A Village

With the end of fall approaching, dawn comes around 8:30 and dusk sets in around 6pm. With not a single traffic light and only three streetlights by the school, Lesnoye is pitch black once the day ends. It is a village with three main roads: one that leads to the village center, one that crawls up a foothill and leads to more vast forests and a river, and the final one onward to the steppes and two other local villages. Snow arrived on November 10th and it has not left. The village is more beautiful in the snow and the air is so fresh. A 15 minute morning walk is a quality cup of coffee. Being my first experience living in the snow, I love it even though it takes me about ten minutes to put on and re-check the new armored wardrobe.

As for the volunteer assignment, I taught my first English class to 10th graders recently. I will be working alongside three English teachers and teaching 5th to 10th grades. Being a village, each grade only has about 15 or so students. School begins at 9 and ends at 2:50 with no lunch break. Students from three smaller neighboring villages bus to school every morning. Lesnoye (with its 850 denizens) is the biggest village within its county. It’s been about two weeks and I am beginning to remember the lengthy Russian/Kazakh names of students and fellow teachers.

Moving on...

Halloween passed by and we have been officially sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers. That means all of us have travelled to our sites by bus or train. Bidding farewell to Ecik was not easy. I loved the town and will miss many locals and some fellow volunteers. Many sweet memories from Ecik will accompany me to Northern Kazakhstan. The late evenings at Café Bilora with its lively Turkish dance music, salty shashleek with local beers, and just plain conversations with locals shall bring on a smile.

The twenty seven hour train ride went by smoothly and comfortably. As the train chugs alongside the uniformly brown and gray Kazakhstani steppe, we rested in our cozy cabins. Once the train halted in Kokshetau, I knew I had left the familiar South. Russian faces outnumber Kazakh faces, Birch and Pine forests with gentle rolling hills, and the straight cutting cold. Though only a few days in the North, I can already tell that people spend more time indoors here than in the South.

Lesnoye is a clean village set against a river, Birch forests, and amidst small hills. Being relatively isolated, cell phone reception is very hard to come by. I have to go to the local town of Balkashan (12 km away) to enjoy the luxuries of the cell phone, internet, and cafe. The school has no running water now but will have it next summer when it is remodeled by Japanese aid. Rounds have been made within the school and I am eager to get aboard as an English teacher. Being the first American almost all Lesnoye citizens have met, I am greeted either solemnly but more often enthusiastically. The host family I chose to live with is Russian, made up of 4 people, and most importantly warm and helpful. It is November and locals say the snow is right around the corner and that it shall stay till April. O, this wondrous experience.