Interview

Last week I had an interview with a very nice Russian lady and an awesome interpreter.

 It lasted for about 45 minutes and they took my picture and everything! I don't know what the actual article says fully in Russian but they basically a

sked me a series of questions about where I am from, what I like to do, what I am doing in Zhezkazgan, Peace Corps, etc. They asked me a series of questions that I had to respond with only one word. Questions like,"What is your favorite color?" (green), "What is happiness to you?"(health).It was a lot of fun. The article just came out today. Here is a link to some pictures from December and there are some closeup's there.  I have had the article translated by my friend Aygul. Here is the summary. 

The bold print next to my name reads: 

Introducing: Laura Marshall, an American student of Psychology and Art (yes, the fact that I am no longer a student was lost in translation..),Clever, Attractive,Ambitious

 Volunteer left her family

 in Los Angeles, the city of Angels, and is working and living here in our Zhezkazgan.

The Q&A section below my name reads like this:

(only one word answers)

Favorite Color?

Green

Favorite Day?

Friday.It is the start of the weekend

Hobby?

Rockclimbing. Anything active.

What is happiness to you?

Health.

When were you born?

1986

Who gave you your name? 

My Dad liked the name Laura. >

The title in bold on right side of my name is : 

Generation V(5)

In December everyone around the world celebrated International Volunteer

s Day. 

[Start of the article]Laura teaches English at the Humanitarian college here in Zhezkazgan.

 She lives with a Kazakh family and is studying the Kazakh language. She has participated in many Kazakh traditions and embraced the culture of the Kazakh people.Last week she celebrated Kurban Ait and will also celebrate the upcoming Nauryz in March. She also participated in the Kazakh ritual of cutting string around a child's legs when they take their first steps. She has had the national dishs, baursaouk and beasbarmak and likes it but admits that the dishes are very heavy for her. If she ate those

 foods on a regular basis she definitely would need to 

do some more exercising. Laura is anything but inactive. Her schedule is busy but she still found time to meet with us for an interview. I asked her to say something in Kazakh and she spoke about her family back home in California. We were very suprised at how much she knew and with her speaking abilities. She simply said: My name is Laura [but in Kazakh]. 

-What did you know about Kazakhstan before coming here? [Me] "Mainly I knew about the geographical situation of the country and that's really it."

Laura has been to Almaty and Zhezkazgan but has plans to visit many other cit

ies in Kazakhstan like Pavlodar, Petropovlask and Astana. 

-Is this your first experience volunteering? [Me]"No. Last summer I spent a few weeks in Tanzania and I worked with preschool kids and at an orphanage. That experience reassured my Mother that I could handle living abroad and volunteering in a foreign country for two years." 

Laura is a very clever girl who's passion is to go all over the world. She didn't know that fate would 

bring her to sit with us today. 

-Do you have any volunteers in your family? [Me] "Yes. My family has always be

en involved in domestic and international volunteering. We participate in fundraising for local organizations, hospitals and orphanages."[a little embellished but I think it was a little lost in translation again] Laura has worked with kids at summer camps every summer since she was about 15 or 16. It was then that she decided she wanted to become a volunteer. [There is one more 

sentence but I forgot what it says! I will update again tomorrow with the ending]