Ne Rabotaet
'Ne rabotaet' is Russian for "It doesn't work" and that was the catch-phrase of today. My bathroom light? Ne rabotaet. My vacumm cleaner? Ne rabotaet. (At least not very well!! Thankfully it does work a little.) My washing machine? Ne rabotaet. My phone when I try to call Christie when I'm outside her building carrying a box full of dirty clothes? Ne rabotaet. (At least calling her number didn't work. I had to call Valerie, who called Christie to let her know I was there.)
The Internet at school? Ne rabotaet. The printer in my classroom? Ne rabotaet. The two USB drives so I could save my work on an SD card and then print from another computer? Ne rabotaet. (OK, that was Friday... but Friday sometimes seems to run into Saturday.)
In the end, I did get my clothes washed at Christie's house, and hung them to dry at my house. The principal came by in the morning with requested items--a rack to hang clothes on, a microwave, and a heater for Sophia's room. Sophia's room is the warmest, however she complains frequently of being too cold and has a rash that I think comes from being too cold. The heating is centralized, meaning at some point it will be turned on for the whole building, but not yet. In the afternoons, our apartment is OK, due to spending the whole day letting the sun in through the windows. But the mornings are cold.
Sophia's bed and dresser were delivered. This was interesting, as the men who delivered it were more like boys, skinny Asian boys who spoke no English and demanded 800 Tenge (about $6). They called the principal who then called me and told me to pay the money, that he would pay me back.
The boys took off their shoes before stepping on the carpet in Sophia's room. One boy seemed embarrassed about the holes in his socks. It seemed silly that they concerned themselves with not dirtying my house with their shoes, as they left the floor covered in sawdust, and I had to vacuum as soon as they left.
They had a backpack of tools, and in less than an hour they assembled the bed and dresser, while Sophia watched, fascinated. I was wondering how they would get a bed up the stair--they didn't. They got pieces of a bed up the stairs.
Sophia's room looks nicer now, and now we have more boxes for her to play with.
However, when we visited Christie's house (to do the laundry), I saw how nice an apartment could look. I am quite satisfied with our apartment, and think it is quite large enough, however Christie's is much larger. Her apartment looks modern and American, if that makes sense. Ours looks like places I've visited in Europe, the kitchen, although decent, bares some resemblance to hostel kitchens--everything works, but nothing's nice and nothing matches. (No silverware sets!) Christie's apartment is a home, modern, clean, and in working order. Her kitchen is large and modern, her kitchen table is a nice dining room table with fancy chairs. Her bathroom and toilet room are one, and she has a nice, large tub. She has a huge, new-looking, L-shaped couch in her living room; also she has a desk and a flat-screen TV. The wardrobe in her bedroom is huge and does not have easily-breakable sliding doors.
I could be jealous. But I don't need fancy, nice things. I do want a desk. And working things. But I did not fly to Kazakhstan to live in an apartment nicer than the one I left.
But if Christie does not stay next year and I do, I want her apartment.
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