Still Winter Here

It dumped snow on March 1st. Our snow had more or less melted, but now there is tons of it again. I like the snow when it is white and brilliant, but when it starts to melt and there is muddy slush everywhere and there is no place to walk without getting your shoes muddy and wet well, then I don't like it.

My regional manager visited me this week. She came and observed a class and met with the english teachers at my school. I was nervous about her coming not because I thought I had anything to worry about, but simply because she's my boss. She observed my 8-A class. My 8-A class can be unpredictable. Sometimes they are crazy and it is all I can do to get them to shut up and listen to me. Sometimes they're calm, so calm in fact they might all be sleeping with their eyes open. I wasn't sure how they would act with Natasha in the back observing and taking notes.

Usually, when there is going to be an "open lesson" as it's called, kids practice the class for a week or two before. They practice the class so that when they are observed, they all know the answers and they all know who will answer and everything works like clockwork. It's really weird. Watching a class that's been rehearsed is creepy. The kids are like robots. When I came for my site visit in November, two out of every three classes I observed where rehearsed beforehand. Needless to say, I didn't rehearse with my students. I in fact, didn't even tell them that there were going to be observed because I didn't want them to think about it. Really, I was the one being observed so they didn't need to worry about what they were supposed to do or say.

Natasha gave me positive feedback. She liked my lesson. She liked how I interacted with the kids. She flattered me by saying that she saw a "natural born teacher" up in front of the class. She said she could tell that I didn't change how I usually teach because she was there and she appreciated it. She even told the other english teachers at my school that they should observe me when they get a chance and use my ideas in their own classes. (I wasn't there when she told them that because I was teaching another class, but I certainly hope she said it in a tactful way because some teachers have been teaching there for more than 20 years.)

I enjoyed Natasha's visit. She stopped by my host home and we filled out paper work and chatted. My host mother knew she was coming by and she kept darting in and out of my room taking things out that she knew shouldn't be there. I had to laugh. At this point, it doesn't matter much what she stores my room. It just made me chuckle to see her frantically making sure that there was no excess of her stuff in there when Natasha arrived. While Natasha was there, my host mother invited me to stay with them for the next two years. I said thank you, but no. I'm flattered that she would want me to stay, but I don't want to in the slightest.

Election season is in full swing. Elections are at the end of March. These elections are a big deal because they will determine the party in power when the new prime minister is nominated. There are campaign fliers everywhere. The center of town is full of tents for different parties. Each tent hands out it's own newspaper and waves it's own flags and hands out it's own fliers. It's pretty crazy. Over night, a billboard appeared outside my apartment building. It seems that every night, more and more billboards pop up all over town. An english teacher at my school told me there are more than 40 parties on the ballot and that the ballot is more than a meter long. He said that more than anything, he's just confused.

Wednesday is International Women's Day. It's a national holiday so that means no school. Tuesday my teachers are planning on celebrating (ie: drinking wine and vodka) after school in the physics room. I'll go to the celebration for a little bit, but I won't be drinking because tuesday afternoon is English Club and I don't want to be all drunk when I arrive. That would just be bad taste.

Today is Sunday and I went to the bazaar with Yulia and Misha this morning. Yulia went and helped Misha buy a pair of boxers. (It was kind of cute.) Then we went to the meat market and I watched Katia at work. The meat market is gross. That's all I have to say. It's a big room with tables of raw meat. All I could think was: oh gross and, nothing here is refridgerated and, everyone is touching raw meat with their hands! It really was disgusting. There were pig heads everywhere and rolls of salo (big fat attatched to the pig skin...) and the ground where the sellers stood had bits of meat and intestines littered all over. I kept my mind focused on not looking disgusted and reminding myself that this is just a different way of life. Next time I go, I'll take some pictures. It's really quite a spectacle.