Well, apparently, I've gotten in trouble for a few things while I've been living in this host family, and one of them was when I didn't stand for the host father when he came to the dinner table. I sort of knew that I supposed to, but it was 10pm and I'd been up since six, and since I knew I could get away with it, I decided to protest in a subtle way. After all, we don't stand for the mother when she walks in, and she definitely does just as much work in and outside the house.
This weekend we're taking a group trip to a dacha in the mountains or something. But apparently, it's just an excuse for most of us to get away from our host families. I definitely don't mind... Yesterday, the power went out, and kudos to Zahra, if I hadn't brought my head light (on her suggestion) the entire house would have been black because they (and the store) had run out of candles. Furthermore, there was a calf (or sick cow) carcass on the kitchen table which had been there for hours and my host mother was claiming she couldn't chop it up and refrigerate it until the lights came back on. I put the head lamp on her head, and off the meat went to a better place...or at least somewhere where flies weren't swarming it. Disgusting, is the only thing I can say. The director of the program came to visit my host family yesterday, we had stuffed peppers and chickpea soup. Pretty good, I must say. We then went to a soviet era hospital, where a cousin or distant relative is staying. He was living with us at the beginning, and always very kind, so I accompanied them to the hospital, where I must unfortunately say, the entrance smelled like sewage. The place where the patients were staying smelled like they had burnt incense in order to cover the sewage smell...but the guy we visited really needed company, I presumed, so I dared baring the smell and the scary nurses...
(pictures to come, really!!!)