Riding Camels and Sunbathing on the Caspian: Six Months in Almaty, Kazakhstan Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The courses provided by the program through KazNU (Al-Farabi Kazakh National University) were challenging, but well tailored to each individual student's level of Russian. Being in small groups enabled the teachers to really get to know us, our strengths and weaknesses, and what we needed to work on. They were flexible, and after a conversation let us try working with a more advanced textbook (one of the most helpful Russian text books I've ever had). I often felt that our teachers cared about us each individually, and were more than willing to meet with us outside of class to help us on certain difficult subjects. Moreover, they cared about our home lives as much as our academic lives--they really wanted to ensure that we were in the best possible learning environment to learn Russian.

On-site administration of your program

The American Councils staff in Kazakhstan were great, and easy to work with.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I had two host families in Kazakhstan. The first host family and I weren't a good fit--the staff did a very good job helping relocate me; my second host family was wonderful. I really felt like I was a part of their family rather than a convenient paycheck. We're still in touch!

Kazakh food, while tasty, is very heavy, and that can be hard to adapt to at first. Something I will also say is, that as a person who has to eat gluten-free to survive, Kazakhstan was surprisingly liveable. There are a lot of gluten free options (plov, buckwheat, etc.), and there are very few things that have gluten added to them (ie. soups and sauces).

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I felt very integrated with the local culture. There were times when it was certainly difficult, because my Russian wasn't good enough, or I made bad American cultural faux pas, but after spending six months there, I felt quite integrated.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I never felt particularly unsafe in Almaty. The entire city is fairly walkable, and most people seem like they'd go out of their way to help, rather than harm. That being said, Kazakh men can be very sexist, and sometimes persist even after being told "no" a few times. To this end, I would recommend always traveling/going out in a group.

American Councils is known internationally and well ranked within the US for Russian language abroad programs. I don't think I could have gotten better Russian training abroad. The staff were professional, but not overbearing. I had opportunities to travel within Kazakhstan and regionally (Tbilisi and Kiev), and really came to know, and understand Kazakh culture and post-Soviet politics. I had unforgettable experiences, and literally made the friends of a lifetime.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

It's very easy to live well in Kazakhstan on about $30/week. With that I could get a nice lunch everyday, and generally coffee in the afternoons.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

There was a mandatory language pledge that our RD enforced, and I found it very helpful.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Americans

• My host family and local friends
• Unique experiences and the stories that came out of them
• Opportunities to travel regionally

• The housing coordinator while I was living in Kazakhstan made talking to her about any real issues we were having with host families very difficult--this could definitely be improved

The Nearly Native or Trail Blazer