School happenings

We had Knowledge Bowl, and Science Fair, and the Hoedown.  I feel like my whole life is school. 

Knowledge Bowl was for the whole school, even the kindys, who had questions such as "What letter comes after D?"  The 8 and 9 year olds were paired together.  We first had a preliminary round in our classrooms to determine who would be in the knowledge bowl.  Two 8 year olds and two 9 year olds were on each team. 

At the first table on the left, the first two students Asana is my literacy student and Elijah is my homeroom student.  At the middle table the first two students: Jett is my homeroom student and Raina is my literacy student.  At the far right table, the first two students: Kanat is my literacy student and Kaylin is my homeroom student.  They are all American except Asana.  The middle table was the big winner!

Science Fair was fun.  We did our project in the classroom.  The project was concerning perception of taste.  "Will Sprite taste sweeter with more color intensity?"  The students used four cups of Sprite, putting differing amounts of food color in each cup from light to dark.  They asked other classes to come in for the taste test.  The tasters were to rate the sweetness of each cup from 1-10.  The students formed a hypothesis, recorded and analyzed the data, then looked at the results as compared to their hypothesis.  They printed the information and graphs.  They were glued to the poster board.

Jett explaining to Rose his results

Dr. Smith, our principal

Avin and Kaylin.  (I guess I just stayed on this side of the room taking pictures!)

Elijah and Miras with my assistant Nazira (all in black)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other grades did some really nice work.  The kindys experiments with colored water and celery to see how plants absorb water.  The middle school had some water filtration systems, eggs soaked in vinegar til they bounced, and elephant toothpaste.  The high school had observations of butterflies, their eggs and caterpillars.  One high schooler decided to find out which had more bacteria - tap water, snow or river water.  It was very interesting.  But it took all day.  We were instructed when we would show our projects and when we could view others'.  It was tiring.

Rose and I had tickets to La Traviata on the same day as the science fair.  What were we thinking?  We got to the opera house, but no one was entering. I thought, "We're the first ones here!"  It turns out the opera was cancelled.  It seems the orchestra had an engagement the following evening, so they couldn't play for the opera.  ?   Ok, maybe it was legit.  They were playing for the People's Assembly in the Pyramid.

The Hoedown was a fun night of dancing the Virginia Reel and other folk dances, eating chili and cornbread and Kazakhs pretending they know what the West is.  It was a very fun night.

I Took a Taxi

There is a curious custom here that speaks to the safety of this city.  When I told people I was going to Kazakhstan, many people asked me if I was going to be safe.  I assured them I was.  Later, a newspaper stated that Spokane was the 13th most dangerous city in America.  I believe I am safer here than there. 
     The curious custom I speak of is taking a taxi.  I'm not talking about a Yellow Cab or a company I call.  Ex-pats call them ghost taxis, Cossacks call them taxis.  It's just a random guy trying to pick up a few extra tenge.  Here's how it works.  I stand on the curb and put my arm out.  A car stops, I tell him my destination, he says yes or no.  If he says no, I put my arm out again.  If he says yes, we negotiate a price and once agreed, I get in.  I had not done this until today because I have almost no Russian and was afraid they wouldn't understand me or think they understood me and drop me off somewhere other than my destination.  However, the second car that stopped was two students, one who spoke some English.  I got where I wanted to go in about 20 minutes instead of an hour by bus.
     It's very common to see a woman, a couple or even a family taking a taxi in this way, day or night. 
     I feel very accomplished.  And I'll probably do it again!

A Night at the Opera

 The Marx Brothers did not show up.  

I watched La Boheme.  Before the show, I went online to find out what this opera was about.  I wasn't sure if it would be in Italian or Russian.  It was Italian.  Very kindly, the opera house projected Russian and Kazakh interpretations above the stage.  Of course, this did not help me.  La Boheme (The Bohemians) is about poor artists who fall in love, then she gets sick and dies.  The End.

This picture of the Opera House was stolen from the web.  I took a picture, but it is not as nice as this one.

 

It is quite a beautiful building.

At intermission I went downstairs to mingle...

 The seat I chose was not the best.  I could not see stage right and the woman seated in front of me had the nerve to sit in front of me, blocking my view of most of the stage.  However, the music was good, the orchestra and the performers were exceptional, in my non-operatic opinion.  I have not been to an opera before, but I did enjoy it.

Afterwards, I took the bus home, but had to snap a few pics on the way.  Here is the building that projects images.  The ghostly man is an historical figure, I suppose, though I don't know who.  Too bad the other building was in the way.

These lights are strung across several streets, but I have not seen them at night.  I like it!

Street scene with Khan Shatyr in the background

Later this month, Rose and I are going to see La Traviata, another opera about people who die.