Monday, November 5, 2007

Prospective roommates


After a few hours of sleep and vast quantities of tea, I am once again alert enough to sit down in front of the computer and write. It is a beautiful morning here in Almaty, and I’m enjoying the sunlight streaming through my kitchen window as I listen to the cheerfully subversive music of Elvis Costello (insert comment about the Grand Hotel Krasnapolski here, Mom and Dad!)

These last few days, I have not been quite alone in my apartment. It began on Friday night, while I was writing a few letters on my computer. Normally, the stairwell here is very quiet—most people who live in this part of the building are elderly, so it is pretty quiet. On this occasion, though, I could hear several people speaking loudly in the stairwell. It was pretty obvious that they had been indulging in some sort of alcoholic beverage (an educated guess would be Baltika 9, since that seems to be the local favorite). So…I was not about to go out and see what was going on—especially I haven’t learned how to say “can you please keep the noise down and go drink somewhere else” in my Russian class (maybe I should ask my teacher to teach me, though!). Also, confronting at least one drunken man in the hallway doesn’t quite seem like a safe thing to do. Fortunately, the noise dropped off after about 30 minutes. Since I was focused on writing, the situation entirely slipped my mind. That is, until I was about to go to bed around 11pm. I was sitting in my kitchen with just a small lamp for light (I don’t like the overhead light). The weather was nice, so I had opened the doors to the balcony in the living room earlier in the evening. Suddenly, my house was filled with the sound of very loud breathing. I couldn’t tell where it was originating from, so I very cautiously walked to the living/bedroom and turned on the light. It didn’t seem likely that anyone would be able to get into the living room—unless they came down from the roof, but this IS Kazakhstan, after all. Fortunately, there was no one there. That’s when I realized that the loud breathing had become louder snoring. Yes, there was a drunk man sprawled across my doorstop. Yurya (my landlord) tried to wake him up to tell him to leave, but the man was insensible.

The next day, I asked Lyudmilla and Yurya about the situation. They told me that it is not uncommon in the colder months. Sometimes it is someone who is homeless, but unfortunately most often it is someone who is too drunk to stagger home. We have an outer door that is supposed to be closed and locked during the night, but not everyone shuts the door behind them. And, of course, the top floor (where I live) is the most desirable location to pass out, since there is less likelihood of being disturbed. They normally leave early in the morning (which around here is about 9am)—but I’ve been told that sometimes it might be necessary to step over someone while heading off to work. Just when you think you know what to expect here, something new happens!

Sitting down to write this update, I suddenly heard another strange noise. This time, it was coming from the window—a continuous low tapping sound. I had left the window cracked open last night to try to lower the (incredibly hot) temperature in the apartment. When I looked over at the window this morning, I found another prospective roommate—a 4 inch preying mantis. Now, I have some standards after all—no strange drunk men, and no one/nothing that consumes its mate are allowed into my house. I usually have no problems with getting rid of insects and other creepy/crawly visitors (including drunks). A preying mantis, however, is slightly different. I have strange images of opening the window wider to get rid of it, but instead allowing the mantis into the house. And I really don’t want to chase a 4 inch bug all over the apartment. So…instead I closed the inner window and effectively shut the preying mantis between the inner and outer windows—kind of a homemade terrarium. It is now staring at me out if its huge pug-like eyes, and using its long legs to tap on the glass. I can really see why there are so many Far Side cartoons with at least one preying mantis. Just as long as it remains a case of “same planet/different worlds”!

I’ll write more later either today or tomorrow about the trip to the petroglyphs. Right now, I need to head off to the store—it’s time for a slight change of hair color and I’ve been told that Dastarkhan has a recent shipment of American products. I don’t mind experimenting with different shades of red, but I just don’t want one of those strange shades that don’t occur in nature…

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