1st July

1^st July

I discovered at 11.30am, as I arrived at school, that due to the painting of the halls, I wasn’t allowed to teach any English classes (I have been the only person doing anything at school for the past two weeks). I had two more weeks of lessons planned, which will have to wait till August.

By not reacting TOO much to this news (I had twenty children already lined up for class), I was able to get an invitation to the painting ladies lunch. This included a birthday, and therefore Vodka. At midday. I hate vodka, I might add (and not just for mum’s benefit), however, it is centre piece to all Russian (and therefore Kazakh) celebrations, and it cannot be avoided. Despite this, a fun lunch ensued and even the obligatory dancing afterwards, and I was able practice my Kazakh, as amongst the 10 people present, barely a word of English was understood.

The rest of the day followed the regular pattern (minus lessons) simply… Frisbee, bloody Frisbee! However, just as I was preparing for a quiet evening of reading (I have a good Philip. K. Dick Novel to finish), I was informed that it was my host brother’s birthday today. Which means lots of greasy food, and alcohol of course.

For what was my first Kazakh birthday (In that I was invited personally) It was actually a lot of fun, mainly due to the number of little kids who I was able to joke around with. The adults were the typical mix of non-English, a little German speaking people. But I was able to give my toast (Turan-kunna Kutta Bulson = Birthday Celebrations), and that went down well.

The meal had the typical feeling of a Kazakh event, which means lots of food piled onto the table, most of it meat based. You don’t really have personal plates, but just eat out of the large dishes on the table. It has a very informal, medieval feast like feel to it. Then there is the alcohol, shots of vodka for toasting, and glasses of beer for normal drinking. And tea, always tea. Last night I coined the phrase “Kazakh cocktail” (Cocktail is a Russian cognate, thankfully), to describe the vodka, beer and tea mix.