Two More Days

I have two days left before I can be considered a real life Peace Corps Volunteer. The past 9 weeks have been filled with teaching, Kazakh language learning and Banya visits. I have already learned an enormous amount about myself and living and working in another country. I do not feel completely assimilated into this culture yet and I don't expect to for some time, but at least I can say I feel comfortable. That is a big step forward in my book. I will go ahead and give another update from the past few weeks. Two weeks ago we finished our language classes for training and said goodbye to our Teacher, Nagima. She lives in Toraz in the south and had a nice long busride back home. She will be very missed! After that we started planning for teacher training for local village teachers which we finished yesterday. For two days, about 4 hours each day, we held a TEFL training for local teachers in surrounding villages. I gave an hour long session on visual aids and why they should be used in the classroom. The other trainees gave sessions on teaching lower level students, speaking, writing, listening and reading. We had a great time with the teachers and they were happy to learn new methodologies from us. I will hopefully be posting pictures soon. I hope you all enjoyed the pictures I posted and if you have not looked at them yet, there is a link on the left side of the blog entitled Pictures HERE!

As far as my last week goes we are closing out the time here in Almaty. Today I went to a huge clothing bazaar called Barahoka. You can find almost anything you need there and we had a good time. I bought all the winter clothes I will need for the -30 C wintertime in Zhez. I have also heard from a fellow PCV there that it is already snowing! I am so nervous for the weather but I know I will get through it. So my next moves are as follows: Saturday we all swear in as PCV's in the morning, 54 of us! Then I will spend one night in a hotel in Almaty with 15 other people and leave for Zhez on Sunday at 11pm. The train from Almaty to Zhez leaves only 2 times a week and takes a total of 31 hours in one straight shot. I will be reading a lot i am sure. I will arrive on Tuesday at 6am and from there my counterpart and I will go to her house where we will relax, sleep and have breakfast. If I am up to it I will go visit the school, meet the Director and visit my host families. I will move into the host family i choose on Wednesday at the latest. I can't wait!

So far I have been getting many postive responses from locals at the bazaar and the store when I speak Kazakh and that makes me very happy! I have even recieved discounts! They always start out in Russian and when I ask them to speak Kazakh to me, i automatically get a smile and then the questions start. Where are you from? You speak Kazakh? Mala Dietz ( Very good), How long have you been here? How long have you studied? You speak so well!
It really makes me happy I chose to study Kazakh.

I know I have many people reading my blog and I am so grateful that I have to many people interested! You all are helping me acheive the goals of Peace Corps whether you all realize it or not. Thanks again for all your support!