I love a country where you can celebrate the New Year three or four times a year. Thursday was the Kazakh New Year, and it was awesome. We met three of our students and they took us downtown where all the cool stuff was happening. They had blocked off the main road downtown so that people could walk there, and there were so many cool things going on. Apparently they have a competition every year to see who can build the best yurta. Yurtas are the traditional dwellings of the Kazakhs, who were nomads. So there were dozens of full-sized yurtas all the way down the street, each one erected by a different company or organization. Outside of one they were actually having a traditional Kazakh wedding ceremony, complete with dancers and musicians playing the dumbra (the national instrument). In front of the Abzal (one of the major stores downtown) they had a stage set up and there was a full Kazakh orchestra, playing all the traditional instruments. It was amazing. Cat got videos of it all.
It was just a big street carnival. Old men were wandering around in their traditional dress, and people were selling shashlik, samsa, and plof (local dishes) on the streets. Cat and I kept trying to get to see the inside of one of the yurtas, but they weren’t letting the white people in. But finally one of them figured out that we were Americans, which apparently made all the difference. They invited us in, but Mary and Taya, both Russians, had to wait outside. It was so cool! They had beautiful Persian looking rugs all over the floor and hanging from the walls, and Kazakh artifacts everywhere. There were three tables (the low kind that you kneel around) and they invited us to sit down and eat! We couldn’t stay too long, since the girls were waiting for us outside, but we had a few bites of the dish they put in front of us, and we both tried the kumis (mare’s milk) which, by the way, is absolutely disgusting. It tastes like sour milk mixed with vinegar.
That night we went to Marzhan’s apartment for dinner. She’s the only Kazakh English teacher at ASSOL, and she invited us and two other teachers with their husbands. It was the most fun evening I’ve had in a while. She made us Bes Par Mak, the national dish, which included horsemeat. It actually tasted good, but there was more of a mental block than I had expected going in. I took about three bites and then focused on the beef, noodles, and potatoes. Then we just sat around talking for hours. The conversation alternated between English, with Mila and Yana translating for their husbands, Russian, with them translating (somewhat) for us, and Cat and I trying to have a conversation with Vitaly, which is always hysterical. He speaks maybe as much English as I speak Russian (not much), but he is so expressive that we can usually figure it out. It was such a fun night.
Happy New Year!!!
С новым годом!!!
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Sunday, March 18, 2007
My Birthday in Central Asia
I’m beginning to wish all my birthdays could be in Central Asia. Today was the best day! It started out with an unusual amount of communication from back home. I got a fabulously long email from Kate, a phone call from Jamie B., and a card from my mother, all before noon!
This afternoon when I arrived at Alter for my first class Andrew was waiting outside to keep me from walking in too soon and spoiling the surprise. When I finally did go into the classroom, five of my girl students sang Happy Birthday to me. Behind them they had pushed four desks together to make a table with chairs all around. There were mugs enough for everyone and we had coffee (the first time I ever liked coffee- look at me, I’m growing) and they had set out two little cakes. We sat around and talked for the first half-hour of class. They asked me to tell about my best birthday (besides this one, of course) and then they went around the class and each one offered a blessing for me.
Since class was shorter than usual because of the party I didn’t do the song cloze I had intended to do. For those who don’t know, a song cloze is where I give them the lyrics with blanks where the vocabulary words are and they have to listen to the song and fill them in. Instead I just told them so they could write them in, explaining words as we went. Then we discussed what the song meant and watched that scene. It was really cozy and relaxed, sitting around the table and drinking coffee. It obviously can’t happen often, but it was great for a change of pace.
When Sascha and Larissa picked me up from Alter, Sascha gave me a bunch of red carnations, and when we got back to ASSOL, Larissa called me into the front office. There, she and the Tatianas had two more bouquets for me, and a present. They sang Happy Birthday for me, though Larissa subsided into “da da da’s” after the first line. Then I went upstairs and Cat’s 4 o’clock class had a gift for me!
All in all, I came out of today with three bouquets of flowers (roses, chrysanthemums, and carnations), two boxes of chocolate, two cakes, a wall clock, a watch, a new wallet with 100 tenge inside, a plastic cat-shaped piggy bank, and a felt potted flower that dances and sings “You Are My Sunshine.” My favorite was the watch. My watch broke and so lately I’ve had to borrow a student’s cell phone every class to keep an eye on the time. So my 6 o’clock advanced class tonight gave me a watch! Between that and the beautiful clock Larissa gave me, I’m all set.
After classes tonight the whole ESI team went out for dinner, which was great fun. About halfway through (fortunately after our food had arrived) the electricity went out! The waitress brought each table a candle, and we actually liked it better that way! We bonded with the Kazakhs at the next table over shadow puppets on the wall. They got a kick out of my dog impression. After about 10-15 minutes it came back on, though.
The thing is, it’s not over yet. Mary’s birthday is tomorrow, so on Friday we’re having a joint birthday party. That’s when we’ll exchange gifts, and the girls are making a cake. And then on Saturday Cat and I are having a bunch of our girl students over to watch a movie. I’m really looking forward to it.
I think I can safely say that this is one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had. I’m so happy.
This afternoon when I arrived at Alter for my first class Andrew was waiting outside to keep me from walking in too soon and spoiling the surprise. When I finally did go into the classroom, five of my girl students sang Happy Birthday to me. Behind them they had pushed four desks together to make a table with chairs all around. There were mugs enough for everyone and we had coffee (the first time I ever liked coffee- look at me, I’m growing) and they had set out two little cakes. We sat around and talked for the first half-hour of class. They asked me to tell about my best birthday (besides this one, of course) and then they went around the class and each one offered a blessing for me.
Since class was shorter than usual because of the party I didn’t do the song cloze I had intended to do. For those who don’t know, a song cloze is where I give them the lyrics with blanks where the vocabulary words are and they have to listen to the song and fill them in. Instead I just told them so they could write them in, explaining words as we went. Then we discussed what the song meant and watched that scene. It was really cozy and relaxed, sitting around the table and drinking coffee. It obviously can’t happen often, but it was great for a change of pace.
When Sascha and Larissa picked me up from Alter, Sascha gave me a bunch of red carnations, and when we got back to ASSOL, Larissa called me into the front office. There, she and the Tatianas had two more bouquets for me, and a present. They sang Happy Birthday for me, though Larissa subsided into “da da da’s” after the first line. Then I went upstairs and Cat’s 4 o’clock class had a gift for me!
All in all, I came out of today with three bouquets of flowers (roses, chrysanthemums, and carnations), two boxes of chocolate, two cakes, a wall clock, a watch, a new wallet with 100 tenge inside, a plastic cat-shaped piggy bank, and a felt potted flower that dances and sings “You Are My Sunshine.” My favorite was the watch. My watch broke and so lately I’ve had to borrow a student’s cell phone every class to keep an eye on the time. So my 6 o’clock advanced class tonight gave me a watch! Between that and the beautiful clock Larissa gave me, I’m all set.
After classes tonight the whole ESI team went out for dinner, which was great fun. About halfway through (fortunately after our food had arrived) the electricity went out! The waitress brought each table a candle, and we actually liked it better that way! We bonded with the Kazakhs at the next table over shadow puppets on the wall. They got a kick out of my dog impression. After about 10-15 minutes it came back on, though.
The thing is, it’s not over yet. Mary’s birthday is tomorrow, so on Friday we’re having a joint birthday party. That’s when we’ll exchange gifts, and the girls are making a cake. And then on Saturday Cat and I are having a bunch of our girl students over to watch a movie. I’m really looking forward to it.
I think I can safely say that this is one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had. I’m so happy.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Molly's Book Club
For the past few weeks, the sermons at church have been on relationships, primarily marriage, but also touching on parent-child and other relationships. This week and next week’s sermons are on the text Ephesians 5:33, which tells husbands to love their wives and wives to respect their husbands. The entire service yesterday, Michelle and I were convinced that what he was saying was taken from two books that we’ve read, “For Women Only” and “For Men Only.” Since the sermon reminded me of them, I thought I’d take the opportunity to tell everyone back home about them.
I discovered these books at training in July. Michelle brought them and was passing them around to everyone. The first book, “For Women Only” is by Shaunti Feldhahn. She began interviewing men as research for a novel she was writing, but the things she discovered were so amazing to her that she expanded her research methods and eventually wrote this book with her findings. She created a survey with the help of a US Census Department survey writer. They surveyed thousands of men of every age, race, religion, marital status, and economic status. She also conducted personal interviews with 400 men. The book explores 7 or 8 basic truths that she found most men had in common, but of which most women are completely clueless.
It was eye opening, to say the least. Several different guys at training read the book and they all commented on how accurate it was. Some even said that it explained things that they themselves were unable to put into words. Even though I am not married, I was able to apply most of it to my relationships with other men in my life, like my father and my male friends. After reading it, I began to see a lot of things in a different light, including some mistakes that I had unwittingly made.
A few years after “For Women Only” was published, the author’s husband, Jeff, decided to write the companion book, “For Men Only.” He used the same research techniques as his wife, this time focusing on women. It is incredible. There was one paragraph that said, in so many words, exactly what I had often wished I could tell guys. It is so insightful.
I really think that everyone should read these books. Those of you who have been married for many years may already know much of what is in them, but it would still be worth checking out. And even single people could benefit from reading them. Because it’s really just about men and women, period.
Okay, that’s my shameless plug. Read them. They’re awesome.
I discovered these books at training in July. Michelle brought them and was passing them around to everyone. The first book, “For Women Only” is by Shaunti Feldhahn. She began interviewing men as research for a novel she was writing, but the things she discovered were so amazing to her that she expanded her research methods and eventually wrote this book with her findings. She created a survey with the help of a US Census Department survey writer. They surveyed thousands of men of every age, race, religion, marital status, and economic status. She also conducted personal interviews with 400 men. The book explores 7 or 8 basic truths that she found most men had in common, but of which most women are completely clueless.
It was eye opening, to say the least. Several different guys at training read the book and they all commented on how accurate it was. Some even said that it explained things that they themselves were unable to put into words. Even though I am not married, I was able to apply most of it to my relationships with other men in my life, like my father and my male friends. After reading it, I began to see a lot of things in a different light, including some mistakes that I had unwittingly made.
A few years after “For Women Only” was published, the author’s husband, Jeff, decided to write the companion book, “For Men Only.” He used the same research techniques as his wife, this time focusing on women. It is incredible. There was one paragraph that said, in so many words, exactly what I had often wished I could tell guys. It is so insightful.
I really think that everyone should read these books. Those of you who have been married for many years may already know much of what is in them, but it would still be worth checking out. And even single people could benefit from reading them. Because it’s really just about men and women, period.
Okay, that’s my shameless plug. Read them. They’re awesome.
Friday, March 09, 2007
The Second Flood (well, actually it's our third)
Well, I can check off one more experience they warned us about at training. Cat and I woke up this morning at 7:37 to a very angry neighbor pounding on our door. Our kitchen was flooding and the water had made its way into the apartment below us. A bit of background for those who don’t know: the cold water turns off every night at 11 and doesn’t come on again until 6 AM. Knowing this, we don’t usually even try the faucet at night, or we immediately turn it off again when no water comes out. But it only takes one time forgetting!
Back to the angry neighbor. He was just screaming at us in Russian, which we might have understood more of if we weren’t still half asleep and feeling seriously disoriented. But we got all our towels, the sheets from our beds, and the tubs we wash clothes in and started mopping it all up. It was clearly not good enough for him, though. He just kept making wringing motions and yelling the Russian word for ‘fast’. After a little while of this we got fed up and just kicked him out.
About 10 minutes later Giyanna, the maintenance man from ASSOL, showed up to check it out and help us. I had just let him in and the doors were still unlocked and our pissed off neighbor stormed back in. He just stood for a minute in our hallway watching us work and then starts shouting ‘fast’ at us again. When Cat stood up to try to talk to him he got even more worked up and started yelling “Work, work! Fast! Work!” (all in Russian, of course). We kept saying “We know, we work. Yes. Fast” but he was really starting to piss us off. Finally I just opened the door and gestured for him to leave, but he wouldn’t budge. I just kept telling him to get out. In the meantime, I had been using our handheld broom and dustbin to scoop up the lake in our kitchen. As I was trying to make him leave I gestured with my left hand and accidentally flung some water from the broom in his face! I can’t even describe the look of death he gave me, but I didn’t know how to explain that it was an accident. Something tells me it wouldn’t have made much of a difference at that moment anyway, but still.
So he finally left and we finished cleaning it all up. Alevtina is going down to check out the damage in the apartment and we have to figure out how to pay for it. And I’m thinking I’m going to have one of the English teachers write a note for me in Russian, apologizing and explaining that it was an accident, for what it’s worth. This is just the biggest pain ever. But it sure makes an effective wake-up call!
Back to the angry neighbor. He was just screaming at us in Russian, which we might have understood more of if we weren’t still half asleep and feeling seriously disoriented. But we got all our towels, the sheets from our beds, and the tubs we wash clothes in and started mopping it all up. It was clearly not good enough for him, though. He just kept making wringing motions and yelling the Russian word for ‘fast’. After a little while of this we got fed up and just kicked him out.
About 10 minutes later Giyanna, the maintenance man from ASSOL, showed up to check it out and help us. I had just let him in and the doors were still unlocked and our pissed off neighbor stormed back in. He just stood for a minute in our hallway watching us work and then starts shouting ‘fast’ at us again. When Cat stood up to try to talk to him he got even more worked up and started yelling “Work, work! Fast! Work!” (all in Russian, of course). We kept saying “We know, we work. Yes. Fast” but he was really starting to piss us off. Finally I just opened the door and gestured for him to leave, but he wouldn’t budge. I just kept telling him to get out. In the meantime, I had been using our handheld broom and dustbin to scoop up the lake in our kitchen. As I was trying to make him leave I gestured with my left hand and accidentally flung some water from the broom in his face! I can’t even describe the look of death he gave me, but I didn’t know how to explain that it was an accident. Something tells me it wouldn’t have made much of a difference at that moment anyway, but still.
So he finally left and we finished cleaning it all up. Alevtina is going down to check out the damage in the apartment and we have to figure out how to pay for it. And I’m thinking I’m going to have one of the English teachers write a note for me in Russian, apologizing and explaining that it was an accident, for what it’s worth. This is just the biggest pain ever. But it sure makes an effective wake-up call!
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