Teacher Training

I got back last night from Savva Orphanage. I am pretty tired after three full days of training. We felt that the training with the caregivers and teachers went really well. They seemed to really appreciate it and were already coming up with ideas of things we could do at future trainings. We talked about love languages, remedial students, behavior management, and learning styles. It seemed like although they had some previous knowledge of these topics, many of the techniques that we brought were new to them. I am excited about the relationships that I was able to begin building during this time. The teachers gave Ember, myself, and our translator each a beautiful teapot with piali (tea cups). It was humbling to receive such a beautiful gift for a few hours of training.

I will be here in Taraz for a couple days. On Tuesday, I will return to Savva with Stever Mirer. He is a man that is from the USA that has been living in Spain. He is going to be with us for a few weeks helping us get some raw video footage. He will also be doing some training at some of the local orphanages, showing them how to take good video and how to compile the raw footage into a project. We will return from Savva on Thursday.

The Interlink Blog has an update on how the delegation is doing at Savva.

Savva Teacher Training

I leave tomorrow to go to Savva Orphanage. I will be there for four days in conjunction with the delegation from the States that will be doing a camp. Ember and I will be providing three days of training to the staff of the orphanage. We are hoping that this will be a time where we can encourage the staff there and get a better understanding for how we can best serve them in the future. I am really excited to be able to spend this time with them. I hope that when we are finished, they will realize that we care for them, not just the children that they work with.

For those of you that were wondering, my health is pretty much back to normal, except for still having to be really careful what I eat. My stomach still hurts on occasion, but nothing like it was hurting before. Also, my energy is back to close to normal, although still not at 100%.

I am really looking forward to these next few days with the staff and children at Savva Orphanage.

A Crazy Couple Weeks

Hi everyone! The last couple weeks have been crazy. We have had the Knauss family here. It has been so nice having them here. We are also preparing for delegations. The first one is arriving next Tuesday.

June 1st is Children's Day, so we did several things at the orphanages to celebrate and finish up our activities for the summer. The children will all be leaving for camp in the next couple weeks. We will start up our normal programs in October after they have settled back into school.

My favorite time over the last couple weeks was when we went to the river with our older kids groups at Saramoldaeva orphanage to celebrate Children's Day. I spent almost all day in the water with the children. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the younger boys swim. They would call my name, wait to see that I was watching, and then do some trick in the river. When they resurfaced, they looked to make sure I was still watching and smiled or waved at me. I enjoyed letting them show off for me.

I have put some of my favorite pictures from the last two weeks below. If you want to see some of the other things we have done, check out the Interlink blog.

Buying a Car in Kazakhstan

Well, I went up to Almaty last weekend and Beth and I were able to find a car and buy it in less than 48 hours. I thought I'd write some tips for those of you that might be interested in purchasing a car here in Kazkahstan.

1. Drive all day in the hot sun (with no air conditioning) to Almaty. This reinforces the idea that the new car should have air conditioning. Stop for a meal for a bit of energy before going on to the car bazaar to get a feel for possible choices.
Elapsed Time: 8 hours
2. Find a car that you like in the aisles and aisles of cars each sold by a different owner. Take down the owner's phone number and other pertinent info in case you decide it might be the car for you.
3. When a random seller assaults you and suggests you look at a Mazda MPV (instead of the Mitsubishi Delica), go ahead and see what an MPV looks like.
4. Get really excited that it might actually be possible for you to find an SUV looking vehicle that is left-side drive (unlike the right-side drive that we thought we might have to get) that is actually within the price range you were looking at. Don't show any of your excitement or the price will double.
Elapsed Time: 9 hours
5. Go to the hotel, freshen up, eat a quick dinner, and then go into town to look at a couple other cars that were in the paper.
6. After a movie and some sleep, get up to drive 1 1/2 hours to the car bazaar on the other side of town. Look at the MPV you decided you love, but pretend like you don't like it at all so that you can barter on the price a bit.
Elapsed Time: 26 hours
7. CHECK BRAKES and AIR CONDITIONING ... if the brake doesn't engage immediately and the air conditioning doesn't work, check out the beautiful MPV across the way that you didn't notice the night before.
8. After a thorough initial check, including driving the car back and forth in a 50 foot line, ask the owner if it is possible to take the car to see a mechanic. After you explain that no, you can't wait until Sunday night when the bazaar clears out, get in the car for the ride out of the bazaar.
Elapsed Time: 27 hours
9. Here is where the fun (and the miracle) begins. The driver calls a friend that moves a couple cars that allow you to get to a lane that has less parked cars than the one you are on. Then, drive slowly towards parked cars. When you reach a parked car you have two options, honk or get out and look for the owner to see if he will pull it to the side a bit. After the car is moved try to squeeze your SUV through this space with only a couple inches on each side. Drive under a tailgating tent (complete with men lifting it up). Finally, make your way out of the parking lot and onto the road.
10. Drive the car and listen for sounds. Drive it for a while on the bumpy shoulder to see how it handles bumps. Slam on the brakes to see how well they work and if the passengers are all wearing their seat belts. Push every button you possibly can and crank the air conditioning.
11. Take the car to a mechanic. Find out the small repairs that will need to happen in the near future. Convince the owner to give a discount (some for just purchasing the car and some for the fact that you will need to make a few repairs to the 11 year old car that you want to buy.)
12. Pay the man $100 as a down payment and agree to meet him at the bazaar the next day to complete the paperwork. The $100 ensures that he will not put the car back in the parking lot to try to sell.
Elapsed Time: 28 1/2 hours (only 1 1/2 hours after seeing the car)
13. Race to a car supply store looking for roof racks.
14. Pick up Beth at the airport coming in from her vacation.
Elapsed Time: 32 hours
15. Go back to the hotel, tell Beth about the car, print a document that can be signed by Beth (the director of our office in Taraz), stamp the document in order to make it official and get a good night's sleep.
16. Go back to car bazaar. Show Beth the car. Get her approval. Forget the documents in the car. Go to the notary that is on the grounds and sign all necessary documents, including purchasing insurance.
17. Drive away in new car.
Elapsed Time: 40 hours

We are extremely thankful for the new car. I took it up into the mountains to check it out on the same day we purchased it and it did a great job. It was pretty amazing how every detail fell into place for us to be able to purchase the car in a very short period of time - and less than 24 hours before the Knauss family arrived and took back possession of their car that we had been driving for the last year.