Altynsarin School (#159)
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| This dance class performed two dances for us. |
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| The first of many beautiful songs sung this morning. |
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| A high schooler plays a kui (traditional Kazakh song) on the dombra (their national instrument). |
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| Cute performance of Snow White . . . and her prince comes! |
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| The director (principal) of Altynsarin School (on the left) is a no-nonsense leader who also will gently place a reassuring hand on the back of a nervous student as she performs in front of the class. |
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| The school library has many shelves and a few good places to study. It has books written in Kazakh, Russian, and English. |
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| This young lady performed a beautiful flute piece by Kazakh composer Latif Hamidi. |
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| First grade students recite poetry. They also sang and played the dombra for us. |
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| This is an open room where students can study or have a break. Notice all the chess boards! |
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| Students dine in the cafeteria before going home. At this school, lunch is free for 1st-4th grades and costs less than $2 for older students. The healthy meal are cooked here each day. |
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| You can see we were treated to a lavish lunch. |
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| All students at School #159 have swimming lessons twice a week. |
Physics and Math Academy (School #90)
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| This middle school class begins the performance by singing Chattanooga Choo-Choo. |
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| Fourth grade students perform a well-rehearsed ballroom dance. |
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| Another moving kui played on the dombra. |
Here are a few more photos from yesterday.
Around Almaty
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| This beautiful felt carpet is an example of what the nomadic Kazakhs would use for the walls and floors of their yurts in years past. The shapes symbolize rams' horns. |
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| Memorial to General Panfilov and the 28 Kazakh soldiers who died as they successfully defended Moscow against an invading German army division in World War II. Here it is known as The Great Patriotic War. |
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| This square stands faces Panfilov Park and the WWII monument. This afternoon a group of local college students was having a ballroom dance lesson. |
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| During the lesson, the teacher called out instructions from the top of the steps and blared music on a portable sound system. |
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| Almaty is famous for its apples! Here are some at the city's largest market, the Green Bazaar. |
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| The beautiful Orthodox Christian Church of the Ascension reminds us of Almaty's beginnings as a Russian outpost and fort town. |
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| I didn't get a close look, but the name of this little restaurant intrigued me! |
Mr. Dent,
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for your detailed updates from Kazakhstan. We've enjoyed reading them and discussing what you're learning about. I surveyed my students and they came up with a variety of questions for you and comments they’d like you to share. Here are some of the most common ones that I don’t think you’ve addressed too much yet.
Safe travels!
Mr. Kishore
Things We’d Like Kazakhstanis to Know
1. There are a lot of people from around the world who move to the United States. – Xinran, 6th grade and Saqib, 8th grade
2. We eat a lot of processed foods. – Jacob, 8th grade
Questions
1. When does school start and end? How many days a week do you go to school? – Nathan, Ryan, and Tairon, 8th grade; David, 6th grade
2. What do kids do in their free time? – Alec, 6th grade and Sam, 8th grade
3. Do people have a lot of portable electronic devices? – Tillar, Tannya and Tammy, 6th grade
4. What holidays do you celebrate? – Tyler, 8th grade
5. Do they study the Quran in school? – Saqib, 8th grade
6. What sort of patriotic stuff do you have to do in school? – Diana, 8th grade
These are great questions. I will answer these in the next blog post because I think many people will be interested in this.
DeleteDear Mr.Dent,
ReplyDeleteWhy do they have swimming lesson twice a week?
Christine
Dear Mr. Dent,
ReplyDeleteI was just wondering, do students ever get to do what the grown ups get to do and do they have the same rules as us ?
[Destiny] [ 6TH grade]
Dear Mr.Dent,
ReplyDeleteHow are the resturants different than our resturants? What kind of food do they sell? Do they have a burger king? What kind of sports do they do other than swimming? Do they have b-ball, baseball, football, or scocer?
by Jazmyn
Dear Mr.Dent,
ReplyDeleteThe Iavish lunch looks very delicious.
Christine
Mr.Dent,
ReplyDeleteAre there a lot of performances there?
Or, is it like a talent show?
Hiro
Dear Mr.Dent,
ReplyDeleteDid they know you were coming beacuse of the singing and danceing and Snow White plays? Don't you think Ramburger sounds like something Scooby Doo would say?
Mariah
Wow, they have swimming lessons? That sounds fun. Do they have a lot of pools or other swimming areas there? It seems they would since they have lessons for it. Do they have any other lessons there that we might not have regularly?
ReplyDeleteIt seems like a highly populated place
ReplyDeleteMr. Dent,
ReplyDeleteThe pictures you took are really cool! It looks like they (and you) are having fun. I also have a question: In the schools, did the teachers and students invite you and make you feel welcome?
- Madolyn [Mrs.Meggingson's second block :)]
Dear Mr Dent,
ReplyDeleteI really like the photo of the Ram Burger. I think that's creative. I also like the picture of the Memorial of General Panfilov and the 28 soldiers because it's about their heroic behavior. Also, the Lavish lunch looks amazing.
Dear Mr. Dent,
ReplyDeleteWhat type of food are the students served at lunch? How do they deal with allergies when serving food?
-Student
Dear Mr. Dent,
ReplyDeleteAll these events look so fun! I wish you had brought me with you so I could enjoy that wonderful lavish lunch. Also the kids at school #159 are so lucky that they get to swim.
Do they have events like that all the time?
Ketzal
Dear Mr.Dent,
ReplyDeleteAbout there cafeteria foods; Do they eat the same thing everyday or do they have choices like we do here? Do they use washable plates, bowls, silverware or cups? When they get their lunches is there horse meat in them, or do younger children and students not eat that?
-Rebecca JJMS
Was the Altynsarin school wearing costumes or uniforms? Is chess a national game or a game they enjoy? How big do the apples grow to be? Does your blog name have anyhting to do with the popularity of Kazakstan apples? Lastly, have you visited Ramburger yet? If so, does the name mean anything about the food?
ReplyDeleteMadison
The school's cafeteria looks like a 4 star Restaurant.
ReplyDeletePaul .R
Who are those people in the memorial statue? I wonder beacuase in the USA we put important people in the memorial and I want to know who those people are.
ReplyDeleteSwimming in school is cool. Why does school #59 have to swim twice a week?
ReplyDeleteWas there horse meat at the feast? Did you eat any horse meat? If so, how did it taste?
ReplyDeleteDo they do performances often? We have performances about once a month over here.
ReplyDelete