So this is my second full day here. Jet lag is killing me- I stay up basically all night but then want to sleep all day. The first night there was no power so there was REALLY nothing to do- I listened to my iPod for hours before I finally fell asleep... until 2:30 pm. Last night there was power so I watched a movie (Maedchen Maedchen 2) and then Aissa called me so I talked to him for 20 minutes until his 5$ phone card ran out. Then I just lay around, unpacked some more, looked up some Russian words, and then stared at the ceiling until I finally fell asleep around 4 am and woke up again at 8:30 am. I went on a walk and tried to use the internet cafe, but there was no power so it was of course closed. So I went home and fell asleep for 4 hours. I just went to the grocery store and bought some essentials, cooked some pasta, and now I'm here. The internet is suuuper slow.
I haven't walked much beyond my neighborhood, but what I've seen around my apartment is really nice (considering I'm in Kyrgyzstan). It reminds me a LOT of Bulgaria and Eastern Europe, which makes me feel comfortable here. There are lots of trees on the streets, and a little canal/runoff/(not sewage) brook running alongside the sidewalks. There is less garbage here than I saw in Bulgaria, but I guess I live in a rich part of town, and so that could be the reason. The mountains in the distance are GIANT and snowcapped,I wasn't able to get a good picture because it's pretty hazy out. There are stray dogs running around, but they are all small and cute and not scary, which is always good.
I really speak no Russian, but unlike in Finland where I could get around with English most everywhere, no many people here speak English. I managed to buy a phone card with just a few Russian words and then some Bulgarian mixed in, and I don't think he ripped me off either. I've been using my byki.com Russian computer flashcards when there's power and I'm awake at night because I'd like to get as fluent as possible! I can take one-on-one lessons at the school. Tomorrow I have to get that figured out. The other teachers say they take only 2 hours per week, but I would like to take a lot more than that if possible. I'll only teach 21 hours a week, and the other teachers say lesson planing doesn't take very long, so rather than doing nothing like I've done the past days, I'd like to take Russian whenever I can. The people here are very friendly and seem to be interested in foreigners. I've been told that it's safe for me to walk around during the day by myself, and so far I've never felt uncomfortable or scared while I've been wandering around.
I met with the director of the school on Friday, and I saw the classroom I'll be teaching in. I'll have 8 students per class, 4 classes a day, 4 days a week. Beginning levels are taught by local teachers, so I'll have classes from Elementary-Advanced. Most of the are teenagers, but some adults take evening classes. If needed, I will have to teach a 5th class some months, but I'd get an additional 150$ for that month. So rather than having an academic year, classes meet all the time and are one month long. So every month I will have new students and possibly new levels. That means I'll get to cover a vast array of topics and meet a lot of different students, which will make things less likely to be repetitive. I start teaching on Sept 29th, so I have a whole week (starting tomorrow) of classroom observations so I can get an idea of how classes are organized.
My first night I went out with the other teachers and English-speaking Russian students here. The first restaurant we went to wasn't serving food. Then the pizza place we went to didn't have pizza. We finally ended up at a Turkish restaurant which had no alcohol because of Ramadan, but we stayed there anyways because we were sick of wandering all around looking for food. I had chicken kebab (like meat on a stick, rather than a doener). It was fine. There was a Kyrgyz guy who is friends with the teachers. He went to college in Montana and visited both Connecticut and the Twin Cities last summer! So we had a lot to talk about. The other teachers are all interesting and cool. Since that night I haven't seen much of them, but Tuesday and Friday nights are "going out" nights, so I'll see them again in a few days.
My apartment is just fine. My bed is actually a fold-down couch, but it's really comfortable. I have a table, a stool, an ancient gas stove, a sink, a cupboard, an easy chair, and a wardrobe. I share a bathroom, shower, washer, and fridge with another new teacher, Nicola, who just arrived this morning. I haven't even met her yet. Our shower is super short so I have to slouch the whole time and be careful not to hit my elbows on the ceiling. But the water and gas don't run on electricity, so there are still some things I can do when the power goes out!
I will post pictures at some point. I'm not sure these internet cafes (called internet clubs here) have USB ports accessible, but Jane puts lots of pics online, so I'll have to ask her where she does it. For now, you'll just have to imagine.
It's hot and sunny here, but the leaves are changing.
So that's all for now!
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