A Language Lesson

I know that some of you may stop reading at this point, because foreign languages don’t appeal to you at all, but please keep reading- I promise that you will find something interesting in what you will read! Here is the word of the week…. It is REMONT. Now this word carries a lot more meaning than an initial look in the dictionary. In America, we call it remodeling. Now this usually implies that the end result is going to look better than the initial thing, that the people you hire will work hard and until the job is complete, and that there will be some urgency with which the job will be completed.
Here in KZ, this is not quite the case. Work is done whenever it is convenient for them- which in my case was in the middle of the night, and I'm not sure that the end result looks better, although I am enjoying the one pink wall that I have in my living room. I'm not sure about the other rooms, as they wont be finished until right before I leave at the end of my two year term!
In spite of all of this, living in suitcases and opening my front door with a look of surprise each time- wondering what will be behind the door- I have actually enjoyed this process. I have gotten to know the painter very well... He is a believer... I know all about his wife and new baby, his hopes and dreams, and the fact that he has never painted an apartment before mine. So my little house will always have the distiction of being his first! We had a conversation the other day- on a day when I was very frustrated with him and the work he was doing. We were talking about what he and his wife want to do in the future, and he made the comment that nothing was holding him here in KZ, or in Almaty, or even on this planet. His point was that he is just along for the ride- wherever DAD wants to take him, he is up for it. I begin looking at all of my stuff and wondering if I really was along for the ride, or if I try to put my roots down wherever I can- just to feel like I have some sort of control of situations! I think I try to put my roots down! I dont know what the answer in all of this is- or even if there is one, but I know that I want to be the kind of person that can say I am just along for the ride- whatever that means.