Saturday, September 1, 2007
Today KIMEP offered an arranged tour of the Tengue Mountains. The cost was 1,500 tenge, or about 11 dollars. (The tenge fell from 125 to about 136 tenge per a dollar a few days ago. This fluctuation is common.) That cost paid for transportation and the guides, so it wasn’t a bad deal. The guides unfortunately only spoke Russian, so I missed the history, climate, and transportation information that one guide provided the rest of the bus. Most people on the bus were students. I only met one other teacher. The bus size was the normal charter bus size. I am sure that the students didn’t listen to the guide. They were more interested in talking to their friends. So, she really should have just been talking to me. J
Participants were supposed to reserve a spot before they went. I saw signs for the trip and called on Friday asking if spots were open. None were. I thought the signs I saw were for a meeting about the trip. I was wrong. It was the actual trip departure time, or supposed departure time. With my past experiences here in KZ, and even in the US, I decided to show up and see if there was an extra spot that I could take. I arrived about 7:30 am, the signs said be at the departure location at 8 am. I thought I was giving myself plenty of time. And this time I did. The bus didn’t actually arrive until 8:45 am. I gave my sad, puppy face and begged and what do you know, there was an extra spot that I could have. So I joyously ascended the bus steps and decided not to move my butt until we left the school. I didn’t want to loose my newly found spot.
Around 9 am, we headed off to our first stop – an ostrich farm. Like the bus tour guide, the ostrich farm guide also only spoke Russian, so I couldn’t figure out what she was saying. Fortunately I sat beside a wonderfully nice Masters student who helped me ask my questions about ostriches. There were big adult ostriches and little babies. The babies were so cute! The smallest was only 4 days old. In one year, the baby ostriches reach the adult size. I think that sounds incredibly quick. But the birds have a very long life expectancy, about 70 years. So, they are pretty similar to humans in that respect. The ostrich farm lady also said that historically KZ had their own ostrich species, but those are extinct now. The ostriches at the farm were brought over from Africa.
While the lady was talking in Russian about ostriches, I went off and looked around the rest of the farm – billy goats, pigs, dogs, and crops. I couldn’t see much else without feeling intrusive. Some of those pictures are in this email.
After the ostrich farm, we went to a waterfall. It was about a half kilometer hike to the waterfall (about 2/3 mile) on a relatively easy path. According to locals, if you stand under the waterfall, the wish you make while standing there will come true. There were lots of people in the water. I saw a lot of people with bathing suits on - more than ever before on this trip. However, there really wasn’t much water for people to stand in. It was a rather small waterfall, not a lot of water flowing over the cliff. The cliff was about 50 ft above our heads. The waterfall wouldn’t account for much in the States, but here in this arid climate, that waterfall is something special.
The waterfall eventually met up with a decent sized river, mentioned below. The water color was striking – a grey, blue with white rapids. It was really very pretty and the river had a decent amount of water flow.
After the waterfall, we headed to a fish farm. This is a big attraction here. It was a very large park type area. There were lots of picnic tables, a section for fishing and another section for growing the fish to a suitable size. Since I didn’t really know what I was getting into that morning, I didn’t bring a real lunch. I did however bring clothes in case we spent the night somewhere. I didn’t know what we were doing. So, I didn’t have a real picnic lunch. I had a peach, some veggies, PB and that is about it. Luckily, the girl I sat beside on the bus had an over-prepared friend and I ate with them. I was incredibly grateful for them letting me share their food. The female masters student that I sat beside is Jahan (in the pink tank top), and her over-prepared friend is Marie/Marsha (these are her short names. Russian names have many short names; I don’t know what her full Russian name is). Marsha’s boyfriend, Justin, only spoke English, like me, so this helped me fit in. Justin is from Ireland, but has been dating Marsha since last Christmas. They met in India (random) because they were both guides for blind chess players competing in the international chess championships there (even more random). So, that is how they met and they hit it off. Justin plans on finishing up a teaching contract in Ireland and then moving to KZ next year.
As for the food served at lunch, I was going to be happy with whatever, but it was an odd assortment of things. I shared what I had, and they appreciated that. Marsha brought cooked potatoes, bread, boiled eggs, tomatoes, salt, pepper, sausage (this is huge here), and shortbread cookies (delicious). Jahan brought the KZ version of a sandwich (lots of mayo) and a cake. In all respects we had a fest, albeit a bit unusual. And as you might be able to tell from the little snippet about how Marsha and Justin met, the conversation was interesting.
After talking and eating, we looked at the baby fish and fed them a bit. We then headed over to a separate pond designated for fishing. This was crowded with poles and people, but not so much with fish. In fact, while we were observing the scene, fish farm workers dumped in a few bucket loads of fish for people to catch. I am not exactly sure how people find this type of fishing rewarding. The fishermen have to see the fish farm workers dumping the fish in, and the fishers have to know that the pool the fish swim in before the fish are caught is very small. The fish have to get caught eventually. I wasn’t too pleased with the sight. I asked my new found friends if there were any fish in the grey-blue river that ran nearby. They said no.
The spring of rejuvenation was next. As you might guess from the name, if you drink from the spring, you become years younger. People filled their water bottles right under the spring and running water. I didn’t do it. Too many backpacking trips have warned me about untreated spring water. And in this area, there are a lot of cattle roaming around freely, and the people use all kinds of pesticides for farming in this country. I wasn’t into trying the water in an attempt to look younger.
Along with the wishing waterfall, there is a local tradition to tie a piece of cloth on a tree branch and while tying it on the tree to make a wish. Because of this tradition, a lot of trees look like rag dolls. I saw several of these by the spring and by the waterfall described previously.
Also near the eternal spring, there is a monument of the Gold Warrior and a snow leopard, a house built into the earth, and a stone yurt. Usually yurts are not made of stone. The yurts you all see in my pictures are the normal ones, but covered in decorative cloth. Most people don’t live in these anymore. The yurts look like they are made from sod, hay, and other materials found nearby. The picture of me is in the earthen hut. I didn’t go back too far. I am sure it would have been fine for me to go back farther, but I didn’t want to tempt fate. As far as the story of the gold warrior, archeologists found an eighteen year old warrior wrapped in a completely gold suit in the area we were in. He was recently found, I think in the in 1980s or 1990s but I am not sure. I couldn’t find out why he was wearing a gold suit. Was it a sacrifice or is it what he normally wore? But people think he is lucky. So they have a monument of him. I also don’t know the semblance of the snow leopard, so I will have to do some Google searches on that as well.
There is A LOT of construction going on outside of my room. They are building an expressway and an overpass by my apartment. I have enjoyed watching the progress of these structures, but the activities are loud and the work hours are long, everyday, all day. Yep, that is right. They don’t stop. They put on big lights and keep on building through the night. When I first moved into the apartment I lost a few nights of sleep because of the noise outside, but I am growing accustomed to it. The worst causes of noise recently are the big, loud construction trucks used to transport dirt and other materials. They even make me jump sometimes. Attached are a few photos of the current state of the expressway and overpass.
Part of the reason why they do construction may be because of the short construction season, or because the government wants to keep people employed as much as possible. Unemployment here is high. Often, I will see groups of men sitting in a park drinking beer at 10 am. This isn’t a good sign of a healthy economy.
As far as construction safety, I am sure they would say, “Safety? We don’t need safety. We are men.” They do wear hard hats, but that is where safety ends. I see men coming and going from the work site wearing flip flops, sneakers, etc. But never have I seen a pair of steel-toed boots. They do wear long pants, so I guess that is good. And usually the people soldering things wear the face plate. So I guess that isn’t horrible, but the lack of protective footwear is a bit concerning.
People work today, Sunday; it is an official workday. Evidently, they don’t get 4 days off of work at one time. Interesting custom.
Planks are coming loose on the sidewalk…
Today KIMEP offered an arranged tour of the Tengue Mountains. The cost was 1,500 tenge, or about 11 dollars. (The tenge fell from 125 to about 136 tenge per a dollar a few days ago. This fluctuation is common.) That cost paid for transportation and the guides, so it wasn’t a bad deal. The guides unfortunately only spoke Russian, so I missed the history, climate, and transportation information that one guide provided the rest of the bus. Most people on the bus were students. I only met one other teacher. The bus size was the normal charter bus size. I am sure that the students didn’t listen to the guide. They were more interested in talking to their friends. So, she really should have just been talking to me. J
Participants were supposed to reserve a spot before they went. I saw signs for the trip and called on Friday asking if spots were open. None were. I thought the signs I saw were for a meeting about the trip. I was wrong. It was the actual trip departure time, or supposed departure time. With my past experiences here in KZ, and even in the US, I decided to show up and see if there was an extra spot that I could take. I arrived about 7:30 am, the signs said be at the departure location at 8 am. I thought I was giving myself plenty of time. And this time I did. The bus didn’t actually arrive until 8:45 am. I gave my sad, puppy face and begged and what do you know, there was an extra spot that I could have. So I joyously ascended the bus steps and decided not to move my butt until we left the school. I didn’t want to loose my newly found spot.
Around 9 am, we headed off to our first stop – an ostrich farm. Like the bus tour guide, the ostrich farm guide also only spoke Russian, so I couldn’t figure out what she was saying. Fortunately I sat beside a wonderfully nice Masters student who helped me ask my questions about ostriches. There were big adult ostriches and little babies. The babies were so cute! The smallest was only 4 days old. In one year, the baby ostriches reach the adult size. I think that sounds incredibly quick. But the birds have a very long life expectancy, about 70 years. So, they are pretty similar to humans in that respect. The ostrich farm lady also said that historically KZ had their own ostrich species, but those are extinct now. The ostriches at the farm were brought over from Africa.
While the lady was talking in Russian about ostriches, I went off and looked around the rest of the farm – billy goats, pigs, dogs, and crops. I couldn’t see much else without feeling intrusive. Some of those pictures are in this email.
After the ostrich farm, we went to a waterfall. It was about a half kilometer hike to the waterfall (about 2/3 mile) on a relatively easy path. According to locals, if you stand under the waterfall, the wish you make while standing there will come true. There were lots of people in the water. I saw a lot of people with bathing suits on - more than ever before on this trip. However, there really wasn’t much water for people to stand in. It was a rather small waterfall, not a lot of water flowing over the cliff. The cliff was about 50 ft above our heads. The waterfall wouldn’t account for much in the States, but here in this arid climate, that waterfall is something special.
The waterfall eventually met up with a decent sized river, mentioned below. The water color was striking – a grey, blue with white rapids. It was really very pretty and the river had a decent amount of water flow.
After the waterfall, we headed to a fish farm. This is a big attraction here. It was a very large park type area. There were lots of picnic tables, a section for fishing and another section for growing the fish to a suitable size. Since I didn’t really know what I was getting into that morning, I didn’t bring a real lunch. I did however bring clothes in case we spent the night somewhere. I didn’t know what we were doing. So, I didn’t have a real picnic lunch. I had a peach, some veggies, PB and that is about it. Luckily, the girl I sat beside on the bus had an over-prepared friend and I ate with them. I was incredibly grateful for them letting me share their food. The female masters student that I sat beside is Jahan (in the pink tank top), and her over-prepared friend is Marie/Marsha (these are her short names. Russian names have many short names; I don’t know what her full Russian name is). Marsha’s boyfriend, Justin, only spoke English, like me, so this helped me fit in. Justin is from Ireland, but has been dating Marsha since last Christmas. They met in India (random) because they were both guides for blind chess players competing in the international chess championships there (even more random). So, that is how they met and they hit it off. Justin plans on finishing up a teaching contract in Ireland and then moving to KZ next year.
As for the food served at lunch, I was going to be happy with whatever, but it was an odd assortment of things. I shared what I had, and they appreciated that. Marsha brought cooked potatoes, bread, boiled eggs, tomatoes, salt, pepper, sausage (this is huge here), and shortbread cookies (delicious). Jahan brought the KZ version of a sandwich (lots of mayo) and a cake. In all respects we had a fest, albeit a bit unusual. And as you might be able to tell from the little snippet about how Marsha and Justin met, the conversation was interesting.
After talking and eating, we looked at the baby fish and fed them a bit. We then headed over to a separate pond designated for fishing. This was crowded with poles and people, but not so much with fish. In fact, while we were observing the scene, fish farm workers dumped in a few bucket loads of fish for people to catch. I am not exactly sure how people find this type of fishing rewarding. The fishermen have to see the fish farm workers dumping the fish in, and the fishers have to know that the pool the fish swim in before the fish are caught is very small. The fish have to get caught eventually. I wasn’t too pleased with the sight. I asked my new found friends if there were any fish in the grey-blue river that ran nearby. They said no.
The spring of rejuvenation was next. As you might guess from the name, if you drink from the spring, you become years younger. People filled their water bottles right under the spring and running water. I didn’t do it. Too many backpacking trips have warned me about untreated spring water. And in this area, there are a lot of cattle roaming around freely, and the people use all kinds of pesticides for farming in this country. I wasn’t into trying the water in an attempt to look younger.
Along with the wishing waterfall, there is a local tradition to tie a piece of cloth on a tree branch and while tying it on the tree to make a wish. Because of this tradition, a lot of trees look like rag dolls. I saw several of these by the spring and by the waterfall described previously.
Also near the eternal spring, there is a monument of the Gold Warrior and a snow leopard, a house built into the earth, and a stone yurt. Usually yurts are not made of stone. The yurts you all see in my pictures are the normal ones, but covered in decorative cloth. Most people don’t live in these anymore. The yurts look like they are made from sod, hay, and other materials found nearby. The picture of me is in the earthen hut. I didn’t go back too far. I am sure it would have been fine for me to go back farther, but I didn’t want to tempt fate. As far as the story of the gold warrior, archeologists found an eighteen year old warrior wrapped in a completely gold suit in the area we were in. He was recently found, I think in the in 1980s or 1990s but I am not sure. I couldn’t find out why he was wearing a gold suit. Was it a sacrifice or is it what he normally wore? But people think he is lucky. So they have a monument of him. I also don’t know the semblance of the snow leopard, so I will have to do some Google searches on that as well.
There is A LOT of construction going on outside of my room. They are building an expressway and an overpass by my apartment. I have enjoyed watching the progress of these structures, but the activities are loud and the work hours are long, everyday, all day. Yep, that is right. They don’t stop. They put on big lights and keep on building through the night. When I first moved into the apartment I lost a few nights of sleep because of the noise outside, but I am growing accustomed to it. The worst causes of noise recently are the big, loud construction trucks used to transport dirt and other materials. They even make me jump sometimes. Attached are a few photos of the current state of the expressway and overpass.
Part of the reason why they do construction may be because of the short construction season, or because the government wants to keep people employed as much as possible. Unemployment here is high. Often, I will see groups of men sitting in a park drinking beer at 10 am. This isn’t a good sign of a healthy economy.
As far as construction safety, I am sure they would say, “Safety? We don’t need safety. We are men.” They do wear hard hats, but that is where safety ends. I see men coming and going from the work site wearing flip flops, sneakers, etc. But never have I seen a pair of steel-toed boots. They do wear long pants, so I guess that is good. And usually the people soldering things wear the face plate. So I guess that isn’t horrible, but the lack of protective footwear is a bit concerning.
People work today, Sunday; it is an official workday. Evidently, they don’t get 4 days off of work at one time. Interesting custom.
Planks are coming loose on the sidewalk…
Oh, the grey, stone buildings you see in the photos are the apartments in my area. Those are nice looking ones...
2 comments:
Hi Amanda,
My name is David and I am an American living in Almaty, although I was born in Kazakhstan. Your friend Joe found my blog and wrote to me about you. You writing is very personal, and I can picture you walking around the city and doing all the things you describe. My blog: worldexpat.blogspot.com is more for information than for entertainment, I guess. Would love to connect with you and others on and off line.
Cheers.
Yeah, the blog is more for friends and family. Others are welcome to look at it, but they probably won't find it very entertaining.
It would be great to meet up. Send me an email when you get a chance and hopefully we can get together soon,
amanda.fairley@gmail.com.
Look forward to hearing from you,
Amanda
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