People’s reaction to Delaware has been just about the same no matter where I’ve been in the world; “Where’s that?”, “That’s a real state?”, “What could there possibly be in Delaware?”. From my fellow students back in America to my new friends and classmates here in Kazakhstan, Delaware remains elusive to the masses. As a Delawarean, I’m keenly aware of how small the state is; with a population just shy of 1 million and President Joe Biden probably being the most recognizable association with the state (even though he is from Pennsylvania), I can understand why it might be difficult to imagine what life could be like in Delaware. But, as a Delawarean, I’m privileged to know about most of its hidden beauties, including my favorite - its seaside.
If not physically at one of Delaware’s beaches, it’s likely that you still won’t be far from sea level. Its capital, Dover, only has an elevation of around 30 ft (9.15m) and the rest of the state is generally just as flat. Having lived there my whole life, I’m not very accustomed to higher elevations, nor have I willingly been to very high places for extended periods of time. Evidence of that is my ears popping every time I go back to my college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, one of the flatter areas of the state of Pennsylvania (420 ft/ 128m elevation).
So how does all that relate to me being in Kazakhstan? Well, if the hills back home were enough to affect the pressure in my head, then one can only imagine what an extra 1610ft (490m) of elevation might do to my body, which is what I’ve been experiencing while living in Almaty, Kazakhstan at 1640 ft (128m) of elevation.
For the first week here, after the plane ride already taking a toll on me, I realized I missed being nearly parallel to the ocean, back on flat land, and with my head not constantly full of pressure. I prepared a lot before coming to Kazakhstan, which I’ll add is my first time being out of the country or even off the East Coast of the United States, but I didn’t realize the disadvantage I would be at from my peers who lived in more mountainous states. With so many orientations about culture shock and the difficulty of adjusting to new foods, having a host family, etc., being a little higher off the ground felt like a silly reason to get homesick. But with that being my reality and knowing I would be spending the next four months living here, I decided to embrace my new environment and somehow conquer the altitude.
I’m sure with some patience and time, I would have just naturally adjusted to my surroundings. Doubling as a psychology major, that’s one of my favorite things about the human condition: our ability to adapt. However, as someone who also loves to get the most out of every experience, I decided I would try to speed up my adjustment period if I could. So, I did what seemed the most logical to me; I climbed a mountain for the first time in my life.
I’m a bit of an adventurer – if my choice to climb a mountain for the first time during my first time in a foreign country didn’t make that obvious – and hiking the mountain Kok Zhailau (Кок Жайлау) with an elevation of about 5250 ft (1600m) is one of the feats I am most proud to have done. To many, especially on this trip, that elevation is what they wake up to every morning in America, if not even higher. But for me, this was a lot. Experiencing how air truly does become thinner as one goes higher plus the difficulty of simply traversing a mountain by foot, I was proud to not only have completed my first hike, but to have stepped out of my comfort zone and fully immersed myself in a new and unfamiliar place. I was lucky to have hiked with new friends I had made and even luckier that they already had experience, and it even led me to going on another hike not so long after the first!
I’m still a huge fan of the sea, but I didn’t realize how much I was missing from way down below. I could have climbed a mountain anywhere, especially while still in America, but I’m glad my first time was in Almaty. Not only was this an impactful part of my journey abroad, but the mountains in Almaty are deeply rooted within the culture, and I’m glad I got to experience that firsthand. Now, I’m on to my next adventure!
Advanced Russian Language and Area Studies Program, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Fulbright-Hays Fellowship Recipient
Spring 2023