Almaty Entry

There is a constant push and pull between the training staff of Peace Corps and us (the trainees). Everyone understands that there are rules set in place for our safety and our effectiveness as volunteers…but, Peace Corps is still a bureaucratic government agency that has stupid blanket regulations. One of the main points of contention is the need for headquarters to always get a hold of us. For our first couple weeks this meant we had to stay in Talgar and make our plans for where we are always known. I am the youngest PCV (the oldest being 36 in my group) so I think a lot of people had trouble being treated like children – Nothing major, just something to bitch about during lunch really. Anyway, we finally had a day called Almaty entry. What a glorious day this was! On Almaty entry day we traveled in groups to Almaty (the former capital and largest city in Kazakhstan). In the city we learned how to navigate the transportation, use our language to ask for directions/help/food etc. This of course was very exciting because we were now allowed to travel into the city freely…it is about a 45 minute bus ride from Talgar. Hard to believe but this fact was nowhere close to the highlight of the day. This was also the day we were first able to get on the Internet and the day we all got CELL PHONES! Picture a group of 16 year old that were dropped off at the mall and told to go buy their first cell phones together –Every Almaty entry group immediately met up and checked out all the various base model nokia phones that were purchased. The following hour was full of number exchanging, high-fiving, and the playing of ring-tones…all 6…again and again…AND IT WAS AWESOME!