10 November 2007

Halloween, Snow, Etc.

I'm in Bishkek for the weekend, trying to get plane tickets and visas worked out for my trip to India in January (Mumbai, Goa, and the southern Interior are on the current agenda). So my plane was delayed four hours yesterday, which I initially attributed to the general malaise that occasionally affects Kyrgyz public transport. A couple hours later, however, I found out that our plane was grounded because, even though it was 65 degrees and sunny in Osh, it was pouring down snow in Bishkek. When we finally landed, there were maybe 5 or 6 inches of the white stuff on the ground! I hadn't counted on winter coming for a few more weeks, so I was thrown for a bit of a loop.
Anyway, I've been pretty busy the past couple of weeks with the end of the first school quarter and then our fall break. At the end of October, I held my second (and last -- thank God...haha) Halloween party for my kids. My head nearly exploded because of grand event, as we lost our (reserved) location about 45 minutes before the party was to begin then were unable to locate a DVD player so we could have music then couldn't find any non-Turkish-techno CDs and, finally, had a mild riot when the ghetto-ly constructed pinata burst after one swing and candy went everywhere. But, as often happens, the anxiety brewed in the time prior to the event completely evaporated once the damn thing got started. I split my time during the disco dancing with my kids (in that slightly awkward teacher-getting-down-but-not-getting-scandalous-with-her-students way) and standing in the corner being a responsible chaperone and laughing to myself at the high school antics that occur during every school dance that has been or ever will be held for high school students. We had the initial gender-separated dancing circles which were eventually mixed when a couple of brave boys started teasing their female classmates; the group of too-cool-to-dance-so-goof-off-behind-the-stage boys; and the 'after hours' dancing done by the student council member who were helping me clean up. I think that, all in all, a good time was had by all...and I've got a request for a Christmas disco in December.