21st August

21^st August

Judging by the leftovers in the fridge, I managed to miss the eating of the sheep head last night. Thank goodness! Being late has its advantages.

Although, the reason WHY I was late wasn’t as much fun. The bus got a puncture and we had to wait 30 minutes for it to be fixed, and then another 30 minutes in the nearest town, getting the tire fixed again. This is because it would be foolhardy not to have a spare tire here, given the state of the roads.

It is nice to be home though, and I have certainly missed Beskol. The garden is fully ripe (does that make sense?) and we had cabbage, aubergine, tomato and carrot salad light night, all provided by the garden. Not bad a bad carbon footprint.

Now that I am back though, planning for the school year has to begin in earnest. Not simply because there is a lot to do, but also the fact that my two Kazakh co-workers have never really planned properly before. Lesson plans consisting of more than just ‘open the book and continue’ will all be new and scary for them. Wish me luck

The book I am reading at the moment is called ‘Understanding Islam’ and it an interesting book, describing many of the fascinating and misunderstood areas of the religion. I probably know more about Islam than I do about early Christianity now, and indeed, I would recommend it to anyone who doesn’t quite believe everything we are told in the media about the evil intentions of Muslims. The author goes out of his way to highlight the sometimes great void between what is written in the Koran, and what some people do in its name (drawing similar attention to Christians who do the same).

Something I read in here that is directly relevant to my life in Kazakhstan, covers a rather trivial act, but something observed every day. Just like in many countries, it is customary for people to say something, when someone sneezes near them.

In Kazakhstan, people are very quick to say ‘Sau bolingiz (“your health”, but used everyday to mean ‘goodbye’), and, as it turns out, “wishing someone well after sneezing” is one of the 6 obligations a Muslim has to his fellow Muslims. The others are greeting, answering, visiting when ill, going to his funeral, and positive wishes.

I have just been told that dinner will be at 7.43pm tonight. My sister is the only person fasting in the house, and she is hungry! Not a minute of potential eating time will be wasted.