MERRY CHRISTMAS

Since sending presents from Kyrgyzstan is a little difficult, I thought that I would post a really great blog for everyone to enjoy. Merry Christmas. This week I spent the week teaching my students about Christmas and how we celebrate it in America. I taught songs and videotaped a few (too bad my internet isn’t good enough to post those), we decorated a Christmas Tree (the kept calling it a yolka which is what they call their New Years Tree), we hung stockings over the fireplace, we ate cookies, and we made and gave cards to one another. All in all even though this is the farthest from a normal Christmas I have ever had, it has turned out to be a really great one. The students have been really interested in American holidays and I really enjoy teaching them about we are similar and different. I will be sending the actually holiday with some other volunteers. We are going to have a big feast and have a lot of fun. I am really excited to go skiing also!
This past week I my health has not been doing very well. It’s just a cold, but it’s a pretty bad one. My host family thinks that I got it because I don’t wear slippers, or because I don’t wear warm enough clothes, but in reality I’m sure it’s because my nieces have been really sick and cough all over all the food at every meal. Today I didn’t even go to school because when I got there I couldn’t even think. I think one of the hardest things to do when you are sick is to think in any way shape or form and it’s pretty hard to avoid when I have to think so hard just to speak in another language. I’ve been hiding in my room. OK enough of a pity party.
The other day when I came home my niece and host dad we standing in the driveway and she started telling me about a small lamb. I had no idea what else she was saying so I just nodded and went inside. Then there was this box with a coat over it sitting our porch for a few days. Then the box moved inside next to my bedroom door. It stayed there for a day or two. Still not knowing what it was I came home one day and the same niece opened the box and started petting a tiny lamb. It couldn’t have been more than a couple days old. I guess it was born and it was sick so they were keeping it inside to nurse it. The box isn’t there anymore (I think that it is outside in the barn). But it was so cute. Not the first thing I thought would be in a box outside my bedroom door, but at this point nothing surprises me anymore. Whenever something surprising happens I just think to myself, “Of course that’s happening now… why wouldn’t.”

My nieces with the lamb.
Tonight at dinner my host dad suggested for us to play the silent game (I guess that game is universal). I think that this is the first time in my life I have ever won that game. This is one of the few times that not knowing the language very well has come in handy. Every time someone talked they would start a new round and we ended up playing 9 rounds. At the end they voted who talked the least and I came in first. Congrats to me! The whole time I was thinking… wow you have no idea how difficult this game is for me when everyone is speaking English, but in Kyrgyz I have that game in the bag!
Anyway, I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday season full of joy and family. I am doing everything I can to make sure that mine is a good one. I even had a tree (as my family knows I will not let Christmas happen without it).
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Brooke
PS we just got a dumping of snow and this is a picture of the view from my classroom window.