So after finally arriving in Auliekol, Chris and I headed over to Janelle’s apartment, since that was to be our residence over the week. It was a nice little place with an awesome pull-out couch. It was like a trundle bed that extended out then pulled up to level with the rest of the couch. Chris also brought his Wii for our entertainment purpose (don’t ask how or why he has a Wii in Kazakhstan). We set up a rotating cooking schedule and, true to the course of Janelle’s anal-retentive side, started planning the activities for the week. I really can’t knock Janelle’s organizing since that was what made the first half of the camp such a success.
So, Monday we got to her school, met the students and divided the students into four teams for the duration of the week. Divide and conquer is always a good philosophy. Throughout the week we had various themes, like holidays and the like, to give us a little framework to deal with. By Tuesday, all the volunteers were at Auliekol, making the apartment a little cramped but cozy. Honestly, if it was anybody else in the apartment, we would have been at each other’s throats, but we’re all chill and mellow people. The course of the camp was pretty much us playing games until noon-ish then volunteers playing as we do. Jonny did have his baseball gear with him, so we got to teach a new batch of students baseball and confuse them as much as possible with the rules. Honestly, if you don’t know the rules, baseball is a game that is very hard to understand. Outside of Janelle’s students being particularly good at English, nothing spectacular happened at the camp. The kids were good, and that’s the best that can be hoped for.
There were a few interesting events. We spent a couple days by a lakeside and a riverside. The lakeside was in walking distance from Janelle’s apartment and was probably one of the cleanest lakes I’ve ever seen in this country. There was clear water, a nice sandy beach and good company. The riverside was a little different. We had to drive out to the river in a couple of cars with a few locals. Supposedly this was the best and cleanest body of water in the Auliekol area, which in my opinion was a lie. I mean it was pretty good for Kazakhstan but the shore was littered with bottles and cow defecation. I mean, we enjoyed ourselves with Janelle’s counterpart, since this was her idea, but the lake was closer and much nicer.
The last event was outlandish, even by our new expectations. After living in Kazakhstan, us volunteers are used to local people doing some inexplicable things. So often, people will suggest something and totally flake out the day of or they’ll ask us to do something on very short notice. That’s par for the course. So, Janelle’s landlady came by the apartment. Janelle had just happened to pop out to get a few vegetables for supper. Anyway, Janelle’s landlady comes in and starts poking around the apartment. We tell her that Janelle will be back in a few and that we’re just a few friends helping out with her camp. However, her impression was that we were living there with her indefinitely. She just starts yelling at Janelle when she got back, saying that there are 150 Americans living there and that we’re going to steal her clothes and other stuff. I mean, we obviously can’t be trusted considering we came here to teach children. We are a devious bunch. Janelle’s counterpart had to call her and have a 2 hour conversation to explain to her the situation.
So, this ends the summer series. I wrote this a little too far after the fact, but somehow my procrastinating nature followed me here. Next time, I’ll have a lengthy diatribe on random thoughts after a year in Kazakhstan. Until then…
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