Beginning of April

April is off to a good start. The last couple of weeks have been really enjoyable in the classroom, and spring seems to be here for good (I think I might have said that in my last post, but hopefully this time it’s for real). Today I walked to Maikakduk, as usual, and I enjoyed a dry, somewhat cool walk.

Earlier this week one of our national friends took us to a Korean restaurant to try something I’d never eaten before–dog! And, may I say, I was pleasantly surprised. It was good. We had 3 different dishes that used dog meat. The 1st was a blood sausage. The 2nd was dog soup, and the third was a heavily spiced bowl of dog ribs and liver. All in all, it was a fun time with our student experiencing something very new.

Life feels pretty normal these days…it has for a while now. I have a pretty solid routine established: I go to bed around 12 each night and wake up at 8 each morning. Mon-Thurs I teach from 4:30-7:45. Tues and Thurs I have Russian language lessons. Wed I teach an English club for 2 hours. Fri morning I walk to Maikaduk, and then in the evening we have guy students come to our place and play games. Sat I walk to the bazaar and eat some delicious food then play either kind of football. Sun is chrch.

In a couple weeks Erich and I are going to go to Kyrgyzstan and meet up with some of the other American teachers there. We plan to get into the mountains a bit. I’m really excited to see some elevation variation.

Also, I’ve decided to stay home rather than return to KZ in the fall. I can’t completely say why I’ve chosen this, but it feels like the right thing to do at this point.

Blessings and peace