Salut and à Bientôt

Salut,  The last few weeks seem to blur. I feel halfway out the door, halfway still inside. We finished our practicum! Jacob and I taught the students the cupid shuffle and “We Will Rock You”. We split the students into four groups, with each pair of us teaching the groups different songs and dances. Valerie and Zachary taught their kids Old McDonald had a farm and a kids' song about bananas and apples. Santi and Michaela taught them the watermelon crawl (a line dance she mentioned to me) and a song by Bob Marley. Alex and Tess taught them the macarena and tried to teach them Baby Shark, but the students, finding it too childish, decided to do a TikTok mashup dance and taught it themselves the night before. We all sang “this land is your land” together. Honestly, I wanted to teach them Party in the USA but was reluctant to hear the other older teachers’ commentary. After the songs were over, all the kids ran around with their phones, wanting to snatch selfies and photos with all of...

Salut,  I turned 21! The last week was mostly not notable, but I was excited to celebrate my birthday. Here, it means nothing to turn 21, which is unfortunate. My family had been cleaning all week for the toi, a large party/celebration. The masters as they’re called- or delivery/construction workers, were working constantly at night in the kitchen. Now it looks very modern, with a new sink, stovetop, cabinets, all of it. We got a new table, and a new fold-out couch and Eliza’s room got remodeled with a new bed, dresser, and wardrobe, but of course, my baike, Eldiyar, and his wife, Dinka (Dinara), took it over, so now she sleeps in the dining/guest room or on the couch or in our apa’s room until I leave.  The weekend was the most chaotic. I woke up on my birthday early to floods of people in the house. My aunts and uncles were there and borsok (fried dough, like puff puffs) and candy and tea were all over the table. My jenge жеңе (sister-in-law) had arrived. As per tradition, h...