Site announcement has come and gone. We sat in two rows facing a map of Kazakhstan lying flat on a table with little yurts marking the 20 assignments that the OCAPs were receiving. One by one we went up and located out site, discovering where we'll live and work for the next two years.
When my turn came, I circled the table until I found myself in the heart of the steppe -- Жезказган (Zhezkazgan), an old copper mining town of 90,000 people. I will be primarily working with an environmental organization, but in an unusual situation, I'll also be working with a health association. As far as I am concerned, this is great news. I am excited to work in those fields and I'm happy to be in a place of Zhezkazgan's size, which by Kazakhstani standards is a small city. I'll have three sitemates in the city and two more in a village 20 minutes outside of town, so while I will be thoroughly geographically isolated, there will be several Americans around.
Zhezkazgan is truly in the middle of nowhere. There is a direct train from Almaty that is supposedly around 34 hours, but it only runs once or twice a week. During my site visit in two weeks, I will have to take a train to Karaganda and then backtrack to the Zhezkazgan spur which apparently tacks on an extra 10 hours. Kazakhstan is big, but it's not that big. To create travel times that long, the trains must be both very slow and stop at every podunk station across the steppe.
And Mom -- now it's time to buy a monstrosity of a winter coat. It's going to be cold and there aren't any trees to block the wind.
The opinions and viewpoints expressed in this space are mine and mine alone and in no way reflect those of the Peace Corps or the United States government.
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About Me
I'm pretty sure living in Kazakhstan will greatly cultivate my interest in the good old-fashioned post. I'd love to hear from you especially because my email access could be pretty sporadic at first.
P.O. Box 18
Zhezkazgan 100604
Kazakhstan
P.O. Box 18
Zhezkazgan 100604
Kazakhstan
а/я 18
100604 Жезказган
Казахстан
6 comments:
Damn, I was hoping you'd get the upper class suburban Jewish assignment. Oh well.
Congratulations on finding out your site! Very exciting! Wishing you well.
Yes, the train travel is long. And the locals have a habit of bringing salted fish and hard-boiled eggs onto the trains for snacks, so the smell is always... um... unique. If you have an iPod, or enjoy reading a lot of books, the train isn't too bad. I'd try to claim the top bunk, since the lower bunk gets converted to a seat for people to sit on during the day, which means you don't always have the luxury of stretching out.
I seem to recall travel time from Almaty to Karaganda is about 24 hours. I'm not sure how much farther it is to your site (I was in Pavlodar from '02-'03).
Hope you're having fun.
zhezkazgan, zhezkazgan, zhezkazgan......haven't been this challenged since byun yun kim!
love, dad
I'm stoked you're going to be right next door but I hadn't heard about the extra ten hours en route to site visit...
Kind of a bummer.
-Nick Huber
Rob -- you'd be surprised, there are a few J's here. You should check it out.
Kevin -- thanks for the tip. Even though none of us have been on any Kazakhstani trains yet, we've heard so many stories that 12 hours already seems like a pittance, although I'm not sure if we can truly comprehend a 40 hour journey. For the first trip, I'll at least have my counterpart as company.
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