Here is my Top 10 list for the ways I can spot an American tourist around here. American tourists:
10. Walk around reading the "Central Asia" Fodor's Guide book.
9. Carry a backpack.
8. (For woman under 65) Wear comfortable walking shoes.
7. Use the recycling bins on the street for actual recycling materials instead of ordinary garbage.
6. Are polite: Use the words "please" and "thank you," hold doors open for people, don't cut in line, don't stare, observe personal space boundaries, etc.
5. Smile way more than the locals do.
4. Are nice to waitstaff.
3. Use a garbage receptacle instead of just dropping their ice cream wrappers, beer bottles, and other assorted trash in the middle of the sidewalk (see photo below).
2. Have good teeth.
And the number one way to ID Americans in Almaty....
1. Are the only ones not hocking loogies/spitting/doing the farmer's blow while walking down the street.
10. Walk around reading the "Central Asia" Fodor's Guide book.
9. Carry a backpack.
8. (For woman under 65) Wear comfortable walking shoes.
7. Use the recycling bins on the street for actual recycling materials instead of ordinary garbage.
6. Are polite: Use the words "please" and "thank you," hold doors open for people, don't cut in line, don't stare, observe personal space boundaries, etc.
5. Smile way more than the locals do.
4. Are nice to waitstaff.
3. Use a garbage receptacle instead of just dropping their ice cream wrappers, beer bottles, and other assorted trash in the middle of the sidewalk (see photo below).
2. Have good teeth.
And the number one way to ID Americans in Almaty....
1. Are the only ones not hocking loogies/spitting/doing the farmer's blow while walking down the street.
I took the picture below while hiking around Medeo, up in the mountains. If it wasn't plastic bags, it was beer or vodka bottles, cigarette packages, and even the occasional Durex box. Sad, sad, sad.
To be perfectly fair, however, I have seen more trash lying around some Baltimore bus stops than I have in Almaty. For a city of 1.3 million people, and for a former Soviet country, it could be a whole helluva lot worse. But when Steve and I walked along the canal, I wanted to cry at how much garbage people had pitched into it. :*( Thinking green is pretty much unheard of here. *sigh* Maybe I should embark on a new career??? Or at least set up a local Greenpeace chapter?
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