School is Back in Session

I just finished my first week back at school, which went a lot smoother than I have come to expect. I'm now actually teaching my English classes in the English classroom (the project of a former volunteer) and it's wonderful. Creating the right learning environment is so important; and since I've got English posters decorating the walls, I've instantaneously gained stronger legitimacy among my students. After a long winter absence, I've done a lot of reassessing, as far as my role as an English teacher here goes. Now that I feel I have a better hold on the daily nuances, I'm ready to give the students a quality experience with English. I just have to keep reminding myself that this is their third language - that, in and of itself, is impressive. Looking back, I studied Spanish for maybe four years and don't remember a lick. The American educational system could really benefit from some stronger mandatory foreign language instruction.

I'm a bit disappointed in myself for letting my blog entries slip. One of the main goals of Peace Corps is to share one's experiences with friends and family back home - to promote cross-cultural understanding. I suppose that after nine months, I've just become comfortable enough in this new environment to allow my old habits to sneak back into play, procrastination being the most prominent. However, know that I think of home often and I appreciate that anyone takes the time to check in on my happenings. Don't lose faith...I'll get on top of things.

For now, here are a few of the charming moments that outweigh any homesickness and frustrations that I may experience:

• I got into a play-wrestling match with my younger host brother and made him say, "You are the winner," in English. When he escaped to a safe enough distance, he turned around and told me, "I am a wiener!" - Never realized how easy it would be to mix those two words up...but I had to warn him how important it was to articulate;)
• My latest language fumble involves another dose of juvenile humor. I had discovered a favorite host breakfast cereal "Mankaya Kasha," so whenever I went to the bazar I would ask the saleslady, "Do you have Manka," and "Can you give me some Manka, please?" Then I would tell my host family that Manka was my favorite breakfast food. One day my host brother decided to break me the news: I wasn't making the correct nasaly sound when I said "Manka," so what I was really saying was "snot." If you make the substitution, you'll undersand why I don't even say this word any more...I just point. It gets the job done.
• I went to Lake Issyk-Kyl with a couple neighbors and they took me to a secret shore. It was about an our walk through farming fields and a mini forest. When we got to the lake, all stress just evaporated. The lake is unlike anything I've ever seen before - snow capped mountains that appear grey, blue or purple (depending upon the weather), glacier clear salt water lapping against the shore (with no water toys tearing it up), and one side that stretches so far across the Oblast that you cannot see it's shore. As we walked along, they started picking pieces of old clay pots from the sand. They told me these artifacts come from the village that was swallowed up by lake Issyk-Kul, long, long ago. Then, they started picking bones out of the sand. I saw my neighbor hold one up to his rib cage, imagining where it must have once been. It was nuts! I had a hard time believing that these where human bones, half buried in the sand, not in some sort of historical museum. They were just amused by my disbelief. We have plans to go back and play armature archeologists sometime soon, and this time I'll bring my camera!