A more upbeat post
The last few weekends we have been busy and have been enjoying life a bit.
Two weekends ago on Saturday we went to a park to meet friends. The park is an ex-Soviet amusement park in which there are very scary non-modernized rides. It was winter so nothing was working, but in general I get the sense that in the summer it is a popular place to go and enjoy a day. I am a bit nervous about the old equipment though. The boys had been on the ferris wheel in September with other friends who live nearby. In the park is a really nice restaurant where we were able to order some delicious sashlik and continue visiting. Later that day the friends came over for a sauna and dinner. Somehow I forgot to take pictures.
As we will not be going to Latvia for the March holidays, we are looking forward to travelling with these same friends in March. We will go to Samarkand - see the sights, and then travel out into the desert where we will stay in a small hotel, hopefully get to see the desert bloom, hike in the mountains, and visit smaller mosques in smaller towns. There is also supposed to be an antique market where few foreigners go, so there will be a larger choice of objects. I am hoping to find some older metal items or artwork. My walls are all bare here as all my artwork remained in Latvia.
This Friday we went bowling with the teachers to celebrate the fact that the school reports went home, and everything in those terms was done. Yeah! The boys enjoyed the bowling, and as bowling alleys go it was pretty standard. The boys had their bumper lanes, and we bowled together. I was beaten by them pretty badly. Below you can see the scores:
On Saturday we went to watch the TIS senior team play against a local team. The main reason we went was to support Alex who is the coach of the team. The boys really enjoyed watching the older boys play, and are finally starting to understand the purpose of their many drills in their basketball practices. (Didzis plays basketball twice a week, and Namejs once a week.) I think that they are hoping to someday be as tall as their grandpa Rossman, and potentially be as good as he was! We will probably go again in two weeks to watch the team compete against the Uzbek International team.
On Sunday I left the boys with our landlady Nona, and went to a large bazaar called the "Hippodrome." At some point it used to be a racing track - at least part of it. I was looking for material for the couches in my living room, and I also decided to finally buy new dishes so that I could invite more people over at a time without borrowing dishes. It was a really cold day - -5 the whole time. After many locations I finally found a solid colored material that would match the living room, but did not buy it as I was not sure how much I would need. I will first have to consult the seamstress I have been recommended.
The dishes took about two hours of walking on icy paths, in the open market, comparing and deciding. I originally had wanted to purchase some of the older ceramics that are typically pottery of the Uzbeks. But they were not to be found there, except in one store. Those ones were just not right. For a while I thought I wouldn't buy anything because most everything else has this gold on it to make it more decorative. After a while of seeing the gold I realized that it was not as bad as I had originally presupposed and I found a geometric design that I liked. Most of the pottery has round cotton shapes which is supposed to be the traditional blue dish. Instead I bought the shape that reminds me of the Uzbek patterns found in traditional Uzbek silk cloths. Usually they are very colorful. What finally got me was the large plates that I found that had the large star in the middle. It made me realize how beautiful it was together. Additionally this particular set does not have the gold color as much as it is silver. The best part was the price. All in total about 60,000sum, about $45.00 or 23Ls.
Once I got home I was frozen. I crawled into bed with a book and warmed up.
Otherwise, yesterday the boys and I sat down to read their report cards. They were very good, and I am proud of how hard both boys work in school and that they are so well behaved. :-)
Two weekends ago on Saturday we went to a park to meet friends. The park is an ex-Soviet amusement park in which there are very scary non-modernized rides. It was winter so nothing was working, but in general I get the sense that in the summer it is a popular place to go and enjoy a day. I am a bit nervous about the old equipment though. The boys had been on the ferris wheel in September with other friends who live nearby. In the park is a really nice restaurant where we were able to order some delicious sashlik and continue visiting. Later that day the friends came over for a sauna and dinner. Somehow I forgot to take pictures.
As we will not be going to Latvia for the March holidays, we are looking forward to travelling with these same friends in March. We will go to Samarkand - see the sights, and then travel out into the desert where we will stay in a small hotel, hopefully get to see the desert bloom, hike in the mountains, and visit smaller mosques in smaller towns. There is also supposed to be an antique market where few foreigners go, so there will be a larger choice of objects. I am hoping to find some older metal items or artwork. My walls are all bare here as all my artwork remained in Latvia.
This Friday we went bowling with the teachers to celebrate the fact that the school reports went home, and everything in those terms was done. Yeah! The boys enjoyed the bowling, and as bowling alleys go it was pretty standard. The boys had their bumper lanes, and we bowled together. I was beaten by them pretty badly. Below you can see the scores:
On Saturday we went to watch the TIS senior team play against a local team. The main reason we went was to support Alex who is the coach of the team. The boys really enjoyed watching the older boys play, and are finally starting to understand the purpose of their many drills in their basketball practices. (Didzis plays basketball twice a week, and Namejs once a week.) I think that they are hoping to someday be as tall as their grandpa Rossman, and potentially be as good as he was! We will probably go again in two weeks to watch the team compete against the Uzbek International team.
On Sunday I left the boys with our landlady Nona, and went to a large bazaar called the "Hippodrome." At some point it used to be a racing track - at least part of it. I was looking for material for the couches in my living room, and I also decided to finally buy new dishes so that I could invite more people over at a time without borrowing dishes. It was a really cold day - -5 the whole time. After many locations I finally found a solid colored material that would match the living room, but did not buy it as I was not sure how much I would need. I will first have to consult the seamstress I have been recommended.
The dishes took about two hours of walking on icy paths, in the open market, comparing and deciding. I originally had wanted to purchase some of the older ceramics that are typically pottery of the Uzbeks. But they were not to be found there, except in one store. Those ones were just not right. For a while I thought I wouldn't buy anything because most everything else has this gold on it to make it more decorative. After a while of seeing the gold I realized that it was not as bad as I had originally presupposed and I found a geometric design that I liked. Most of the pottery has round cotton shapes which is supposed to be the traditional blue dish. Instead I bought the shape that reminds me of the Uzbek patterns found in traditional Uzbek silk cloths. Usually they are very colorful. What finally got me was the large plates that I found that had the large star in the middle. It made me realize how beautiful it was together. Additionally this particular set does not have the gold color as much as it is silver. The best part was the price. All in total about 60,000sum, about $45.00 or 23Ls.
Once I got home I was frozen. I crawled into bed with a book and warmed up.
Otherwise, yesterday the boys and I sat down to read their report cards. They were very good, and I am proud of how hard both boys work in school and that they are so well behaved. :-)
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