An American in Almaty, a livelier city

I find myself woefully ignorant about countries like Kazakhstan, I really knew nothing about it. I don’t stand out as a foreigner like in some places in Asia, Africa and Latin America. I don’t even feel tall here. The adolescents and young adults seem like any kids in the US. It’s the mixture of Asian and Caucasian cultures. About 70% are of Kazakh descent and about 25% are ethnic Russians here for several generations. But there seems to be no separation of the groups. Of course, this is by my observation without being able to speak with very many people. One taxi driver with limited English simply said, “Americans good, Trump bad, Obama good.” That was the depth of our conversation.

Almaty is a much livelier city after serene and clean Astana. There is a little dirt on the sidewalks, noisy traffic, old buildings along with very new ones and a Latin/Mediterranean vibe with people speaking animatedly. Besides the mosques, there is the Orthodox Church and the adolescent altar boys look like any in the US.

I rode a cable car to the top to get a view of the city. I ran into four old friends that I did not expect to find here, so I took a picture with them. Almaty is green compared to the dry, hot plains in Astana. Almaty is a cool city in more ways than one. I even made it up in the mountains where it was actually a little cold in the autumn. We’ll see what it’s like in Nepal. Then I will be back to a Peace Corps country.Read more