I will be in the States from the end of January until the beginning of June. I am going to spend my first month traveling and then for the most part stay put in Muncie, IN for the months of March, April, and May (other than a trip to Oklahoma to see family). I would love to see as many of you as possible as I visit different States. Here is my basic schedule.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
And We're Off!
Today marked the start of New Years parties for us. New Years is the biggest holiday of the year, especially for children. It is celebrated in a similar manner to Christmas in the States. Santa Clause comes and gives gifts to children and they put up a tree. They have New Year's parties at schools as well as at the orphanages. As a result, it is a pretty busy time for us. I am also returning to the States in about 3 weeks (for about 4 months), so I have a lot to do to prepare to leave. I figured you might enjoy seeing a time-line of our activities for the next week or so.
This morning we started our orphanage New years parties with our youngest children's groups at Sarmoldaeva orphanage. Below are some pictures of our party.
This afternoon we celebrated November and December birthdays at Ulan orphanage. One of the staff at Ulan does such a great job preparing a beautiful birthday meal for the children. She teaches the older girls how to prepare food and set the table properly and while they are eating, she uses the time to instruct the children as to how they should behave at a party. It is fun to see how she uses every opportunity as a teaching experience.
On Monday morning we will have a staff Christmas/New Years party. We will play games and share a meal together.
On Monday afternoon we will leave for Savva orphanage (2 1/2 hour drive) for their New Year's masquerade party. We will spend the night and return on Tuesday.
On Wednesday morning the staff at the office will help us deliver gifts to the children at Ulan. These are the gifts that they chose when we took them to a local store.
On Wednesday night I will celebrate New Years with my Kazakh family. I am looking forward to getting to spend some time with them.
I will likely get to rest on Thursday and Friday (unless something else comes up).
On Saturday we will return to Savva orphanage for our monthly birthday party visit. We will spend the night and return on Sunday evening.
On Wednesday morning we will have a New Years party for the children at Saramoldaeva that are in our older children's groups.
On Wednesday evening we will celebrate New Years and birthdays with the kids at Rakhym.
I was telling someone my schedule recently and he said "so you get paid to have fun." It should be a fun, although busy, couple weeks. Soon, I will write a blog detailing where I will be during my time in the States. I hope to see many of you.
This morning we started our orphanage New years parties with our youngest children's groups at Sarmoldaeva orphanage. Below are some pictures of our party.
This afternoon we celebrated November and December birthdays at Ulan orphanage. One of the staff at Ulan does such a great job preparing a beautiful birthday meal for the children. She teaches the older girls how to prepare food and set the table properly and while they are eating, she uses the time to instruct the children as to how they should behave at a party. It is fun to see how she uses every opportunity as a teaching experience.
On Monday morning we will have a staff Christmas/New Years party. We will play games and share a meal together.
On Monday afternoon we will leave for Savva orphanage (2 1/2 hour drive) for their New Year's masquerade party. We will spend the night and return on Tuesday.
On Wednesday morning the staff at the office will help us deliver gifts to the children at Ulan. These are the gifts that they chose when we took them to a local store.
On Wednesday night I will celebrate New Years with my Kazakh family. I am looking forward to getting to spend some time with them.
I will likely get to rest on Thursday and Friday (unless something else comes up).
On Saturday we will return to Savva orphanage for our monthly birthday party visit. We will spend the night and return on Sunday evening.
On Wednesday morning we will have a New Years party for the children at Saramoldaeva that are in our older children's groups.
On Wednesday evening we will celebrate New Years and birthdays with the kids at Rakhym.
I was telling someone my schedule recently and he said "so you get paid to have fun." It should be a fun, although busy, couple weeks. Soon, I will write a blog detailing where I will be during my time in the States. I hope to see many of you.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas! Today we had a wonderful day as a team celebrating Christmas together. We all got together at Ken's house for brunch and continued on until about nine in the evening. I decided to put my pajamas on once we got there, since I don't think I have ever celebrated Christmas in anything other than pajamas. It was a relaxing time as we enjoyed the day together. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with family and friends!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Playing Mailman
I posted this story on the Interlink blog, but it was a story that I wanted to share with those of you that don't read that blog. It shares my experience as children received letters from sponsors and friends last weekend at Savva orphanage.
Last Saturday evening I got to play mailman at Savva orphanage. This is a task that I dread and love at the same time. Every first Saturday of the month we go from group to group at Savva orphanage. As we walk in, the children eye the box that we carry our letters in. No matter what other announcements we have for them, their eyes often stay glued to the person opening the letter box. I liken their anticipation to the excitement of a child on Christmas morning. On Saturday, as I read off the names of the children receiving letters, you could see their faces light up. It was such a joy to see how important one small piece of paper or a picture of their sponsor is to them.
It is the moment after we finish handing out letters that I dread each month. You can visibly see the faces of those children that did not receive a letter cloud over. It is especially hard when they have never received a letter. Those that have received a letter before understand that it takes time for letters to get back and forth. Those that have never received a letter often have some of their deepest fears confirmed - I am not special, no one wants to be my sponsor, no one cares. It is hard to read these reactions on their faces and answer questions like "I have written 5 letters in the last six months to my sponsor, why haven't they written back?"
On Sunday I had one girl sit down with me and show me her photo albums. She showed me a picture of her sponsors and told me their names. They probably didn't realize it when sending the picture, but that picture is in an album that holds all of her precious memories. These children read the letters over and over, show them to their friends, memorize the details, and keep them to read again later.
Although answering questions about why a child hasn't received a letter is very difficult, the joy on a child's face when receiving a letter reminds me why we do it.
Last Saturday evening I got to play mailman at Savva orphanage. This is a task that I dread and love at the same time. Every first Saturday of the month we go from group to group at Savva orphanage. As we walk in, the children eye the box that we carry our letters in. No matter what other announcements we have for them, their eyes often stay glued to the person opening the letter box. I liken their anticipation to the excitement of a child on Christmas morning. On Saturday, as I read off the names of the children receiving letters, you could see their faces light up. It was such a joy to see how important one small piece of paper or a picture of their sponsor is to them.
It is the moment after we finish handing out letters that I dread each month. You can visibly see the faces of those children that did not receive a letter cloud over. It is especially hard when they have never received a letter. Those that have received a letter before understand that it takes time for letters to get back and forth. Those that have never received a letter often have some of their deepest fears confirmed - I am not special, no one wants to be my sponsor, no one cares. It is hard to read these reactions on their faces and answer questions like "I have written 5 letters in the last six months to my sponsor, why haven't they written back?"
On Sunday I had one girl sit down with me and show me her photo albums. She showed me a picture of her sponsors and told me their names. They probably didn't realize it when sending the picture, but that picture is in an album that holds all of her precious memories. These children read the letters over and over, show them to their friends, memorize the details, and keep them to read again later.
Although answering questions about why a child hasn't received a letter is very difficult, the joy on a child's face when receiving a letter reminds me why we do it.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Packaged Meat!!!!
Going to S'malls always brings a new experience (good or bad). Today it was GREAT! Usually shopping is not something I enjoy, but today's new treat brought me an amazing amount of joy, considering it is something that I always took for granted in the States. Continue reading for my meat buying adventures of the last five years and the surprise I am so excited about today.
5 years ago
There were two stores that had quality beef that I tended to go to. One was closer to town and had a butchering block right behind the counter (kind of fun for the biology major in me). The second was a bit out of town and the butchering was done in a back room. Since the beef was butchered on the spot it was sometimes difficult to find different cuts of beef in the afternoon. So, we would have to plan ahead and sometimes had to rework meals based on meat shortage. The stores with good meat didn't have the best selection of other items, so we would usually have to go to three or four places in order to buy all our groceries. Also, the meat was not trimmed - just cut up into chunks.
3 years ago
Gross was built! We definitely got a lot of entertainment out of the name of our first big grocery store. They had a meat counter and had most of the products that we needed, but were a bit more expensive. They also had a limited supply of meat, because it was brought in sometime in the morning. Also, there were one or two ladies that worked the meat counter and if they were on lunch or away, you could not buy meat. They still sold larger chunks of beef and you had to wait for them to weigh your purchase, but it was convenient because it was close to the office and you could get other items as well.
2 years ago
Skiff moved across town and opened up the biggest meat counter in town. They had fresh meat most of the time. The main disadvantage was that the lines were usually fairly long. Their prices were cheaper than Gross, but it was located further from the center of town and their customer service was lacking. Skiff recently changed it's name to S'malls.
TODAY!!!! (Yes, I know I used a lot of !'s)
Today, I walked up towards the meat counter in S'malls and saw a separate meat counter. The meat there (pictured above) was trimmed into nice, manageable pieces and was packaged and priced. All I had to do was pick up the meat and put it in my cart! I bought two - you never know how long it will be this way, so you might as well enjoy it while you can. To me the small added expense to buy the pre-packaged meat is well worth it for me not to have to stand in line, cut off the fat, and trim the meat into pieces that I can actually cook with.
I also picked up a personal pre-packaged portion of one of my favorite salads! This is a new thing that I saw for the first time today as well. It's the little things in life ... what a good day!
5 years ago
There were two stores that had quality beef that I tended to go to. One was closer to town and had a butchering block right behind the counter (kind of fun for the biology major in me). The second was a bit out of town and the butchering was done in a back room. Since the beef was butchered on the spot it was sometimes difficult to find different cuts of beef in the afternoon. So, we would have to plan ahead and sometimes had to rework meals based on meat shortage. The stores with good meat didn't have the best selection of other items, so we would usually have to go to three or four places in order to buy all our groceries. Also, the meat was not trimmed - just cut up into chunks.
3 years ago
Gross was built! We definitely got a lot of entertainment out of the name of our first big grocery store. They had a meat counter and had most of the products that we needed, but were a bit more expensive. They also had a limited supply of meat, because it was brought in sometime in the morning. Also, there were one or two ladies that worked the meat counter and if they were on lunch or away, you could not buy meat. They still sold larger chunks of beef and you had to wait for them to weigh your purchase, but it was convenient because it was close to the office and you could get other items as well.
2 years ago
Skiff moved across town and opened up the biggest meat counter in town. They had fresh meat most of the time. The main disadvantage was that the lines were usually fairly long. Their prices were cheaper than Gross, but it was located further from the center of town and their customer service was lacking. Skiff recently changed it's name to S'malls.
TODAY!!!! (Yes, I know I used a lot of !'s)
Today, I walked up towards the meat counter in S'malls and saw a separate meat counter. The meat there (pictured above) was trimmed into nice, manageable pieces and was packaged and priced. All I had to do was pick up the meat and put it in my cart! I bought two - you never know how long it will be this way, so you might as well enjoy it while you can. To me the small added expense to buy the pre-packaged meat is well worth it for me not to have to stand in line, cut off the fat, and trim the meat into pieces that I can actually cook with.
I also picked up a personal pre-packaged portion of one of my favorite salads! This is a new thing that I saw for the first time today as well. It's the little things in life ... what a good day!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
My Birthday
Last Friday I turned 31 and really enjoyed the day. One of the things I liked most was that all day I had the opportunity to hang out with people that I really enjoy and wasn't the center of attention the entire time.
In the morning, I had the traditional Birthday tea with office staff. I made a pinneapple dump cake. It wasn't nearly as yummy as the peach cobbler I was planning, but since there were no canned peaches to be found in Taraz (and only pinneaple) I had to be a little creative. Everyone seemed to like it.
At lunch, the entire office staff went to Ken's house to celebrate Thanksgiving (I made sure everyone knew this had nothing to do with my birthday). We had a great time enjoying each others company and just having fun together as we ate. We continued a tradition that my family had started in the States and our team here had continued, of writing what we were each thankful for on a tablecloth. We pull this tablecloth out each year. It was fun to look back at past years as well as share with each other what we were thankful for from this last year.
In the evening some friends came over to play games. We even enjoyed a VERY lively game of spoons, which included Jason and Ken diving to get the last spoon, me being hit (yes, hit on my birthday) in order to convince me to let go of the spoon in Jason's hand, and me being used as a human shield for the spoons. It was a very nice day, made special because I spent it with friends. On Sunday, I had my Kazakh family over for dinner to celebrate. It was nice to have them over and spend time with just them.
In the morning, I had the traditional Birthday tea with office staff. I made a pinneapple dump cake. It wasn't nearly as yummy as the peach cobbler I was planning, but since there were no canned peaches to be found in Taraz (and only pinneaple) I had to be a little creative. Everyone seemed to like it.
At lunch, the entire office staff went to Ken's house to celebrate Thanksgiving (I made sure everyone knew this had nothing to do with my birthday). We had a great time enjoying each others company and just having fun together as we ate. We continued a tradition that my family had started in the States and our team here had continued, of writing what we were each thankful for on a tablecloth. We pull this tablecloth out each year. It was fun to look back at past years as well as share with each other what we were thankful for from this last year.
milking my spoons "injury"
In the evening some friends came over to play games. We even enjoyed a VERY lively game of spoons, which included Jason and Ken diving to get the last spoon, me being hit (yes, hit on my birthday) in order to convince me to let go of the spoon in Jason's hand, and me being used as a human shield for the spoons. It was a very nice day, made special because I spent it with friends. On Sunday, I had my Kazakh family over for dinner to celebrate. It was nice to have them over and spend time with just them.
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