22nd August

22^nd August

“Whosoever of you sees an evil action, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart” Muhammad (according to The Hadith, the book of his quotes)

Another Islamic quote for you today, as I just read it, and liked the sentiment, and I have just finished the book, so thought I would squeeze one more in before it was too late. I have only managed to read two books so far this month, which is rather poor form really, so I hope to add another to the list by the end of the month, but so far, this book about Islam, plus Hemingway’s “For whom the bell tolls”. I picked up a few interesting books from the Peace Corps Library while in Almaty, include a book on the politics of Central Asia, a biography of Mercator and the history of Nuclear War, so one of them might be next.

Speaking of Almaty, I guess I should talk more about what I was doing there. It was ostensibly the final two weeks of our initial training, which for the first time had been split in two (giving the summer to get more comfortable in our sites). However, seeing as this had had the desired effect, and we ARE more comfortable, much of the training was irrelevant, as it hadn’t been updated to take into account our changes. Saying that, I did get to teach my session on British English, which was a success, and it seems that the geography of the UK is a mystery to Americans.

It was also nice to see my fellow volunteers, who have been scattered all over the country- some have a 44hour train ride to get to Almaty, which puts my 10hours to shame. A rather big divide between us has emerged though, which, while not affecting our professional mission has certainly changed how we socialise. Namely that the younger volunteers, those straight out of university (we have at least 2, 22 year olds) like to party often, and hard. Those of us who are slightly older (over 25) have formed a more serious subgroup, who are much more content in sitting around and talking, and going to bed before midnight.

Almaty is for the most part, a very nice city, with tree lined streets and parks. While the stain of Soviet architecture is still visible, there are still some very beautiful buildings. And indeed, the rundown Soviet look is often nicer than the glass monstrosities popping up now. Its noticeably hotter in the south, with summer temperatures rarely dropping below 35degrees, although for some of my Shymkent and Taraz friends (Southern Kazakhstan), it was a welcome break from the 40-45degrees they have been having. The city is also far more cosmopolitan than my part of the country, with a rather nice Indian restaurant serving affordable vegetarian curries, which I went to 3 times in 2 weeks! I was also able to buy curry powder and taco spices at the German supermarket, which I hope to get to use soon enough.

Jason, Yunmi and I tried visiting the Baraholka, the behemoth market north of the city, famous for its size, prices and chaos. And it lived up to its name, as it was hot, packed and exhausting.

All in all, it was a fun two weeks, although somewhat expensive, as I managed to spend around 10,000tenge (£50 or so) – although that did include 4 meals out, a night in a rented apartment, snacks and drinks. Some of my younger compatriots spent over 40,000tenge (£190). Seeing as we get ‘paid’ about 20,000tenge a month, it will take them a while to recoup that, and we will be back in Almaty in November for 3 or 4 days of more training. It will be nice to return, and by then, the State Art Museum will have reopened, which I am excited about, although the 50p entrance fee seems a bit steep!