Dan O'Connell knew that living in Kazakhstan could be hazardous. So, as he was leaving work he took a colleagues advice and hopped into the car waiting to drive him home. When a large bloke got in the back with him he began to suspect that all was not as it should be...
 Victor, Dan and a friend of the family |
Dan was working for an energy efficiency project in Almaty in Kazakhstan. He's worked in Palestine, the Ukraine and Russia and is not unduly phased by hostile environments. But even so, when instead of pulling up to his flat, the driver went straight on, Dan got agitated. The driver pulled back his jacket to expose a large gun. Twenty minutes later, the car pulled up near a block of flats and Dan was ushered into a first floor falt. It was clearly a friendly family home with a girl of about 9 and an attractive young woman.
 the view from Dan's window |
His captor was introduced as Victor, his partner was Erena. One place at the table had clearly been laid for Dan and he began to understand that he was to be their guest. Above and beyond the cultural differences, communication was tricky because the regional accent of the Kazakhs made their Russian almost unintelligable to Dan. They found his accent hugely amusing.
As the evening progressed it slowly emerged that they'd never had an English man in their flat and they decided they wanted one, and had decided on him. Beer and Vodka followed supper, and in the morning when he asked to go home, he wasn't allowed to. The men got seriously drunk. By Sunday night he had relaxed.
On Monday morning he was released. He visited their flat several times, and they became very friendly.
 Dan and friends |
He did ask why they hadn't just invited him. They said they couldn't speak English, and if they'd used a translator then the translator would have invited themsleves along which they didn't want.
An aid worker later remarked to Dan that Kazakh hospitality is, 'hospitality verging on terrorism'.
For more information on this fascinating country:
Kazakhstan
