Time with Staff

Some of my closest friends in Taraz are the staff in our office. Although we work hard together, we also have a lot of fun.  Over the recent holiday, several of us went to visit a canyon known as the second most beautiful place in all of Kazakhstan.  It was a beautiful day and a fun time with friends.  We took lots of pictures and laughed together.  I am so thankful I get to enjoy living in Kazakhstan with such great friends!  It was the first time any of us had actually visiting this National Park.  What a beautiful way to spend a day off!  

Learning to Count

Each week I get to spend some time playing with a group of children with disabilities living in a foster home in Taraz.  Our arrival usually includes several children screaming my name and moving to hug me.  There is usually a constant clatter of "Sara apke" (aunt Sara) until I have had a chance to pay attention to each child.  Their attention then turns to the container of toys we bring.  It is hard for them to contain their curiosity.  Often I have to put the container in a corner of the room and sit in front of it in order to prevent each toy/activity being removed before we are ready to play.

Recently, my co-worker Almira has been going with me.  It has been a huge blessing having her join us.  She has such great ideas of creative activities to do with the children to reinforce the concepts we are trying to learn.  Currently, we are trying to teach them their numbers.  Although many of them can count to ten, they haven't yet grasped the concept of what the numbers represent.  We have been using snack time to reinforce counting by eating once piece of our snack at a time and then counting what remains.  On the last visit we started at ten.  We were able to get down to three or so before impatience took hold and we no longer counted before eating.  Not too bad!

We also try to incorporate fine motor skills into our activities.  It is fun to see each child figure out how to do things on his own.  They are very curious and good problem solvers when given permission to explore.  It is fun to be a part of this!

Enjoying Beauty

Over the recent holidays I had a chance to go hiking in the mountains with a friend from England who lives in a neighboring city. Although it is only May 5th, the temps probably reaching about 90 degrees that day. Thankfully, in the hills it was a bit cooler. Southern Kazakhstan is mostly steppe and  is dry and brown for much of the year. Although the browns are beautiful, my favorite time of year here is the spring. During the spring the hillsides display so many shades of green. The plowed farm land adds many different distinct browns and greens as well. On top of everything, springtime brings with it the blooming of wildflowers of all different colors and shapes. It is always refreshing to get out of the city and enjoy the beauty of creation. I wish you could be here to enjoy it with me, but I figured some pictures would at least give you a glimpse into the beauty of Kazakhstan.

Volunteering

My English club continues to participate in volunteering activities each month.  We have begun a tradition to visit one of the local retirement homes once a month to play Bingo.  Both the residents and the staff seem to enjoy playing. One week we didn't bring Bingo (we planned other games instead) and found that the residents really didn't like the change in plans. It is fun to watch my English club become more comfortable talking and visiting with the residents. The favorite prize is a candy bar!

Fine Motor Skills

Every week I spend time with a foster family who have over ten children with disabilities.  We play games and do activities.  I have been trying to introduce them to knew things and build their skills.  Usually, I am left alone with five or six children for the hour.  It is a lot of fun, but can be a bit challenging as each child has very distinct needs.  Recently I came up with the crazy idea of taking scissors, glue, construction paper, paper plates, and crayons with me.  We worked together to create faces on our paper plates.  Although it was super crazy and messy, we had a great time.  It was fun to see each child learn new skills.  I was especially impressed at the independence displayed by one young boy who was born with no arms.  By the end of our time, he had mastered cutting, gluing, removing and replacing the lid for the glue, and coloring within the lines.  All of this was done using his feet (and at times his mouth).

Signs you Have Been in Kazakhstan a Long Time

I have recently come across several things that would have bothered me when I first came to Kazakhstan, which no longer bother me.  So I figured it was time for another edition of "Signs you've been in Kazakhstan a Long Time"

• It no longer bothers you to eat out of a dish with others
• You no longer complain about the number of holidays in Kazakhstan, but take the time to figure out fun ways to enjoy each holiday with friends
• A one hour lunch goes buy quickly as you visit with others in the office while seated at the lunch table
• You are surprised (and maybe a bit dissapointed) if the party you are attending ends before midnight. 
• You find yourself noticing unclean shoes. 
• There are certain foods you prefer eating with your hands and you believe the statement "it is tastier when eaten with your fingers"
• When you sit down to eat a meal with friends or family, you expect to be seated at the table for a couple hours and find yourself sad if this is not the case.  
• The expectation of spring brings with it the expectation of freshly painted lines on the streets and freshly painted trees, both of which you have come to appreciate.  
• You find yourself wearing a coat when it is 80 degrees outside because it is still April and we wear coats in April and you don't want to get yelled at or told you will catch a cold.