Sad things/happy things

08:15 26 September 2008

My host sister’s husband and her eldest child (the five year old who adores me) came back yesterday and it has been nice having them around. Alkeera, the daughter, is fun to play with and the dad is really nice. Unfortunately, they had to come for rather depressing reasons, my host mother’s brother in law died unexpectedly two days ago and there has been a lot to do with those proceedings. My host mother has also been in lower spirits than her usual self for obvious reasons (In Kyrgyz culture, responding to a “how are you?” is usually an automatic “good/great/excellent” so I knew that my mother was truly upset when she replied with “good, well actually, not very good”. While I wasn’t invited to the funeral, I expressed my condolences the best I could and have been trying to be sensitive to their grief.

On a more upbeat note, yesterday I had my first solo teaching experience and I think that it went rather well. I taught two sections of the 5th form and much as students in America are, they were somewhat excited to have an alternate teacher. My teaching methods differ significantly from my counterpart, so when we teach together it is a compromise, but in her absence I was able to play language games and do other such “fun” ways of learning English that I hope will motivate the kids more than memorizing and translating text.

The reason for my counterpart’s absence that afternoon, ironically enough, was because she was at home preparing for me to come guesting that evening. After school I spent some time with Saori and Cueyller, a JICA volunteer and a fellow PCV that had come into my village for a bit and then trundled over to my counterpart’s house. The food was great, jams, cold salats, and a main course of a Kyrgyz tortellini soup, and the company was interesting, despite the fact that they spoke almost exclusively Kyrgyz the whole time. It was also interesting to see the social dynamics at play- while I was an honored guest, my position was easily trumped by an “oksalkal” (literally translates to “white beard” but signifies any Kyrgyz elder) and his wife. As soon as they entered, the entire table rose to greet them, and everyone shifted their seats to allow them the head of the table. It was interesting to see the shuffle of dishes and silverware as everyone adjusted to their presence. It’s been nice since the last weeks have been Orzo (Kyrgyz Ramadan) so the usual pressure to drink has been non-existent. After a few hours of eating and conversing, I was given a ride home. It was actually one of the best guesting experiences I have had so far.