Onward + Upward
Having finished my time with PiA and at Narxoz, I am staying (somewhat) put, forging my career, and exploring
Wow, it is hard to believe that I have already finished my time at the university. It quite literally feels like just last week, I welcomed my first class of students, and now I have completed two full semesters and covered a lot of ground in the meantime.
Although I have finished my time at Narxoz, that is not to say I am without work. I have picked up the slack with my editorial gig at The Times of Central Asia and enjoy the work. As you may have seen, I even published a piece of my own! It almost feels full circle that after my mom graduated from college, she went on her adventures to rural Georgia (USA) and Kentucky to become a reporter. Additionally, I am very happy to share that I have just accepted a position with American Councils to become a participant recruiter from August - December; this job is very exciting. I will remain in Almaty for a few months before relocating to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, for a month or two for the job. The role starts in August with remote work and continues through September. Then, I will fly to Istanbul for an orientation to meet the other recruiters covering other countries where AC works. After Istanbul, I will return to Almaty and spend about half my time on the road traveling to other parts of the country to meet host families, test local students’ English levels, and do other tasks. Through a State Department grant to study Russian, I participated in an AC program in Narva, Estonia, in the summer of 2017. I know just how impactful these programs can be for their participants.
Now that I have completed a different fellowship, I would like to share a little about the PiA program with anyone considering applying or wanting my two cents.
*Disclaimer* These are my thoughts and opinions after completing a full fellowship with PiA. Narxoz University, my post was nothing short of incredible. My coworkers, bosses, and students impressed me daily, and I am incredibly grateful to have met and worked with them. I am immensely thankful for the opportunity, and everything that has come from it, but issues regarding the fellowship must be addressed.
Firstly, even before arriving in Kazakhstan, there were many questions unanswered. Mainly, what will my salary be? It is a little frightening to move to a new country without knowing what you will be paid, and supposedly, PiA had negotiated our salaries without telling us any of the details. Okay, but letting us know what to expect regarding pay before landing in the country would have been appreciated for the apartment hunt and daily expenditures. Upon finding an apartment, taking money out of our accounts to pay the security deposit, broker’s fee, and first month’s rent felt intense. “Who the hell did I just give all this money to?" I thought as I signed the lease for my apartment. PiA should provide fellows with a $500-800 “start-up” budget for apartment fees and acclimation. Knowing that I would receive my first salary at the end of the first month would have been helpful, so having an initial “set-up” stipend would have been much appreciated.
Secondly, there was a lack of consistent communication with our program director. Maybe this was a one-off this year, but as fellows, we took an oath to be in “consistent and reliable” communication with our program director throughout the fellowship. Still, somehow, it seems as if the agreement was one-sided. Throughout the two months, arguably the most critical months of the fellowship, we consistently waited for days, if not weeks, for our program director to reply. The Kazakh fellows, including myself, struggled with finances after learning about our salaries. After the Russian invasion in 2022, prices for everything skyrocketed here. Inflation last year alone was 25%. My current apartment rents for 350,000 tenge ~ $750, but before the war, it would have rented for closer to 200,000 tenge ~ $430. Groceries, restaurants, and everything in between have risen in price since the invasion, and Almaty is just as expensive as Moscow these days. The cost of living here is equivalent to 1/3 - 1/2 that of NYC. Wages are less here, but after meeting a PiA alum who lived here in 2015, he told us that they were making about double what we were, and that was before inflation, COVID, and the invasion… Regardless, the seven of us were worried about being able to pay rent with our salaries when we were getting settled, not to mention other expenses. I digress.
Thirdly, PiA prides itself on meaningful exchange. Still, to our detriment, the Kazakh fellows, as well as fellows in Sri Lanka, Laos, Cambodia, and a couple of other posts, were disappointed to learn that the program would not fund language funding for the second half of the fellowship. Apparently, Princeton University wants to focus on “East Asian” languages and does not want to fund Central and South Asian languages. I tried to find a loophole in saying that Russian is, too, an East Asian language spoken from Eastern Europe to the Far East, but they did not budge. How can we learn the intricacies of a super complex language without the proper resources/funding? One of the main reasons I wanted to come in the first place was to improve my Russian and learn Kazakh, but without this funding, it felt as if PiA only really cared for East Asian posts. If PiA wants to attract more people to the Central Asian posts, which my program director shared directly with me, they must vouch for language grants for these locations. It is frankly disappointing that they can get away with supplying some, not all, countries with language grants. Not to mention the fact that language lessons here are not inexpensive, so weekly lessons quickly eat into personal savings income.
Lastly, and this is personal, I felt a bit put off when I arrived here, learning that I was the only one in the cohort who had studied Russian and the region before arrival. I know damn well that there are many recent graduates with the language skills and determination to come to Almaty to increase their proficiency. Still, I was disappointed to learn that the cohort was entirely English-speaking. That’s not to say they aren’t trying to learn Russian, but some have not even tried. If PiA wants to turn Kazakhstan into a “desirable post,” per the words of my program director, it must attract Russian and Turkic language learners who value the post. PiA must prioritize language learning as a core value of the fellowship, full stop.
Honestly, those are my main gripes with the program. Now, the positives. I do appreciate the fact that PiA allows us to be independent. There are a few required meetings, courses, and whatnot that we are expected to do in addition to our posts. There is also no restriction on movement during the fellowship, which is admirable. As I mentioned, I genuinely love Narxoz University and the incredible people who work there. It is a special place, and I am happy they are accredited to host fellows for the coming years. But frankly, the inconsistency from the program was a letdown.
Now, onto some recent endeavors.
It has been almost a full year since seeing two of my best friends, Max and Einav, in NYC. They are real ones for coming all the way to Almaty to see me. I met them at the brand-new Almaty International Terminal at three in the morning to pick them up and bring them to their hotel. Besides meeting my family there a couple of months prior, this was the best reunion I could have asked for. I dropped them off at Hotel Kazakhstan and returned to my apartment as the sun rose around 04:30.
That same morning, about six hours later, we hit the ground running. Breakfast and coffee were our first priorities, and after wolfing down food at Cafeteria, we began our tour. I showed them the city's main sites: the Panfilov walking path, the Ascension Cathedral, 28 Panfilov Guardsmen Park, Green Bazaar, Arbat Street, and Kok Tobe. Unfortunately, the weather couldn’t decide between rain or shine, but we still had a blast. For dinner, I took them to Uighur food. I found us a nice “lagmanhana,” and we ate quite well before hitting the hay.
On our second day in Almaty, I took them to Medeu, aka the mountains, about 30 min from the city center. While I had planned for us to walk up the stairs (if you know, you know), Max suggested taking the gondola to the top of Shymbulak. Great idea, Max. We sumitted Shymbulak, felt the mountain breeze, and looked at glaciers before descending to Auyl for lunch. Auyl has been a restaurant I’ve wanted to try for some time, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. If you are in Almaty, I highly recommend eating there; the ambiance, views, and dishes are top-tier.
Our next and final day in Almaty was relaxing. We drank coffee, and I showed them around my neighborhood before we went to the airport for our flight to Tashkent. We arrived in Tashkent around 10 at night, got to our accommodations, and passed out.
Although I visited Uzbekistan in October, I was keen to revisit it with my friends. In Tashkent, we went to the big Chorsu Bazaar, visited a couple of historical sites, and walked around. The next day, we took an early morning train to Samarkand.
We arrived in Samarkand in the morning and hit the ground running. We saw the Registan Square, the Amir Temur Mausoleum Gur-i Amir Сomplex, Siyob Bazaar, Hazrat Khizr Mosque, and Shah-i-Zinda. We ended the night with phenomenal Indian food. Truthfully, I love Samarkand; there seems to be the perfect balance of historical sites and modern-day conveniences for a trip.
The next day, we boarded our train to Bukhara. After three hours, we arrived at the Bukhara station and called a taxi to our hotel. I booked us a room at the same art hostel I stayed at in October, and the babushka who owns it, her cat, and I were thrilled to see each other again.
Since it was Sunday afternoon in July, many places of interest were not open for business. No problem for us. We wandered around the old town, browsed the markets for trinkets and souvenirs, and ate well.
The next morning, we went to a very interesting museum that showcased Jewish history in Bukhara. For my friends and me, it is really special to go to a place and learn about Jewish history there. Samarkand once had a healthy Jewish community, but after the fall of the Soviet Union and tragic economic conditions, most left for Israel and the US. There are just over 400 Jews in Bukhara today, down from about 20,000 at its peak in the 1970s. Regardless, the museum was very interesting to see first-hand. It is fascinating to see how Jews lived in different places, not to mention the fact that Jews are not, in fact, ~white colonizers~ who came from Poland. Not sure who needs to hear this message, but it is worth repeating.
Anyhoo, we thoroughly enjoyed Bukhara and went to the Ark of Bukhara, Miri-Arab Madrasah, Poi Kalon Complex, Abdulaziz-Khan Madrasah, and the Lyabi House Hotel (which houses the Jewish Museum). I’m sure I’m forgetting one or two places, but you get the point :)
Our train to Khiva, our final stop, departed from Bukhara at 03:52 on Tuesday. Groggy, we arrived at the station, got comfortable in our sleeper cabin, and woke up in Khiva six and a half hours later. Thankfully, our cabin had air conditioning.
One thing I noticed this time around in Uzbekistan, in general, is the lack of tourists in the summer. Now, I’m well aware of the fact that it reaches 105 degrees Fahrenheit / 40 Celsius, but I wasn’t expecting the streets to be this empty during the day. At night, though, the cities, Bukhara and Khiva mainly, become more lively and have more tourists roaming around. If you can’t take the heat, do not come to Uzbekistan in the middle of the summer; you have been warned.
We are now waiting to board our flight from Urgench (the closest airport to Khiva) back to Tashkent for the night. Einav and I are flying to Georgia (the country, not the state) for a week to travel to Tbilisi, Kazbegi, and Kutaisi, and Max is on his way to Somaliland for a conference.
I have been itching to get to the Caucasus for years and am very happy to have the opportunity finally. A week in Georgia will be amazing. Furthermore, if anyone reading this has time for a week-long trip in September, hit my line. I am considering going to Korea since I have the time for remote work before my first post.
However, there is a very tempting reason to go back to NYC besides seeing my friends and family, and that is a new addition to the Kuvin family. It’s been a year since Minnie, our loving dog of 15.5 years, passed away, and my parents have finally gotten over the true empty-nester lifestyle. So, there is a little puppy named Jasper waiting for me to come greet him.
Furthermore, sorry for any rant that may have caused reader discomfort, but it’s my blog and not yours ;)
Lastly, I will update you all when I return to Almaty at the end of the month.
Tootles,
Henry
Can’t believe it’s been a year! Glad you’ll continue your adventure for a few more months!