c-c-can you kazakhstan?

A handy lexicon of some of the terms you might encounter in the jungles of this blog:

Tenge: Kazakhstani currency. Pronounced "ten-gay"--I'll let you come up with your own fun mnemonic for that.
Almaty: The largest city in Kazakhstan--a magical place where you can find Pizza Hut (which I actually never go to, in the States, but it seems to be a kind of Mecca for Peace Corps volunteers), Irish pubs, and pretty sweet malls.
Zhetysai: My assigned town, located in the southernmost part of Kazakhstan--I'm basically in Uzbekistan.
Shymkent: The nearest big city to Zhetysai. So far I've only seen it at 5 a.m. from the backseat of a taxi, but as it's only a couple of hours away and has a bunch of volunteers, I think I'll be getting there fairly often.
Magazine: A small shop, often connected to someone's house or yard, selling toiletries, snacks, and other precious goods.
Banya: A crucial part of Kazakhstani life. Instead of showers, most homes have banyas, which are basically steam rooms where you can sponge bathe by combining hot and cold water in a tub.
Kaz-21: Not, as it may sound, a hot new designer drug, but the abbreviation for my generation of Peace Corps Kazakhstan volunteers. We're the 21st group to serve in the country--the Kaz-20s still have about a year to go, and the Kaz-19s just left.
Katharine Hott McAwesome: Your humble narrator (and supreme guide) to Kazakhstan.