Despite their roster which includes Lance Armstrong, Contador and Leipheimer, Team Astana has been having financial issues. The team is sponsored by a number of state-owned companies including Air Astana, Kazakh Temir Zholi, KazMunaiGas and Kegoc. It also has a number of domestic and international sponsors including Trek, Nike and KazakhMys.

However, Nikolai Proskurin, Vice-President of the Cycling Federation of Kazakhstan says that Air Astana has officially withdrawn its sponsorship and other sponsors have not met their obligations. He believes that with a lack of funding, “The team will drop its name and will compete under the flag of another country.”

In the midst of the financial crisis, it may be that Kazakhstan companies feel they have more urgent uses for their funds than a cycling team of course. And as the population finds itself struggling to get by, there has been some backlash against wealthy state-owned companies. The enormous holding company Samruk-Kazyna, which owns many of Team Astana’s sponsors, has already cut their staff in half and reduced salaries by 30% all around. And employees of many other national companies have received notice that they may be fired or have their salaries lowered.

It would be sad to see the team sacrificed to the crisis, but there is a bright side. Armstrong is donating all his winnings to cancer research and he is not accepting any salary. So maybe they can convince him to stick around even if the rest of the team leaves.

Another experience I have had in moving is the phenomenon of the Kazakhstan welcome wagon. Of which there is none. Over the past few weeks while we have been coming to the new apartment and fixing things up, moving things in, waiting for deliveries and so on, we have come into contact with our new neighbors. Though we have greeted them every time we see them, no one has yet greeted us in return. In fact, the norm appears to go something like this:

We make a loud noise in the staircase, hauling up a box full of books or a couch or something.
Neighbor opens door and stares open-mouthed.
I say, “Hello.”
Neighbor turns to stare at me for a few seconds and then slams door shut.
As soon as we pass by their door, door opens again and neighbor stares up at us through the stairwell.

I don’t expect people to become bosom buddies immediately, but a “hello” would be nice. Or at least some acknowledgement of our existence beyond entertainment. Is this normal for Kazakhstan or do we just have weird neighbors?

So we recently moved apartments and I have been left Internetless. Whereas before we had KazakhTelecom, the state-owned telephone company, as our telephone company and Internet provider, we now have Kaztranscom. It appears that in Astana certain construction companies make contracts with certain Internet and cable TV companies and the residents have no choice. We cannot get KazakhTelecom services in this building. So there is some competition, but it’s sort of fake competition in that we can’t actually choose.

As Chris Merriman has pointed out, on his blog and in person, at some length, Kaztranscom has a number of issues. First of all, all of their Internet packages have limited traffic and you pay a huge premium if you go over the limits. Their so-called “unlimited” package has a speed of 128kbs, or two times the speed of dial-up. Plus, they say they will not set up our modem for wireless Internet because “people have complained about problems with wireless.” Apparently rather than address those problems, they have chosen to simply refuse to provide wireless. No big deal, I’m sure I can figure out how to set the modem for wireless. Nevertheless it’s a bit annoying.

Compounding that is the fact that Kaztranscom only works with a limited list of modems so we have had to buy another modem. I’m no IT geek but I don’t understand why only 20 modems work with this service. I’ve never heard of certain modems working (or not working) with certain ISPs before. Finally, the process is annoying in that we have to give them our modem, which they will set up at their offices. Then they come to our house and set up the modem with the computer. Surely they could do everything at once at our house. I don’t particularly like the idea that they will fiddle with my modem while I can’t look over the shoulder and see what they are doing. Ah well, I’m sure it will work out all right in the end. But for the moment, until I buy a new modem and get it set up, I am only on dial-up which makes posting to the blog expensive!

Tulpan is supposed to be a wonderful film, very funny and clever about a young man who returns home from the Navy to try to become a “typical” Kazakh sheepherder and win the heart of a beautiful maiden. The official press release from Zeitgeist Films:

“Winner of the Prix Un Certain Regard at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, acclaimed Kazakh documentarian Sergey Dvortsevoy’s first narrative feature is a gorgeous mélange of tender comedy, ethnographic drama and wildlife extravaganza. Following his Russian naval service, young dreamer Asa returns to his sister’s nomadic brood on the desolate Hunger Steppe to begin a hardscrabble career as a shepherd. But before he can tend a flock of his own, Asa must win the hand of the only eligible bachelorette for miles—his alluringly mysterious neighbor Tulpan. Accompanied by his girlie mag-reading sidekick Boni (and a menagerie of adorable lambs, stampeding camels, mewling kittens and mischievous children), Asa will stop at nothing to prove he is a worthy husband and herder. In the tradition of such crowd-pleasing travelogues as The Story of the Weeping Camel, Tulpan’s gentle humor and stunning photography transport audiences to this singular, harshly beautiful region and its rapidly vanishing way of life.”

It will be playing at the Film Forum in New York City from 1 April to 4 April (Showtimes: 1:00, 3:15, 5:40, 7:50, 10:00).

So check it out and let me know how it is. We poor schmuks here in Kazakhstan have not had much chance to see it. But the reviews have been extremely positive the world around, so it’s likely worth seeing.

You can also check out other play dates across the US.
For more information, contact The Film Forum or Zeitgeist Films.