Stuff I've been doing this winter!

It's been a long time since I have written and there is a lot to write about. First, I will tell you about how my new classes are going. My classes are going good and I got good grades on my report card. Even though I'm in 7th grade which is probably a step up from the 6th grade challenge program I would have been in back in Seattle, I think I'm in the right spot. The only class that I've had trouble with has been writing. That is something that I was struggling with in the 6th grade program. However, I did get an "A" in my writing class which I am very happy about.

Second, I've made friends in my class and here are their names even though they might seem a little odd: Aditya B., Aditya M., Radu, Tengiz, and Tomoyuki. Both Adityas are from India and they speak Hindi, Radu is from Romania and speaks Romanian (before moving up to middle school I'd been friends with his younger brother Danny), Tengiz is from Azerbaijan and speaks Azeri and Russian, and Tomoyuki is from Japan and speaks Japanese even though he doesn't like to share it with us. Of course they all speak English a little bit, because Tengiz is in Intenstive English (IE), Tomoyuki and Radu still need help every once in awhile.

Third, for part of Christmas break we went to Sheki, it took 5 hours to get there from Baku. While there we stayed at a hotel called the Karvansari. The Karvansari was actually a place for the caravans of the Silk Road to stop and rest. In other words not much restoration was done because it was so freakishly cold inside. Mom stole all of the blankets which meant everyone else was freezing. In Sheki we went to a bazaar that had a Santa costume sadly places right next to it was a severed sheep head. Of course I had the pleasure of looking at the sheep head...and feeling like I was going to vomit. Also there we went to many museums where we got to do things that we would have been arrested for in the states such as our driver sitting on a bed that was several hundred years old and there were silks, etc from that time on the bed. We sat in a buggy from several hundred years ago. We can't remember who sat in it or why but we know it was somewhat important. Also we were able to put on medieval armor such as helmets with chain mail, a shield that we believe was old, too. Our driver wore an orange wig that looked like an afro. Our driver also took a gun off the wall and put the strap around his neck and was looking at it when the tour guide told him something, we don't know what she said, immediately following our driver looked at the gun and slowly tried to put it back on the wall. We went and saw stained glass windows being made which was cool and finally we went to the Khan Palace and saw the beautiful place.

Finally, for Christmas day we had a breakfast of chocolate chip muffins and strawberry cheesecake muffins sent from Mimi and Pa and Uncle Cody and Aunt Alona. We opened presents from Mom and Dad and currently we are still waiting for the other packages to come. That night we watched a movie and had a very good meal. Also, the weather here has been erratic. We've had lots of slush and rain but finally it has started to snow...a lot. There is probably a foot of snow outside right now but it's not snowing anymore, probably because it is too cold.

Well, that's all for now but my Mom says I will be writing more tomorrow. Ugh...