First of all, some of you might be wondering why you got private invitations to read my blog... basically the reason is that I'm applying for some jobs and I needed make myself invisible to potential supervisors... Hope it's not an inconvenience for anyone! I am also not trying to force you to read my blog--please let me know if it sends you annoying reminders and I will try to figure out how to turn those off.

Something amazing happened earlier that I'm totally thrilled about; an old friend from one of my trips to Russia that I missed a lot and didn't know if I would see again found me on a social networking site! Amazing. It was just so cosmic and wonderful to hear from this person... one of the best things that has happened to me in months! This person was one of my mentors here in Russia. Taught me a lot about life, it's always so great to find people in this big old country--because inevitably it happens, if you keep wandering the same old paths. I still remember running into a guy I knew from two years ago last summer on the street in Irkutsk. Russia is the land of coincidences.

ALso, I want to report on the baby that was born not so long ago if you remember. The baby belongs to Namdolmaa's brother (now I can use names, since it's not a public blog!) Samba, who studies in Novosibirsk. The baby, Angelina, is a beautiful человечик (little person). Earlier today she came for her first real visit to our house, so we smeared ashes on her forehead to keep the devils away on her future visits. I was trying to wash the dishes so I didn't join the family in the living room for baby-viewing. But then Namdolmaa came into the kitchen and told me to go look at the baby, it would make the young parents happy. I went in there to look at it... and it was just about one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I wrote a mini-poem to describe the baby's face:
so happy
grinning like a fool
saw a baby today
that was like the living christ
her face was like clouds
like water
like the moon

I guess maybe that's a little abstract or sentimental... but whatever! I'm not going to judge it too much. I think there's probably just an age when babies are kind of beautific (maybe all babies are beautific... I'm not an expert on the subject). Anyways, what got me was the way that the baby's face was in constant motion. It was never really one expression or the other, and it was going between extremes--extreme happiness to sadness, but without seeming at all stressed about it. It was pretty neat-o...

I think I'm getting into the flow of Tuva. Today I woke up without setting any alarm, stumbled around in my usual morning stupor, coffee, shower in the bathtub, let my hair dry, took the bus to work, and met one of my students on the bus. Getting off the bus the student said to me "I think we're late for class." I said "Class?" Apparently I hadn't read the schedule too carefully, because I had the second class and didn't even know it. Luckily we were only 5 mins late, and earlier than most of the other students. I wonder though at my sense of timing--there was no reason for me to go to the university when I did. I also have been forgetting to take my phone with me lately; and realizing that I usually know what time it is anyways--maybe by the sun, or whatever. But part of me feels like in Kyzyl there is a collective consciousness that is still very much alive and ticking--like something that all people had long ago, when people lived outside and took care of animals or gathered roots/berries/whatever. I realize that collective consciousness is pushing it a little... but it really feels that way here! I think before this year I thought that all places were somewhat the same. This year has blown apart that misconception and forced me to reconsider a lot of my foundational truths.

The class was good, considering I did nothing to prepare. First of all we started off by making a list of everything we've done this year, which was fun. It was nice to remember together with the students all the adventures we've shared. Then we made a plan for what we will do in our remaining month together. I made a list of all the things we could do and they voted. They picked: have a fake courtcase (mocktrial), sing songs, watch movies, and read short fiction. Sounds like a good month to me... Then (we had 3 hours of classes today!) I pulled out one of the discs from Ken Burns Jazz documentary, the disc about Jazz during WWII (disc seven I think). We watched that and the students really loved it. First of all, seeing black people is a novelty here (soon to change when the Nigerians arrive on Saturday), and the photos really show the black people as PEOPLE--artists and individuals--rather than the stereotype caricatures one usually finds in mainstream media of 21st century. Also, it was blended with great (sad, horrible) footage of US involvement in WWII. Victory Day is fast approaching, the May 9 holiday when Russians celebrate victory over Fascist Germany. So the lesson was timely.

The weather is warm in Kyzyl; almost hot. People are walking around with jackets, etc. It's amazing how sharply (quickly) the weather changes around here! Somebody was telling me the other day that there will be a flood soon, because there's a ton of snow in the mountains from the winter that will be melting very fast... we'll see...

In other news, Auntie Raya gave us 3kg of cucumbers and Namdolmaa bought 7 kilograms of beef today and ground it up herself in a relative's meat grinder. We are going to make the most dumplings I've ever made tomorrow; enough to feed 100 relatives who are coming to our holiday on Friday. I've been made the captain of dumplings, which means that tomorrow at 5pm I'm going to be responsible for turning all that meat into dumplings (with lots of help of course). The holiday is the hair cutting of the three year old, who arrived today. He has made up a story that the Russian babushka who lives next door to us is my real mother, and that she is a witch. Interesting story... then Serzhina, the ten year old, made up a story that there was a witch in the bookcase, that sent the three year old into hysterics. I have missed this hustle and bustle.

Tomorrow I'm going to meet an auntie, a recent widow, who is going to be my new Tuvan language conversation buddy. I'm looking forward to it. She's supposed to be nice, and I'm going to help her plant her garden. We are going to hang out every day for a month and only speak Tuvan. Then in June I don't work and I'm planning to go live in the Steppe with the family grandmother to learn Tuvan even better. Hopefully I will get brown from the sun.

That's all for tonight. I hope this post isn't too weird. All the best friends and family,

Love,
Riley