Nobody... Calls Me Chicken...

Real quick update on grub. Here is our Thanksgiving Meal (we actually had it this past Sunday):

-Rotissere Chicken (no Butterballs - at least fresh ones - here)
-Mashed Potatoes / Gravy
-Broccoli Casserole
-Green Bean Casserole
-Corn
-Biscuits

Amanda whipped up a delicious choco-pie. Thank you ShopRite for the graham-cracker crust!

Everything else is rollin' like the number 5 down Maryland Avenue. Busy with school. I am giving an hour and half presentation on 'ART' this Saturday - and I'm not talking Vandalay Industries... This past weekend, we went to a basketball tournament to see several KZ teams play. I was glad to go despite the slow pace of International Ball. Unfortunately there was no hustle, but great shooting! We also walked around some of the snow lined streets near the stadium and Kazakh circus.

I've also gotten a crash course on DVD Regions. For the less tech savy - DVDs are encoded by different regions - so for us in American - it's Region 1. Over here, Russia and former USSR are Region 5. On laptops and DVD players, the player you use doesn't like to switch back and forth (I think to avoid pirated DVDs, especially from China.) In fact, the player will lock you out of certain regions (as has happened to Amanda's laptop). So I've downloaded some 'region-free' software that I will try out soon. DVDs keep us going through the Kazakh nights and we watch a lot of DVDs in English (although made in Region 5 Asia). Amanda really enjoys the Scrubs Set I got her. I lean towards the more sophisticated genres, such as the epic "Ghostbusters 2." (Ah, Bill Murray - such a master of the theater!)

Here's Amanda concentrating on a movie, I think it is Blood Diamond (I loved it so much I got up and started doing laundry and taking pictures...)

A few realizations: 1)I haven't gotten a hair cut since I've been here (trying to pull off the Cole Hamels look), 2)Ironing shirts gives me the fits, 3)Under Armor socks are worth it.

Holler at your boy-ski...