Observations on Almaty

Almaty is a great city, and a fascinating place to live. But I could not imagine living here without the years of preparation. Things happen that you cannot imagine, but are just part of everyday life. The only way to deal with them is to laugh and to shrug things off as much as possible. I thought I’d share some of my favorites.

Bookstores where not all of the books are for sale—only the books on certain shelves. If you pick up a book on one of the other shelves, the woman who works there (and whose hair is a strange shade of burgundy not found in nature) will take it out of your hand and scold you.

15-page menus, but you need to ask the (surly) waitress what is actually available

Water that is turned on and off at random. No one knows why, or when it will be turned back on. It can take weeks sometimes (we lost hot water for a week, and my landlady’s friend had no hot water for 3 weeks). Ditto for gas. And electricity.

Controlling the temperature by opening/closing the window.

The complete absence of clothes dryers.

Lint. On everything. Because the agitator (not washing machine, as I noted in an earlier posting) doesn’t have a lint filter.

Dust. Also on everything. And everywhere.

Probki, probki, probki. There are traffic jams everywhere. It can take 2 ½ hours for a trip that should take 35 minutes. (probki= traffic jam)

Crowded buses. 125 people crammed into a space meant for no more than 50, with no one getting upset. Then there are the people who take advantage of the crowding to get closer than they probably should, and just smile at you when you remove their hand from some portion of your anatomy.

All of these are just part of life here, and aren’t going to change. It’s a great way to learn patience—I’ve found that the most invaluable thing to have brought from home is a sense of humor. Some days, it’s like living in a painting by Salvador Dali since everything is so surreal. As my friend Sarah from KU recently commented, fieldwork is like living someone else’s life. I couldn’t agree more!!