WHAAAAT??

I know, I know, this blog and the last one I wrote are really close to each other in date, and that might freak you out. Dont worry. I just found a quick moment in the internet place. First of all, the internet we found in our town is amazing. Yes, we pay for it, but the place is flat out perfect. It's halfway in a basement, so its dark, secluded, discouraging any activity that is not internet related.

I just finished teaching for the second time ever, and it was an experiance. First of all, it's sort of field day at my school... so all but one of my students was outside playing when my class was supposed to happen. So to make sure that I had the opportunity to teach, the teachers cancelled art class so that they could learn ENGLISH. Lets think about that... What class does every kid love? Oh, that's art class. So lets take it away and make them learn English? I apprecieated the gesture, but the kids were less than pleased. We survived. And maybe they even learned a bit about the past simple, I don't know. Maybe.

ANGELA! You win 50 points for sending me my first letter in Kazakhstan. Michelle, you get 45 because I got it the day after. Mail is amazing.

I've been having really rollercoaster-type days. I don't think my host family realizes just how much we are doing now. I've been here a month, and my personal assesment of my russian learning is "not to bad" scattered with "moments of brillance" but last night, they basically asked me why I don't know more... Hmmm, lets see, I've been learning for a month, lets start there. Then add the fact that I teach in english, so my technical training is in English. On top of all that, Kazakh is what they speak most of the time at home, so actually it's sort of miraculious that I know what I do. Really, it's a lack of vocabulary that really plagues me right now. I understand the grammar. I understand the cases. But what is *that* pa ruski? I have no idea. Anyway, that was frustrating, to explain that my russian is actually not that bad for the amount of time I've been here. Also, when our families speak to other PCTs they ask all the generic questions, like "how are you" "where are you from" "what is your familiy like?" and of course we know how to answer these questions accurately and with fluidity. So our families think that our friends speak "really good" russian, when in reality, they only think that because they only spent 30 seconds speaking to them. If it were any longer, they would realize that 30 seconds exhausts every once of russian we can muster. I think all our families have this fantasy that every other American here speaks better Russian than the one living in their house. I can't express this in russian, so I just said, "my russian is not that bad", finished my meal, then went and cried. We are doing everything we can! Give us a break!

Speaking of "giving a break" Kit-Kat bars here are just one huge bar. No breaks involved.