Mukhtar Auezov

Myxtap (Moo-gh-tar) Ah-(upside-down ‘e’)-way-(ye)zov-(3OB).

Edna and the kids are posing with Auezov, considered the father of Kazakh playwriting. He is also credited with preserving and translating local histories and stories. He was the first writer to translate and introduce Shakespeare to Central Asia in the 1920’s. Why mention him on our blog? We live on Auezov Street, Almaty, Kazakhstan.

An Imbalanced World

The map above is one year old, but the data below represents 2010. The Corruption Perception Index can be found at http://www.transparency.org/ It's worth a glance if you have the time; if not, consider the following highly abbreviated report:

The least corrupt country in the world is Denmark. Unfortunately for Somalians, Afghanis, Burmese, and Iraqi's, their governments are at the bottom of the list: #175-178

#6 Canada

#22 USA

#105 Kazakhstan

#154 Russia

#154 Tajikistan (where we have a school)

#164 Kyrgyzstan (next door to us)

#172 Turkmenistan (6th from the bottom) A co-worker here in Almaty recenly transferred from Turkmenistan. He corroborates this report. His friend was pulled over by the police for having a dirty car. If he didn't pay the standard $50, he would have lost his licence for a year.

Kazakh police are angelic compared to at least 70 other police forces.

Another Random Sampling

We went for a drive out on the steppe and this is what we saw:
-these ladies are Turkish and Uzbek; they set up a fruit stand on the side of the road in the-middle-of-nowhere. They sleep in blue tarp tents for a few months at a time.

-this guy was trying out a new toy at an abandoned airport. It's a good place for training; check out the horizon--no obstacles!

-socks and potatoes for sale on the side of the road.

Halloween 2010

Edna and her co-worker organized Halloween in our gated community this year. Trick-or-treating is unknown in this country except in enclave "villages" like ours. So we had a "compound party." Families from Poland, France, Russia, Canada, The Ukraine, The States, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tunisia and Korea attended. We had a barbeque in the parking lot. The food was exotic and extremely ethnic; ironically (or not) the hot dogs and the s'mores were very popular. That's Cody in the Spiderman costume.

Gorky Park

There's a Gorky Park in nearly every former Soviet capital city. These are our friends on the ferris wheel in Almaty's version of Gorky.

Here's Cody trying the 'drawbridge rope' in the park.

Stalin and Lenin's statues have been replaced.

Cotton candy: ubiquitous fair 'food.'

Cody's friends at school have begun calling him 'fanta.' He's rarely seen not wearing something orange, and the soft drink "Fanta" is his favourite.

Tamgaly Tas Petroglyphs

These petroglyphs are a 2 hour drive north of the city. They are 1200 years old, Bhuddist in origin, but otherwise misunderstood--Kazakh historians don’t have time or resources to study or preserve them.

Here's a faint outline of Bhudda.

If I was optimistic and more sensitive to political correctness, I would describe Kazakhstan as a "developing country" or an "emerging economy." There are so many things about living here that we really enjoy, things that we will actually miss. Tragically, the ill effects of the Soviet-era are far reaching. Colonized people around the world typically first lose their religion, then their language, then their ancient history followed by their recent history--it's inevitable that morale, values, pride, and purpose also dwindle.

Hence, this image:

This is the entry to the petroglyph site--you might call it a park, complete with a park bench. But, for a completely mystical explanation that escapes most non-Kazakhs, the amount of garbage and the profane neglect for mother nature that exists at these settings goes unseen by the locals. Soviet oppressors: bad.