Shelly Cooks, Teaches, and Parties in Kazakhstan

Heather and her just-turned-7
year old host family brother

Heather having lunch in the cotton
field during a day of cotton-pickin'

The next in a series of reports on Shelly's trip to visit Heather in Kazakhstan.  We last saw our heroine as she was boarding the Kazakh train from Almaty to Shymkent, a 14 hour overnight ride.  She reports that it was very comfortable, and she was able to sleep most of the night in the private compartment that Heather had rented for her travelers.  They arrived in the regional capital, Shymkent, on Monday morning, and Heather capably got them across town to the taxi stand where they hired a car to take them the 2.5 hour trip across the Kazakh steppes to her town, Zhetysai.  Once in Zhetysai, they settled in to Heather's new apartment where Shelly (yes, Shelly) cooked dinner, a delicious vegetable curry dish she has learned in Mauritius.  Tuesday dawned, and the trio (Shelly, Heather, and Heather's boyfriend Chase) headed down to the school.  Once there, Heather had arranged for her students (and other English classes) to pepper her guests with their own questions in English . . . "how old are you? (to Chase) when did you first meet Heather? How much money do you make?"  Heather reports that Shelly and Chase managed to conduct all the teaching that went on today for several classes.  In an email to me, Shelly marvelled at what an excellent teacher Heather has become.  The end of the school day meant it was time for the trio to go to a birthday party at Heather's Zhetysai host family . . . her host family brother was turning seven.  As they entered the house, they noticed that the dining room table was absolutely packed with food . . . Kazakh delicacies all.  Chase ate in the traditional fashion with his hands, and Shelly offered a Kazakh-style toast thanking the host family for taking such good care of our mutual daughter.  A huge hit, all translated by Heather into Kazakh.  As I spoke with Heather by phone to get this report, I heard uproarious laughter in the background and the sounds of people communicating and enjoying each other's company without the need for common language.  In short, just what "Peace Corps" means . . .