Kazakhstan Entry #9 - Road Maps

June 10, 1999

Although we are still having chilly nights, spring has definitely come to Kazakhstan. School will be over soon so we have had the round of spring concerts, the spring play (Our Town), field day, etc. Rose went hiking in the mountains with her Girl Scout troop and accidentally saved a fellow hiker's life by stopping to tie her boot just as the other girl slipped and fell down a rock face, landing on Rose instead of the boulders. They also saw a beautiful waterfall and waded across a river. She is still a little sore from the exertion of it four days later.

I am somewhat of a novelty here because I am female and drive a vehicle. Local women almost never drive and most do not even know how. Among the ex-pats (foreigners), most women do not drive, choosing to have hired drivers. I realize that I am getting comfortable with the crazy driving conditions here, but also, I have recognized that I can't relax and drink a cup of coffee as I drive, as I routinely did in the states.

For the first two months of driving, I stuck to the routes that I knew, using old ones with a few modifications to find the new destinations I needed. Because I can't ask directions due to the language difference, I was afraid of getting lost. But I was learning more road names each time I went out; slowly connecting the Russian names on the signs with the streets people refer to. Finally, a few days ago, I got lost and drove around unsuccessfully for an hour before I figured out where I was and was able to get where I wanted. Fortunately it was a very peaceful experience and felt like trying to solve an interesting puzzle. I recognized two street names in a row, and was able to orient myself on the map and then head in the right direction.

To complicate the use of the map, each road has three names. In the oral tradition, the roads are called by the former Soviet names. On the maps, most roads are named in Russian using the new names given to the streets in 1991, when the republics gained independence. Within the last year, Kazakhstan has made a great effort to return to the use of the Kazakh language. So road signs have the Kazakh name in the Kazakh language (which has a somewhat different alphabet).

It feels like we have been very fortunate to be experiencing Kazakhstan at this point in time. Many of the comforts of modern civilization that we have taken for granted in the United States are beginning to take hold here. Even friends who have been living here for three years are seeing a big difference in the comforts and conveniences becoming available.

The first shopping mall that resembles those found in the west opened a few weeks ago. I'm sure that it is quite a culture shock for these folks. This is a place where most foods are purchased from venders on street corners. The mall has three stories, with one of them a food court. The hamburger place is called McBurger. No, I don't plan on eating there! There is an indoor ice rink in the mall. There is also a large store that resembles what we call super centers, with groceries, garden centers, electronics, appliances, sports equipment, etc., all in one store.

Another new addition to this city, and one being pretty much ignored, is painted lane lines on the streets. You have to understand that here, everyone drives where they want to. No matter where you are on the road, drivers will pass you on both sides, horns blaring. Picture an intersection in the states, with two lanes painted on the surface. In America, we would line up in two lines. Here, four lines of cars filled the same amount of space. In theory, the far right car will turn right, the far-left car turn left, and the two in the middle travel ahead through the intersection. Except that maybe a taxi will stop in the right lane. Any car can decide to be a taxi, at the spur of the moment. If a person waves a hand, any vehicle can swerve to the side of the road and stop. A fare is negotiated on the spot and the person picked up. This car may very likely now cross all lanes of traffic and turn left or do a large U-turn and proceed in the opposite direction.

In the middle of most large streets are train tracks where buses with train wheels travel. If you want to turn left at an intersection, you get out of the vehicle traffic to wait by getting on the tracks. You are joined there by three or four more cars waiting with you. Here we do not line up and turn left one at a time, we bunch up and turn left all at the same time, into whatever space is available on the road we enter. Of course, it is anxiety producing to be parked on a train track sideways and then blocked there by a crowd of cars. I am always watching for a bus to come down the tracks, unsure what I could do about it.

We also have trolleys, buses that are connected to overhead electric wires and run on regular rubber tires. These also contribute much excitement to driving because they periodically come loose from the wires with much sparking and then are dead in the road. Usually, the passengers pour off and seek other transportation and the driver gets out poles and attempts to reconnect the lines. All the surrounding traffic helps by continuously honking horns at the situation.

For eight years, a school system has been planned to be a model for education in this country. It is based on an international model of education that is called the International Baccalaureate program. The goal of these schools is to graduate students from high school that are guaranteed admission to most colleges in the world at the sophomore level, due to agreed upon requirements and advanced placement courses. Schools based on this model use the lower grades to prepare students for this type of international education. Learning four languages simultaneously is the norm. This fall, they are ready to open the first two of the eight model schools planned for Kazakhstan.

The school here in Almaty will have 20 students in each grade level, and eight of those positions are opened to students who are not local. We have decided to apply for the opportunity to have our girls placed in this school. The curriculum will be taught in English and the girls will choose three other languages to learn. They want to continue to learn Russian, will be able to continue the Spanish that they studied at St. Anthony in West Virginia, and will be able to pick another. If they were starting in Kindergarten, they would have to take Latin as one language. If they were local students, they would have to take the Kazakh language as one choice.

The school is based on the modular scheduling system and teams of teachers teach students in small groups. Lots of the learning is in labs. The school will have lots of hands-on and interactive learning within the environment. The school is on a campus setting, with the faculty and their families living on the grounds. Three hot meals will be served each day and students can stay as late as 6:30 PM, depending on which classes and activities they elect to take. Music, art, drama, sports are all offered. Bus transportation will be available. Actually, this school sounds too good to be true, so we will see. We should know within the next two weeks if they are going in the fall. They both want to and have friends who are also applying.

Ted continues to enjoy his job. We are going as a family next week to Turkmenistan so he can work at the office there for a week. In the states, this would be the equivalent of flying out to California in terms of time and distance. We will be near the border of Iran. We are looking forward to learning a new culture, this one more of a desert. Here we live in the snow-covered mountains; it gets cool in the nights and mornings.

I am happy here. It is a grand adventure all around. I am fascinated to feel the Russian language just jump out at me and start to make sense. We miss our families and friends from home, but we have no regrets about being in this special place. Please let us hear from you. Brecken