Picture from Thanksgiving dinner--and a real apple pie

I’ve just come back from a real Thanksgiving dinner with some friends—turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and the rest. Even in Kazakhstan, it is possible to celebrate in true American fashion. My contribution was the apple pie. Unfortunately, we forgot to take a picture before cutting into the pie, but this picture should give an idea of what it looked like. The design was rather tongue in cheek—and something of a joke among the Fulbrighters (a “C” surrounded by rays of sunlight). It is surprisingly difficult to bake a pie in an oven without a temperature gauge, and also in a square pan rather than the usual circular shape (the dough drapes differently in a square pan). Although I understand that baking the pie was easier than roasting the turkey. Stoves over here are rather small, and in order to keep the oven door completely closed, it was apparently necessary to prop the kitchen table against the oven. Over here, ingenuity is essential!

Tomorrow evening it is off to the drama theater for a Russian play. I don’t know what it is, yet—but it should be interesting. We’ll see how good my Russian is (or isn’t). Then on Tuesday, I will likely be going to see the classic Shakespearean play “Gamlet”. Right now, it is time to head off to bed and sleep off the effects of too much dessert. I’ll have to get up early tomorrow to start walking off all the pie…but it was worth it!

Thanksgiving

This year has been the first time that I have been both away from family and outside the US for Thanksgiving. While I do miss all of the traditions and the people, this week has been an extraordinary opportunity to reflect on what Thanksgiving really means. The holiday is really what you make of it. For me, it has been about spending time with several groups of teenagers, sharing stories of the US and trying to encourage them to explore opportunities to expand their horizons beyond thoughts of their immediate future. Exhausting, draining, exhilarating, and wonderful all at the same time.

Along with the other Fulbright students in Almaty, I was asked to travel to Taldykorgan (the regional capital) to speak to a group of teenagers living in an orphanage. We were presenting material on the educational system in the US, but were really there to provide encouragement and support for these teens who have been given few opportunities to think of a future beyond leaving the orphanage. Most of these kids are not orphans in the true sense of the word—instead, they were left at the orphanage by teenage parents, families who did not want more children, or parents with substance abuse problems. While it was apparent that they are well taken care of physically, there is little support and encouragement for these teens to think beyond their immediate future. If this group follows the well-established path of those who have already left the orphanage, many of the girls will marry young in order to have a family of their own—and likely be divorced within 2-3 years. Lacking connections and the requisite education, the young men will drift to the areas of town where the unemployed gather, hoping that someone will drive by and offer them a temporary job as a day laborer.

After a six hour trip to Taldykorgan (a distance of only about 300km), we arrived at the school where we were to speak. Most of the afternoon was spent giving presentations and spending time with the teens. I don’t know whether our talks inspired any of the teens to attempt the long and difficult process of changing their situation—but I hope that we did something positive. If nothing else, the students will remember the day that four American university students came to spend the day with them. A change from their usual routine, and maybe something that will make them smile in memory.

The following day, the four of us spoke at different middle/high schools around the city. The topic was the same, but the audience was very dissimilar to the day before. We were met at our hotel and driven to the schools—where we were met with great pomp and circumstance. There wasn’t the opportunity to interact with students individually—in my case, I was escorted personally around the school by the rector and was proudly shown all of the English language classrooms. It was clear that my role had changed—rather than being there as a mentor, I was instead an official representative of the US and treated accordingly. After speaking at the schools, it was time to drive back to Almaty. Fortunately, the return trip only took 4 hours (since we missed the traffic in Almaty). The trip was short and mentally exhausting, and I would leave again in the morning to start it all over again.

After returning home, I barely had 12 hours to prepare for my next public speaking event. And that 12 hours included time to sleep. Previously, I had been asked by the consulate to speak at the National Children’s Library in Almaty, describing Thanksgiving traditions in the US. With preparations for an early Thanksgiving dinner, as well as the trip to Taldykorgan, there hadn’t been any time to think of what to say—so I was a little worried. It does help being from Cape Cod, though. A few postcards of the area where the Pilgrims landed, a map, and the memory of Glenn Miller’s lecture on the human geography of the cranberry industry made all of the difference! The students were an incredibly audience, and my five minute presentation ended up being nearly thirty minutes. Afterwards, several of them remained behind to congratulate me on the Thanksgiving holiday (it is customary here to offer your congratulations for holidays, birthdays, etc.). Then, while drinking tea with the library director, the students came back to ask if I would come to their school to speak with them again. Naturally I agreed—their enthusiasm is irresistible! As soon as they left the room, they let out a loud cheer—it was one of those moments that I know I will never forget.

Tomorrow (Saturday), I will have Thanksgiving dinner with friends. It will be a real Thanksgiving dinner—complete with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. As I sit in my kitchen writing this update, an apple pie is baking in the oven and an empty pie shell is cooling on the counter. So, some things are just like home. And the recent outreach activities really make me appreciate how many things I have to be thankful for.

picture from Monday

There have been several comments on the picture I posted yesterday. For the record, I am NOT living on a secret commune in western Kansas, contemplating my naval. The picture was taken on the road between Taldykorgan and Almaty. However, there is a local term for the scenery in the picture. It is called the “Kansas Steppe”.

Also, if you click on the picture from the blog itself, you can see more detail.

Taldykorgan

It has been an incredibly long and busy week here in Kazakhstan—a whirlwind trip to Taldykorgan to speak at an orphanage about the possibilities of studying in the US, and another talk at the National Children’s Library about Thanksgiving traditions. Today (Thanksgiving) is the first break I have had in nearly a week. I’ll be spending it catching up on some much-needed housework and going to the bazaar to pick up the ingredients for an apple pie for the Thanksgiving dinner my friends are hosting on Saturday. I had hoped to spend the day up in Medeu, hiking around the mountains—but the weather isn’t cooperative.

I’ll write more soon about the events of the last few days, and will hopefully have an update posted sometime tonight. It was an incredible experience, but one that was also very draining. Until then, I’m posting a picture to give you an idea of the incredible vastness and desolation of the countryside around Almaty. This picture was taken on the major highway between Almaty and Taldykorgan (the capital of Almaty Oblast). It is also the only road between these two locations—which makes traveling very interesting. Fortunately we were in a car that had a very good suspension system!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Thanksgiving and Outreach Activities

It is strange to be sitting down with a glass of wine right now, when back at KU the Geography Dept. is gearing up for tonight’s huge “Globe-O-Mania” competition to end up Geography Awareness Week. Normally on this day, I’m running around with lists and trying to maintain some semblance of sanity (frequently a lost cause). The event is always tremendous fun and a great opportunity for students to see a different side of the department (and no one has been too traumatized yet!).

The situation here will change tomorrow, though. When all of the volunteers—and Shannon, especially—are able to sit back and relax somewhat, the pace here in Almaty will speed up dramatically. I’ll be assisting with some of the preparations for a Thanksgiving dinner to be held on Sunday (good thing I finally learned how to make pie crust this summer, Mom!), so there will be some shopping as well as cooking involved over the next three days. And lots of list making—my inner control freak is completely and blissfully happy at the moment!!

Thanksgiving dinner is not the only event on the horizon, though. Early Monday morning I will be picked up by a diplomatic vehicle (how cool is that???) for my first overnight trip outside of Almaty. Next week is International Week, and each year the embassy/consulate works with an orphanage somewhere in the country to try to provide the children (or in this case, the teenagers) a broader perspective on the world. The goal is to encourage them to think beyond their immediate future—many of these orphans have no idea of life beyond limited confines of the orphanage. They have little thought of a university education—and face extremely limited prospects for the future.

The goal of the embassy program is to let the young adults in the orphanage know that there are opportunities if they are willing to put in some effort. The US government sponsors many programs to bring students to the States to study, and are additional outside scholarships available as well. The four Fulbrighters in the area have been invited by the consulate to travel to Taldykorgan (the capital Almaty oblast, about 3 hours from the city of Almaty) to speak at an orphanage and to give some idea of what university life is like in the States. Our role is to provide encouragement, and to let the young men and women know that there are possibilities to effect change in their lives and improve their future prospects. Often, they are never given any encouragement, so it will be an extraordinary opportunity for us to try to provide some hope for a different life.
We will be in Taldykorgan for two days—the first day at the orphanage, and the second day at local schools giving the same presentations.

I’ll write more after returning from the trip, and try to provide more of a description of the area. In the interim, here is link to some information on Taldykorgan. http://www.kazakhstan.orexca.com/taldykorgan_kazakhstan.shtml. The site also gives a good idea of the intense love of statistics over here. It should be readily apparent that the author is not a native speaker of English. Considering that I will be going to an orphanage where there are a large number of children who resulted from teenage pregnancies, maybe stating that there are “27 treatment - prophylactic establishments” is not the best possible wording!

Happy Veterans Day!

It is a little strange being in Kazakhstan on Veterans Day—it is been a day that has reminded me of how much I miss the sight of the American flag flying in the breeze. Veterans Day is not a day that is celebrated here in Kazakhstan, so there were no parades or ceremonies. Instead, I went to the remembrance memorial in the park near my house where there is a large monument to those who served in WWII, as well as another statue dedicated to those who took part in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

I have been incredibly fortunate to have so many family members and friends who have freely served our country. So, on this Veterans Day, I’d like to thank Dad, Catherine, Noel, Pepere, Grandpa Burke, Gramp Chandler, Uncle Leon, Neil, Brad, George, Wally, as well as others too numerous to name. To Geoff Stewart and all those who are deployed to distant places away from their loved ones—words cannot express what you do. Be safe, and come home soon.

Veterans Day should also not pass without recognizing the incredibly important part played by the family members of those who serve their country. They also make tremendous sacrifices, but do not receive the same recognition.

email

Just a quick note about sending a message to the “Kazakhstan Updates” group—any messages sent to this address automatically is forwarded to anyone who receives updates from the blog. While I love hearing from people, I don’t want to clog up anyone else’s email accounts. If you don’t have my email address, the best way to get a message to me is to add a comment to the blog—these are sent to me before they can be posted for anyone to see.