Today I met Aigul

Earlier today in the taxi, I met Aigul, a 66 years old, traditional Kazakh woman. She was with her son, who was probably around 30 years old.  I could understood they were talking about me – wondering if I was Russian. I started talking to them and they couldn't believe I wasn't Russian and that instead, I am Puerto Rican. Obviously, they started asking what a Puerto Rican was doing in Kazakstan, laughing, like I was crazy to live here in the extreme cold. That was when I started explaining that Mark is working here as a professor.  Right after, without giving them the chance to ask about me, I continued explaining that I was a Family Therapist but haven't been able to find a job. 

I have reflected a lot about my new life in Kazakhstan. Although I have been enjoying my days here, sometimes I feel guilty and kind of anxious without knowing why. After thinking about these feelings, I have realized that a great part of it is because I don't have “a job”. 

What a great despair humans feel when they don't fulfil the expectations stipulated by society!  These seem to be invisible, but they are out there; in the media, the people that surround you and ask you: “what have you been doing?” To which the answer of: “reading, writing, studying Russian, house chores…”, doesn't seem to be enough. Right after that, you get bombarded with multiple suggestions or comments like: “don't you get bored?” I am not trying to point at anyone, I am just trying to understand my own feelings.

In the last decades, with all the technological and educational advances, great fights by brave women have achieved equal rights.  However, in this context, a woman saying that she is married and “not working” or stays at home to raise her kids it is almost a sin! A lot of women, including myself, try to find ways to justify not working. Some people consider a woman that “doesn't work” to be dependent and too reliant on her partner.

This is not how Aigul responded.  She looked at me with a thoughtful face. I immediately thought she was judging me; to my surprise, her response was the opposite. Aigul with the help of signs asked me something like: “don’t you clean the house, don't you iron clothes, don't you cook?”, and I replied yes. Yes! I do all of those things! Then you work like I do, she responded. She told me not to say again that I didn't work and I replied: “да” (yes in Russian). 

Aigul taught me an important lesson.  Even though these forms of “work” don’t receive direct pay they are incredibly important, and I want to distinguish women working non stop at the homes for their families and congratulate them. This includes those like me who are professionals and for love make sacrifices and drastically change their lifestyle. Finally, it also includes those women who work full time and then come back home and do the house chores and above that take care of their families. We should be proud of what we do and do it with love. We can impact many lives in different perspectives. At least, I am going to keep working on divesting myself from titles and society prejudices, and be Free! From now on, my answer to: what are you doing?”, will be: “enjoying my time”. 

My experience in the bathrooms in Kazakhstan

Until the moment everything was normal, toilets everywhere, just like in America. I heard about these other bathrooms, different ones; not toilets, but like a hole in the floor. Yes! A hole in the floor! The day has arrived, and after paying 50 tenge to enter the ladies restroom (I was expecting something really nice) I opened the door: “OMG!!!”. That's exactly what a said, and right after a girl gave me the look, like “what's your problem?”. 

Many thoughts came to my mind at the moment. I was thinking that a “letrina” was probably better, looking at the streaks left by others, and worrying about splashing my legs.

Let me tell you I tried, really tried; but couldn't.

Good thing that these bathrooms aren’t very common in the city. You are going  to face them once in a while, even in what you consider a nice restaurant, but most of the time you will be happy to see a normal toilet. 

You guys can comment, and let me know if this has happened to you in other countries! 



Mi experiencia en los baños de Kazajistán

Hasta el momento todo era normal, inodoros en todas partes, como en América. Yo había escuchado de estos otros baños, bastante diferentes; no inodoros, pero como un roto en el piso. Si! Un roto en el piso! El día llegó, y después de pagar 50 tenge para entrar en el baño de las chicas (yo estaba esperando algo súper nice) abrí la puerta: “OMG!!!”. Eso exactamente dije, y rápido una chica me miró como: “¿qué le pasa a esta loca?”. 

Muchos pensamientos vinieron a mi mente. Estaba pensando que probablemente una letrina era mucho mejor, mirando los rastros que otros habían dejado, y preocupándome de salpicarme las piernas. 

Déjame decirles, que traté, realmente traté; pero no pude. 

Lo bueno es que estos baños no son tan comunes en la cuidad. Tu te los vas a encontrar de vez en cuando, hasta en lo que piensas que es un buen restaurante, pero la mayor parte del tiempo vas a estar feliz de encontrar un inodoro. 

Pueden comentar, y dejarme saber si les ha pasado esto en otros países! 

NO TODO ES COLOR DE ROSA...

LA VIDA EN KAZAJISTÁN 

Definetly, coming back to Astana after the fun holidays with the family wasn't the easiest thing to do. Beginning, with the 24 total hours in the airplane and realizing that we were coming back to the “North Pole”, and the jet laaaaaag…still dealing with it.

In less than a month, I had fallen in the bus (it's always super crowded), almost get hit by tons of cars (because when crossing the street if the light changes, you gotta run), and we almost have a car accident (did I forget to mention that people drive like crazy?).

Above all of that, I haven't get a job yet and to be honest it is pretty challenging to stop doing what you love and brings you satisfaction; also, making your own schedule isn't easy as I thought it would be.

So, again, living in Kazakhstan is not like living in Disneyland!

But, I have to mention that isn't a nightmare either. It has been a beautiful experience. Learning about a totally new culture is fascinating. Mark has been very supportive. And I know one day I am going to be missing this place :-)

By the way, today was an amazing one!

Desde un rincón en Berlín...

Sentada en el lobby de un hotel en el downtown de Berlin, mientras escucho una buena salsa, me inspiro y me transporto a mis raíces. Me pongo a pensar, pero que hace esta Jibara acá? Me da alegría, añoranza, tristeza...Cuestiono la vida de los que me rodean, a ellos les falta algo que yo tengo, tan valioso, de lo que se pierden. Y es que me siento tan especial, por ser Boricua, y haber tenido la oportunidad de crecer en esa pequeña isla en el medio del Caribe, que muchos acá no conocen, para su desgracia. Vuelvo al mismo pensamiento, y me digo, pero es que les falta la chispa, el sabor, la pasión; todas esas cualidades que recoge un Puertorriqueño, que yo ni encuentro como describir. Les falta sentido de patriotismo, de gritar a todos y de alguna manera dejarles saber: "soy Boricua, pa que tu lo sepas"...les falta. Pienso, me imagino, en el campo de Orocovis tomándome un café prieto de mamá, metía en la finca, en la playa, comiéndome una alcapurria! También, extraño a mi familia, que aunque viven en Massachusetts me hacen sentir en Puerto Rico, ay, la sangre me llama. Mami cumple años hoy y quisiera estar con ella. Extraño la calidez de mi familia Puertorriqueña. Quizás me inspire demasiado, y sueno cursi, pero, no digas que no te ha pasado? A ti también que te haces llamar Boricua? :-) 

La Jíbara se fue a la Madre Patria!

Y esta Jibarita se fue a España, a la Madre Patria (como decimos los Boricuas) a celebrar su cumpleaños y la "honeymoon" que no habíamos tenido. Me encantó! Primero nos quedamos en la hermosa cuidad de Barcelona, repleta de edificios con calles pequeñas en ladrillo y balcones antiguos repletos de flores! La cuidad se ve viva por la gente y lo pintoresca que es! Comimos "bikinis" y cafecito con leche en la mañana, y el resto del día tapas y más tapas acompañadas de una buena sangría, cerveza o vino. El hecho de tan sólo caminar por las calles me emocionaba. El clima estaba increíble en pleno Octubre y hasta pudimos disfrutar de un día en la playa!

Después de unos días partimos al campo, al norte de Barcelona, casi llegando al borde con Francia. Allá llegamos en guagua, y ésta nos dejó en la estación cercana al B&b donde nos íbamos a quedar pero no veíamos nada. Ahí fue cuando Mark cogió la maletas y nos metimos "monte adentro" por un caminito estrecho y después de unos minutos y par de millas encontramos el tesoro de lugar. Tengo que hacer mención del mismo, La Rectoría Sant Miguel de Pineda, y se lo recomiendo a cualquiera que busque pasar unos días en el campo de Cataluña. Este parador que es ahora para viajeros, es lo que antes fue una Casa Parroquial desde el 1200! Hace unos años fue comprada por sus actuales dueños, quienes la remodelaron conservando gran parte de la inicial estructura (hay fotos). Este lugar está en pleno bosque, por el frente del mismo pasa una vereda, la cual llaman "la vía verde", y lo que antes fue el ferrocarril que conectaba los diferentes pueblitos. Además de disfrutar del encanto del mismo lugar, de la historia que guarda y de la hermita justo al lado de ésta; también decidimos rentar unas bicis y explorar. Me caí dos veces, nada mal para lo que esperaba, pero valió la pena. Las fotos lo describen todo, no hay palabras. Luego de un largo día disfrutábamos de una comida de tres platos preparada justo por el dueño del lugar, quien también es chef. El trato de sus dueños para con nosotros fue increíble, gracias Goretti y Roy!

Finalmente, regresamos a Barcelona para partir al siguiente día para Astana; que por cierto, extrañé un poco, hasta emocionada estaba de regresar! No fue hasta que toqué suelo en Kazakhstan para darme cuenta de que la emoción no era tanta, y que ya por segunda vez, llegamos, pero no nuestras maletas. Las maletas llegaron una semana después, y es por eso, que es hasta ahora que les cuento de nuestro maravilloso viaje. Welcome back to Kazakhstan!

Espero que les haya gustado!

Besos,
Nat

Ps. Mira el vídeo!

http://animoto.com/play/F6JjvasfdZwHqL0wHU16nw

Lake Borovoe!

It's been two months in Central Asia. I have had the opportunity to expose myself to new things that I never imagined I will experience before. A few weeks ago, we went to the Lake Borovoe in the north of Astana. This place is stunning, a jewel in the country! It is a huge forest with several lakes surrounded by beautiful mountains. We stayed in this place for the weekend, and it was such an Adventure, literally! During the day, we were swimming in the cold water, still nice; and at night, we were looking for places to eat. I always go for the Shislak, which is a "kebab" or well known in my beautiful Puerto Rico as a "pincho". Other ingredients in the principal plates in the Kazakh food will be: cabbage, potatoes, beef, horsemeat, and bread. Going back to the topic, everything was going well in the lake, after dinner, we decided it was time to go to bed. We rent the second floor of a house with multiple rooms. Mark and I stayed in a room and decided to lock the door just because the front door of the second floor was always open. Around 1:00 am, someone was trying very hard to open our door, and those who know me well, can imagine that I was freaking out! I was telling Mark to stay quiet. The people who were trying to open all the doors were speaking in Russian, so we didn't know what they were saying. A half an hour after that, I heard shootings! Yes, right in front of the house, but then I realized they were fireworks! So, the story doesn't end there. You can imagine, I didn't sleep that night. Around 5:00 am, the same thing happened, someone trying to open my door! I tried not to be judgmental, but imagine someone trying to get into your room, you will think that they want to rob you or something like that. Finally, when I felt brave enough to get out, at 8:00 am (haha), we discovered that no one was trying to hurt us. Some people that went to a wedding and of course were really drunk, didn't have enough room in the first floor, and were looking for a place to sleep. Let me tell you something, there are cultural differences everywhere, to which you need to get used to. If you are a person that really needs that personal space and hates when someone invades it, DO NOT COME TO KAZAKHSTAN! People here are really nice, but they don't understand that privacy we have in U.S., for example. From getting in and out of the bus pushing everyone, to open the door to others, trying to be nice, without hearing a thank you; that's normal here and don't get offended!

But since everyone does it here, you get used to it (necessary to survive), and next time you are in the bus and need to get out, you don't say "excuse me" because no one is going to move, you push people; and it's ok! :-)

I almost forget to mention, that one of the reason why I haven't post anything recently is because after the craziness in Lake Borovoe, I got super sick! I was sick for three weeks, needed to visit the doctor twice, and take antibiotics twice! But I tried to take it with a good attitude, because I knew it was going to happen at some point. 

I hope you liked the story, and feel free to comment! 

Besos, 

Nat

You want to know more? Quieres saber más?

Сәлем! Hola! Hello!

First, sorry for being missing for so many days. I have been doing interviews and deciding what fits with my education, professional background and what job is going to contribute for my personal growth. I am going to start calling myself the Mrs. Interview (ha ha)!

In the meantime, I have had more time to explore the city, and get to know more about the Kazakhs. This city is divided by the river in two, right and left bank, the old and the new part of the city.  The old part I would describe it by saying that it is a rich and cultural place ; where you can see many ethnic faces, bazaars, local restaurants and old structures. The right bank, I would describe as the National Geographic did, "the tomorrowland", very modern, futuristic, like I never seen before; and where you don't see magnificent structures, you see cranes! I prefer the old part, the right bank, I just feel more comfortable and feels like a real town! On the weekend, Mark and I decided to go to the bazaar to get more fresh vegetables and fruits, and we got lost! But the persons here are so amazingly friendly, that with signs helped us to get the right bus that will take us there. Although, sometimes people might seem a little bit serious and if you are a smiley person (just like me) who likes to smile while walking in public, they might not respond with another smile and probably will think that you are crazy. Going back to the topic, we were exhausted when we finally got to the bazaar, so we decided to eat before doing the grocery shopping. The bazaar is like a huge warehouse "mercado" and in each floor you find different products and articles. In the 5th floor they have the food court, we went to an Italian restaurant, and not surprisingly, the menu was in Russian and Kazakh! We ordered what looked more familiar, it was like Italian or Primavera Pizza. The food here it just different, delicious, but different. Our stomachs have been adjusting to it. When we got our pizza it was one with a huge fried egg on top! We have been just laughing about differences and embracing them. On our way back we took a gipsy taxi, in other words, some people here to make some money offer to take you to your destination for less than a real taxi. The driver was a very nice young male and he was trying to speak to us in English! From what we understood, he said that he has just started being a taxi driver to support his two sons and wife, and that he usually works from 8 am until midnight. Also, he mentioned living in the right bank, but said that his dream was to life in the left bank. This statement left me wondering that we always dream about living on the other side of the river. Wether it is to cross the ocean to get from PR to US, or just cross the Caribbean Sea to get from DR to PR or maybe just dreaming about moving from your "barrio" to this really nice neighborhood. Sometimes, it is good to think and achieve greater things, but also, sometimes we loose sight of the great things we have thinking about the ones we don't. I was thinking that he (taxi driver) lives in the best part. The left bank feels like walking from one nice building to the other, but nothing in between; because it is a developing part of the country. He added, that his future plans will be to live in the United States, Mexico, or South America; it seems that Kazakhs also have the "American Dream"! Anyways, it is always super cool to get to talk to the people, Kazakhs, and learn from them instead of learning from reading a book. He also taught us some greeting words in Kazakh!

Did I mention that we didn't have hot water for the first two weeks? Now, we do! This makes the adjusting process a little more easier :-). In the apartment, things have been great, well...Mark and I have been "arguing" because he thinks that the AC makes the bedroom really cold, and I feel like suffocating with the temperature he prefers; but that's cool, we have been negotiating :-). On the other side, not having the grocery items I used to have in US have helped me to become more creative in the kitchen. I start laughing every time I speak with my mom via Skype because all she says is "bendito, quieres que te envie algo?

Overall our experience living in Kazakhstan has been such an adventure, and this is just the beginning. Stay tune!

Enjoy the pictures and please feel free to comment!

Besos,

Nat