Atop a Mountain

I suppose there comes a time in every travelers life when they pause to take stock of the journey... I would say I've probably hit that point, at least I think I have. I've got somewhere around two and a half months left in this Tuva adventure; I can say that I'm not sure what the time exactly will bring, but I've got some good ideas and also (as of today) tickets home at the end of it all. Which is exciting in itself... every trip has to have an end, no matter how long and how interesting.

I suppose life here continues as usual... some frustrating things, but also lots of good moments. I would do well to focus on the good moments I think. First of all, I climbed the mountain Dugee (sp?) that hangs over the city with my students and had a marvelous time. So nice to get out into nature a bit... one of the frustrations I have always found of living in Russian cities is that it can be a challenge to get out into nature. Usually there is some way this is possible or a community of people who do it, but often it's tricky for a foreigner to figure this out at first glance. My approach to climbing the mountain was to ask permission to teach a class in nature. I had the students prepare short essays on the history and geography of their city. Then, when we stood on top of the mountain, they were able to tell about the city, with the whole thing laid out before them like a living map.

To tell the truth, it was really too cold to spend much time at the top of the mountain... but the climbing, the talking, the picnicking, and spending time with students was great as usual! Plus climbing the mountain fulfilled one of my dreams... so that was great as well!

Another interesting "high point" of recent weeks was the first performance of the English Language Choir I've been coaching this semester. This was one of my ideas for ways to make English more interesting for students, and to teach them some new material. We have been meeting once a week to sing songs in English... mostly folk-song type songs, some pop songs, some jazz. Anyways... I wanted to get the students ready for some kind of performance, but didn't know how exactly to go about it. Then, one week, a friend who is a librarian came to sing with us--and happened also to be a genius at organization! Quickly we were signed up to take part in a "Volunteer Action" in the city; thanking veterans of World War II for their service during the war. On Tuesday we joined a bus with some city officials, going around to the apartments of different elderly folks of the city and making surprise house calls. We sang them some songs and it was really nice... old people everywhere are pretty wonderful!

Some good things on the horizon as well--the Siberian ETAs are coming for a visit in early May, which should be a blast. Then later in May some of the guys from the English Language Office in Moscow will also be coming. And in the end of April we have the hair cutting party for Namdolmaa's son, which should be out of this world. And spring will be coming more and more, I hope. It has been a little warmer this week-although I wouldn't be surprised if it still snows a time or two before the big thaw. If I have learned one thing this year, it is that the Sharp Continental Climate is really different from anything I've experienced before. Temperatures change so dramatically here, and there are pockets of hot and cold. The temperature begins to change really quickly when the sun goes down, or goes behind a cloud.

ANYWAYS. That's all for now. Lots of love my kabanchiki!