Culture shock: On another planet

After the crowded, noisy, bustling atmosphere in old Tbilisi, Georgia, I arrive in Astana, Kazakhstan. Wide, orderly boulevards, avant garde architecture and everything looks new, not centuries or millennia old.

I was prepared for a very modern city (Borat notwithstanding), but not this. Out my 17th floor luxury building window I see a huge park with bike lanes and sidewalks and running paths and very few people. Walking around the park it feels like Disneyland, too perfect and clean and orderly. And no noise.

Astana was built as the new capital in 1997, much like when the new Brazilian capital was built in Brasilia.

Culture shock! It’s so elegant. They are supposedly showing off the country’s oil wealth. I think I might be a little isolated here. But I am going to work the next couple of days anyway. The languages are Kazak and Russian. Not as many people speak English, so Google Translate is my companion. . In the other countries I met a lot of local people through the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps is no longer in Kazakhstan.

It’s clearly an Asian country. The mosque is the most spectacular that I have seen, but the city doesn’t have a Muslim vibe. In fact, it does not have much of any vibe. Where are all the people.? You can see lights on in some of the hundreds of skyscraper apartments, but they are not out on the street.

And to add to the culture shock my studio apartment has a washing machine. I’m used to washing my clothes every night in the sink, sometimes in a shared bathroom.

It will be an interesting week…or not.Read more