After a marathon 16-hour flight from New York, we finally touched down and, after a well-deserved rest, started our adventure bright and early at 8:00 AM with a cozy breakfast at our hostel. Fueled up and ready to go, by 10:45 AM we were off to Magnum to exchange our US dollars for Tenge-the first practical step in immersing ourselves in this vibrant new environment.

Arriving at AlmaU, we were warmly welcomed by Aisara and Akbope, who gave us a concise yet thorough tour of the campus. She pointed out all the essentials—from the canteens and cozy cafés where we’ll be refueling during the day, to the clinic and bathrooms, making sure we felt right at home.

Settling into the main workroom, the real excitement began. We had the chance to meet AlmaU students and introduce them to our project, Save Tuba—an educational initiative designed to help students cultivate sustainable habits. We practiced our pitch and shared our vision for fieldwork, which focuses on three key goals:

1. Identifying five schools to launch our pilot program.
2. Connecting with nonprofits and organizations to build credibility and secure funding.
3. Finding a dedicated partner onsite to sustain Save Tuba’s efforts—handling school outreach, app maintenance, and ongoing support.

We had a fantastic conversation with Hana, AlmaU’s Ambassador, who generously offered to use her network to help us connect with more schools. She also volunteered to translate our slides and provided invaluable feedback that helped us sharpen our fieldwork strategy.

Next, we teamed up with Damir and Arnur, two AlmaU students who will be our invaluable fieldwork allies. These two are not only helping with partner outreach and translation but also bringing local insights—and some great food recommendations! Over lunch at a nearby café called Vanilla, we bonded over tea, pasta, and avocado toast. Fun fact: Damir, Arnur, and Alnur are from the same tribe, making them potential relatives.

Back at AlmaU, we dove deeper into planning with Khanjan, clarifying our fieldwork goals and aligning expectations with school administrators, teachers, and our team. We mapped out a timeline for the pilot program, discussed ways to boost our credibility, and brainstormed potential funding sources to keep Save Tuba thriving.

Our goals for the future are:

1. Find funding from local businesses.
2. Establish connections for the ground team in Kazakhstan.
3. Get the approval from the Ministry of Education and Science.

We then worked for a bit more before eating our delicious dinner—the pilaf (lamb and rice dish) was our favorite—and headed home to conclude our busy day, catching the beautiful view of the mountains.