I want a cheeseburger

Well, I finally have the internet. I would have blogged sooner, but really life has kind of run stagnant around these parts. This is the first time I have been able to post directly after writing and not had a three day layover between writing and posting. The best thing about having the internet is finally being able to skype. It was amazing seeing my parents and some of my friends for the first time in 6 months. Technology never ceases to amaze me.

I have basically been awaiting the end of winter and the beginning of some PC festivities in late March. It's been a long wait. I thought the worst of winter had passed after some cool days in early Feb, but it came back full force a couple of weeks ago. My definition of "the coldest I have ever been" has been constantly redefined since I've been here, but I think last Tuesday will hold that honor forever now. I was walking home from movie club and was in pain for the entire mile and a half walk. It's not even the normal temperature that is so cold, it's this steppenwind that pierces everything. I am ready to see some green plants and look forward to venturing out into the steppe and measuring its true vastness.

I have been a little sick for the past two days and am convinced that here the sickness isn't the worst part, its people guessing what you did that made you sick. You are held personally accountable for your illness and the reasons for malady including but are not at all limited to:
forgetting to wear a hat, forgetting to wear a scarf, drinking cold beer (beer is fine but cold beer is an affront to god), leaving a window open for too long, sitting next to an open window in a vehicle, failing to eat raw onions or garlic on a biweekly basis, or (my favorite) not drinking vodka because it is a "prophyllactic."

Of course real reasons for illness like say, the germ theory are completely thrown out the window (though they must be thrown quickly as keeping the window open will cause a draft that may make you sick). I will not get sick from having 20 kids that i teach cough in my face, living in a house with sick people or eating from the same plate as 10 people as we chow down on some horse n' dumplings. Why is this you may ask... well I have been told numerous times that the frost kills all viruses and there is really no reason why you should be sick in the dead cold of winter. I try to refute with science... but my family apparently didn't get the memo.

Clubs and everything have been going well, and I am probably going to be starting a Literature/poetry club for some advanced students soon. I am really excited about this because it will be my first chance being able to teach in my favorite field and this is presumably what I want to do with my life. We will see how it goes.

Also I have been asked to co-facillitate a seminar for the rest of the education volunteers when we have our In Service Training, so I guess that means I am not too terrible at teaching. I am also supposed to be doing some seminar for librarians and teachers this Saturday, but I haven't really been filled in on any of the details... at all. Should be interesting.

The other day at a Russian lesson I unfortunately stared into the abyss at the true horror of Russian verbs... now I can never go back and the task of learning more is daunting. I think I'll just stay in my current state of broken grammar where as the linguist Mr. McWhorter states "makes 6 year old Russian speakers sound like Churchill" for a couple more weeks. If anybody wants to check out a great book on the English language check out his "Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue." It's pretty entertaining and attempts to explain why our language is the way it is and why it is comparatively easy.

Let's see any exciting news? I shaved my head and am waiting to see how that goes over at school. I miss pizza, hamburgers, Italian food, and steak most of all, and I have decided you are not a real man or woman until you have eaten horse meat off its own femur or shoudler blade... and what a femur it is (horses have such long legs)! I have become much more conscious of the anatomy of meat since being here and can spot liver a mile away (stop trying to sneak it in my food please!). I generally see what I will be eating on the floor or on the balcony a few days before I eat it and have a pretty good eye for the cuts of meat on goats, horses, and cows. Still I'd kill for some bacon.

It's looking pretty certain that I'll be back in the States in early August and should be spending a few weeks there. I guess I'd like to spend my travel days on going someplace exotic, but I miss my motherland too much. Plus after so much travelling around this country, I just want to relax. I'll have enough time to make another vacation next year.... This is me justifying my decision to come home for a few weeks. Umm that's about it. I am little more updated on news, though movies completely escaped my knowledge for 6 months and can't believe a Friday the 13th remake made number 1 in the box office. You leave America for 6 months and things go to pot. I hope to have these posts out with more frequency now that oo mynah Internet yest (Internet exists for me), but I also need things to post about. I'll leave you with the best Valentine I've ever gotten that was given to me by one of my students. I guess I'm not such a good teacher.

"You be valentine
you be sweetie chocolait
you be cat?!
Be my valentine"

Yours Drewly