Guards, Fishermen, Diapers and Graves

What do all of these things have in common?  On my October 11 bike ride, Mark, Bill and I chanced upon  all four.  Today we decided to ride north out of town, along the European side of the Ural River.  We rode north of town almost to the second railroad bridge.  Along the way we apparently crossed into forbidden territory, where we were yelled at by a railroad bridge guard with a gun on his shoulder.  We kept going.

We saw many fishermen up to this point, but fewer after that.  One pair of fishermen told us to stay down low by the river to avoid contact with the guard – probably not a good sign.

After a bit we rode right into a dacha.  What was most interesting was the way of disposing of trash.  They drug it out of the house, and threw it over the gate.  To walk into the front yard, you would have had to walk over hundreds of used plastic diapers.  Although we didn’t walk into the front yard, we also had to walk over many of these diapers.  I didn’t take a picture for fear of upsetting the owners.  I would say that doing something like this is not unusual.  The owers turned out to be very friendly.

Just beyond that there were many Muslim graves.

We did see beautiful, albeit harsh country after that.  The bike ride was great, and we even had a thermos of hot coffee to drink during a pitstop.  There are many other photos at my Picasa site for those who are interested.

Too Good for Words

Me, My Bike, and Lenin

Just Hangin

It just doesn’t work

In my classes, I emphasize skills.  I try and develop empowered thinking, where students are asked to solve problems, engage in metacognitive thought, to think flexibly, and to apply learning to real-life situations.  I strive to bring my teaching in line with current research-based practices.  In that regard, I am supportive of The Partnership for 21st Century Skills.  I really appreciate their graphic organizer that visually demonstrates the importance of skills in relation to content knowledge.

Why do these skills matter?  Here is photographic evidence as an answer to the question.  This design, made to hold flower boxes, works mediocre at best when there are flower boxes setting in the wrought iron frames. But when the boxes are removed, these pieces of wrought iron become more like weapons than anything.  The design just doesn’t work.  21st Century Skills?  I say no.  It just doesn’t work.

Professional Development

This past weekend (Friday and Saturday), we had a professional development opportunity with teachers visiting Atyrau from Aktau, Astana, and Almaty.  We learned about a variety of topics, from the QSI method of grading, to teaching Intensive English to our students, to leveling books.  It was a good chance, particularly for the new teachers, to network and learn more about what is happening in QSI/Kazakhstan.

On Saturday afternoon, we went as a group to a Kazakh restaurant.  The restaurant serves primarily traditional fare.  It is a bit ironic that in one of our professional development sessions that highlighted teaching Intensive English, we were asked to create lists of food that we like, and food that we don’t like.  My list of food that I don’t like consisted of two items – onions and insects.  But I can officially say that after my meal at the Kazakh restaurant, I doubled my list of foods I dislike.  First, let me add fermented camel milk.  Frankly, it tastes like fizzy vomit.  I drank it, but oh man, it just didn’t suit me at all.  Second, there is an after dinner candy that is also made from milk (mare’s milk I believe) that is just as bad.  It too tastes like vomit, only in a solid form.

Having said that, the rest of the food was really good, and distinct from food I have had elsewhere. My comments here are in no way meant to be a negative reflection of a culture that I find to have overwhelmingly positive qualities.

After the food was over, we ran into a bunch of local people who had just attended a wedding in a wedding hall upstairs.  As the teacher group posed for a picture in the front of a hotel, one of the wedding patrons was standing right in the middle of our picture.  I am not sure he even realized it.  I tried to make a joke of it.  Anne, one of our teachers, took this picture.  I have no idea who this man is, but the two groups had a great time for a couple of minutes after that.  Quite fun.

Oh Kazakhstan

So I arrived in Kazakhstan on August 19; it has been almost a month since my arrival.  Here are some observations, in no particular order:

1. It is incredibly difficult to find quality merchandise, much less at reasonable prices.  For example, a couple of weeks ago, Eric and I went to a local electronics store to buy a printer.  We were warned ahead of time that when we buy the printer, we should buy as many replacement ink cartridges as are available for sale.  We found a Canon printer, no problem.  But when we tried to buy replacement ink cartridges, we were told we could only buy one black and one color replacement cartridge!  The store would not take our money for the other cartridges that were ready and willing to purchase!
2. The quality of much of the merchandise for sale is quite often sub-standard.  For example, I purchased a foldable bicycle recently, thinking that it would be good to have for riding along the river paths, and around town.  Within a day of purchasing the bike, it had a flat tire.
3. It is very difficult to find one location for what you may need to buy.  Quite often, one is forced to travel to many locations to buy what is needed.
4. Workmanship here is often a joke.  The simplest tasks, often costing hundreds of dollars, are not done well, or even correctly.  For example, we put in wooden shelving to store books in the school.  The carpenter promised planed wood, and accurate cuts.  The delivered product was neither planed nor cut accurately, as promised.

Having said all of that, there are wonderful people here.  I am not trying to say anything bad about Kazakh culture.  For example, when my tire first started going flat on my bike, I ended up asking an auto mechanic to help me pump it back up.  Within minutes, there were literally four men, all mechanics, helping to get a pump adapted to work on the bike tire. I don’t see that happening in other parts of the developed world.  And when I offered to pay them for their trouble, they said no, citing “Islam” as their reason for refusing payment.

I think many of the problems here are related to the “wild west” era that Atyrau is going through.  It is hard to describe how crazy it all is.  A simple pizza can cost over $30 US.  The tremendous amount of money coming into Atyrau has tipped the economic scales in wild, sometimes senseless bearings.  The result is an economic, social, cultural maelstrom that has to be as difficult on local people as on those of us brought here from elsewhere.

Autumn Walk in Atyrau

Sunrise over Windmills in Atyrau

Today four of the QSI staff went on an A/B walk in Atyrau.  We called a taxi at about 6:30, and asked the driver to take us south of town about a mile or two.  Then we stopped, got out of the car, and began walking back toward the center of town.  As we walked, we talked and took pictures.  Bill, Salta, Sarah and I walked for two hours, and during that time, we saw everything from a roiling sewer pond to a tipped over crane.  We saw goats, horses, dead catfish and bitterns, among other things.  There are some interesting pictures on Picasa.  If you look closely at the picture I posted above, you can see a raven perched on the dilapidated windmill.

Apartment Pictures

I posted more pictures on Picasa, this time of the inside of my apartment.  It is quite nice actually.  The landlord cleans it daily, and even does my laundry.  I pay a lady to cook for me a couple of times a week.  In the mean time, I focus on teaching.

More Kz Photos with Captions

I have put more photos into the Kz Picasa Album, and added captions as well.

Graffiti Under Bridge

Kazakhstan Photos

I have taken a first batch of photos and put them on Picasa.  There is one photo shot out of the third floor of the school.  If you look to the right, there is a new looking three story building there.  I am pretty sure I am going to be living on the second floor of that building with a nice view of the river.  I like it because it is not too big, close to school, new, and it has a great view.

Today I am working on getting ready for my classes.  I will be teaching six different classes, but I don’t think it will be as bad as it sounds.  There is a ton of support in the form of curriculum and materials.