Happy Holidays!

I know it's a little bit late, but, I don't care. Take it or leave it!

Well, I have officially survived the holidays away from home in a caraaaazy country. Nothing too exciting to report, but for all you inquiring minds, here’s a recap of what I did for the holidays.

First, Christmas. I had dinner with my counterpart and her family on Christmas Eve, and then I woke up a little early on Christmas Day so that I could take some time to open the few Christmas gifts my mom sent a few weeks earlier. I turned on some Christmas music, opened my gifts and then had a cup of hot apple cider via the instant mix my mom sent. Then it was off to work. Sadly, Christmas is not a recognized holiday in Kazakhstan. So I worked on Christmas. (And the day after. Yeah, on Saturday. Schools go 6 days a week here. Bummer, right?) so we talked about Christmas a little bit in each class, but that was about it. (My students were surprised to find out that I’m named after a poisonous plant that is used as a Christmas decoration.) Then after school my counterpart, the other English teacher, and myself organized an English club where we played a few Christmas/Winter themed games and gave out candy and prizes. And then… I went home. I probably played with my new Disney Princess Etch-a-Sketch and electronic Yahtzee game (thanks mom!) but I don’t really remember. Anyway, then for dinner my babooshka made monty (my favorite Russian dish) but she went out visiting with her family, so I ate dinner alone. Slightly sad, and maybe a little pathetic, in my mind. Anyway, then finally it was late enough my time and early enough in my family’s time that I could call! So I started with my sister and brother-in-law in Maryland, then talked to my little brother in the Domincan Republic, then my mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law and their kids, and finally my granny-face and grempa. So, that was happy!

Then on Saturday we had our teacher’s holiday party. And I tell you what, those teachers know how to party. Of course we had lots of good food, some fun games, and dancing – of course! Now, this is where I always run into trouble. I’m not a dancer! I don’t know how to move! But of course they tried their best to make me. At one point one of the male teachers got a big red cloth and was doing this whole Matador thing and pulled me into the circle to dance with him. Talk about awkward. But if this experience in Kazakhstan has taught me anything so far, it’s how to break out of my comfort zone and just suck it up sometimes. So I made a fool of myself and everybody enjoyed it and that was that. :)

Here is a picture from that night. The first woman on the left is the director of my school, then on the other side of me is my counterpart (the English teacher that I work with), and then another teacher from our school.



So then – the New Year. I spent the evening with my counterpart teacher and her family (they’re really great, and I’m so happy they don’t mind entertaining me on holidays!). I got there around 9:30 PM and shortly after that we ate some good food, including a Bulgarian rice and Tajikistani meat dish prepared by a half Belo-Russian half Korean man who lives in Poland (my counterpart’s brother) and I found that amusing. I felt so international. We watched a concert that was on TV while giving toasts and chatting. Then we watched President Nazerbyev’s speech right before midnight, and then lit up the sparklers, popped the confetti, and toasted to the New Year! And then it was time for the second meal! Surprise! They tell me the next was a French dish – potatoes, cheese and, of course, meat. It was quite tasty as well. Then we ended the evening with tea and cake and I headed home. It was snowing outside, and although it was about 2:30 AM, it was quite bright outside – a White Night, they say – from the snow and the moon… it was lovely. :)

And now today, January 1, 2010 (I won’t post this blog for awhil, so don’t be thrown off by the date). We didn’t get up until about 10:30, but then had monty and cake for breakfast (awesome!) and then I watched a movie that is a “traditional” film to watch on New Years Day. My parents called to wish me a Happy New Year – love that time difference – and now I’m here writing this blog, after which I think I will treat myself to a Psych marathon. I remember last year watching a Monk marathon on New Years Day. In fact, now that I think of it, I think I mentioned it in my other blog. But I’ve already been through all 3 seasons that I have of Monk, so… Psych it is! And then I have a new book that I want to start reading. I took about 10 from the Peace Corps office and I want to make sure I get through them before I go back down for training in March. Anyway, I’m just rambling now and I want to get on to Psych so… Happy New Year! Or, as we (Russian speakers) say Kazakhstan, С Новым Годом!