Nazarbayev University and Babushkas

Recently we had a visit from President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan and after whom the university is named. It was an interesting experience given the added security and buzz of excitement. A few of our faculty had the opportunity to meet him and had very positive things to say about him based on their impressions.

The President was particularly interested in the biology and robotics labs, so he spent some time in our building. It was a little strange to have security officers outside my office all morning, particularly when they would stand and watch me suspiciously as I headed to the restroom. The best part of the morning, however, was when a guard opened my office door unannounced with a dog. He looked around my office and then asked me something in Russian which I did not understand. I motioned that I didn’t catch what he asked, so he asked with a half-smile on his face, “bomb?” I laughed and said that I didn’t. He laughed too, let the dog take a whiff of the room, and then left. Later I thought of more clever things to say in response to his question, but at the time I suppose I valued my job (and life) more.

Here are a few photos of the university as well. It is a nice building, with many more planned additions to be built in the coming years. There are many of the problems characteristic of a start-up university, so each day we encounter new opportunities to be flexible and creative in finding work-arounds.

But overall I am enjoying working here, and excited about the opportunities it will bring. The students are engaging and very bright for the most part. I am discovering the satisfaction in teaching and working with students again, and in completely new ways as well. Because it is a start-up, we are working hard to get students involved in forming clubs and carrying out extracurricular activities because as of now they are almost non-existent.

The weather is still cold, but it has warmed up to the winter temperatures we are used to. This means that the kids can actually play in the snow for more than five minutes before turning blue. Even though the winters are cold and long here, the sun shines brilliantly almost every day. When there is no breeze, the sun even feels warm and the weather is gorgeous. However, even a slight breeze feels like a 20 degree difference.

I was once again scolded by a babushka (elderly woman) while waiting for the bus for letting Noah’s skin show. When you carry kids their pant-legs ride up a bit so that often there is skin showing between their socks and the bottom of their pant-legs. This is an unpardonable sin. The Kazakh children we see either have snowsuits that cover their bodies completely (over their legs and down over their shoes including the soles), or have straps wrapping around the soles of their shoes which secure the pant-legs in place. This particular time the babushka even grabbed Noah’s exposed calves to feel how cold they were. A look of disappointment came over her as she found Noah’s skin to be quite warm to the touch. If I spoke Russian I would have told her that this kid is a light bulb and that if I bundled him up any more he’d melt.