I just figured out how to add pictures to my blog - really it's about the easiest thing to do in the world yet somehow took me nearly three months to figure out - but the computer here would not allow me to do it. But I hope to have some pictures posted in the near future.
This will be a pretty short entry since I'm already past my hour of allotted internet use (allotted by my budget, not by the internet cafe), but I arrived in the majestic city of Kzylorda at about 6:30 this morning after another 23-hour train ride. The day before we left Chamalgan the weather changed from unseasonably warm to unseasonably cold and snowy in the span of about 3 hours, so our last day there felt like Christmas with several inches of snow on the ground. There was also a lot of snow on the way to Kzylorda, but by the time we got there it was decidedly warmer and more desert-like.
So far today I've moved in with my new host family - a woman named Rosa and her niece named Gulnur - I've unpacked my bags, taken a 4 hour nap, eaten lunch, and gotten a haircut, where the woman flat-out refused to use hair clippers, insisting that short hair was out of style and long hair was in style, so I could not have my hair as short as I wanted it. (This was translated for me by Gulnur.) You've gotta love Kazakhstani customer service! But I stopped complaining as soon as I remembered it was costing the equivalent of $3.40.
Not a lot of other exciting news to report, except that we were all sworn in as volunteers on Friday, so I'm now a seasoned vet of the Peace Corps, already more than 48 hours into my term of service. And let me tell you the time has absolutely flown by. It already feels like just yesterday that we were being sworn in, and now here it is, Sunday. Hard to believe.
Tomorrow I head into Korkyt Ata University at 10 for the first class of the day, but I most likely won't start teaching until Tuesday or Wednesday. So I have until then to try to figure out what I could possibly teach these students that they don't already know about the English language. Should be interesting. I'm considering a lecture on either sub-prime lending or a brief history of the Orioles, 1954-1963: The Early Years. We'll see. Maybe I can even combine the two topics, seeing as both sounded like great ideas and then became complete disasters. (Go O's!)
I'm hoping to write more later in the week, now that I will have better access to internet.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
HIST 303
ReplyDeleteProfessor Chris Chaplin
Disecting the Rise and Fall of the Baltimore Orioles Dynasty
Early years with Willie Keeler and John Mcgraw
Glory Years focus on Al Bumbry, Jim Palmer, and Rick Dempsey
and the good trade to get Frank Robinson
From the years 1966 to 1983 the Orioles were the winningest team in baseball, playing baseball the Oriole Way.
The revival with Cal, B.J Surfhoff, Robby Alomar, Randy Myers and Mike Mussina.
The Downfall...Albert Belle, Frank Wren, Will Clark, Tony Batista.......
The misery years focus primarly on when Jeffrey Maier was born
So for some reason I expected e-mail notices whenever you posted a new blog. Apparently it doesn't work like that. So I just read your backlog of adventures and I was thoroughly entertained, I must say. You're a funny guy, Chaps.
ReplyDeleteI once read a seedy romance novel set in the Mongolian steppes. It sounded nice and romantic. Meetin' any ladies? ;-)
I'm glad to hear that your having a good time and making the best of it. Hang in there, friend!
Hi Chip. Its good to hear that things are going well for you. I was just thinking about you the other day when my brother slept through his exam. Remember that? I do. Look how far you've come since then. You're living the good life in Kazakhstan, teaching impressionable young Kazak ladies what it means to be an American. Don't you ever forget where you came from and what you came from, Ukrops bags and the gated community.
ReplyDelete