11/15/2009
So I am slowly figuring life out here in Petropavlovsk. It certainly is different from the village that I was used to, but it is growing on me. I moved in with a new host family and they are really nice. The mom teaches physics at the orphanage, her husband is a businessman, and they have a son who is 14 and a daughter who is 10. The mom and the son speak excellent English and they like to practice their English when they talk to me. They have also been very patient with my Russian and politely listen as I botch their native tongue on a daily basis.
I take the bus to and from work, as it is too far to walk. Petro has a pretty reliable bus system, although I don't know how I'll feel about waiting for the bus when it is 40 below. For now it's not bad. My round-trip fare on the bus each day costs less than 50 cents, what a deal! Although the way some of the bus drivers drive, they should be paying me to take the bus. The roads are icy now and they peel out of each stop, because that's how you drive when the roads don't get sanded? I hang on for dear life on the days when I don't get a seat.
Work is picking up now that the kids are back to school. I mostly help with English and help teach some English classes. It may take a few months to carve out a role for myself, as Peace Corps told us. But in the meantime, I get to meet the kids, who are all really nice. They all say hello and good-bye in English, and give me weird looks when I speak to them in Russian. They have classes most of the day, then have extra-curricular activities in the afternoon. It will be part of my job to help plan some of the extra-curricular activities, which I am looking forward to.
The kids live in dormitories and the school is attached. Nice in winter, they don't even have to walk outside to get to school in the morning. They live in “families” of about 20-30 children. Each family has a large living area, two large bedrooms (one for girls, one for boys) and maybe another room or two for studying or recreation. They have people who look after them and they all have chores to complete.
Some kids are in the orphanage because their parents' rights were taken away, and some of the children are true orphans. Some may have parents either in prison or who are unable to care for them due to alcoholism or other issues. The kids are able to visit their extended families such as grandparents or aunts and uncles with the permission of the orphanage. It's only been a short time, but many of the children seem remarkably well adjusted given their circumstances. The staff at the orphanage seems very kind as well and the kids appear to be very well cared for.
Some kids are in the orphanage because their parents' rights were taken away, and some of the children are true orphans. Some may have parents either in prison or who are unable to care for them due to alcoholism or other issues. The kids are able to visit their extended families such as grandparents or aunts and uncles with the permission of the orphanage. It's only been a short time, but many of the children seem remarkably well adjusted given their circumstances. The staff at the orphanage seems very kind as well and the kids appear to be very well cared for.
Don't have many pictures of the city yet, but this website does a much better job than I ever could. Many interesting photos for you to see of Petropavlovsk and what it actually looks like. http://aboutkazakhstan.com/Petropavlovsk_city.shtml
12/6/2009
So, I've officially been here for one month. I'm still adjusting, but overall things are going well. November brought two celebrations: Thanksgiving and my birthday. For Thanksgiving, volunteers from our oblast (county) and the oblast closest to us, got together for a weekend of celebration and fun. We went to Zerenda which is a small town with a cross-country skiing lodge. All 24 of us stayed there and cooked Thanksgiving dinner the Saturday after the holiday. We got in Friday night, had a nice pasta dinner, then chatted with other volunteers all night.
Saturday was mostly spent cooking, hiking and playing frisbee. Sunday we packed up and left for home. I got to see Hannah, who was with me in Enbek. She's now in Kokshetau which is about 4 hours by bus from me. This was the first time we'd seen each other since leaving our training village, so that was really cool. Overall, it was a really fun weekend and a nice way to meet some of the volunteers who have been here for one year already. I've included some photos from the trip.
Hannah & me:
View from the top of a hill we climbed up: 
Thanksgiving frisbee (who needs football?)
Me with a glorious mountain of mashed potatoes:
My birthday celebration was also cool. My site mates threw me a party, which included some local friends who have welcomed us into their community. Also, I invited my Russian teacher, Anya, and two other Russian teachers that worked with us in Almaty, but who are from Petropavlovsk. A good time was had by all. We had vegetarian burritos, improvised from ingredients found here, but spiced up with a packet of taco seasoning Megan had sent from home. Everyone thought they were surprisingly tasty, even the meat eaters.
We played a game where you had to pop a balloon and do whatever the slip of paper inside told you to do. Most were pretty tame, such as crawl around under the table, pat your head and hop on one foot at the same time, etc. After doing what the balloon said, the person would say a toast to me. That was really cool and a lot of fun.
Anya (my Russian tutor) before giving a toast:
Sitemates Katie and Megan with my birthday sign:
