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I wouldn’t say I know everything about Kazakhstan, but I’ve spent more time here than Sacha Baran Cohen. Needless to say we have radically different ideas about the place. And nor have I seen his film, and I don't want to. Whatever his intention, his interpretation of life and people here could not be further from the truth. And although I don’t expect to redress the balance much here, some things just gotta be said.
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| Kazakhstan is a Central Asian republic with a population of almost 16 million. I won’t say everybody here is rich but sensible exploitation of the oil and gas reserves has led to economic growth and modernity that many other countries could only dream of. Add to this their respect for the diversity of their society and the value of their traditions and consequentially I now find myself in a very special place which so few people want to leave. I seem to remember a wave of envy engulfing me when I first left the UK to work in Italy. Perhaps there wasn’t as much enthusiasm back home (home? where?) for the Kazakhstan idea, but the general concept of leaving the UK was clearly only abhorrent to a select few. So far I haven’t met anybody who wants to move away from Almaty, not permanently at least. And why should they?
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Almaty, even the rainbows smile
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| Almaty was the capital of Kazakhstan and in many ways remains its first city, but the sure and steady move to the fledgling Astana, a Dubai in the making, has seen the emphasis on development migrate north too. But a walk round Almaty would impress and annoy anybody determined to the opinion that this is a second (or lower) world country. I guess outside the cities life bears more resemblance to that of years gone by, but far from being dragged screaming into the 21st Century, Kazakhstan walked right in with its head held high and declared itself ready to rock!
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A great place with a lot going for it
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| In a year here I've spent by far the most time in Almaty, and I will be honest enough to point out that it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing city in the world, but it was designed to be functional rather than beautiful, and it seems to achieve that. There’s a lot to do here, not maybe a tourist destination of repute but a great place to live, offering a range of pastimes pretty much to cater for all tastes. The negatives are those common to many places these days, the cost of living and pollution, and something needs to be done about the latter at least. The prices, well, many of them can afford to pay.
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| Life here, at least in Almaty, is comfortable for most, luxurious for a few and hard for a handful. I have to say it’s surprisingly expensive, more so than London, but there are more affordable shopping trips to be made, including the maze of neatly lined retail freight containers known as Barrakhulka. The Central Asian markets are great, but remember, you have to get lost. If you don’t get lost, it’s not a proper bazaar!
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| Apart from the occasional traffic jam (compared to Cairo, Almaty is like a fast food drive through) getting round town is easy. There are no marshrutka (minibuses crammed full of passengers), instead a regular and cheap bus service which runs to time and covers the whole city. The only annoying thing is how the buses can wait at the bus stops for ages.
You can also travel by taxi, not the black cab variety but private cars which you can flag down and ask for a lift somewhere. I can’t promise it’s always always always safe, but people do it all the time and I haven’t heard of any problems. Just remember to agree a price before you get in.
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| One thing people coming here from outside need to remember is that they could easily be stopped by the police. Original valid documents should offset any problems.
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| I can understand why teachers working in British schools say the job is stressful, but when I hear TEFL colleagues saying it I wonder what planet they’re living on. OK, we work long hours, often for very low wages, no pension and very few chances to save. But it only takes a trip to the airport to end it all. And as most of us don’t, it says a lot. When I was in Egypt I ran a conversation class on holidays, the final activity of which was students designing a holiday for me, and I chose the best one. They had some decent suggestions, I’d like to see the Grand Canyon and the Sydney Opera house, but only if somebody else pays. So when they asked me where I’d most like to go on holiday I really only had one answer, Kazakhstan. Then they asked me why. I explained that I felt led there. My karmic magnet starting twitching and pointing eastwards with quite a bit of umph! (I didn’t say that bit.) Then I came, and I was not to be disappointed.
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| One thing that strikes me about Almaty is the weather. Not that it’s cold, the winter has been decidedly mild. But I don’t remember there ever being any wind. Not even a slight breeze. We’re moving into the second half of what we’d consider the winter period and it’s only snowed two or three times, and barely dropped below zero in the day. But as I said, there’s no wind.
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Behind Medeo, just outside the city
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| But there’s no quantifiable reason for having come here. I was just across the border in Kyrgyzstan and apart from the last few months I loved it there. Leaving for Egypt was inevitable given the step up in career terms but I started to miss it to the extent that a mere holiday there would never have been enough. And while I didn’t return to exactly the same place, there’s a magic in this part of the world that brought me here, kept me, brought me back and now keeps me once more.
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| I also speak Kazakh. It’s quite simple and a really nice language. I’ve covered a lot of ground with it and with the help I've had from a super teacher and a lot of friends, I am pretty much fluent now, albeit with a few off days. My Russian is OK too, but I’m so lazy with this language and I honestly don’t know why, it’s not difficult, I just don’t feel motivated to learn it. All considered, it would be more useful than Kazakh, not least as most people here, including Kazakhs, speak Russian first. Some Kazakhs even claim not to speak their own native language. I can understand, but it’s a shame. Most people don’t speak English but those who do often speak it very well indeed, a situation which owes partly to their work ethic and intelligence.
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Almaty from the cable car to Kok Tobe
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| It’s easy enough not eating meat here, although it’s certainly considered very different. Being from such a different culture I guess people expect different cultural values. But what’s meat? According to a few supermarket counter staff here chicken is not meat. Er, whatever.
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| But how can you not be taken by some of the fascinating traditions they have over here? I’ve heard it said that not only is modern Kazakhstan developing but so also traditional Kazakhstan, cultural values and customs set aside almost a hundred years ago are being rediscovered and reintroduced to millions of people for the most part justifiably proud of them. I’m not sure their language is making the comeback hoped for yet, but many people are learning it, and I’m one of them. You can see how I’m doing...
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