Who Says Black Cats Are Unlucky?

Halloween has come and gone. I did have a couple of students dress up, and one brought me a jack-o-lantern. It's presently attracting flies in my classroom. This weekend we will probably go to the village near our school for trick-or-treating and a potluck, probably just the potluck since Sophia can't trick-or-treat anyway.

It's strange, but I don't feel that I have that much to talk about when it comes to the culture here. I guess part of it is that Kazakhstan feels more familiar. It's not like we face something interesting and different around every corner. Also, we spend so much time at school in an environment with people who are a lot like us. The most cultural thing I do every day is trying to speak in Russian to our nanny.

Can I paint a picture of the people here? Hmmm... Joe and I were trying to define this the other day. I said they are kind of closed. It seems a little hard to get to know them. After I said this, though, I realized I work with Kazakhs and talk to them every day. They just seem very similar to us. It could also be that we live in the city and Almaty is very cosmopolitan. I've mentioned all the designer stores and there are tons of BMWs and luxury cars. I'm sure outside of the city, the rural people are much more traditional. If we ever find the time, perhaps we'll get more experiences with the traditional side of Kazakhstan.

What are some images we see on a daily basis? Women in high, wait, not high, mountainous high heels. Every woman has her high boots on these days, and I've been assured that they will be wearing them when the snow comes. Babies. There are babies and little ones everywhere, due to the push for Kazakhs to have kids. Old people rummaging through our dumpster. Joe says they are probably pensioners who were promised a lot by communism. Kids out playing on Soviet-style bare playground equipment. Think rickety seesaw in the middle of a sandlot. Big, Soviet-style buildings. The mountains in the background. Unkempt yards, the grassy areas of the buildings are left to grow tall grass in some areas. Tree-lined streets. Big, impressive fountains. People flagging down gypsy cabs. They just point down and anyone who feels like it pulls over to pick them up. Pelmayni - a Russian food, I believe, little dumplings stuffed with meat.

Those are just a few of the things we see on a daily basis. It's hard to remember to describe the small things, but I remember when Joe was overseas these were sometimes the most interesting things, and they helped me get a picture of where he was at.

I'm off to get Sophia started on her bedtime ritual. We'll see how that goes. Bath, eat, listen to and sing Johnny Cash's "Walk the Line" three times, read a book, listen to her "Jesus Loves Me" sheep three times, cuddle with a soft animal, rock with mommy, lay in bed and suck pacifier, grab at Mommy's hand, finally succumb..... Nothing to it! All-in-all, an hour and 15 minutes will go by. Thank goodness she's started sleeping longer at night. It probably has to do with the fact that we moved her into the study/office. A little distance has helped improve the bags under my eyes.