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Full metal tourist...
Sep. 4th, 2005 10:19 pmOne of the nice side benefits of being an interpreter is that you generally do get to be a part of the many invitations that are extended to your principals (even if you do end up working a lot). During yesterday's post-concert gathering, our Kazakh host mentioned that there would be a special market day today in the town of Toretam (a.k.a, Turetam, Tyura-tam, and a few more variations), which is just outside of Baikonur. I volunteered to go.
I only recently learned that Toretam and Baikonur are two separate settlements. In fact, for a long time, I believed that Toretam was merely the name of the railway station near the town. It turns out that Toretam is an old village that received its name from the time the English were building the railroad here in Kazakhstan.
The way our host explained it, when the railroad builders got no satisfactory answer after asking for the name of the settlement, they asked if there were any local landmarks. The locals said there was a tomb of a great leader nearby, whose name had been Tyura, and in Kazakh, "Tyura's tomb" is an expression very close to "Tyura-tam." Thus, the name of the railroad station was derived.
When our van arrived in the middle of town, the market was in full swing, including a huge crowd of men assembled in the middle of the square. They had gathered there to watch local boys in boxing matches.
Besides the boxing, the periphery of the town square was packed shoulder to shoulder with a combination of various vendors and varied displays of the achievements of this and that organization or collective. Wherever you looked, there was something new and unusual to see.
One major difference between Toretam (and what I've seen of Kazakhstan in general) and some other places I have been is that people almost throw themselves at you and ask you to photograph them. The gent in the photo to the right was very friendly and not insistent at all, but did ask me to snap his image. When he asked if I would give him a copy, I told him it would be a long time before I could make a photo, because the image was digital, but did promise to post his picture for the world to see on the Internet. I think he was very pleased.
Oh, but was there a variety of vendors! Although it seemed that about a third of the trucks at the market were, like the one in the photo to the left, filled with melons, there were vendors there with feed hay, sheep, goats, ducks, geese, fish, and meat. At one point, a cart passed me with what I first thought was a pile of wool, until I noticed that the wool was still on the sheep, and that the sheep had been (you should pardon the expression) hog-tied to make them more manageable.
There is no styrofoam or plastic wrap involved in the sale of fish or meat, only a tabletop and a scale. While the women tended to the retail business, the men butchered meat behind them.
In this shot, the working men are using an axe that resembles something I'd expect to see in a movie featuring a stereotypical Braveheart-type execution.
There was a yurta set up at one end of the market, and our group - which was asked several times to assemble so that local luminaries (e.g., the school principal) could be photographed with them - assembled before it for YAP (Yet Another Photograph™).
(I had managed to snap a picture of the structure, which is the portable shelter for indigenous Kazakh nomads (similar, I suppose, to North American wigwams), before a permanent flow of market-goers disrupted the scene.)
After the group photo, our host invited us inside to take a look at the appointments. Wow! The place had been set for a banquet, and it was both beautiful and functional. The temperature inside had to be a good 10-15 degrees less than the starting-to-swelter heat outside.
After a few more stops, the tour came to an end, but not before we were invited to partake of a refreshing bowl of warm shubat. While I probably would have preferred an iced tea or lemonade, the shubat actually did hit the spot. In the photo below and to the right, our host shows us how it's done.
After leaving Toretam, our group went on to visit downtown Baikonur, which for some reason I saw through a whole new set of eyes (though I'd be hard-pressed to explain why... I'm not even sure I could). After wandering around the market for an hour, and then again around what we call the "Arbat" district, our group split up to eat at different restaurants and eventually got home in time to attend the session of the government commission that met to give a go/no-go for rollout tomorrow morning.
It was, of course, a "go."
Moreover, I am the lucky interpreter who has to be out on the street at 6 am to catch the van to catch the train, which will take the space vehicle to the pad. I've got my ELSA (emergency breathing gear) propped up against the door (to make sure I don't forget it in the morning). I am ready. I am tired. I should get to sleep.
Cheers...
I only recently learned that Toretam and Baikonur are two separate settlements. In fact, for a long time, I believed that Toretam was merely the name of the railway station near the town. It turns out that Toretam is an old village that received its name from the time the English were building the railroad here in Kazakhstan. The way our host explained it, when the railroad builders got no satisfactory answer after asking for the name of the settlement, they asked if there were any local landmarks. The locals said there was a tomb of a great leader nearby, whose name had been Tyura, and in Kazakh, "Tyura's tomb" is an expression very close to "Tyura-tam." Thus, the name of the railroad station was derived.
When our van arrived in the middle of town, the market was in full swing, including a huge crowd of men assembled in the middle of the square. They had gathered there to watch local boys in boxing matches.
Besides the boxing, the periphery of the town square was packed shoulder to shoulder with a combination of various vendors and varied displays of the achievements of this and that organization or collective. Wherever you looked, there was something new and unusual to see.
One major difference between Toretam (and what I've seen of Kazakhstan in general) and some other places I have been is that people almost throw themselves at you and ask you to photograph them. The gent in the photo to the right was very friendly and not insistent at all, but did ask me to snap his image. When he asked if I would give him a copy, I told him it would be a long time before I could make a photo, because the image was digital, but did promise to post his picture for the world to see on the Internet. I think he was very pleased.Oh, but was there a variety of vendors! Although it seemed that about a third of the trucks at the market were, like the one in the photo to the left, filled with melons, there were vendors there with feed hay, sheep, goats, ducks, geese, fish, and meat. At one point, a cart passed me with what I first thought was a pile of wool, until I noticed that the wool was still on the sheep, and that the sheep had been (you should pardon the expression) hog-tied to make them more manageable.There is no styrofoam or plastic wrap involved in the sale of fish or meat, only a tabletop and a scale. While the women tended to the retail business, the men butchered meat behind them.
In this shot, the working men are using an axe that resembles something I'd expect to see in a movie featuring a stereotypical Braveheart-type execution.
There was a yurta set up at one end of the market, and our group - which was asked several times to assemble so that local luminaries (e.g., the school principal) could be photographed with them - assembled before it for YAP (Yet Another Photograph™).
(I had managed to snap a picture of the structure, which is the portable shelter for indigenous Kazakh nomads (similar, I suppose, to North American wigwams), before a permanent flow of market-goers disrupted the scene.) After the group photo, our host invited us inside to take a look at the appointments. Wow! The place had been set for a banquet, and it was both beautiful and functional. The temperature inside had to be a good 10-15 degrees less than the starting-to-swelter heat outside.
After a few more stops, the tour came to an end, but not before we were invited to partake of a refreshing bowl of warm shubat. While I probably would have preferred an iced tea or lemonade, the shubat actually did hit the spot. In the photo below and to the right, our host shows us how it's done.
After leaving Toretam, our group went on to visit downtown Baikonur, which for some reason I saw through a whole new set of eyes (though I'd be hard-pressed to explain why... I'm not even sure I could). After wandering around the market for an hour, and then again around what we call the "Arbat" district, our group split up to eat at different restaurants and eventually got home in time to attend the session of the government commission that met to give a go/no-go for rollout tomorrow morning.It was, of course, a "go."
Moreover, I am the lucky interpreter who has to be out on the street at 6 am to catch the van to catch the train, which will take the space vehicle to the pad. I've got my ELSA (emergency breathing gear) propped up against the door (to make sure I don't forget it in the morning). I am ready. I am tired. I should get to sleep.
Cheers...
