Russian Puppet Show

Our class went on a field trip this morning and it was such an adventure that I have to share. It is one of those odd experiences that you could never have in America!

Our class went to a Russian puppet show today held at a local puppet show theater in Dushanbe. As far as buildings go, it wasn't too bad (for Tajikistan). It wasn't ice cold in there, like many buildings are here. There was an actual stage with decent seating and curtains...Wow! I was rather impressed, for Tajikistan.

These are some of my students outside the theater

Our adventure begins in a van, similar to this one. 

These little vans are called "mashrukas" and are one of the main methods of transportation in the city of Dushanbe; besides the trolleys, taxis, and big busses. It is cheap transportation without the crowds one encounters on busses. Our school is very small, so one of these vans is the best means of transportation for my class. We fit 6 students, 3 adults, plus the driver in a van like this one. We have taken this method of transportation multiple times, but this time was a little different. First off, the kid driving this thing did not look old enough to drive. Then he started driving and then I KNEW he shouldn't be driving, whatsoever. I cannot even effectively describe his driving, it was so awful. He was all over the road and nearly hit a multitude of cars!!! My fellow teacher, Cindy said she might have to change her pants after the ride in this van! Another thing that made this experience laughable was the music he played in the van while driving. He was doing the whole "gangsta lean" and pumping his rap music. Now the music he was playing had a lot of bass and a good beat, but it was American rap music. I must tell you that it is a common occurence for Tajiks to play American music and have absolutely no idea what is being said in the songs. This is a prime example. He was blaring a new Eminem song and some other rap songs with multiple cuss words, especially the f*!@ word, talking about banging women. Keep in mind we have a van full of six children aged 5-11. Yeeppp! Interesting! We made it through the drive to the puppet theater...about a 10 minute drive that seemed like eternity. When he came back to pick us up, I had our school's guard, Mahmud (pronounced "Mockmood"), translate that he needs to not play his music while driving. That being done, it still didn't help his driving skills. One of which consisted taking a wrong turn into an alley that was a dead end and nearly falling into the ditch. Needless to say, he will not be driving us anymore!! 

Now on to the show...

...This is a poster for the puppet show we saw


...and this is the show.
It consisted of a man who doubled as the narrator and Papa Bear, along with 3 girls, one of which you see here, operating various puppets. Here she is moving the puppet for baby bear. All of the show is spoken in Russian, so it was rather entertaining and I missed out on some of the storyline, but I got the gist of it. It was filled with songs (sung in Russian), Various puppet voices and sounds (in Russian), audience participation (in Russian), and the workers telling us to come back again (in Russian). The puppets were hilarious and the Russian dialogue and singing was hysterical. There was one scantily clad chicken mama puppet. She had on a dress that was very low cut and you could see a lot of her "chicken breasts?!" Yikes!!! Her little wing hands were so close to her body that when they moved it looked like she was fondling her own breasts. There were also chicks, frogs, and one groovy fox. Apparently the fox was the robber which I didn't catch on to until after the show and my students filled me in on this aspect of the show. Overall, a rather entertaining morning!!! 

Unfortunately this picture turned out fuzzy, but these are my students in the lobby of the theater with one giant puppet.

A mob of Tajik students pouring into the puppet theater.

The main entrance and sign to the puppet theater in Dushanbe.

My class with two teachers I work with in front of the theater...and me?...I'm taking the picture!

Okay...here's me in front of the Russian theater. I begged someone to take a shot of me.

This is our entire school of children...16 present, and a few absent. The majority of students are in the preschool class. A very small school, but I like it!!

Now, don't you want to go to a Russian puppet show?!