Hey folks! I just got done doing some shopping at the Kant Baazar and man, it felt strange. I did shopping in Taiwan too, but for whatever reason shoppng here feels a bit more stressful than it should feel. I shopped more effeciently with less language when I was there...I am not sure what the difference is, really. Oh well. In a few months once I have more language things will be much easier. Either way around, I am coming home with exactly what I need: A pencil (I'm still kicking myself for accidently leaving my bag-o-pens and pencils at home), a huge sheet of stiff paper (which will be cut into notecards), some round knitting needles (interesting: I could not find a single vendor that sold straight knitting needles) and pants to replace the ones I tore yesterday. I'm a happy camper. I've been working on Nic's scarf, but needed some needles to switch the scarf over to, as I am currently knitting on some needles that I borrowed from my host sister.
The baazar is basically rows of vendors with all sorts of items available...you can find almost anything, pants, shampoo, fish, statuettes, candy, laid out for you on a table or hung on a rack. It's fun to look, and fun to wander, but complicated to buy, for now. Last time I came here, I had to buy a pound or two pounds of the food items that I bought because I only knew how to ask for a kilo or a half kilo of something... which meant coming home with a half kilo of cookies, a half kilo of almonds, a kilo of apples etc... I'm still eating some of them. I have since learned how to purchase smaller amounts of things.
Nic and I went with our trainee group to a beautiful mountain resort yesterday, and took a few pictures, which eventually will be uploaded. I never know exactly when I'll have internet, so I am never prepared for this. The resort was rolling hills and peaks dotted with waterfalls, statues, and cows. It was beautiful, the weather was pretty good(we did get rained on a little bit), and it felt great to get some exercize.
A few days ago the trainee group living in my city (there are four of us) went to a concert at the local school, which consisted of many grade levels performing songs and dances in Russian. We also watched a play. There was a group of 8th/9th? grade girls that danced to a Michael Jackson mash up and they were incredible dancers. I was very shocked and pleased with their black hats, black vests, white button ups, and mad skills. My Kyrgyz teacher's host-sister sang several songs. She's an adorable talented little girl. She hand wrote us invitations to the concert in shiny pink ink. Here, huge white bows are very trendy. Many of the girls at the concert were wearing bows that were as big as their heads! Imagine: tiny pigtails, tiny girls, big haloes of white silk, satin, and lace. Now imagine them singing in Russian.
The only thing that is missing from my life is salt water taffy. Things are going better every day, and I am more excited about my work every day. Today I finished working on my activity cards for the class I am teaching on Tuesday. I will be teaching 5th graders the concepts of some, few, couple, and many combined with the phrase "There are." I will also be teaching basic food vocabulary (apples, bananas, noodles, eggs, etc). If things go well, by the end of the class, the students will be able to say: "There are not any apples in the refrigerator, but there are some noodles in the refrigerator" (and things of that general nature).
That's all for now. Take care, ya'll!
