October Update

Well things are looking up.

It feels like Christmas to me almost every day here. No, I'm not receiving warm socks and orchestral scores or hanging tinsel on the tree while mom's at work to try and surprise her for the 7th year in a row.

I think it's the combination of the weather turning cold, the kitchen always busy, and the lack of school. I am starting a violin ensemble at the music school, which has gotten Katya, the teacher from last year, quite excited. I'm starting new classes for writing and reading at School #17 (when they have no classes--thank God), and I have enough in the way of personal relationships to make time pass at the normal speed. I'm finally running into people I know around every turn, though some I'd rather avoid--like the teacher who stops me to ask me to write his semester report almost daily. But I'm finally enjoying my time hopping from one thing to the next.

I'm heading off to Thailand for rest and relaxation in November, which is just the break I need to freshen up my classes and remove some of the defensive behaviour from my everyday life. A good example of my 'burned-out-ness' being when a taxi driver ripped me off by 1,000 manat (4 cents) and I promptly stood in oncoming traffic to block him from driving and then threw a 500 manat coin at his car as hard as I could. Hmmmm, break gerekmi?

I have already said goodbye to my site-mates Carrie and Dave and have one month left with Katie before she heads out as well. I've adopted Courtnee from the nearby city of Serdar, and she now considers herself my sitemate. She'll be present for any holidays, important announcements, or really for any reason that gets her away from the hole in which she now resides. Then the new kids arrive, and I'll have even more chance to do normal things like show people the bazaar, help translate to host families, etc. I'll just be so helpful!

This week we're gearing up for our Independence Day. It is taught fairly forcefully that we are so so proud of our great great independence, although we were the last country to be torn away from the USSR, and most of the ministry probably cried that day as opposed to celebrating our long-fought-for independence. At any rate, the volunteers will be getting together for bean burgers, fries, condements and complaints in my city.