Moshing on the Marshutka

Hello Everyone!

I am doing well I made it safely with no complications. It was a long and lonely journey but I  guess that is best. My driver was nice and he brought all of my stuff back to my house while I was at Savva which was very nice. I got to spend my first day at Savva which was awesome! I spent time with the kids and as they were slowly waking up since I got there at 6am they would walk by. It was funny because those who knew me where not expecting me to be there and so when they walked by me they had to do a little double take and then they were like oh hey! and they came and gave me hugs. best of all I got to talk with Raya for pretty much the whole time! I also saw Sumit another one of my favorites, Ruslan, Faru! and others. and I got to talk with them almost all by myself!!!!!!! yay! that was so cool for me!I also got to eat my favorite breakfast of porridge! yum. after that I went home and met my host family. they are both very sweet and very nice and generous. I went to her nieces house and had tea and she was nice too and spoke English. She also had the most adorable chipmunk cheeked kids in the world! I wish I had a photo, but (Rachel these kids were definitely choco chip muffins!! and made Jordan's cheeks look tiny.) and (Matt, the boy was watching Legend of Korra, in Russian!!)ye ye! 

The language barrier has been interesting because it is measurably more broken down than the last time I was here. I can carry on conversations pretty well. I'm sure I sound really dumb still though, but of course they don't correct me on my grammar only when i say the wrong word and they are trying to understand me! they are both mostly Kazakh speakers so occasionally none of us will know the correct work to say! :) it's ok though that doesn't happen very often. I still feel so behind though with speaking because there is still so much I don't know or don't remember which is frustrating. I have to keep reminding myself I am blessed to even know the Russian that I know because some of the interns and people who come here don't know any language. I hope when I begin language lessons that will help. I really wish I remembered my numbers and verbs of motion! I know that would help me a lot especially when I am on my own at a store or riding the public transportation. By the way, yesterday I rode the Marshutka which is like a small bus that was an interesting experience considering I have ridden the bus in Oregon about well, once when I was little I could even tell you exactly when i did. There were so many people packed on and I felt like I was in a mosh pit and i couldn't get my power stance so I was falling over all sorts of people while being pushed around. It was one of those cross cultural experiences that I will never forget and will definitely take away from for the future. I know this is the first of many of these experiences!

Today was my first day at Interlink and it was pretty slow going at first but I got to go to Seramoldyva(sp) which my spell check just told me should be leaseholder so if you want to see the correct spelling please consult a detailed map and look at the southern border of Kazakhstan. Anyway, I hung out with Zarina and went to her English lessons which I will be taking over in May for a little while! It will be interesting because the little kids group speaks mostly Kazakh and I am quickly learning some words but man, i got to take it one language at a time!! Hopefully i will know both eventually. So that has been my stay here so far tomorrow I will be learning how to use the marshutka so I can ride it by myself which will be an adventure to say the least. I am looking forward to being able to plug myself in and see what will happen.It is so weird I don't even feel like i am in Kazakhstan. I just think like I am still in Oregon or something I don't know, I guess it just feels natural to be here. Maybe it's because I've been here so many times. Whatever it may be, the fact is that I am in freaking Kazakhstan!! oh ya! I hope all of you are doing great and staying out of trouble! Don't forget to skype me or facebook message me or e-mail. My e-mail ismari.russell@pcc.edu

REMINDER

Please use the "lingo" when talking with Mari on facebook, email, or on this blog. The lingo meaning please don't write out Ch$**ti@n words. Thank you.