The first week of 2009

New year's was the celebration it promised to be. I spent the evening with my good friend, Bota, and her mom. We started out by making monty, one of the national dishes. It is homemade pasta with meat inside that is then steamed. We started dinner at 11:30. At midnight we toasted with champagne and watched the fireworks from their window. They live close to the city center, and you could see fireworks exploding ALL over. A couple friends came over and we listened to music and toasted over and over again. Most toasts are for "all your dreams to come true". I have high expectations for 2009 with so many toasts ushering it in. Along with champagne, we also had many kinds of delicious fruits--remember, Bota's mom is the fruit vendor. There were GRAPEFRUIT, pineapple, bananas, mandarines, apples, raisins, and nuts. And, of COURSE, cake. At about 2 am we wandered over to the guests' apartment. There we had bishbarmak (the other national dish), balsaki (fried bread), more champagne and more cake. We eventually moved from toasts with champagne to chai, and then at about 6 am we had coffee. At 7 am we went back to Botas. It was a very nice night!

On New Year's day I had 10 friends arrive to visit my lovely city. I have really grown to love this town, and whenever I hear other PCV talk about their sites, I grow to appreciate Karaganda more. They started arriving at 8 PM, and the last came at 7 AM Jan 2. I was exhausted picking them up, but it all worked out and we had an apartment. The first day was interesting. It was in reverse, and I finished the evening eating cornflakes and tomato soup and watching Rudolph. On Saturday we went into the city! I got us on the right bus (I was worried!), and we had lunch, saw the mall, and went ice skating in the park. After being chilled skating, we went to a cafe for tea, and then found a bar with karaoke. Karaoke was a great choice! I sang a Celine Dion song solo (I drove all night), and sang Kokomo and Black or White with my good friend Christina. I was so exhausted I fell asleep on the way home. Luckily, I am told the elevator worked. And, I got the bed.

I saw everyone off, which was very sad. I almost felt abandoned as I had to say goodbye to each of my good friends. I will see them all again in March (and I will see Christina MUCH before March). It's just difficult to know they are in Kazakhstan but so far away. One thing I thought of as I joined the PC was the amazing people I would meet in it (I only joined to find a husband... right... jk!)

My birthday was yesterday. It is hard to have a birthday away from home. I have been so lucky with great birthdays in the States. This year I made breakfast with 2 of my site mates. We had banana and chocolate pancakes, eggs, and coffee. I, of course, bought myself a grapefruit. Then I got a package from the postoffice! I went into work and my coworkers all remembered and gave me a lot of cake, which we then ate. A friend was supposed to meet me for tea at night, but she got lost. She lives very close by, and she speaks Russian, and she has lived in Karaganda for 30 years. Seriously, how did she get lost? I can get around, and I do not speak russian and i have only lived here 4 months. so that pissed me off, and then I called a lot of people and drank some wine with my host family.

today i went into the city (it's ANOTHER holiday here) to meet with a man that wants me to teach English. I said no--he can hire someone for that. Then I bought myself a ring, a Kazakhstani-style sweater and a diet coke for my birthday. It's been a full week!