One tradition they have here in Kazakhstan is the killing of sheep whenever there is a wedding, funeral, 40 day celebration for a newborn child, birthday, or holiday. One day about a month ago during recess time Nick came and told me that 3 sheep were being killed right outside our school gate. I did not witness the killings, but I watched in fascination as they hung the sheep upside down from a tree, skinned them, gutted them and drained all the blood out. They then put all the insides on the skins, rolled them up, and threw them in the back of a truck. The method that they kill the sheep is a learned art and called the halol method. (The younger generation have already lost this art.) They drug all the left overs to the garbage, leaving a dark stain across the packed dirt. When I walk to school I still see the stained ground and the sheep droppings. Are you having meat for supper?
I'm amazed that I got on my blog. It is generally closed down, so now that I am here I am out of words. I have been wanting to tell you that the thing I missed most about Christmas was the Christmas lights, but when I got back to Aktau they had Christmas lights up everywhere and just took them down a week or so ago. So I got my year's supply of Christmas light glory.
I'm still doing great and excited about coming home to the states for the summer. My school pays my way. I am coming back next year to put in my second year. After that I might try to transfer to another school to explore another part of the world.
Have a great spring.
Love, Rachel
