I Have a Dream

I love our students. They are such a joy to teach! Last week we listened to part of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. After we talked about it, I had them write and present their own speeches. They had to think of one thing they would like to change in the world and then come up with 4 'dreams'. They talked about a world without corruption, drugs, or the atomic bomb, and about protecting the environment, and protecting children. They did such a great job that I asked if they minded me sharing them. So here are some of their dreams:

• I have a dream that one day drug addicts will stop spending their time to find drugs. Instead I wish they will spend their time to make their life better.


• I have a dream that no parent will cry about their children who are addicted


• Corruption can send innocent person to the prison, corruption can change the marks, corruption can "fix" everything... but all the same we still have a dream that one day we will get what we deserve without paying bribes... that one day our children will live in the honest, trustful world.


• I have a dream that one day snow will be white everywhere


• I have a dream that one day there will not be any birth certificate with an empty space in the "father" field.


• I have a dream that one day no child will know the violence, and the bruises will appear only from the children's games.

Those are some pretty great dreams. And they gave their speeches with such passion! It makes me smile just to think about it.

Today we started our TV shows unit with "I Love Lucy." After a great but somewhat intense two weeks on the Civil Rights movement, Lucy's antics were a welcome change! And as much as I love watching her get tipsy on Vitameatavegamin, it's even more fun watching our students cracking up over it. Some even mentioned wanting to find more episodes to watch on their own.

The moral of the story is: I have the best job ever. Seriously... how did I get so lucky?

How Cold is Too Cold?

Winter in Kazakhstan is cold. I knew that before I came here. It is, in fact, one of the things I love about this place (coming from the girl who only ever saw maybe 5 inches of snow- total- her whole life before moving overseas). But this winter is so much colder than the years I was here before. Then, the lowest the temperature got was -30°, and that was only for a day. This past week, the temperature has been hovering around -40° for days, with the wind taking it down another 15-20°. So I ask the question: How cold is too cold?

• When you're outside for more than 20 seconds and your face starts to ache...


• When the wind brings tears to your eyes and the cold freezes them there...


• When I can't wear my glasses outside because my breath keeps them permanently foggy...


• When said fog freezes into a sheet of ice on my glasses that needs to be scraped off...


• When I can see my breath even on a heated bus packed with people...


• When cars won't start because the cold drains the batteries...


• When they cancel school (even here, in the land of snow and ice) because it's too cold.

And yet, even now I can't really complain (except when I'm waiting at the bus stop). We have warm clothes, a warm apartment, warm classrooms to teach in, and (usually) a warm car ride home from school every night. That is a lot more than some people have.

Plus, I know that there are those in places like northern Alaska, Canada, and Siberia who could say to me "-40°? That's nothing!" I guess it's all relative, huh? :)