Two Weeks In

Once again, this post isn't chronological but rather divided by sections:

1. English Camp, covering the experiences of myself and the other three interns teaching English at a summer camp, 
2. Almaty Adventures, focusing on our general activities in the city, 
3. Further Travels, focusing on our trips beyond the usual parts of the city, in this case to Kok Tobe and the mountains near Madeu.
4. Dorm Life, focusing on the other interns and our interaction

English Camp

This week was half spent wrapping up work with our first group of students in the English camp. The last few days were both the most exhausting and the most fun days of the camp's experience thus far. On one end, the kids were more restless than ever, and it was much harder than usual keeping their attention and keeping class productive.

On the other hand, we had some of the most fun activities this week, including an activity where groups of students set up shops to sell products and services for fake money. These ranged from sodas and cookies to nail painting and hair service.

Marko just couldn't resist

If I haven't mentioned it before, know that there are few things these children are more passionate about than the possible coupling of Marko and MJ. Thus, Marko and MJ were rather forcefully sold an arranged marriage carried out with tin foil rings and everything.

Showing off their purchases (And their "engagement rings", courtesy of the students)

The last day with this batch of students (Tuesday, June 24), was spent planning out a concluding performance for the rest of the teams. Thus each of the four teams (The Unicorns, Sparta, Crazy Rabbits, and Coca-Cola) came on stage at the end of the day and performed a range of skits from traditional instrument performances to modern pop dances.

A member of "Sparta" team performing on the Dombra, a traditional Kazakh instrument

Members of team "Coca-Cola" with a dance routine to "Lalala" (Brazil 2014) by Shakira

In conclusion, the teachers were presented a cake complete with names and faces (And the flag of the United Kingdom on the cover). I have to be careful in the future as my 'Merica jokes were almost taken seriously by the teachers when I jokingly asked why it wasn't an American flag instead (Needless to say, the English camp made a reasonable choice).

'Merica?

The following day, we received our new groups of slightly younger students. The difference between teenagers and pre-teens was, in a word, beautiful. Every intern, including myself, couldn't help but talk about how much they were able to teach with kids who respected them and followed their instructions.

Look at all of them doing worksheets without playing on their Ipads. It's beautiful.

After realizing how much they loved "Crocodile" (their name for charades), we created a game they can't seem to get enough of. Taking the concepts of Simon Says, rather than saying "Touch your toes" and other more basic actions usually involving basic body vocab, they had to act out any verb commanded (Note that my concentration when teaching is verb vocabulary and structure). So, I would say "Simon says, swim!" and the kids would need to act out the verb "swimming."  Just as in Simon Says, if the full phrase isn't used, or any other name is used, you can't do it.

After a while, it became clear that the reward for winning every kid wanted was to be "Simon" in the next game, so I had the pleasure of simply moderating them as they practiced English with each other. All in all, it's been quite good.

On the second day, their names came in. One can see they were more than a little influenced by media in their team name choices. (My first and thus far only team of this student group has been the Minecrafters)

The Simpsons, the Minecrafters, the Titans, and the Minions 

Almaty Adventures

Two weeks in, Almaty is still becoming more and more understandable. The four of us English camp interns, Marko, MJ, Bretislav, and I, have become seasoned bus veterans from our daily commutes.

Behold true mastery in waiting for bus #99

The buses continue to be interesting. The best story for this week was when, in a particularly crowded day, the bus driver and a car next to the bus at the stop light got into an argument over each other's driving. The result?: The bus driver got out of his seat, opened his door, and while still standing in the doorway engaged in a small fistfight with the man before realizing he left the parking break on and returning to his seat. Then, without ranting or comment from anyone, the bus continued along it's planned course.

Still, I hadn't yet experienced one of the public transportation structures in Almaty: the extremely new metro system. On Wednesday night, as a group we used it, and I must say it is one of the most beautiful systems I have seen.

This was how empty it was when we used it.

Each station in the Almaty metro has a different theme, ranging from apple orchid to spaceship inspired. Still, it seems buses are vastly more popular in Almaty as they offer a larger variety of stop locations. While the metro was largely empty when we used it, the AIESECers leading us explained that in rush hours it can become fairly crowded.

Regarding food, I have found two trends in Almaty in my time thus far. First of all, their equivalent of a Starbucks or McDonalds (IE: A restaurant found on every street corner) is a chain restaurant called "Kaganat" which sells a variety of fast food. While I imagine their ingredients are more legitimate than McDonald's, the fact that they do not prepare your food upon ordering there but rather simply reheat the food in the microwave has made this restaurant less than appreciated by me. Still, it is good for a quick meal when us interns are in a rush.

Regarding the taste of the locals, however, the type of food I have seen the most of is the Turkish cuisine "Doner." While there isn't a single dominant chain restaurant for these, one cannot throw a stone in Almaty without hitting a Doner joint. We've had them a few times and, though I can enjoy them, I personally vastly prefer the delicious shashlik we've had.

In Almaty, no one can hear your trademark scream

On Thursday, in celebration of the completion of our first batch of students as mentioned, the teachers in charge of the English camp invited us to join them in the morning at the "Americanskii Grill." Needless to say, I was more than excited to see how American cuisine was portrayed.

"American Breakfast" menu, focused mainly on pancakes and eggs.

Before switching to the breakfast menu, I was able to look at the dinner menu and judge it from an American view point. Honestly, it was almost identical to a Chili's menu, with the same format and everything. Ribs, fajitas, steak, and, of course, burgers were the central items. The breakfast menu was more like I-Hop with a specific focus on pancakes with syrup and eggs. Our meal was immense and delicious, including both American and Russian pancakes. While it's expensive and I will probably lack the time, if I ever feel particularly homesick I'll probably order a rack of ribs here and take a seat near the American flag hung inside.

Further Travels

On Saturday, after teaching our lessons to the classes (the English camp is 6 days a week) we headed for the mountains of Almaty, particularly a high point in Almaty called Kok-Tobe. At 1,100 meters high (3,609 ft), the "Green Hill" isn't very high compared to the mountains beyond Almaty, but it certainly offers a spectacular view of the city itself.

Kok Tobe is actually more than the high point of Almaty city, it's a sort of amusement park complete with carnival booths, a zoo, and even a roller coaster down the mountain. The zoo at Kok-Tobe was rather desolate though, and one couldn't help but feel bad for many of the animals clearly in sub-par condition. The carnival booths were all too familiar, with familiar faces from media such as Shrek, the Despicable Me minions, and virtually every super hero displayed. Still, we focused mainly on the view and stayed until sunset.

Marko & MJ at one of the viewing points in Kok Tobe

Almost an entire week later (the day of this posting), we left for higher altitudes once more, in this case being the further "Madeu" ice rink, the highest ice rink in the world. 

As you can see by the foliage, the season isn't quite fit for its use.

Have you ever had that nightmare where you're running up a never ending staircase? In our pursuit of a viewing spot on a ridge, it wasn't the distance or height that made the climb exhausting so much as it was the fact that it always looked like you were about to reach the top until the last few steps revealed two more flights. 

One can see the starting point from which the first picture was taken in the distance

 Finally, after many false hopes, we reached the top of a nearby ridge from which we could clearly see the ice rink and the mountains beyond it. As would be expected, the view was spectacular and absolutely worth it.

Interns and members of AIESEC Almaty at the ridge

After spending a good amount of time at the top, we departed for the much easier trip back down and towards the city. One bus ride and a quick dinner at Kaganat later, we were done with the day. I had the pleasure of practicing some of my Russian with a lovely individual from northeastern Kazakhstan, and ,though it was clear my Russian is rudimentary, I'm glad I have opportunities to improve it.

Dorm Life

Group photo of interns and AIESEC Almaty from last week (before the arrival of Eva, Saber, and Tom)

This week was quite a rush, as the size of our group grew significantly with Eva arriving from Macau, Gao Zhi ("Saber") from China, and Tom from the Netherlands.

We're still divided when working, as Marko, Bretislav, MJ, and I work at the English summer camp while the rest (Grace, Martina, Eva, Tom, and Saber) work at an orphanage, but we've still spent a great deal of time with each other every day after work.

One of our best experiences this week was the celebration of Martina's birthday on Monday, during which we went to a lounge and played board games.

Time at Некафе

Still waking up around 5:00am every day, I moved to the empty room next to where Marko, Bretislav, and Tom stay as to not disturb them each morning. While I had the room to myself for a few days, a German and a Dutchman who are not part of Shine Bright but are affiliated with AIESEC have moved in.( I would include a picture to show you how short I feel when they are in the room, but I haven't had the opportunity. Let's just say they accurately display the Netherlands and Germany as the world's tallest and fourth tallest countries, respectively.) However, they were quite shocked by the prospect of an 11pm curfew, and it seems clear they will not be staying in the dormitory for long as arrangements are made with ISL (AIESEC Almaty's other major current project).

In conclusion, there are, of course, things that I miss from the United States: Being able to ask for something without being nervous about language barriers, ice-cold drinks, my mother's cooking (and of course my family's love. I need to add that in before I'm accused of only missing her cooking =P). However, I'm glad to say that any culture shock has not yet been severe, and I'm still having the time of my life in this wonderful experience.