A Very Long Week

This has been a very up and down week. Parts of it were awesome, and then there were the times I just wanted to sit down on a curb (however culturally inappropriate) and cry. Huh. Like I said in the last entry (which you may or may not have been able to read- I had some difficulties posting it) I was put in charge of decorating the church for Christmas. In the beginning it followed the usual course of events. My imagination goes crazy and dreams up an absolutely exquisite and absolutely impossible plan. Then I let reality step in and pare it down to something feasible. Then I start working on it and realize that even that is too much, and so I cut it down again. I’m used to it. But it didn’t stop there this time… the trouble is that my idea of reality doesn’t quite match up with K-stan reality yet. All the things I needed, which I could easily find within a 10-minute drive of Shorter, don’t even exist here. Awesome. But it took me three days and several fruitless and frustrating shopping trips to figure out that it was hopeless. All in all, my plan for the decorations changed about 5 or 6 times by the time everyone got together Saturday to work.

Wednesday and Thursday were my cultural-frustration days. So many of the things they warned us about at training happened. On Wednesday I got spent an hour wandering around an unfamiliar part of downtown looking for a store Alya told me about. I stopped several people for directions, but they didn’t use any of the direction words I knew, so I didn’t understand what they were telling me. In the course of my wandering I managed to lose the bag I had been carrying, along with almost 1000 tenge (app. $10) worth of paint. I made it to school with only a few minutes to spare, so I didn’t have time to go to my apartment for my schoolbag. So while the students were taking their final exam I didn’t have a book to read or my journal, or even a pen to begin grading. After class at Alter, Sascha didn’t come to pick me up (again) so I walked to the bus stop with Julia. Since I didn’t have my bag I was carrying all the test papers and the wind came and snatched them out of my hands! Julia and I ended up chasing them down the street for a good 5 minutes.

On Thursday Alya drove me downtown to that store I couldn’t find. But because of a surprise meeting she couldn’t do more than drop me off. They didn’t have what I needed (sigh) so I found the nearest bus stop to go back. On my way to school, the marshrutka I was on broke down. All went well in my four o’clock class, and then I went downstairs to make more copies of the test for my last class. The printer was out of ink and there were no replacement cartridges to be found (of course). By taking it out and shaking it every few pages, we could get a few more copies out of it, so I printed as many of the first two pages as I thought I’d need and decided to dictate the last page of directions to the students. Then I got upstairs and discovered that two students who hadn’t been there in two or three weeks had shown up for the test and I still didn’t have enough. Aaaaahhhhhh! I just told them to go home and come to Cat’s class the next day to take it.

Friday was fun. Mary and I went to Astana to get our visas to go to the other K-stan. It was a fun day for the most part, but travelling is always a bit stressful. And it was bitterly cold. I think the temperature was somewhere around 0°F, but the wind took it down at least 10 or 15 degrees.

Cool/Interesting/Weird things about our Astana trip:

• Mary saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time
• We found a Baskin Robbins! And I took a cup that has the logo in Russian!
• On the same note- green tea ice cream tastes like fish food
• I learned what it is to not be able to write because your fingers are stiff with the cold
• We rode down a huge ice slide at the ice sculpture display. It was fabulous.
• A group of Russian children asked to take my picture… not to take a picture with me, but just a picture of me. I wonder what it’ll be like to go back to the States where I’m not a celebrity just because I’m an American.
• I decided to learn and memorize all possible variations of direction-giving phrases in Russian
• I found a potato in the backseat of a taxi

But the coolest thing by far was coming back to Karaganda… and realizing that Karaganda is home. Astana is beautiful and kept up much better. But it was good to get back to where I know where I am and where I’m going and what buses will take me there. Ah, home strange home.

Saturday I spent the whole day at the church. We got there around 9AM and I stayed until 7:30. It was awesome. I love big group projects. People were scattered around the room working on different things, asking each other to pass the scissors or tape, or looking for something to do. The worship band was playing in the background and a bunch of the MK’s were kicking a soccer ball around or playing with some of the extra balloons. It was exactly the kind of environment I thrive in. Most people stayed until lunchtime, but a Hillary, Douglas, Shelly, and Kostya stayed later with me. The five of us went to lunch and then worked until almost 6:30 painting and hanging signs. I had so much fun. I’m just a social person by nature. I even enjoy work and stressful situations if I’m around people. And it gave me the opportunity to get to know some people I had only briefly spoken to before. The decorations turned out pretty well, too. Nothing even remotely close to what I had originally planned, but good. And the stable scene turned out so much better than I expected it to. Lacking any actual figures, we made the shapes out of random objects and draped them in sheets. Mary was a plastic shelving unit, two buckets, two pillows, and a soccer ball. Joseph was a Kazakh urn, some foam padding, a comforter and a tennis racket. And the baby was two balloons wrapped in a blanket.

Sunday’s service was awesome! Some of the carols were just so delightfully Russian! We were clapping and swaying and just having a grand old time. They prepared a performance of the Christmas story (fortunately not a hard one to follow), and then they had the ‘American Choir’ (basically all the Americans that wanted to) come up to the stage and sing a few carols in English, which everyone loved. Afterwards there was a tea and everyone just mingled and talked for a while. Our team exchanged gifts that night and then had the Student Life people over for dinner. We ate, talked, played speed-scrabble, and ate some more. It was especially nice because we hardly ever see them outside of church. It was good to just hang out.

Christmas morning didn’t feel like Christmas to me. I woke up pretty early, but there was no tree or stockings, no Christmas breakfast, no presents, and no roommate until after noon at least. I just watched a few episodes of Lost and then woke Cat up on my way out the door. But once we all got to the Lackey’s apartment it got a lot better. Almost all the Americans in the city were there (maybe 35 or so) and the place was almost overrun with us. Michelle accompanied some carol singing on the piano and then the MK’s read the Christmas story. Dinner was great. Everyone brought something. And I had broccoli for the first time since I’ve been here (and green bean casserole- ::contented sigh::). After dinner a group of us went caroling. My favorite part of the evening was when Michelle and I got into a full-fledged snowball fight with the kids. I had to be thoroughly brushed off before I was allowed in the van again. Then I went to the girl’s apartment to watch “Spanglish” and fall asleep on their couch. All in all not a bad Christmas, though very different from what I’m used to. Actually, I think that is why it was okay… it was so different from everything that I associate with the holiday that it didn’t really feel like Christmas- just a full, fun day with lots of food and socializing. And since it didn’t really feel like Christmas, it didn’t feel like I was missing Christmas at home.

And now it’s back to the daily grind, at least for one more day. Cat and I are teaching really easy lessons on Christmas traditions and songs these last two days. And then… Bishkek! And at least a week with no obligations at all! Yay!

Well, this entry is quite long enough for now, so I’ll just leave you with one last thought…

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Snow, Christmas... good times

So I was walking to church from the bus stop this morning, wading through almost knee-deep snow, and I actually laughed aloud. I was thinking “I wish all my friends from Georgia, California, Nevada, Florida, etc. could see me now!” I’m really glad there weren’t any nationals around to wonder at the crazy American stumbling up the sidewalk and laughing through mouthfuls of snow. It was beautiful.

Two weeks ago they asked for people to help with the church’s Christmas Eve festivities, and I volunteered. Today we had a meeting and I was put in charge of decorating the church! And I’m not talking a few garlands and wreaths scattered about. They were talking about an entire stable scene set up in the back and huge painted murals on the wall… I’m so excited! Once again, I am in my element. So I got phone numbers of various people who have supplies or can take me shopping and we have a whole group meeting Saturday morning to work on it. I’m going to spend the week brainstorming, painting, and shopping. It works out perfectly, actually. I’ve been quite desperate for a project of some sort, to occupy some of my free time and get me out of the house and around people. And it’s a great artistic outlet. Yay! Good news all around. I will definitely be posting pictures at some point, but it may not be until after New Years.

Speaking of New Years, I’m going to be going to the other K-stan with Mary (another teacher in my city) to visit two of our teachers who are down there. We’re going to be taking the train down, which is apparently an experience like none other. I can’t wait! I have heard so much about the New Years celebrations in this part of the world that I hardly know what to expect. But it is sure to be incredible. People have been setting off fireworks for a week already. We actually stopped class for a few minutes last week to watch some fireworks out the window. I’ve heard that people even fire them off of their balconies. And it’s not just about midnight, like it is in the States. The party continues the whole next day and sometimes even longer, from what I’ve heard. But I think the four of us are planning on taking a break at around 11:00 AM the next morning to celebrate the East Coast New Years too.

Because of all this travelling and the packing and final-grade-calculating that will come immediately beforehand, I probably won’t be able to get online much in the two weeks after Christmas. But after that I will make every effort to log on and post some updates and pictures. But until then, Merry Christmas to all (and to all a good night! – sorry… I just can’t resist a musical or poetical cue that obvious).

The Old-Fashioned Way

I’ve always loved doing things the old-fashioned way, and there are certainly plenty of opportunities for it here. For instance: our entire apartment is carpeted with oriental rugs, but we have no vacuum. And last Sunday we had invited all the Americans over for game night. So I got down on my hands and knees with a bristle brush about 4 inches long and ‘vacuumed’ our living room rug. It took me about an hour and a half, but it was totally worth it. It looked awesome. Then, the other night, I went over it again with a Comet-like detergent to brighten up the colors. It’s incredible the difference it made! I tried to take pictures, but it didn’t show up very well.

And two nights ago I did my laundry by hand for the first time. I can’t believe I managed to put it off this long. Cat’s been doing it since we got here, but I’ve always managed to take a load or two over to one of the other American’s apartments (everyone seems to have washing machines but us). But I always felt a bit guilty about it, like I was shirking part of the experience. So I finally did it on Wednesday night, and it was all I ever expected it to be. I’m still going to take my jeans to someone’s house, but I’ll probably start doing the rest at home. It was so cool.

I’m not even being sarcastic when I rave about doing all this stuff the hard way. I seriously love it. First of all, I’ve always loved old-fashioned things. I feel like I could be a character in one of my favorite books. I could be Jane Eyre or Jo March when I’m hanging my clothes out to dry. Plus, there is so much more satisfaction in something done like that. The sight of a handwritten letter is worth more than an email of twice the length. And never, since the invention of the vacuum, has anyone taken greater pleasure in the sight of a clean rug. I seriously kept sneaking peaks at it the whole evening while people were here.

And just to give you a visual...

Our washing machine, broom, mop, and vacuum. Yay

PS. Joel, this is for you... I wouldn't want to make your job too easy.