One Week, Weak One

As I sat at breakfast this morning, I reflected on the week since I first sat there, having just stepped off the plane. I'm not sure if I showed my first impressions to be as negative as they really were -  I tried not to! They were not terrible, but the excitement of being somewhere new, somewhere different and slightly off the radar was tempered by an impression of sterility and soullessness - shiny new buildings, but no character, and people seemingly not even remotely interested - and the thought of three long years in such a place seemed a daunting prospect. My impression has gradually but significantly changed. The more I have walked and bussed around the city, and the more contact I have had with various people, the more I like it. The futuristic architecture, far from being sterile, actually gives it a great deal of character, and in a few years, I can see this city being a model which others follow - it is that imaginative and impressive, and the variety is wide. Contact with locals has also increased - from a few people at work, to meeting some of our new students, who seem so keen and ambitious that hopefully they will make the job easy, to getting out for a night or two, and mixing with locals enjoying themselves.

Taken from hotel - Tent far left, Bayterek right....

....and on the same line in the other direction, president's palace, pyramid, and beyond to the never-ending flatness....

Having been out on Wednesday with a couple of colleagues just to the bar of another hotel near here, I ventured further on my own on Thursday, and went to the old part - or perhaps I should the say the older part. I found a cafe, and drank beer while watching the locals watch 'Slumdog Millionaire'. Still keeping themselves to themselves, but perhaps just flickers of interest when they thought I wasn't looking.

That was in complete contrast to the following night, when, after a sort of reception for us all to meet embassy staff from our various countries, to which not many of them actually came, a whole group of teachers decided to hit the town. I managed to steer clear - not my idea of fun at all - and went out with one other teacher, to see what we could discover. We went to a couple of restaurants - which, it seems, later become dancing places - and had some beer. In the first, we were invited to sit with some young men near our table and drank a bit of vodka with them, but it was a bit early for that, and they didn't speak much English, so we decided to move on. We ended up in what seemed to be a Moroccan themed restaurant, where a belly dancer was dancing as walked in - which seemed like a good enough reason to stay! People were eating, but that soon gave way to dancing, and it was great to see - they really seemed to be enjoying themselves, letting their hair down. We were the only foreigners there, and they were friendly and welcoming to us. Sam went off to dance, and I was soon accosted and persuaded to dance by a woman who spoke next to no English - but it didn't seem to matter, as it was all about having fun. We were given more vodka, and what was supposed to have been a quiet drink ended in the not-so-small hours! Alas, no photos...



After a very late start on Saturday, I went to the pyramid for a look around. I wanted to save going inside for another day, but it is quite a spectacle, and is in a line with several other buildings - the president's palace, Bayterek and the tent - so there is a good view looking back.

When I went the other side of the pyramid, its front, I was amazed to find a bevy of beauties! It seems the thing to do on one's wedding day is go on a tour of the city's monuments having photos taken next to each one, but I have never seen so many brides in one place, and as they left, more arrived. I counted eight at one point, with all the limousines parked nearby, and other impressive new buildings across the road.

After breakfast today, I went out to try and find out what some of the new buildings actually are, and even on going inside, it is not always clear. Later, FC Lokomotiv Astana were playing at home in a free to enter match, so I went along to the (unsurprisingly) brand-spanking-new Astana Arena, which was interesting and quite entertaining. They won 1-0.

Work will get a bit more demanding this week (it's been nice to have a gentle introduction), so not only will there be less time to write, but there will not be so many things to write about....