So, I've let this blog go a little bit. It's not that I haven't wanted to keep you all posted, it's just that I guess I've been procrastinating. Those of you who know me well, know that I have a bad habit of bad procrastination. In the spirit of the new year, I have recommitted myself to telling the stories of my crazy life with the Peace Corps here in Kazakhstan.
What have I been up to, you ask? Well, Christmas was just another day here. The Christians here mostly celebrate Russian Orthodox Christmas which is on January 7th. So on Dec. 25th, a few of us gathered at one volunteer's house with some local friends and toasted the fact that it was Christmas. Not very exciting, but it just wasn't the same as being home. They also don't have all of the crazy commercialization here that gets you all fired up for the coming of Christmas. I think that also may have contributed to the calm celebration of the holiday.
The Sunday after Christmas, I was invited to a "winter picnic" by the professor of English at our local university. We attend his English club at the university and a few times per winter he puts on a winter picnic for the club attendees. I took the bus out to the outskirts of town and the professor and some of his English students picked me up in a car. We drove out near the lake to the site of the picnic.
A photo of the winter picnic site:
Making the soup and tending to the fire:
Professor Petrovich and the almost setting sun:
I dressed in many layers and still seemed to spend the entire time in front of the camp fire. They made soup and we drank many, many cups of tea. It was really nice to look out onto the lake even though it was covered in snow. Our group were the only ones out there that day and the scene was serene and peaceful. It was a nice way to spend a frigid winter's day, although I wouldn't want to do that every weekend!
Some students with the snow tower they were trying to build. You can see our snowtracks
on the frozen, snow-covered lake behind them:
New Year's was an entirely different story. Since Orthodox Christmas is much more religious, New Year's here is like Christmas for us. They have their own Santa, whose name translates to "Father Frost". The children get presents and people often visit friends and family at this time. They put up a "yolka" which is essentially a Christmas tree as we know it.
On New Year's again I gathered with some volunteers who were visiting the city from their respective villages. However, I went home early to ring in the new year with my host family. There are usually fireworks, but it was -30 that night, so we wisely decided to stay in. It was a really fun night all around, with good food and good people and lots of celebration.
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