I’m staying in Almaty – Kazakhstan’s former capital city – the largest, “most vibrant and cosmopolitan” urban agglomeration in this nation of roughly 15 million people.  One of the most inland locations in the world, this soviet influenced city, is unlike any place I’ve been before.  Super-wide streets, right-of-ways, open space, mountainous terrain, and a sort of organized informality that keeps it all moving.  First, this marks a rapid end to the endless summer/spring of travels.  Temperatures are at just around 3 degrees Celsius/37 Fahrenheit and about to get colder as I head fifteen hours by train into the steppes of central Asia.  In what seems to be a no man’s land, there is no shortage of manufactured landscapes (been watching Ed Burtynsky’s documentary of the same name recently).  Resource rich Kazakhstan is at a lull in a recent construction boom and within the last decade has managed to transform two modest, ubiquitous, low-rise cities of concrete into new and connected central Asian (cultural, economic) hubs of steel and glass structures.  One is the cultural and commercial center – Almaty – and the other is the new capital that the government has moved to the geographic center (and very isolated location) of the country – Astana. (Think Brazilia)

Travel books are making parallels with the surge in construction locally to the building boom of Dubai (apples to oranges?)
I’m located in an interesting newer southern neighborhood of Almaty – there is a bazaar, mosque, and cinema on my street alone.

While I’m discovering these new cities, and their manufactured landscapes of architectural icons, I will be asking if this building boom, 10-12 years after the making, has created a city…or just a collection of buildings.

Some architecture proposals and their international designers:

http://aesthetechtonik.com/2007/04/16/building-almaty-republic-square-competition/

Team Astana: plenty of bikes, no license.

As the glacial pace of the UCI’s review of the Astana ProTour license continues, the Kazakh Cycling Federation employed a novel approach to gaining approval: insults.

“It seems to me that they don’t want an Asian team in the ProTour, and for it to beat European teams,” Federation president Nikolai Proskurin alleged. The world shakes its head in amusement — the guy is actually playing the racism card. That’s brilliant.

Then the angry Proskurian shifted gears, moving from insults to conspiracy allegations, claiming former Director Sportif Johan Bruyneel is trying to scuttle the approval.

“Bruyneel told us that he would do everything possible to ensure that they withdrew our license,” Proskurin stated. This is a perfect reminder that the UCI considers the Astana management a bunch of bozos.

Then the federation head slid into some generic whining, claiming it would be difficult to satisfy the additional financial requirements. Proskurin argued that there is already a significant bank guarantee in place. “A guarantee from Samruk-Kazyna is much more important, because it has the stamp of approval of the government itself.” Everyone knows how stable the Kazak government is, right?

All this leading to the question, is this a smart approach to getting your ProTour license re-approved? The antagonism, insults, bullying, disparaging remarks and whining might work in the homeland but the UCI is based in Switzerland. They appreciate sophistication and manners and keeping the dirty laundry in the basement. Does Mr. Proskurin think that approach will earn Astana extra points on a close decision?

Back in the day, loud, obnoxious Americans used to go to Europe on vacation, yelling and flashing their big fat wallets. Those days are long gone, replaced now by the ugly rich Russians on holiday. Twisted Spoke thinks the Kazaks are taking the same approach. It doesn’t win many friends.

Ashby Monk

Nobody can doubt the remarkable spectacle that is professional bike racing and, in particular, the Tour de France. In fact, as a young(er) man, I raced as an amateur around Europe and even had (unrealistic) aspirations to some day join the professional peloton. So, while the sport has had its problems with doping — and what sport hasn’t — I can totally understand the appeal for any company or sponsor who wants to get involved.

And yet, I can’t get my head around why a SWF would offer financial backing for a professional cycling team? But that is what appears to be going on in Kazakhstan:

The “sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna provided UCI with a pledge worth $22 million US per season for the next four years to back Astana.”

For those that don’t know, Astana was Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador’s team last year. It was arguably the best team in the world. However, it was plagued with problems; at one point the team actually stopped paying salaries, which led the riders to covering up the sponsor’s logo during a premier cycling event.  Anyway, there’s been plenty of drama, and the future of the team has been in question. Apparently, this is where the Kazakh SWF comes in. It is putting up close to $100 million over four years to keep the team running.

Why? What could be the financial justification for such a move? Honestly, I’d like someone to explain this to me. Is there marketing value to be gained for the SWF from being involved in pro cycling?  Or is this a situation where the political elite have enjoyed having a Kazakh team on top of the world and are now redirecting public money for their pet projects?

It’s Vegas. Alberto Contador and Vince Vaughn just hanging. Vince lays it out for El Pistelero.

You’re so money, Alberto. You don’t even know it, you’re so money. You got millions in your jersey pocket, baby. And you got all these beautiful babies who wanna ride for you. Vinokourov, baby, Zubeldia. Because you’re money, you’re so money, right?

Don’t say you’re not, don’t say that baby, don’t be the modest boy from Madrid. No, you’re money, baby. All those beautiful babies are gonna line the mountain roads of France, baby. Right? Look at me Pistelero, right? Because they love you baby, that Parisian waitress baby, the podium girls and their beautiful honey baby friends, they want you. The lonely housewives waving at you on Tourmalet and Alpe d’Huez, they’re touching themselves baby ’cause you’re so yellow, you’re so green, you’re so money.

Andy Schleck, he can’t beat you baby, that old man from Texas, he’s gone baby, out the back, down the mountain, Radio unplugged, Shack burning, he’s dying baby because he knows you’re so money. Those bunnies are scared of you.

No, don’t shake your head, look at me, don’t look at your brother Fran, look at me baby, take out the six shooters, that’s right, both of them. Bang, bang, bang, you’re money, baby, so money.

NOTE: Watch the Swingers video in HD, the button in the right corner of the video controls. Otherwise the playback is choppy, baby.

O espanhol assinou um pré-acordo com a equipe para permanecer por um ano mais defendendo as suas cores:

• que a equipe conserve a licença ProTour
• que a equipe mantenha um controle anti-dopagem interno e eficiente
• que a equipe cumpra o código ético
• que a equipe cumpra outras coisas não divulgadas

Hoje (20 de novembro) é a data limite para aquelas equipes que não haviam cumprido com os requisitos da UCI apresentem a documentação e o dinheiro e a Astana é uma daquelas que está na alça de mira.

Caso algum dos itens não seja cumprido, o corredor fica livre para procurar outro time.

I'm so money, I'm so in trouble.

Good news or bad news? Depends on the jersey.

Two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador announced he’s reached a preliminary agreement with Astana to finish up the remainder of the contract that runs through the end of 2010. We’re assuming Michael “Chicken” Rasmussen wasn’t on hand to offer legal advice on the amusing issue of pre-contracts.

Alberto will continue to ride for the donor team of Radio Shack, a roster stripped bare but now adding spare parts. After Johan Bruyneel’s tell-all dishathon about the Astana management — or lack thereof — it would be hard to say this is a team on the rebound. Building a strong team is more than a plug ‘n’ play proposition. This isn’t an X-Box game.

Corralling and motivating big egos and pushing them to ride for somebody else isn’t a simple job. Throw in a director Sportif that hasn’t led a team at this level in years and you have a stir-fry for disaster. Winner: Alberto’s bank account, loser, the man with aspirations for a third Tour de France victory.

Put a big W in the column for team Astana. After nearby bumbling away the best stage racer on the planet through administrative stupidity and cluelessness, the Kazak sponsored team hung on and kept Contador in the fold — and kept the team from folding without him. This is the proverbial gang that couldn’t shoot straight but somehow they got lucky despite themselves. As Hunter Thompson once said, “Even a blind pig finds an acorn now and then.”

The biggest loser is the team of Alejandro Valverde, the powerful Caisse d’Epargne squad. With a fifty-fifty chance that Valverde will have his two year ban in Italy extended to the entire cycling universe, Caisse will be the headless horseman for the grand tours. Management will wish they’d loaned Contador a few nasty lawyers and threw more euros and promised him a small island next to Johnny Depp’s tropical digs.

Another loser: the credibility of the UCI. After a first round “no” on approving Astana’s ProTour license, a spokesman for the governing body said Alberto was legally free to leave Astana. Yet Alberto’s legal team apparently decided that UCI 2.15.139, article 8.1.f was not a Get Out of Kazak Jail Free card and couldn’t figure a way to extricate the Spanish rider. The UCI claim was widely reported and silently retracted. Another embarrassment for an organization that seems to have little control over anything including their own regulations.

Winners: Andy Schleck and Lance Armstrong. A team in turmoil and re-organization with a depleted roster and problematic riders such as Alexander Vinokourov is less than likely to have the same firepower or cohesiveness it had under Johan Bruyneel’s firm hand. Twisted Spoke is guessing that most of Contador’s attacks in the 2010 tour will be “unscripted” because his team won’t have a script to begin with. There is laughter in Saxo Bank land and applause from Radio Shack.

Lance and company succeeded in de-constructing Astana of quality riders like Andreas Kloden, Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner. (They even took the shoe-shine guy.) Contador will miss these top riders once the Alps and Pyrenees arrive in July. El Pistelero has plenty of money to count, whether he can count on his team is another question.

рассекаю по дому родителей в розовой рубашке мамы

счастливый денек

утром проводница вытолкала меня сонную и едва одетую на суровый заснеженный перрон, самое типичное прибытие в астану – полубессознательное попадание в кризисную ситуацию. накануне – пробки по пути на вокзал, пар от машин и людей, огни, тесное купе тальго, ужин в вагоне-ресторане с разными фриками со всех краев казахстана (в этот раз там был чел, реально пробороздивший на торговых кораблях все мировые океаны, в нас как в мыслящих особей он не особо верил, постоянно уточняя по ходу: “если я вам расскажу про май-йа-ми, вы приблизительно понимаете, где это находится?”), потом книжка+плеер, долгий душный сон. утром внезапный отрезвляющий мороз и огромный любимый папа, бегущий на меня с раскрытыми объятиями.

машину родителей назвали памук, гололед средний, на данный момент за окном минус 18, в честь нашего приезда приготовили гуся, яблочный пирог и устроили соревнование в дартс. я победила, теперь можно спокойно ложиться спать.

National mosque (Astana, Kazakhstan)

Cargado originalmente por sana banana nana

The construction of the mosque was completed in 2005 with financial support, provided by the state of Qatar, in the amount of 6 million 840 thousand U.S. dollars. The author of the project is a famous Lebanese architect Charles Hazif.

The construction represents a model of grace of eastern architecture. The mosque is crowned by four minarets, each 62 m. in height. Cupolas covered with gold. Eight skeletons supporting the dome, artfully decorated not just with ornamentation, but with carved Sura (part of the text in the Holy Quran). Inside we can see a large hall, where at the same time 5 thousand people can pray. There is a balcony on the second floor, meant for the praying of 2 thousand women. The area of the mosque is approximately 4000 sq.m.

Alexander Vinokourov continua na sua batalha rumo ao título do corredor mais antipático do ano.

Declarou recentemente que Andrey Kashechkin é um risco para a equipe e por isso não pode assinar contrato com ele. É um risco devido ao seu passado recente de problemas com doping.

A equipe parece que vai bem. Uns declaram que ofereceram 8 milhões de euros a Contador, outros dizem que não é tudo isso e que eles tem (e terão) sérios problemas financeiros no futuro. Contratam como diretor Giuseppe Martinelli que foi treinador de Marco Pantani. Como como treinador, Yvon Senquer, ex-Festina.

E lembrando: sua licença pode ser revogada a qualquer momento.

Today’s Armistice Day in France and hence a bank holiday. It’s also the designated day for my longer ride, anywhere between 100 and 150km. The weather today was sunny but decidedly chilly. Indeed, the mountains behind the coast already have a liberal dusting of snow. I decided to head off to Grasse via Sophia Antipolis, the coast’s Silicon Valley which affords some undulating terrain, returning by way of Pre du Lac.

While I was riding I was mulling over a recent news story. Allegedly, Astana are offering Alberto Contador a contract worth Euros 8 million per annum if he signs up for another 4 years. This is double what he’s allegedly requested for next year’s contract. No word from Contador, who’s on holiday in Curacao, as the negotiations are being handled by his brother and manager, Fran who denies the claims. So I was thinking does Euros 8 million (US$12 million) seem like an excessive amount of money for a multiple Tour Winner or not?

By comparison with other sports, it’s not, but there’s one big difference. The fans don’t pay to watch live cycling. I accept they may pay to watch cycling on the internet or on cable or satellite tv but this money goes to the tv stations, event owners and organisers, not the owners of the cycling teams.  

So let’s put this in perspective. Tiger Woods, the best paid (and probably the best known) sportsman in the world picks up around US$100-128 million pa; approximately 80% endorsements and 20% Tour earnings. But Tiger isn’t paid a salary, nor is golf a dangerous sport. So maybe an F1 driver or Moto GP rider would be a more appropriate comparison. During the same period, it appears Alonso earned US$35 million and Rossi US$30 million. On that basis US$ 12 million doesn’t seem excessive. After all, Contador is only worth what someone is willing to pay him.

Back home I discovered that my beloved had left for a 10-day trip without his gout medication. That man would forget his head if were not attached to his body. I then sat down to start ploughing through the rather large amount of work I seem to have picked up over the last couple of weeks. Jobs are just like buses, they tend to come along in twos and threes.

O agente, irmão e mala de Alberto Contador, Fran Contador, negou hoje que a Astana tenha feito uma proposta milionária (8 milhões de euros anuais) para o seu irmão.

Segundo ele, a proposta é para 2010 somente e não chega sequer a metade desse valor (o que convenhamos, é um bom salário também).

Alguém está mentindo: os cazacos ou o irmão-com-medo-do-leão-do-imposto-de-renda.

Vamos aguardar.

Contador and Boonen in Curaçao. I had to work this in here somewhere...

As we all know, Alberto Contador will likely ride for Astana once again in 2010. Despite months of rumors and hearsay, no one was able to land “El Pistolero” and his contract bound him to another year with the Kazakh outfit. So, without further ado, here are the top three reason’s Alberto Contador wants to leave Astana.

3. Rider Support

Contador pulling away from the Shleck Brothers and teammate Gregory Rast on Stage 19 of the Tour de France

Alberto Contador is likely the world’s greatest stage racer at this time, with four grand tour wins in three years. However one man cannot win a race alone. Behind every great victory is even greater pain and suffering in the ranks of the domestiques, who lay down kilometer after kilometer on the front to protect the likes of the GC contenders. Look at Contador’s victories and you will see has had great support riders among his team.

In the 2010 season, all this will change; look at the list of Astana riders missing from next year’s roster and you will find the likes of Gregory Rast, Andreas Klöden, Levi Leipheimer, Chris Horner, Yaroslav Popovych, and Lance Armstrong. Each one of these men (perhaps not Armstrong) was integral to Contador’s victories at some point or another. Next year Contador will have very little support, and it will likely be only the fellow compatriots he can assemble and whoever the Kazakh Cycling Federation has to offer (i.e. no one). The difference between Contador and likely tour rival Andy Shleck is that Shleck will have a star-studded support squad. Contador will have a skeleton of a team.

The "Team Faded" kit at the 2009 Giro

2. Financial Situation

Astana is owned by the Kazakh Cycling Federation, a body whose sole existence was to better their star Alexander Vinokourov. Following the doping scandal, they had very little talent to offer. With no inflow of revenue, the teams financial woes grew until they culminated at the 2009 Giro d’Italia.

Astana had not payed several riders their salaries (although not the bigger names like Contador, Armstrong or Lepiheimer), and on Stage 8 the team debuted a new kit. All the sponsor logos of the comapanies that had not payed the team  were faded out, leaving only the sponsors not caught in the financial spat, such as Trek, SRAM, Bontrager, and Livestrong. Publicity stunt though it was, it did raise questions as to the team’s financial security.

The team’s UCI license has yet to be confirmed on account of this, and these problems will likely wear on until Astana can find a more stable platform. Although Contador may not be in it for just the money, it’s certainly hard to win a grand tour with just pennies in your bib shorts.

1. Alexander Vinokourov

Vino's Back...

Astana was founded on this Kazakhstani phenom when the team was first assembled in 2007. Before joining Astana Vino’ had achieved several victories with T-Mobile and Liberty Seguros-Würth (the team which Astana was born from), the highlight being an overall victory at the 2006 Vuelta a España.

In the 2007 Tour de France Vino had several stage victories, but little success in the overall classification, having fallen and injured both knees in a crash in the first week. Following a victory on the Stage 15, Vinokourov’s A and B samples tested positive for homologous blood doping. Vino was ejected from the Tour de France (which team mate Contador would later win), and banned from cycling for two years. That ban ended in July of this year, he returned to the sport at this year’s Vuelta.

Despite winning the yellow jersey, Astana’s reputation was stained by the doping scandal that ensued. The team was not invited back for the 2008 edition of the race, leaving Contador unable to defend his victory. In recent news, Contador has demanded a written clause in his contract stating that Vino will be left off the Tour roster in future years…

But could he beat Armstrong?

Before Alberto, there was Steve Austin, the hero of the seventies TV show The 6 Million Dollar Man. A quick plot summary to develop our thesis and dramatic contrast:

“Steve Austin, an astronaut who had walked on the moon, is almost fatally injured in a plane crash. Many of his damaged parts are replaced by bionic limbs, including his right arm, his left eye, and both legs.”

These bionics give him superpower strength and speed and of course the U.S. Government paid 6 million for him. As you can see, Alberto and Steve have a lot in common, salary-wise and leg-wise.

The 6 Million Dollar Man series ran for five exciting seasons and was nominated for a Golden Golden award. The bankers and managers at Team Astana are hoping their deal will bring Contador on for four thrilling seasons. Not to mention a few Tour de France trophies.

The hit TV show always opened with the same voice-over: “We can rebuild him. We have the technology. Better, stronger, faster. And in Alberto’s case, way richer.

Of course, the Kazak offer did say something about also replacing an arm and eyeball. Yikes.

Look, Alberto! Real money! We're rich.

Alberto is in the big money now. Funny money, too.

Velonews reports that the latest contract offer to Alberto Contador was in the range of 8 to 12 million a year. That was the good news.

The bad news was that the money is minted by the Parker Brothers company for their popular board game Monopoly. And it is therefore essentially useless and without value — even if it’s “Kapitalpolitik,” the Russian version of Monopoly.

Kazak banker?

But maybe not. Contador’s brother, advisor and bike mechanic Fran and his lawyers are examining the offer closely. “It may be that we can convert the Monopoly money into euros somehow through a Kazak bank,” said Fran. “It is a generous offer and we will evaluate it thoroughly.”

While cautious about the paper money, Contador remained optimistic. “Monopoly is still my favorite game. I like the idea of having hotels on Park Place or Marvin Gardens,” he said, citing two popular pieces of real estate in the famous game.

Meanwhile Nikolai Proskurin, head of the Kazak Cycling Federation, insisted the money is real, saying “the Monopoly rumors are false. Just because we couldn’t pay our rider salaries last year people laugh at us. This is not paper money. It exists,” said Proskurin.

Yes, it’s a big, big offer — enought to buy all the little red hotels. But legal tender?

Uma coisa é certa: muitos zeros no seu salário.

A Astana fez uma oferta de 8 milhões de euros por temporada para um contrato com vigência até 2013.

Além disso, parece que Fran (o irmão-agente) está bem orientado: Alberto exige uma cláusula que lhe permite quebrar o contrato no caso de haver algum companheiro positivo por doping e a não inscrição de Alexander Vinokourov no Tour de France.

Será que o dono do time (aquele que disse “A Astana é o meu bebê”) concorda com tudo isso?

Clauses? Yeah, I got plenty clauses.

We’re not surprised two-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador wants a few new clauses inserted in his Astana contract.

We imagine he’s thinking of adding quite a few more besides the one allowing him to leave if the team has even one doping violation.

Here are the top 10 he’s still considering:

1) No singing of Kazah folk songs on the team bus. That was annoying last year.

2) Absolutely no mandatory drinking games with Alexandre Vinokourov.

3) Free gas for life from the Kazah oil company.

4) Salary paid in cash each week, no exceptions or contract terminated.

5) All Astana staff and support employees must purchase $500 worth of my “El Pistelero” merchandise. (see note #6)

6) Astana to fund establishment of an “Alberto” boutique in Madrid to sell El Pistelero merchandise.

7) From here on, I always get to sit at the head of the dinner table. P.S. I am NOT buying snacks for the rest of the squad anymore!

My ipod ONLY. No more sharing the stereo with other team-mates. I put up with Armstrong’s Foo Fighters crap but that time is over.

9) No more making fun of my brother Fran. It’s short for Francisco, okay? So stop joking that he sounds like the cleaning lady in a bad sit- com. Not funny.

10) Everyone must speak SPANISH ONLY or I’m outa here. Don’t make me mad, don’t annoy me, don’t tick me off. No Habla Kazak, got it?

Air travellers in Southeast Asia now have greater options when flying beyond and within the region. Kazakh national carrier Air Astana has commenced flights from Almaty to Kuala Lumpur, while low cost carrier Tiger Airways returns to the southern Thai city of Hat Yai.

Air Astana Links Malaysia With Kazakhstan

Travellers now have a direct link when flying between Kuala Lumpur and Almaty. Air Astana has launched a weekly, nonstop service using a 2-class Boeing 767-300ER aircraft with 30 Business and 190 Economy Class seats.

The inaugural flight on 31 October 2009 was welcomed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport by Malaysia’s Minister of Transport, YB Dato’ Sri Ong Tee Keat, and officials of Malaysia Airports. Onboard the flight was the Deputy Chairman of Kazakhstan’s Committee for Civil Aviation, Talgat Lastaev, accompanied by Ibrahim Canliel, Vice-President of Marketing and Sales at Air Astana and members of the media from Kazakhstan. 

Flight KC 935 departs Almaty International Airport every Saturday at 0055 hrs, arriving in Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 1055 hrs. The return flight, KC 936, takes off from Kuala Lumpur at 2335 hrs, landing back in Almaty at 0625 hrs the next morning.

Kuala Lumpur is Air Astana’s 7th international destination in Asia and the Middle East, joining Bangkok, Beijing, Delhi, Dubai, Seoul and Urumqi. From its hubs in Almaty, Astana and Atyrau, the airline flies to 44 domestic and international destinations with a fleet of Airbus A319, A320, Boeing B757, B767 and Fokker 50 aircraft.

For more information, visit www.airastana.com.

Tiger Airways Returns To Hat Yai

Singapore-based Tiger Airways has resumed flights to Hat Yai in southern Thailand. The low cost carrier will operate 3 flights a week every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Flight TR 132 departs Singapore at 1325 hrs, arriving in Hat Yai at 1350 hrs. The return flight, TR 133, takes off from Hat Yai International Airport at 1420 hrs, landing back in Changi International Airport at 1645 hrs. Tiger Airways will operate a 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft on the route.

The resumption of flights to Hat Yai increases the number of Thai destinations in Tiger Airways’ network to 4, including Bangkok (served triple daily), Phuket (served double daily) and Krabi (served 4 times weekly), which was also recently restarted in October 2009.

For more information, visit www.tigerairways.com.

The following is what I heard 64 Peace Corps volunteers say in their swearing in ceremony on Saturday morning this past weekend.  Serious and yet exciting to see determined, young people make such a long term commitment in this great land of Kazakhstan.

I,____________(name) do solemly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, domestic or foreign, that I take this obligation freely. And without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. And that I will well and faithfully discharge my duties in the Peace Corps, so help me God.

The Honorable Richard Hoagland spoke about his own adventures as a volunteer in the 1960s in Africa in a very remote and isolated area.  He recalled how a diplomat from the American government came out to where he lived to meet with him.  He asked the diplomat what he did as a diplomat, he didn’t get a very straight answer.  In fact, Hoagland told the older gentleman that some day he would like to be a diplomat himself and now he has been an ambassador in three different locations, Astana Kazakhstan being his third assignment.  Hoagland later found out WHY the diplomat had taken all the time and effort to find him in an out of the way place where he was living.  Months later he learned that there was to be a revolution in his area and the diplomat wanted to make sure the young and yet to be Ambassador Hoagland was okay.

This ceremony reminded me of when, back in the summer of 1993, we had the FIRST swearing-in ceremony for the 30 plus Peace Corps volunteers that I was a TEFL trainer for.  I was overseeing their technical training before they were sent out to teach English in different directions of Kazakhstan. 

I remembered how I had dined with my husband at the American ambassador Bill Courtney’s place several times on social occasions when the American embassy was in Almaty and not Astana as it is now.  I asked Ambassador Hoagland if he was in contact with Bill Courtney and told him about what I was doing in Almaty and what my husband was up to.

I met others and congratulated and took photos of the three new PCVs that I have gotten to know. I wish them all well: Noelle in Mambet, Anna Rodgers in Samankol and Denise Nyffeler in Shakhtinsk.  What they do as Americans representing their country in the hinterlands of Kazakhstan is a bit different than what I do as a EFL teacher in a westernized university in Almaty.  They will have to be paid at the local level of living. They will continue to learn the language of either Russian or Kazakh to form bonds and friendships with their fellow teachers and students.  They will find out how to be a diplomat in a country not their own.  They will be in villages that have little to no resources, perhaps even an apathy towards education.

I, on the other hand, am here in an academic environment that has its own culture. We have on our campus all the bells and whistles that you would expect to find in a western university, with computers, projectors and the latest in electronic databases. Every university in the U.S. has this and it is assumed to be used. 

“Computers will not replace teachers, but teachers who use computers will replace teachers who don’t.”

In the U.S. and elsewhere, we have tenure and promotion based on how much writing is published and also based on student evaluations.  However, as I wrote in my blog the other day, we have more and more of the Kazakh culture taking over the academic culture where it will not look much different from the other state universities here in Almaty.  Just a matter of time…

Yesterday’s ceremony of volunteerism, Peace Corps trainees being sworn in as bona fide PCVs, was exciting to witness.   The 21st group of PCVs gave their oath conducted by The Honorable Richard Hoagland, American ambassador. He gave a short speech to the group of 64 American volunteers investing their lives in Kazakhstan for the next two years.  One PCV spoke in near perfect Kazakh, I thought if I didn’t know better, he must be Kazakh.  Then he switched over to American English where he shared a Kazakh proverb “Good word–half wealth.”  Meaning that if you say good, it will come back to you or conversely as we know it back home “What goes around, come around.”

Әріптесім қызық бір оқиға айтып берді.

Астанада жұмыс істейтін құрбысы, бір күні басына орамал тартып, ұзын көйлек киіп келіпті. Есімі – Анастасия.

“Настя, сен діндар ма едің?” десе.

“Жоқ, ең болмаса осылайша хиджап киген мұсылман қыздарға деген қолдауымды білдіргім келеді” деген екен.

Kafka. He understands Astana-speak.

We bring you an important non-news flash.

Nikolai Proskurin, a spokesman for the Kazakh Cycling Federation, says that two-time Tour de France winner will ride for Astana in 2010. A meaningless statement and certainly not news or fact. Although we are giving it thumbs up for humor.

It was more accurately a desire, a wish and desperate hope that Contador wouldn’t leave now that the UCI has cleared Contador to exit Astana “without notice or liability for damages.”

According the governing body of the sport, Astana no longer has a legal hold on the Spanish rider. And lawyers are about the only creatures who could force Contador to stay in the snakepit with Alexander Vinokourov. Alberto has a fondness for birds, but he’s not big on snakes, especially the vino-viper.

Everyone seems to understand the ruling but Mr. Proskurin. “Certain people, it is unclear who, have completely dreamed this up, but there has been no occasion on which he has made an official statement on this issue,” he said. Yes, the bozos are at it again.

Note to Federation: Your ship sank last week. Don’t bother looking for survivors.

This must be one of those black comedy situations that happen in the former Soviet Republic. The kind of thing that routinely occurs on the team we like to call Astanastan. A goof-ball kind of place where the paperwork never gets down, the checks always bounce and the kafka-speak goes on forever.

Does the bold, posturing statement from the Kazakh Cycling Federation carry any weight? Nope. Was it amusing in a clueless way that reminded us of low-level, bumbling communist bureaucrats from the 70’s? Yes.