"mushroom whole in brain."

All in all, WHAT A WEEK!

So, there's major drama going on at our school...Can't give details, but please do some heavy lifting on our behalf over here... In light of the drama, my Father has opened doors to talk with co-workers about the incredible freedom that comes in knowing Him. Isn't it amazing how He's always at work in the tough situations? The picture below is evidence of His working here:

Feeding Ira and Leila chili for the first time ever (they loved it!) and discussing LIFE:

Friday night, two of our students, Andrey and Alyona, invited us do dinner. They took us to an amazing Georgian restaurant not too far from our flat that's known for it's Sheshleek (Meat kabobs cooked over an open outdoor flame). We ordered pork, chicken, and lamb, and while I didn't try the lamb, the others were delicious! It was a wonderful night with our students!

SO, the next night, we invited the Taraz Peace Corps volunteers (Michael, Mark, Courtney), two of our co-workers (Ira, Leila), and one of our dear friends from Interlink (Assel) over for dinner. We decided to make homemade pizza, carrots and spinach dip, and brownies. So, we went to the bazaar and the supermarket for supplies. When we got home, I was opening the can of mushrooms and couldn't believe my eyes:

Needless to say, I was SHOCKED. "Mushroom whole in brain"?!?! Well, friends, that's Kazakhstan for you. The brained mushrooms tasted great on the pizza, which was a success with nationals and Americans alike. It was a great night of building bridges between cultures and remembering American life. Mark taught us this totally-weird-but-more-fun-than-it-originally-sounded game, Psychological Hedgehog. Basically, you all make this weird shape with your hands (see below) and connect fingers in a big circle. To start it off, Mark (blue shirt) looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Jillann. Do you like the game Psychological Hedgehog?" Keeping a straight face, I had to look back at him and say, "Mark, Yes. I love the game Psychological Hedgehog." Then, I had to dramatically turn my head to face Assel, and ask her the same question. She replied, and passed it on. The point is not to laugh. And while this wasn't that difficult for the Americans, it was nearly impossible for every Kazakh national in our psychadelic circle. They laughed until they cried over this game, which of course, seeing it through their eyes, made us laugh too. Anyway, crazy pointless game. And I'm going to use it on my students one of these days.

Here's the group after Ira and Leila left. This was supposed to be a "Russian Faces" picture (which was clearly accomplished by only Mark and Courtney). Really, a wonderful night with wonderful friends.

The next morning was Sunday morning. A week or so ago, Alyona, my student, was mentioning that she played the organ for her Sunday morning CLUB, and I mentioned that I'd love to watch her some morning. So, this week was the week. It was a TEENY TINY little club, but wonderful to attend all the same. Here's Alyona, accompanying the choir:

It was a Russian Club, so two more of our Russian students, Valery and Vladislav, joined us that morning. Here we all are in front of the club (L-R Carolina, Valery, Vladislav, me, Alyona). It was another great day with our students.

IT WAS A GREAT WEEK!

Other great things about this week:

There's SO much snow on the ground, I don't even know what to do with myself. I LOVE IT.

However, there are not even words to describe how cold it is here. This is like nothing I've ever experienced. And I lived in Chicago for 6 years!

I started teaching a 4th class this week. They're definitely at a much lower level than my other three classes, but it's alright because they're all at the same level. I'm going to love this class.

And, about that. I LOVE TEACHING. I love it I love it I love it. Who would have guessed? Seriously, I adore my students, I love planning lessons for them, I am confident that I'm teaching them well and I can see that they're learning. They bring me so much joy, and I love EVERY SINGLE MINUTE that I get to spend with them. Every. Single. One.

Ran Interlingua's English Club. Really, you want to play Uno AGAIN?! That's not even English!

Also, I'm really cracking down on my students who speak Russian and Kazakh in my classroom. 1st offence: Name on board. 2nd offence: check next to name. 3rd (and all subsequent) offence: Stand and sing "Skidamarinkey Dinky Dink, Skidamarinkey Doo" for the class (with gusto, of course!). The students LOVE this punishment, so long as they're not the one singing. As a result, the Russian and Kazakh spoken in my classroom has reduced DRAMATICALLY.

Another interesting happening: So, we don't pay our own bills, the school pays them for us. A few days ago, the usually very cordial gas meter lady came to our door. When I opened to her knocking, she stomped right in without even taking her shoes off (unheard of here!), walked over to our gas valve, and started shouting at us in Russian! As calmly as I could, I reminded her that we in fact do not speak much Russian, but that our bills are payed by Interlingua. She continued her Russian rant, making it very clear that we had a "dolg" (debt) and that she was going to turn off our gas. In my limited Russian, I kindly kindly kindly asked her to leave it on for a few more days, and assured her that our school would pay soon. She was not happy, but left it on and stomped off, leaving a puddle of melting snow in front of our gas valve. It was crazy!

Anyway, that's all I can think of for now, except for this: I LOVE MY LIFE.