In the last few decades this country has modernized substantially. Almaty is a modern big city and I have heard Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, is even more modern. Almaty has nice malls, coffee shops, museums, concert halls, and beautiful monuments. Foreign companies have poured money into developing business, especially in the areas saturated with crude oil; ironically one of the regions in the country Peace Corps doesn’t have sites. The country’s economy is improving. You can see this in the cars driving around Almaty, Lexuses, Mercedes Benzes, cars I will never in my life be able to afford. Even many of the houses in my village have two stories, beautiful iron balconies, and fountains. My family doesn’t have a beautiful palace, but we has indoor plumbing, an indoor toilet, hell we even have wireless Internet.
I cannot help but think daily that I cannot possibly really be in Peace Corps. When I’m getting my hair done at a salon for my host brother’s wedding, its hard not to think that we don’t belong here. When I see my students with shiny, expensive cell phones, when I watch my host sister navigate through the Russian version of the facebook, or when I see plasma screen televisions in the local café, I cannot help but wonder. Somehow the Peace Corps I pictured living in a hut eating gruel just didn’t happen.
But then there are other moments. When our water is shut off for days and my family relies upon the Banya for washing, when I watch an 11th grade student struggle with the basics of English he should have learned 5 years ago, or when I watch a girl on a bicycle slowly directing a cow down the rutted street. These examples demonstrate the many stark contrasts between the incredible development in Kazakhstan and the areas that still remain beyond by centuries.
Last week I trekked to the market with a few trainees to buy a cake for the Peace Corps Director. We debated for a few minutes which of the gorgeous cakes we would choose, and then asked the saleslady if we could have it. Surprisingly the 40 something women answered us in English and began to demonstrate more English phrases. As she was wrapping up the cake she explained that she was taking English classes at the local university and wanted to learn English very badly. But she could not find any native English speakers, or even decent English speakers to converse with. It was so disheartening to meet a woman that was so enthusiastic about learning and yet had no outlet for this enthusiasm. It made me sad, but mostly it made me think that maybe I do belong here after all.
2 comments:
Hi Jenny,
It's snowing here in Howell right now. Will it snow there? How cold will it get? Do you need anything? I want to send you a package but give me some hints... I could do Chai tea 4-5 times a day! Nie. Where do you go to the bathroom when the waters shut off at night? I think you should go back to the bakery and talk more w/ the lady. I remember how excited i was to come across a spanish speaking person, for the first time, whenever I was learning spanish. She will remember you forever! We missed you last Saturday but you can see the pictures of all of us on my facebook. I love reading your blog. It's almost like experiencing it myself.
Be Safe.
love, a.lani xo
Jenny-Its been great reading your blogs, especially since I don't really know much about that region of the world. As I read, I see so many underlying similarities to Vietnam and India, from the food to the development, etc. This blog in particular rang true. At times when I was in Vietnam I was frustrated because I knew the commune we were working in didn't have the worst child malnutrition in the country. I knew the Vietnamese government had purposefully placed us in this (middle class) commune since they didn't want outsiders reporting child malnutrition statistics that differed from the government's. It seems politics are always somehow entangled in everything. At the same time, I was able to teach English while I was in Vietnam, which helped because I knew English was a means for some of the girls to get out of the commune. I also saw some of the same things while I worked in the Appalachians, families who couldn't afford 3 meals a day for their children and had almost bare cupboards had televisions and videogames. At first I questioned their decision to spend money on what were 'luxury' items in my mind, but over time I came to realize just because someone has financial struggles doesn't mean they should be subject to a life without some 'luxury.' I'm glad you are able to see the areas that you can have an impact on.
Take care and keep up the great work,
Heather Moehle
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