Day 3: Horse Sausage

Why hello :)

First off, sorry if my titles for my journals don't make sense... they're kind of fun ways for me to remember the little, funny experiences and the small cultural differences I've encountered :)

Today was fantastic, very nerve wracking but very good. The Kazakh preschool was incredible, the kiddos were so stinking cute and incredibly well behaved! This Kazakh preschool, or kindergarten as they call it, costs 7000 tenge to attend (which equals out to around $50 USD) and goes from 8am to around 6pm depending on when parents get off work; they provide three meals a day to these kids, and use china to eat food in! Just thought that was interesting, in America most wouldn't dream of giving a 6-year-old a china plate and bowl to feast out of, it's disposable or plastic all the way. But these kids are so well behaved, their craft time we planned was so organized and each child had a job. Kids even put out place settings for lunch for their fellow classmates! Anyway, we taught them "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and also taught them "I'm a Little Teapot". They then sang us a song, in English, that was ten times more complicated! Never underestimate children :) they could also count to 25 in English and we helped them learn words for colors and shapes during art (they made a snowman). Some of the kids were shy, possibly because they didn't understand what we were saying, but they were all very sweet and kind-hearted. Full of energy, too! Especially during one of the books we read to them (Anastasia translated, poor girl hardly had a voice because of a cold too...) about finding circles and triangles in the world.

I'm beginning to realize how scary it must be for students to be in a place where they don't speak the language. Keri and I successfully communicated to a store clerk, "what time does your store close?", but it took a lot of time, patience, gesturing and writing. I'm trying to encourage myself so that I'll speak the little bit of language I know, like speciva or rakmiet (thank you), prujalista (please/you're welcome), salaam (hello), priviet (how are you?/hello) and dasvidanye (goodbye). I've had some native Kazakhs laugh when I turned around, or they've replied in English... this can be a little discouraging, it's scary to put yourself out there and risk embarrassment to learn the language. But I quickly realized that by withdrawing I won't get anywhere; it may be strange and seem awkward, but attempting communication through multiple means and a new language is the best place to start. I can only imagine how intimidating it is for our ELL kids, and I think experiencing it has been more helpful than any study or assumption can be. I'll keep trying to immerse myself in the language, as frightening as it is, and hope that I continue to catch on. I'm beginning to learn their alphabet, and can read some things! It's really exciting :)

After preschool, we went back to Anastasia's apartment where she lives with her parents (both very very nice) and her mother cooked us a traditional Russian lunch: borsch, boiled chicken with spices, mashed potatos, bread, cucumbers and tomatos, followed by tea and numerous cookie types that have me salivating as I'm thinking about it :) we talked with her mother (through Anastasia of course) and had a great time. Then Keri and I made the stupidest decision of our life: went for a walk outside our house. We first went to the market in our apartment building and the staff have been very nice so it's good practice in interacting with Kazakhs and Russian-speaking people in a less-stressful situation. It was bitterly cold today, I had hand warmers on my face. Not smart. But we are relatively frostbiteless and I think I'm getting over my jetlag finally! Keri maybe not as much... it's been so nice having the two of us here, thank you for that insight. It's made reflecting on this experience and debriefing very fruitful, and also fun :)

In all, great day for preschool. Can't wait to go back tomorrow! Thanks for answering all my questions, everything sounds great. Prayers would be appreciated for our trip to Almaty, we're all realizing how hard it will be without a translator on our trip and are now very nervous. I'm sure it will be fine... I'm sure there'll be plenty of stories from that as well :)

Well, До завтpа (or do zavtra which means "see you tomorrow" in Russian... learned that in preschool today :) ), hope all is well for you!

Chels