So… this past week, three people from Karaganda TV came to my school to videotape one of my classes. That was awesome… my kids thought I was a rock star.
Then, they asked, “Can we come to your apartment too?” And first I was like… NO WAY. That’s a terrible idea, but then, I thought… ok, sure. So, Nick and I just hosted three people from the TV station and they were so, so nice. We made pizza (half pepperoni and half pepperoni/pineapple) and chocolate chip cookies. They asked us a lot of questions about Kazakhstan and looked at all of the pictures we have all over the apartment. I hope they put pictures of our families on the broadcast! 
Before leaving they asked us, “So, after being in Kazakhstan for two years, do you FEEL like Kazakhstani citizens?” How do we answer this? We kind of looked at each other… and then talked about all of the things we do differently now after being in Kazakhstan, among them.. offering tea to guests constantly or asking people to take their shoes off… but, the main answer was no. We don’t. They asked us why we didn’t (like it really needed an explanation)… and we just tried to explain that we feel very comfortable here, but being told “ne nasha (meaning “not ours”) is a constant reminder of how we are still American and still guests in this country.
It might not be “our” country, but I can say truthfully that I’ve fallen in love with a lot of the people here and will be very sad to leave in December. I’m also pretty sure we could have out-chai-ed them. 
Love from Karaganda. <3
ps. it's still freezing here, but warmer temps are on the horizon!
