And kicking...

So we've been here almost a month and I'm starting to get a feel of what is expected of me and how to get by in this new/exciting/sometimes strange place. However, I shouldn't get too comfortable because according to everything I've read, I am adjusting to training life and my life as a sworn-in Volunteer will be completely (well, very) different. For example, I have 11 other Americans in my town to keep me company. Sure, we live in families who speak only Russian (my family speaks Russian, but chooses to speak Kazakh more) and that is stressful sometimes, but really we have it pretty easy right now. We are constantly busy doing something which is nice because I honestly dont feel like I have TIME to be homesick.

Right now it is the month of Ramadan, and as my family is Muslum, some of them are observing the fast. They aren't asking that I join them, but Friday night after sundown we had the biggest feast EVER. AND included in that feast was... you guessed it, my first animal head! Ta Da! So we were eating bishpamark - it means five fingers in Kazakh because that's what you use to eat it... your own five fingers, so I'm digging in, and I see that the head is being passed along, and then before I knew it, the lady sitting next to me took a bit of meat and placed it into my hand. Based on the texture alone, I knew it was going to be a challenge... so I mixed a small portion of my chunk with giant noodle and tried not to think about it... Maybe in two years I'll learn how to eat without thinking about exactly where the meat comes from.

Anyway, that was a success. Tomorrow we teach a real class for the first time which is nervewracking... My lesson is on the Present Simple Tense and I just hope that I don't confuse anyone. Really, I just don't want to be misunderstood. Russian is Russian... It is absolutely amazing that a modern language has actually maintained a case system. And the more I think about it, I like it. In Russian, we don't need a lot of the frilly words we do in English. Like "I am a Peace Corps Volunteer" is simply "I Volunteer Peace Corps" Decline "Peace Corps" and Bam! That's all it takes. It hurts my head a lot, but I like it. The language, not the head hurt.

My host family is really amazing. They are so nice and patient with me (well, my 10-year-old host brother gets frustrated with me, and I'm pretty sure he's saying something to the effect of "you're no fun anymore" to me almost daily, but he'll get over it) and even Babushka who only speaks Kazakh tries to incorporate me into her life. Ok, that's all for now, everything is still going well! Angela, I'm super excited for your letter!