Today was a big day. I met a baby cow named Miskha today, and even helped milk his mom! I had fresh warm milk right from the jar, fresh cream, fresh smetana and fresh tvorog. How amazing and delicious all the different ways that milk can exist! This was at the Principal's house in the small village where I am visiting at the school. They grow all their own produce. They produce their own meat, eggs, potatoes, beets, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, garlic, tea, grapes (which they make into their own wine), milk, cream, smetana, tvororg, cheese, berries. All they buy from the store is sweets, bread, flour, sugar, salt and speciality meats. They used to have sheep, until wool became widely available. It's amazing. Everything is so natural and so tasty. Of course it's not quite as glamorous as American "natural eating", but it is certainly more natural. Frankly, I was just in shock that families in the villages have the time to work and lead normal lives AND do all the house/farmwork. They used to carry water to their homes in buckets and heat their homes with a big, big stove. This was all still when the director was young, so she has seen the villages change quite dramatically (with stores, in-home water/gas/toilets/showers, hot water etc.) that she considers life much easier now.\ I shudder at the thought of cooking practically already made food on a daily basis! I like it here, but I don't think I would survive very long.
There was a major snowstorm today, so when we left the director's house to go to the English teachers house, we crossed the village and fields with a flashlight to see the road that was no longer there. When we went off the road (where snow has been gradually packed down by passing feet), you could fall into the unpacked snow all the way up to mid thigh. It was very deep! I had a good time despite the storm. It took about half an hour to get to the English teacher's house, and by the time we got there, my knee high boots looked brand new! They get so dirty in the city, but in the village they get a good washing by getting dipped so many times in the fresh clean snow! I like snow a lot, way more than sand. Today I saw some boys jumping off the school fence and doing aerial flips into piles of snow.
I added a new element to my language interviews today. I like my speakers to speak a bit in Chuvash before they take their Chuvash test (since our conversation is mostly in Russian), and I've been struggling with a way to engage them in Chuvash in a natural, not-awkward way. I found a project called Totem Field Storyboards, which includes a series of drawn pictures, without words, that are specially created to get people telling a story. I chose one called "Feeding Fluffy", where a man asks his neighbor to feed Fluffy while he's gone on his trip, but there is a misunderstanding about what kind of animal Fluffy actually is. It's gone off pretty well among the kids, and definitely gets them speaking Chuvash. I got in eleven interviews today, and hope to do the same tomorrow.
Better start doing my analysis - lately I've been listening to sound files until I fall asleep on my computer… Really just hoping to bring something interesting to the conference at the end of February!
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