Action Photo

This action shot is from my first-ever press conference. Two weeks ago I traveled to Karaganda, a large industrial city in the center of the country, for some work meetings. I also gave a presentation to a group of about 30 English-speaking university students. The organizers of the presentation told me in advance that they planned to invite some local media. I assumed they would sit in the back and take notes. Instead, there was a lot of commotion when I arrived, and I was ushered into a hallway filled with several reporters and two or three cameras. I didn't have much time to think before they held up their microphones and began asking questions, in Russian. My trusty assistant Aliya (to my left, taking notes) interpreted for me, I answered in English, and they then stuck their microphones in Aliya's face for the interpretation of my answers. During the later broadcast, they simply did a Russian voiceover of my words, hopefully using Aliya's accurate translation (though the media here have been known to just make things up sometimes). Fortunately, the questions were benign-- what are you doing in Karaganda? What do you think of civil society in Karaganda? Why are you meeting with students? I found the whole thing sort of exhilarating and surreal, and kept wondering-- are they mistaking me for somebody important? I even had to cut the press conference short, like the bigwigs sometimes do, because I needed to start the presentation. The sensation continued for a while during my talk, as there was a new flurry of photography every time I did something new (i.e. sit down, stand up, open my folder, take a sip of water). Fortunately, the presentation went well, Aliya assured me that I didn't say anything stupid to the media, and the resulting press coverage (which I never saw myself) has so far not created any international incidents.

Spring? What spring?

March 22 was the national Nauriz holiday, a Muslim celebration of spring (though it certainly didn't feel like spring in Astana-- I'd say it was still very much winter). My colleagues and I explored some of the festivities, including several yurts and a sampling of Kumis (a traditional Kazakh drink that tastes like sausage grease mixed with milk and salt). I don't recommend the Kumis. I posted some pictures.


In other news, the US State Department recently released its annual Human Rights Report. If you're interested, the section on Kazakhstan is posted here.