Water Pumps, APA, classes...

After living at my permanent village life has become pretty routine.
My normal day:
At 8 AM I wake then trudge myself to the indoor water sink. Now sink is a loose term, the sink is just well water put into an object that looks similar to what a sink looks like. APA or grandma in Kazakh puts the water in the sink thing in the morning, sometimes its heated but sometimes its freezing cold, straight from the well. Its a trying experience as you turn the nob and wait for the water to hit your hands. Then its like college all over again but without the bathing, throw on the clothes you wore yesterday (in the winter this means 2 sweatshirts and a winter jacket) and start walking to school. 2 miles later Im at school. A newer looking building it was built with the help of a French sponsor company two year ago. Everyday I walk into the school with the incoming masses of kids, I then go and get my classroom key from the key lady. She's not really a front desk lady she just sits their all day with another lady and keeps all the keys to the rooms. Honestly she always has a group of teachers or other workers around her, its like having the water cooler at the entrance of your school. As I walk to my classroom and say hello to every female teacher and if I see a male teacher I have to shake his hand. Its the custom of all males to shake hands and

At 9AM classes start and each last 45 minutes with 5 minutes inbetween. Everyday I teach the 1st and 2nd classes. My situation is a bit different than most volunteers. See my school two years ago decided to teach one class of kids (25 kids) each year English 5 times a week. Classes in Kaz. are formed when the children enter the 5th grade these 25 children will stay together for 6 years, taking all the same classes and having the same homeroom teacher for the same period. With their friendships maintaining throughout life.


But back to classes, my kids see me 5 times a week, thats three times more than normal volunteers and teachers see their student in Kaz. They treat me like a big brother more than a teacher, so dicipline is a constant struggle. In must be the Tae Kwon Do part of me but discipline is not only required in class its strictly enforced. Class time is mine after class, I treat them like friends but in class I more like the devil. Sometimes though if I'm not feeling very good, I just have my counterpart (the lady responsible at site for my general well being) have a good yelling at them, she's through and through a soviet teacher. Meaning she can make kids cry by punishing them and she is good at it too, but she's a wonderful lady outside the school. Really I love her...

Around noon, I eat lunch normally potatoes boiled in a soup broth and tea in the equivalent of a teachers cafeteria. Costing me a me a whopping 70 tenge (ie 50 cents). This place located in the school sells all the basic material teachers and students needs and doubles as the lunch room. Its run by a good slightly overweight couple that has a daughter and are always chatting about the weather and the normal village gossip. That's two water cooler areas and counting...

School ends around 2PM for my classes and kids often come to my classroom for help in understanding of just too hang out. Usually I am grading homework and correcting mistakes. (I teach like they were 2nd graders, tedious but it works) Then I plan my classes for the next the next day.

Around 4pm I walk home, a nice 2 mile trudge with the cows as they begin their track home as well. Often avoiding the cow crap and stray dogs. I get home and grandma or Apa (in Kazakh) will ask me to get her some water. Now getting water is an adventure. At my house in Almaty we had a pump but here at site we have a bucket well.

Pumps and bucket wells both accomplish the same thing they get water out of the aqua filters. But I think I prefer the bucket wells. Pumps require too much effort with priming the pump by putting water in the pump and developing pressure. Usually you don't need that much water to justify so much effort. Bucket wells take almost the same amount of time for the same amount of water but its easier to know exactly how much time it will take to get water out of the hole in the ground.

Once Im done getting water I take a nap or I study Kazakh I read till dinner at 8PM though this time fluctuates by a lot depending on a lot of things. Thats my normal day, what a day, so exciting.