A typical (?) week for Kitty

Monday is usually my day off, but this week it included a special task for the embassy. Having read a pile of applications for a program in the U.S. for secondary teachers, I spent the day with a State Department official doing phone interviews of finalists.

Tuesday--teachers braved the rain for our methodology class at MGU.

Wednesday - Lee and I wrapped up our four-part series in the American Corner on Family Life in the U.S. with a presentation on taking care of elderly parents. American mobility and independence and the resulting variety of options for elder care that we talked about are a bit hard to comprehend for a traditional Tajik, especially a son. He expects that he will bring his wife home to his parents' house and they will all live together.

Thursday - back at the American Corner for a special event--a city-wide spelling bee. I was one of the judges.

Friday - academic writing class for students at MGU. Here they're working on an essay about expected behavior in a cultural event, and making sure their ideas are well organized.

Saturday - I start with my volunteer class is at the American Corner. It's a group for teachers and future teachers. Today we had a big crowd. The topic was teaching from stories. We did listen and sequence pictures, listen and fill in a time line, put yourselves in order, prediction, and types of discussion questions. We had a great time with the story "The Lost Son" as told in Eric Taylor's wonderful book published by Cambridge, Using Folktales.

My official class is at MGU, with some dedicated teachers who are learning more about teaching academic writing. We meet in the English teachers' room; here they are working on giving feedback on a sample essay.

It was a great week--especially after the end of the cold rain and the arrival of beautiful weather today!

Snowy peaks behind one of Dushanbe's ubiquitous construction fences.
At least this building project included a little park in front. Love the tulips!