A little about our day

When David walked into his class this afternoon at the university, he took off his coat and greeted everyone. Right away, one of the young ladies said, "David, your shirt sleeve is all dirty!" As David turned his head to look, everyone started laughing. Yes, they play April Fool's jokes here too! :) He had a really good time talking with the students today about the different roles of men and women in the Tuvan culture. They really enjoyed talking about that subject!

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I really had a good lesson with Snyezhana today. Sometimes, I think, "will I ever be able to learn this language???" Yet today during our session, I saw some glimmers of hope. I am determined to learn this language! It's just difficult getting practice in here. While the kids are playing outside, I try to practice the Tuvan phrases that I know with the other children or adults around. Yet, they will mostly just answer me in Russian, which doesn't help my Tuvan much. Just recently though, there is a middle-aged lady from the village who is living in our building. She takes care of one of our neighbor's children while the mom is at work. She is often outside, and she doesn't speak any Russian... none what-so-ever. So, I always enjoy trying to talk to her. At first, she just kinda looked at me funny when I tried to talk to her in Tuvan. But now she is starting to answer me and we can even carry on little (let me stress the word 'little' here!) conversations. I'm very glad she's here!

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Today, Micah got his first pair of shoes! It was about time! As it is now warmer outside, it is too hot for his snow suit and the little booties that go with it. David brought the shoes home this evening, and Micah thinks they are great! (He is just so thankful he doesn't have to wear Nina's old bright pink shoes anymore, which are several sizes too big for him! :D)

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I finally pulled out the kids' spring jackets today. As I showed Nina her 'new' jacket (Aria has worn it several years already), she was sooooo excited. First of all, it's pink, her absolutely favorite color! Also, she was thrilled to see that it has pockets. She excitedly exclaimed, "Mama! Look! My coat has 'buckets'!" (Pockets and purses are 'buckets' in Nina's dictionary. :D)