FROZE TO THE BONE IN MY IGLOO HOME...COUNTING THE DAYS TIL THE ICE TURNS GREEN.

I can't say I've been too busy with my 'o so important' job this past month (we've had a holiday break from school for the past two weeks). On the other hand, I've definitely been busy with this thing called 'adjustment' to my new site. So not everything has been great, and not everything has been terrible...let's just say I've begun to accept this village as my home for the next few years. The positive side of spending the holidays away from home was the chance to get to know my new friends a lot better... i.e. the chance for us new volunteers to test out our vodka shot count capabilities together (go figure, mine is not so high). I spent New Years in Zhelesinka, the village where volunteers Jeff (the Russian scholar from Seattle) and Megan (my fellow NYU buddy) live, about three hours north of Pavlodar. Highlights included getting beaten up by a two-year old, my first co-ed banya, dodging invitations from crazies taking shots in cars, champagne toasts in a magazine, the masquerade where we were the only ones wearing masks, and star gazing in -25 degree weather.

It was a great trip, but coming back was even better because I have a now have a new and much improved host family. They have had a few volunteers live with them in the past-so they know how to keep me happy and are used to American-isms. I have a host dad, a host mom (who just left to jet-set in Russian for two months) and Anya and Pasha--two crazy newlyweds who fight all the time but take good care of me, and buy me all the vegetarian food I want. Tuesday night, Anya even ventured to the disco with us, and didn't get too annoyed with me when I made new 'friends' at a restaurant who wanted to take shots with the Americans and invite us to their 'zona relaxation' outside of the city-- although her and Pasha continue to tease me about it every day since.

My counterpart and I are still dealing with our constant love/hate relationship, but she did tell me a Kazakh saying that I think is worth sharing. 'You are in charge of letting your spirit feel free'. We took this heart the other day when we went on a bumpy, icy, horse-drawn sleigh ride with friends through Pavlodarskoye-laughing and waving at all our students we saw on the way, who of course looked at us like we were crazy. I was freezing, but for once I didn't care.

Lessons start up again tomorrow, and this term I'll be adding my own 2nd grade class to my schedule. I'll also be teaching a community English class for adults, and continue to condition my girls soccer team for spring. With all this to look forward to...I'll try to make myself stop counting down the days til spring.