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The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Cultural learnings of Kazakhstan:
A Peace Corps volunteer finds no sign of Borat
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hree years ago, if I had told
my friends I was going
to Kazakhstan with the
Peace Corps, their response would
have been a mix of confusion and
mystification. The first question
undoubtedly would have focused
on why I want to "give up" two
years of my life. The second ques-
tion would have been "Where's
Kazakhstan?"
However, after the film "Borat:
Cultural Learnings of America for
Make Benefit Glorious Nation of
Kazakhstan," what they say is "Say
hi to Borat for me."
If the 140 current Peace Corps
volunteers in Kazakhstan all found
Borat and said hi, I imagine he'd be
slightly overwhelmed and prefer to
retreat to the country with his new
wife - the former prostitute meets
while filming.
Much of the Karakhstani popu-
lation acknowledges that the film
"Borat" was a mixed blessing.
Because of it, more people learned
that Kazakhstan exists, but this
realization has been accompanied
by a few unflattering misconcep-
tions of the country. While I've only
lived here for about two months,
I've been here long enough to weed
out Borat's fiction from fact.
Kazakhstani society is com-
plicated, with all the problems of
a country attempting to reinvent
itself in the wake of the Soviet
Union's collapse. Its government
is taking significant steps to aid its
15 million citizens, many of whom
still live in very rural communi-
ties. The government has focused
on its two largest cities, Astana and
Almaty, grooming both to become
oil industry leaders and competi-
tive international financial centers.
Kazakhstan is likely to emerge the
second largest oil and natural gas
producer in the world within 10
years.
The progress, innovation and
intellectual merit of Kazakhstan (it
has a 99 percent literacy rate) was
not portrayed in "Borat." Instead,
in the crude caricature of Kazakh-
stan, drawn by "Borat" creator
Sasha Baron Cohen, suggests ram-
pant anti-Semitism and unchecked
violence against women. But that's
not what makes it funny. What's
really funny aren't the lines like
"Look, there is a woman in a car.
Can we follow her and maybe make
a sexy time with her?" which he
asks a driving instructor at one
point. It's how the Americans he
runs into don't see through the act.
Even though I knew much of the
material in "Borat" was aimed at
making Americans seem foolish,
and not as acritique of Kazakhstan,
I was still worried about anti-Semi-
tism and Anti-Americanism on my
way here. But rather than anti-
Semitism or a hatred of America, I
have been confronted with friendly
curiosity regarding Judaism and. a
welcome interest in the diversity
of religious beliefs. Almaty has two
synagogues and a very warm Jew-
ish community. I have already had
a number of intellectually stimu-
lating conversations about religion
with some new local friends in a
town near Almaty where my group
is training and living.
In two months here, I have seen
only two swastikas, one painted
on a tree and another in graffiti on
the side of a building; I know that
there may be more extreme seg-
ments of the population with these
views, but it looks to be an extreme
minority.
Unlike the portrayal of Kazak-
stanis in "Borat," I have found
Kazakhstanis of all ethnic and
religious affiliation to be open and
generally warmly accepting of and
interested in the variety of beliefs
that exist around the world and
within Kazakhstan. I'm pretty sure
no one here sings "Throw the Jew
down the well."
Some of the villages look similar
to the images in "Borat." Even in my
town, only 45 minutes outside of
Almaty, there is a donkey that often
watches over our soccer games,.
goats tied up outside of houses and
stray dogs running amok, yelping
and fighting at all hours of the day
and night. on the road to Almaty,
we've encountered herds of cows
and sheep meandering down the
middle of the street, sometimes
accompanied by a herder. Many
houses are small farms with ten-
ants who grow their own crops and
raise a number of animals next to
the house. There may be running
water, but not always hot water, so
showers often involve traveling to
the local banya, which means bath-
house.
But Almaty isn't the 30th most
expensive city in the world because
of the nearby grazing grounds.
There's
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beginnin
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You can
rapid development, and least two glasses of chai tea, usual-
seems to add new luxury ly accompanied by chocolate, bread
aily. Small street stores and other candy, multiple times a
acal foods like samsa and day. People delight in opening their
h stand alongside Tiffany's house to you and always want you
Apple Store, an InterCon- to feel at home.
Hotel and the site for the Sometimes it's awkward. When
ncial district. Also nearby it's just you and a new friend who
e bazaar selling anything speaks no English, sharing a few
id want, including sheep cups of tea, you realize that gestur-
ing only allows a certain degree of
old that in many small depth, and while visual aids might
rther out into the country, help, no one has ever showed me
physically the ninth larg- naked pictures of their family
world, many villages have members, as Borat was wont to do.
_ I don't always know what's
being said around me, and it's a
best, "Borat" tough realization that third grad-
ers speak better Russian than I
ras a mixed probably will even after two years
living in the country. The lan-
lessing for guage, however, is not an insur-
mountable barrier. The warmth of
azakhstan the people helps.
Kazakhstan is a nation of contra-
dictions, conflations of identity and
emerging and resolving conflicts.
ng water, yet houses have While "Borat" painted millions a
television. Where there distinct picture of the people and
o banks or hospitals in the the country, the picture is wrong.
here are still cell phones The five universities in Almaty
eo. Here, there's a focus on speak to the broader and greater
re despite the lack of what depth of knowledge than the ste-
ns would consider basic reotypes supply. There's much
we can learn from and about our
eople are wonderfully gen- neighbors. We can laugh at others'
nd and curious. Instead of differences and very often embrace
merica - we are blamed this freedom of expression, but I'd
rat," despite its British prefer to laugh alongside the locals
gs - Kazakhstanis want rather than at them.
more about us. and also
ing us about themselves.
't escape from having at
-Perry Teicher graduated
from the University in 2007.