Spraznikum! Happy Women's Day!

Happy Women's Day! Technically, it's called "International Women's Day" and my students are surprised when I tell them that the holiday isn't celebrated in America...so technically, it's not very "international." But here, it's great! It's a day off of work for me, a day off of school for my kids, and everywhere I look, women are being celebrated! AWESOME.

To celebrate Women's Day, we slept in. Hallelujah. Then, we went out and explored the Square in the center of town...there were tons of people out, but really not much going on. But, the sun was shining for the first time in months, the mountains were not hidden in the clouds, we were not wearing jackets, so we loved every minute we spent outside! Next, we went and bought flowers to take with us to our friend Mark's host home (he's in the Peace Corps) for his host mother and sister. Mark is from Georgia, and he invited us to join him for dinner--he was cooking us a southern meal!

We took a taxi to his house, and really wish we had been videoing the whole ride...here's why: First, this was one of the first times we flagged down a car that wasn't a marked taxi (which is pretty normal here--if they've got the time and the car, they're usually willing to drive you across town for 300 tenge, about 2 dollars.) Second, this guy had no idea where the cross streets I gave him were, so we just started driving. Next, he asks us where we're from, and I explain to him that we're Americans teaching English, and he gets this huge smile on his face, which doesn't disappear for the rest of the ride, and exclaims (in Russian), "This is my first time ever driving Americans! I love you!" And then he said every word he knew in English, which went something like this: "One Two Three Four Five, Stand up, Sit down, Thank you, I love you!" And finally, after stopping at least 10 random people on the road to ask directions to the house, we arrived.

We joined Mark at his host home for a meal of fried chicken, green beans (actually, there's no such thing as green beans here, so he bought seaweed in the Korean section of the bazaar and cooked it like green beans), glazed carrots, and mashed potatoes. Umm, SO good. Then, he cleaned up after us and did all the dishes! What a guy.

Here he is, dicing tomatoes:

And, here's Mark's host mother. She was lovely! (man oh MAN do I need a haircut.)On our way home, we stopped and bought flowers for our 87-year-old neighbor, Kamila. We love her very much, as she does us, and when we walk with her, she tells everyone we pass that we're her American children. She loved the flowers and the peanut butter cookies, and she even allowed us to take pictures with her! And then, in unmistakable Kamila fashion, she dropped into the splits. Yes, our shorter-than-5-foot 87-year-old neighbor can do the splits. This time, I caught it on video :) Anyway, she basically rocks. Here she is:Happy Women's Day, Kamila! We LOVE you! Sprasnikum!

And, that was Women's Day! Really, I could handle this holiday about once a week, maybe more. Carolina and I finished out the day taking a few family pictures with the bobblehead babydoll banks we received as gifts from our students. Yes, we're that cool.

Our doll/bank/bobblehead things looked like they were having a good conversation. Se we decided to join them and have our own conversation:

It's a tiring life we lead here. Plus it's Women's Day. So, we relaxed:

My best guess at saying Happy Women's Day in Russian: Shasleevava Zhenski Dyen!