My First Silent Film: Act I

I recently tried to leave Kazakhstan three times; in the process, over the course of three days, my life became intertwined with a number of people in the microcosm surrounding the border crossing. I’ve broken the events into three acts, each containing the happenings surrounding each crossing attempt. Since the majority of the dialogue contained in this script is actually pantomiming, I think it could make for a great silent film. Though I’m having some difficulty, I’m trying to get in touch with Charlie Chaplin for the lead role; I’m also seeking a musical score, so if anyone can play the tack piano, please let me know as soon as possible. Now, if I may (which I may, because I‘m the one writing this), please allow me to introduce: Act I:

Act I: Jason travels from Almaty, Kazakhstan, to Korgas, Kazakhstan, in an attempt to cross the land border into China. His original goal is to reach Urumqi, China, in less than 25 hours.

Cast List (in order of appearance—not inclusive of minor roles):

1) Jason: Dashingly handsome 23-year-old. He recently graduated from college in Boston, and is traveling in Europe and Asia in an attempt to fend off entering the “real world” for as long as possible. He struggles to speak Russian, but also enjoys struggling in many other endeavors as well.

2) 15-Year-Old Kazakh Male: Traveling to Urumqi, China, with four members of his family. He likes to speak with strangers in order to improve his broken English, and someday hopes to be a mechanical engineer; currently he is satisfied with playing video games and talking to people he has never met before. He often shares his candy.

3) Kazakh Family: Consist of mother, father, older son (see 15-Year-Old Kazakh Male), younger son, and daughter. They speak no English (except for the older son), but share candy and excessively salty, dried, fermented milk balls with strangers.

4) Bus Driver: Drives bus between Zharkent, Kazakhstan and the Chinese-side of the border crossing.

5) Nastia: Kazakh border guard currently employed in Korgas, on the Kazakh-side of the border with China. She is ethnically Russian (or possibly Ukrainian or German, but definitely not a descendant of Genghis Khan), blonde, attractive, and laughs at strangers experiencing hardship. She speaks English well, but has difficulty understanding why others are frustrated.

6) Kazakh Border Guard 1: Handles drug-sniffing dog. He is ethnically Kazakh, speaks broken English, and enjoys making his coworkers uncomfortable by making lewd jokes about them having intercourse with Americans.

7) Drug-Sniffing Dog: Partner of Kazakh Border Guard 1. He is some kind of German Shepard mix, and likes chasing balls and playing with strangers. He appears to be neither bark, nor bite, nor particularly interested in drugs—or anything except playing with the ball in Kazakh Border Guard 1’s satchel.

8) Kazakh Border Guard 2: Employed at the Kazakh border. He is also ethnically Kazakh, but understands neither humor, nor English. He is helpful in the fact that he knows how to lead Americans out of the Kazakh border station in the most quick and efficient manner possible.

9) Older Russian Woman: Travels between China and Kazakhstan with excessive amounts of delicious bread. She speaks no English, but is friendly and likes to share her bread with other Marshrutka passengers.

(Near-Darkness: Almaty, Kazakhstan)

Jason wakes up at 5:15 AM in a state of confusion. He’s not sure where he is, per usual, but rolls over to turn off the alarm that is coming from his phone. He falls back asleep until the alarm goes off a second time. This time he gets up, remembers that he is in a hostel in Kazakhstan, and dresses quickly. Eating some four-day-old bread, he puts on his shoes, backpack, and leaves the hostel.

(Early Morning. A Street Outside the Hostel: Almaty, Kazakhstan)

Jason waits on the street until a man in an unmarked car pulls over, unsolicited. They determine a price in Russian, and Jason gets into the car.

(Early Morning. Sayran Bus Station: Almaty, Kazakhstan)

Jason exits the unmarked car, and walks toward the terminal. He ignores the slew of Kazakh Marshrutka drivers who have rushed around him and are repeatedly shouting the names of various Central Asian cities at him. Inside the terminal, he speaks with a ticketing agent and finds out that the only bus to Urumqi, China (which leaves at 7:00 AM) has already sold out. The agent reminds him that there is a bus the next morning as well, for 8,900 Tenge. However, because Jason has brains as well as brawn, he determines that there is a city (Zharkent) nearby the Chinese border crossing to where he can take a bus as well; from there he can cross the actual border in a second bus, and then take a third bus for the remainder of the trip to Urumqi. Realizing that the total cost will be about half that of the direct bus, Jason happily pays the nice ticketing lady for the first leg of the trip.

(Late Morning. Aboard the Zharkent-Bound Bus: Between Almaty and Zharkent, Kazakhstan)

Jason snacks on dried fruit, and reads from a book. As the bus races towards Zharkent, swerving between innumerable potholes and carefully avoiding roadside livestock, 15-Year-Old Kazakh Male (sitting next to Jason) asks him if he speaks English. Because he does speak English—fluently, in fact—he responds and tells 15-Year-Old Kazakh Male that he speaks English. They begin a conversation, and Jason quickly learns that he and his family are traveling to Urumqi and are carrying vast stores of delicious candy. Concluding that they would make good travel companions, he suggests that they travel together. 15-Year-Old Kazakh Male cheerfully agrees to the proposal. Kazakh Family seems largely indifferent.

(Mid-Afternoon. Zharkent Bus Terminal: Zharkent, Kazakhstan)

Jason and Kazakh Family (including 15-Year-Old Kazakh Male) buy bus tickets from the terminal’s ticketing window, and board the second bus. This new bus will take them to the Kazakh-side of the border crossing with China, and through the no-man’s land to the Chinese-side of the border crossing. Bus Driver is present.

(Late Afternoon. Kazakh-side of the border crossing with China: Korgas, Kazakhstan)

Kazakh Family (including 15-Year-Old Kazakh Male) exit the bus with Jason. They run through the unmarked hallways of the building because—unknown to Jason—the border crossing is about to close at 6:00 PM. At passport control, he separates from Kazakh Family and opts for a shorter line than they are in. At the passport control station’s window, he smiles and gives his passport to the pretty border guard, Nastia. She smiles back, laughs after a moment, and tells him that he “must go back.” After a moment of fruitless explanation, she asks him to step aside so that other travelers can pass through her passport control station. Jason enters the first of the five stages of grief: denial.

After she has finished with the other persons in line, Nastia asks Jason to sit down on the bench outside her station. She explains that because he never registered with the Migration Police, he cannot leave the country; while never explained to him until now, the stamped slip of paper that was given to him at the border crossing into Kazakhstan was to notify him that he needed to get another stamp in order to get out of Kazakhstan. The fine print on the back of the slip, which Jason never read because he has neither brains nor brawn, clearly explains that the Migration Police must be notified of a traveler’s presence within five days of entry into the country. Nastia, still laughing intermittently at the situation Jason has gotten himself into, explains that the closest Migration Police station is in Almaty, Kazakhstan where he has just come from—six hours away by bus.

As Jason continues through the five stages of grief (anger, bargaining and depression), Kazakh Border Guard 1 and Drug-Sniffing Dog break from their nearby ball-throwing activities and take an interest in the seemingly humorous situation unfolding before them. Nastia recaps the situation, and they laugh too. Although Drug-Sniffing Dog does not seem to understand the predicament, and simply appreciates the ear-scratching and attention that he is now receiving from Jason. As Nastia reiterates to Jason that he must go back to Almaty and find somewhere to stay the night—so that in the morning he can go to the Migration Police, pay a 18,000 Tenge ($120 USD) fine for staying longer than five days without registering, and get his slip of paper stamped—Kazakh Border Guard 1 interjects and suggests that Jason simply spend the night at Nastia’s home, rather than going back to Almaty in one day. After using lewd hand notions to further clarify the meaning of his statement, he makes Jason stand, spin around twice (so as to properly market the goods he is trying to hawk), and attempts to sell the notion of intercourse to his now horrified coworker. Laughing, he then asks Jason whether or not he is married, and after hearing a response to his liking—that Jason is not married—again explains the merit of his suggestion. As Nastia refuses again to have intercourse with the traveler who has just failed to exit Kazakhstan (for the first time), Kazakh Border Guard 1 coerces her to exchange phone numbers with Jason. As she complies, Bus Driver enters, demanding to know why the situation is taking so long. When he is explained the situation, he shrugs indifferently and exits.

Kazakh Border Guard 2 enters, notions that Jason must leave, and takes him gruffly by the arm to lead him out of the border station. Upon exit, Jason finds a Marshrutka, enquires about a ride back to Zharkent, and boards.

(Late Afternoon. Aboard the Zharkent-bound Marshrutka: Between Korgas and Zharkent, Kazakhstan)

Older Russian Woman, who is traveling between China and Kazakhstan with excessive amounts of delicious bread, opens her satchel and pulls out a stack of bread. She offers a slab to Jason—who has not eaten for several hours—which he gratefully accepts. It is delicious. Jason enters the final stage of grief: acceptance.

End of Act I

And that’s it for now. After Act II is posted, I’ll add a link for convenience here. The link to Act II.

Happy trails,

JHW