Two exciting events today:
First, there was a small earthquake. It roused me and my host family out of bed in the early hours of the morning. Almaty has suffered several earthquakes before, most noteably in 1911 when most of the city's pre-Soviet architecture was destroyed. President Nazarabayev has also used fears of an earthquake to help justify moving the capital from Almaty to further north. In most original fashion, he named the new capital "Astana," which in Kazakh means "capital."
Second, I saw a brawl over a car accident. Two men who had a fender bender rushed out of their cars and started slugging each other and cursing. (To those who asked why I did not want to get a car in Almaty, take note!) Bystanders looked on curiously but not one moved to call the police: These altercations are an almost daily occurence in traffic-clogged downtown Almaty.
Life as a pedestrian is almost equally dangerous. For most Kazakh drivers, pedestrians might be compared to sheep who unnecessarily block the road. Upon one seeing a pedestrain one should 1) speed up 2)lean on the horn full blast and 3) generally try to frighten the living daylights out of those crossing the road so they will scamper back quivering to where they came from. Pedestrians take note: Here, a red light seems to mean "go" just as much as a green one. Also, in the heart of rush hour traffic even the sidewalk is not a safe place: I've seen many cars, scattering frightened pedestrians in their wake, drive up and onto the sidewalk in an effort to avoid particularly bad traffic jams.
Perhaps the only thing scarier here than the drivers, however, are the babushki: Woe to the driver who should challenge a tottering old grandmother crossing the road. A few days ago, I saw one overeager driver try to challenge a babushka back to "her" side of the road. She, in turn, took her cane in hand and beat his car soundly, all the while uttering reprimands loudly, which forced him at long last to a gentlemanly halt.
More problems uploading pictures, but hopefully I'll post some more soon!
First, there was a small earthquake. It roused me and my host family out of bed in the early hours of the morning. Almaty has suffered several earthquakes before, most noteably in 1911 when most of the city's pre-Soviet architecture was destroyed. President Nazarabayev has also used fears of an earthquake to help justify moving the capital from Almaty to further north. In most original fashion, he named the new capital "Astana," which in Kazakh means "capital."
Second, I saw a brawl over a car accident. Two men who had a fender bender rushed out of their cars and started slugging each other and cursing. (To those who asked why I did not want to get a car in Almaty, take note!) Bystanders looked on curiously but not one moved to call the police: These altercations are an almost daily occurence in traffic-clogged downtown Almaty.
Life as a pedestrian is almost equally dangerous. For most Kazakh drivers, pedestrians might be compared to sheep who unnecessarily block the road. Upon one seeing a pedestrain one should 1) speed up 2)lean on the horn full blast and 3) generally try to frighten the living daylights out of those crossing the road so they will scamper back quivering to where they came from. Pedestrians take note: Here, a red light seems to mean "go" just as much as a green one. Also, in the heart of rush hour traffic even the sidewalk is not a safe place: I've seen many cars, scattering frightened pedestrians in their wake, drive up and onto the sidewalk in an effort to avoid particularly bad traffic jams.
Perhaps the only thing scarier here than the drivers, however, are the babushki: Woe to the driver who should challenge a tottering old grandmother crossing the road. A few days ago, I saw one overeager driver try to challenge a babushka back to "her" side of the road. She, in turn, took her cane in hand and beat his car soundly, all the while uttering reprimands loudly, which forced him at long last to a gentlemanly halt.
More problems uploading pictures, but hopefully I'll post some more soon!
posted by Sarah at 5:35 AM
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