Last Days in the Village....

10/26/2009

Today was our last full day in the village. Crazy! My stuff is packed, can you believe it? Tonight we had a party with our host families. They all cooked wonderful dishes and we danced and had a good time. My host family made plov (see photo below).

and “francayski salat” (french salad). Basically, it's shredded beets, cabbage, carrots, fried potatoes, meat and mayonnaise. Very tasty, especially without the meat!

They also taught me how to dance “Uighurski” style, so I could dance at the party. See photo of the girls teaching me in the kitchen.

The party was a nice way to end our time with them and show our gratitude for their hospitality. We wrote wishes for our host families in Russian (with the help of our teachers) and they wrote some to us. Here is a picture of me reading my wishes to my host mom.
We played some games, danced Uighurski style (see photo below of me and my host mom)

and ate a lot. It was a great time, and we will not soon forget the exceptional hospitality shown to us by this community.

10/27/09

What a day! Did nothing all morning, but waited for bus to meet us at 12:30. Walked the girls to school and took some photos of my house, because I realized I didn't have any. I know it's kind of late, but I wanted to have pictures in order to remember my house in the village. You can see the front of the house which is covered with trees. You can also see the backyard, where the outhouse is. The garden had many flowers in the summer, but as it is late fall, everything is brown. The apple trees were on the other side of the driveway, which you can't see unfortunately.

When it was time to go, my host mom's son-in-law drove us to the cafe, so I didn't even have to carry my stuff. Good thing, since it has gotten heavier since my arrival. Cindy (another volunteer) and I technically live in another village different from everyone else. My host mom arranged for the bus to pick us up at the cafe, since it was too far to carry our stuff to the training site. The bus was late of course, so we took many pictures at the cafe and park before the bus arrived. I realized I haven't shown any photos of my host family, so here they are. My host mom is wearing the leather jacket. Cindy's host mom is wearing the purple jacket. The little girls and the baby are my host mom's grandkids. The woman holding the baby is the girls' mother, my host mom's daughter. The girl next to me is Cindy's host sister and the other girl is her friend. We said good-bye when the bus came, and many tears ensued. I hope we can go back to visit the next time we are in Almaty.