Fun Times With Friends

Here are some pictures of some of the fun things I have been doing during my time here.  I am loving being back!

Dinner with my Kazakh family and the American team!

Time with Marina and Yura and their family!

The joy of being a human jungle gym!

Visiting My Kids

Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit some of "my kids" at the youth house.  The youth department here was hosting a birthday party for children with August and September birthdays and I was invited to go along.  I was able to see some of the kids from Savva and from Ulan.  It was fun to hear what they are doing.  Some are working, others are going to tech school, and others are studying at the local University.  It was fun to see the surprise in their eyes when they first saw me.  

Today is the first day of Ait (the holiday following Ramadan). Yesterday was food preparation day, so my family was working hard to prepare food.  When some unexpected guests came by, I was asked to finish frying the bread.  I was a bit concerned that I was trusted with such an important task.  I was a bit nervous about messing it up, but I think it all turned out okay.  It would have been kind of sad to have guests over today and serve them burnt or raw bread.  Beth, Vicki, and Barb are coming over to my host home tonight to celebrate together.  It should be a fun evening!  We might just have to get out "Just Dance", the wii game I gave my family.  That would be pretty entertaining.  

Update

Yesterday I had the joy of surprising someone that I used to work closely with.  She is a mother living in Taraz that has taken in four orphans as if they were her own.  Over the years we have helped her financially and spent time with her children.  I was in the office asking Beth a question when one of the youth department staff in our office mentioned that they were going to Rakhym.  Barb and I had finished our meetings early, so Beth suggested I go along (when she saw my eyes light up at the mention of Rakhym).  I hadn't been expecting to see any of "my kids" until today, so this was a special treat.  

When we arrived at their house Shirinkul Apke (the mom) saw me from the window and came running out of the house without even taking the time to rinse the soap off her hands.  The youth department staff were taking the boys to buy suits and suggested that I could stay and visit with Mom while they were gone.  I had a great visit!  I got to catch up on their lives and catch her up on my life and all her friends in the States.  Today I get to go to one of the orphanages in the morning and to a birthday party at the youth house in the afternoon!  I can't wait!

Barb and I have arrived safely in Almaty and have the shortest leg of our trip to go. Here are some of my observations from the trip so far.

• I am a much better traveler than I used to be. I have learned how to keep myself entertained during the long trip.
• It is unwise to serve cabbage in an airplane meal.
• Traveling to Kazakhstan in September is far better than traveling in July. I had a whole row to myself on the second leg.
• I sleep better when lying horizontally than sitting in a chair.
• When the majority of the world (drive/walk on right side) and those in the UK (drive/walk on left side) collide in one airport collide can be the appropriate description.
• Playing slap games on an airplane when you are over 18 can be found slightly annoying by other passengers.
• An airport is a good place to get homework reading completed.
• The trip through the UK (one six hour flight, a seven hour layover, and a seven hour flight) is much more efficient than my past trips through Amsterdam. It also helps that it was cheaper.
• I am ignorant when it comes to the coins of the UK. I had a handfull of coins that I had received in change and needed to buy something that I thought was half a pound. I finally held up a coin and asked the seller what it was. When she said a pound, I guessed that it would cover the item that she said was 50 something (which I have figured out is similar in meaning to cent).
• I am also ignorant when it comes to the rules for tipping a waiter in the UK.
• Mary Poppins is still a great movie, especially the “I love to laugh” song!
• Knowing the end of a movie decreases the stress/anticipation of the rest of the movie and is a little challenging out of context. They started the movies on our first flight about 30 minutes from the end. Since I had never seen “Letters to Juliet”, I didn’t know that it was not near the beginning, although I had my suspicions when people started falling in love and having weddings.
• The letter “r” and the word aisle, can sound similar when spoken with a rich accent. At five in the morning I found myself trying to figure out how big a plane was that would have “r” as a seat position until I figured out she had asked if it was okay that I had an aisle seat.
• If you work the check-in desk it is useful to know that most of the rest of the world puts their month in the middle when putting dates on important documents. As the passenger I shouldn’t have to explain twice why my visa is valid.
• The UK takes their tobacco warnings seriously (see picture below).

Two Days and Counting

On Friday afternoon Barb and I will get on an airplane headed for Kazakhstan.  I finished packing today (other than my carry-on).  By this point I am just ready to get on the plane and go.  However, I do have several things to finish up before I go.

We are making preparations for a Delegation Celebration on October 14th.  We will gather people together to hear about the delegations from 2010 and celebrate the great work that they did while in Kazakhstan.  It will be fun to hear all of their stories.  I have been working to help create a brochure, display board, and some other items that will be used to promote 2011 delegations.  The display board was a fun challenge.  I had never worked on something as big (size-wise) as that.

We have already heard that our flight from Almaty to Taraz will be delayed about 3 hours (not arriving until 11pm).  As a result, we will have about 15 hours in Almaty when we first arrive.  However, this is still a luxury compared to taking the train into Taraz (we will arrive at about the same time we would have if we took the train).  Hopefully the internet will be working as I will be trying to join in my fantasy football draft that morning.  :)

I will try to update regularly and let you know how things are going.  Thank you for your prayers.