Official introduction!

Students welcoming us to school for our official introduction and orientation. Playing traditional Kazakh music in traditional Kazakh garb

The market!

Ok, so I have been pretty much settled in  Kokshetau for a week.  There are  over 20 other international teachers now, and the "settling in" has been arduous.  Finding the right accomodations, making sure we had everything we needed, such as Internet, and ...Internet!!  But seriously, some places needed more vamping up than others, and the local teachers who helped us have been great!

I have gone to the local veggie market( pictures to come), and it is amazing!  Pretty much every vegetable you would like ( sans spinach sorry Dad!) you can find at a vendor, and they have literally just pulled the stuff from the ground!  My first experience in the market was hilarious, I wandered around looking at the wares,, as I ventured to a carrot vendor to seek a price, the difficulty ensued!  She began shouting about her produce in Russian ( which I do no know), and I could only say please, and how much! Haha.  I believe she became so frustrated/ sorry for me, that she GAVE me two carrots!  

Inside in the meat market was a different story.  Fresh meat hanging ready to be cut the way you want.  There are sections- horse, cow,goat are together.  On the other side there is pork and poultry.  Can you imagine, the whole animal, you just ask for what section you like!  Great steak, and bacon-0oooh boy, good slab of bacon!

The most wonderful thing i have found is the people are so friendly.  Everywhere we go, people are kind  to us.  When people hear us speaking they come over and try to talk with us.  Everyday, I try to learn a little more Russian and Kazakh, so that the local teachers and neighbors will see I am trying, just like they are.

Trish

First day of exploration

I arrived in the Capitol city of Astana at around 4:30 in the morning after traveling the equivalent  of a full 40 hour work week.  My exhaustion kicked in the next day when I slept off and on  for the day between meeting people, adventuring with them, and crashing! Haha.  I enjoyed walking around the city and seeing all the new architecture, and how clean and spread out things are.  The city relatively new, and not yet complete, but is slated to be done by 2015. Construction is everywhere, and they are making it really modern.  The grocery stores are awesome too!  Open bins of fresh fruit and veggies, fresh baked goods, hot out of the oven, and of course boat loads of alcohol!!  I actually tried to buy lemonade but wasn't sure if it was non- alcoholic because I couldn't read the label!! Haha! There are also gorgeous statues and memorials around the city.

Anyway, so far, for such a short bit of exploring, everything, and everyone is amazing!!

Keep you posted on the Kazaka!!!blog...

And so it begins.  My flight over to Istanbul was my first international experience.  I was just about the only American on the flight, and I got to try some new food!  Dinner was a Turkish meat dish with rice, and a GREAT chocolate cake.  Breakfast was a little more interesting.  There was some black spread on bread with cheese, and scrambled eggs with things in it( I recognized a pepper, and spiced tomato).  I bravely devoured both (ok I TRIED both- haha).  Imagine, this is only airline food-lmao!!

I am flying over the Carpathian Mountains, and OMG they are amazing!!!!!  Huge, green, spots of villages all around- it is breath-taking.  The clouds sit on the tips like whipped cream on the top of a magnificent drink(a cinnamon dolce latte of course-haha).

On the flight from Istanbul to Kazakhstan, I met an older woman in traditional muslim garb.  Neither one of us spoke the others language, and yet we smiled and used hand gestures, getting the basic things across over the next few ours.  As the flight went on, my companion, wrote feverishly, page after page of letters.  When we went to part, she squeezed my hand speaking endearingly in her native tongue, and kissed me on both cheeks wee hugged, and she then gave me one of her letters.  I am attempting to translate the letter, and look forward to reading her words.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life!

I am opening a new chapter in my life.  Today I leave a job I have had for nine years to go off  to another country!  I don't think that this has really all sunk in yet.  Not only will I be teaching with new colleagues, and teaching new students, but the language they speak, and the country and continent will be entirely different- Holy Crap, I am moving across the world-how crazy is this shit!  LOL

I purchased my plane ticket today, so I guess it is official (even though I don't have a visa yet!-OMG).  It's going to take me 45 hours to get to Kazakhstan (just south of Russia).  My flight Itinerary is as follows:

I leave Logan airport in Boston on the 16th of August @ 7:55 pm- I head to NY.

I get held in NY for 20 Hours!!!   Camp in New York with the homeless.

leave NY and head to Istanbul at 6:25pm the following day.

arrive in Istanbul @ 11:15 am.

leave @ Istanbul @ 6:40.

Arrive in Astana Kazakhstan 2:45pm.

Die of exhaustion!!!!

Shopping for the trip!

I am excitedly preparing for this trip! Of course, if I intend on living in a cold environment, I decided I had best get myself some cold weather gear! My sister-in-law, and great friend, turned me onto two great stores- Columbiawww.columbia.com/, and REIwww.rei.com/. I am sooo hooked on these places now! When I shopped at Columbia, I got the best deals, I left the store with a fleece, a soft shell(with omni-heat!), and a great outer coat of down (also with omni-heat). Of course before this shopping spree I had NO idea what omni-tech was, so I was excited to learn about its magical warming abilities. Omni-heat is a reflective technology placed inside the jacket to help reflect the heat back into the body. The technology works by using your own heat to reflect back into your body. Columbia was a great shopping day! I also hit up REI , and was awe struck by the great stuff they have. I needed boots still, and boy did I get some boots! I got the deal of the century, and my friend dubbed me the "bargain fairy"! I loved that one! Anyway, I found a pair of sorels for 45$- yup, that's right, only 45$! The boots are awesome, rated for -25 degrees. I won't describe them much because I decided to take pictures of my haul.

My smartwool long johns!
and smartwool socks! :)

I am about to begin a fantastic adventure!  I am a high school teacher, and I'm taking off for Kazakhstan(Kazakhstan Consulate) this August!  I must admit that I am extremely nervous.  I mean the, extent of my travels outside of the U.S have been, hhmmm, let me see-oh yes-Canada!  I do believe that Kazakhstan is slightly further away than Canada.  I suppose if I'm going to travel for the first time, I may as well go pretty far.  Kazakhstan is pretty far.  My flight will take anywhere from 24-36 hours depending on which airline I take- either way, that is a looong time in a small space!  All part of the fun, right?

I researched the country, and discovered some really wonderful things-the one thing I'm preparing for the most, besides the classroom, is the weather.  Kazakhstan has some very intense weather.  On the steppes, the summers can be arid and hot, in contrast the winters can be as cold as -30 to-50 below.  Ironically, I don't like the cold (seriously-I'm cold in August! What The Hell was I thinking signing up to go to a place that is technically a part of Siberia!!).   The thrill I'm getting with this trip, is the travel, and the teaching.

 I'm going to Kazakhstan to teach English, and help write curriculum.  I'm overwhelmed with joy to be able to teach in a different country, to help create a new curriculum, and to learn new methods as well as share what methods I find successful.

Kazakhstan Flag

This adventure will be life altering.