged from 1000 to 1500 tenge ($7 to $10). At the new theatre, you can get seats for that cheap or even cheaper (500 tenge even!) but they are very far away. Far away and up high. Just like you're going to the opera/ballet in Germany (I've been to a lot of those, where you can get cheap tickets last minute but have pretty horrible seats.)

The 1000 tenge seats here aren't too bad. You can watch and enjoy the ballet. First or second row, near the center, would be best, and the 500 tenge seats are on the side (so not worth it, I think). My British friend's parents thought the 1000 tenge seats were very good.

I went to Sleeping Beauty with a large group and we sat in the 1000 tenge seats. I brought my daughter's binoculars, and it was amazing how clearly you could see the dancers with those!

Later in the year, I went to see Swan Lake; this time, the tickets were a present, and the seats were “par-terre” (on the main floor). These seats were so much better!! But at about $50 or $60 a seat, somewhat expensive (in my view).

The new theatre features the same dancers as before (the lead ballerina is one we met several years ago when we walked backstage after a show). But the special effects were amazing. How it made it seem as if there was real water, real waves crashing into the evil guy and drowning him, I don't know. It was spectacular.

The theatre itself is magnificent, worthy of many photo opportunities. It's definitely worth a 1000 tenge ticket; even if the seats aren't great, the experience still it.

front entrance

At night, around New Years time

View from 1000 tenge seats