(Thanks Ember for Taking these Pictures)
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Fun with Rakhym!
Every month we try to do something fun with the kids from Rakhym. Last month, we went to a restaurant together and then took them to the square. It was a special time with them. Two of them are sponsored by one of the coaches, so they had the added pleasure of spending time with their sponsor. While at the square, the girls roller bladed, while the boys played air hockey. The highlight of the night for me was beating Jason in air hockey ... I’m not competitive at all. :) We had a great time with them and look forward to spending time with them again next week.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Snow!!!!
I love snow! It is my philosophy that there is no reason for it to be cold without snow. As a result, I was really excited when we walked out of Ken's house on Saturday and found snow falling from the sky and enough snow accumulated to make small snowballs. Here are a couple pictures that I took from my balcony of our first snow.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
A Special Birthday Celebration
We celebrated September birthdays with Saramoldaeva kids during the coaching visit. It was so much fun to take several children out for lunch and to a car racing arcade afterwards. We had a great time. I think these pictures (taken by Ember) say it all.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Family Away from Home
As many of you know, I have been sick this week. I was basically lying down all of Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday with a frustrating cold. On Wednesday I was considering trying to make it into the office for part of the day, but I just wasn't sure it was worth the effort of getting ready. This is when my wonderful Kazakh family came to the rescue. My Kazakh mom called me and invited me over for lunch ... it actually sounded a bit overwhelming at first and I told her I didn't feel up to it. She then told me they were having Manty (one of my favorites), but told me if I wasn't up for coming over then she would bring it to me. She informed me that I needed to make sure I ate some hot food so that I would get my strength back. She left me with the command to drink tea and eat breakfast and then told me to call her and tell her what I decided about going over.
After her phone call (and several others from the office), I decided to go ahead and take a shower just to see how my energy held out. After my shower I determined that I had enough energy to go ahead and go over for lunch and then go to work for some of the afternoon.
I arrived at my family's home and sat and talked while Sholpan finished preparing the meal. Although she was exhausted and had had a really busy and tiring week, she kept talking to me and trying to cheer me up and pass on her energy to me. She told me that if you are sick and not with others, you tend to just be tired and not get well as quickly. She assured me that I had family and if I wasn't well enough to come over to eat, then it would be brought to me.
After lunch, as my energy faded some, they told me to go home. I told them I was going to go to the office for an hour or two just to see how I did, since I still had enough energy to sit at my desk and accomplish something. Aben (my host dad) came into my office at the end of the day (he works with me) and asked me what I was still doing there, just as my own father would have done.
As I look back on yesterday, I am reminded of how much my Kazakh family means to me. I feel that God has given them to me in order to care for me when my own family is so far from here. I have no doubt that I am a part of their family. The hot food (especially since it was one of my favorite dishes) gave me strength for the rest of the day. I am so blessed!
After her phone call (and several others from the office), I decided to go ahead and take a shower just to see how my energy held out. After my shower I determined that I had enough energy to go ahead and go over for lunch and then go to work for some of the afternoon.
I arrived at my family's home and sat and talked while Sholpan finished preparing the meal. Although she was exhausted and had had a really busy and tiring week, she kept talking to me and trying to cheer me up and pass on her energy to me. She told me that if you are sick and not with others, you tend to just be tired and not get well as quickly. She assured me that I had family and if I wasn't well enough to come over to eat, then it would be brought to me.
After lunch, as my energy faded some, they told me to go home. I told them I was going to go to the office for an hour or two just to see how I did, since I still had enough energy to sit at my desk and accomplish something. Aben (my host dad) came into my office at the end of the day (he works with me) and asked me what I was still doing there, just as my own father would have done.
As I look back on yesterday, I am reminded of how much my Kazakh family means to me. I feel that God has given them to me in order to care for me when my own family is so far from here. I have no doubt that I am a part of their family. The hot food (especially since it was one of my favorite dishes) gave me strength for the rest of the day. I am so blessed!
My family - New Year's 2004
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Hidden Blessings
Last Thursday afternoon I left for Almaty with the delegation on a train. It was one of the nicest trains I have been on. At 5:30 am (yes, in the morning) we headed for the airport only to find out that the flight was postponed for 24 hours. The nice thing about this was that they provided the delegation (and their translator - me) with a free night at the 5 star Hyatt and free breakfast and dinner.
Despite being a bit tired from the lack of sleep, the day was wonderful. It started with an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet. This included omelets, bacon, plain white toast, and fresh fruit. All of which were thrilling to me. We spent the morning shopping and then I went to the dentist. I was pleased to find that the dentist had technology that beats some of the dentists I have been to in the States. She proudly showed me that all of the products she used for filling my cavity came from the USA. She even took me on a tour when I told her I had worked in a dental office for a couple summers. After two hours at the dentist, I met up with the delegation at the hotel for the most exciting part of the day.
Dinner was a feast. We were able to order anything we wanted in a really fancy restaurant at the hotel. I was a bit under-dressed in my Oklahoma Sooner's sports suit, but I enjoyed it anyway. I don't know that I've ever had so many pieces of silverware on the table despite having been taught how to set a fancier table and knowing the difference between a salad fork and a dinner fork. I mean, three knives and forks at one time is a bit much. At one point I made the mistake of keeping my fork at which point the waiter chastised me and I quickly placed it back on my plate. You just can't take me anywhere. We ordered appetizers to share (why not when there is no limit to what you can get). Then the chef had a complimentary appetizer and bread brought to our table. We were then given some sorbet to cleanse our palates. This was followed by our meal, which was extremely exciting! I had tenderloin steak, onion rings, and steak fries. What a treat! One of the delegates commented that she could imagine me on Christmas due to my excitement over the food I was able to eat during the day. If found this pretty amusing, but she had a good point - it felt kind of like Christmas to me. It was a really special treat and I thoroughly enjoyed every bite of both breakfast and dinner (nope we didn't even consider eating lunch).
It's fun to see how even a delayed flight can be a blessing! I was glad the delegation decided to enjoy the day instead of give in to the disappointment of just waiting around to get back home.
Upon my return to Taraz, I decided to catch a cold. After three days of rest, I am starting to get my energy back and am feeling much better. During the next few blogs I will be playing catch up from last month. It was such a busy month that I didn't take the time to write about all the fun things going on.
Despite being a bit tired from the lack of sleep, the day was wonderful. It started with an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet. This included omelets, bacon, plain white toast, and fresh fruit. All of which were thrilling to me. We spent the morning shopping and then I went to the dentist. I was pleased to find that the dentist had technology that beats some of the dentists I have been to in the States. She proudly showed me that all of the products she used for filling my cavity came from the USA. She even took me on a tour when I told her I had worked in a dental office for a couple summers. After two hours at the dentist, I met up with the delegation at the hotel for the most exciting part of the day.
Dinner was a feast. We were able to order anything we wanted in a really fancy restaurant at the hotel. I was a bit under-dressed in my Oklahoma Sooner's sports suit, but I enjoyed it anyway. I don't know that I've ever had so many pieces of silverware on the table despite having been taught how to set a fancier table and knowing the difference between a salad fork and a dinner fork. I mean, three knives and forks at one time is a bit much. At one point I made the mistake of keeping my fork at which point the waiter chastised me and I quickly placed it back on my plate. You just can't take me anywhere. We ordered appetizers to share (why not when there is no limit to what you can get). Then the chef had a complimentary appetizer and bread brought to our table. We were then given some sorbet to cleanse our palates. This was followed by our meal, which was extremely exciting! I had tenderloin steak, onion rings, and steak fries. What a treat! One of the delegates commented that she could imagine me on Christmas due to my excitement over the food I was able to eat during the day. If found this pretty amusing, but she had a good point - it felt kind of like Christmas to me. It was a really special treat and I thoroughly enjoyed every bite of both breakfast and dinner (nope we didn't even consider eating lunch).
It's fun to see how even a delayed flight can be a blessing! I was glad the delegation decided to enjoy the day instead of give in to the disappointment of just waiting around to get back home.
Upon my return to Taraz, I decided to catch a cold. After three days of rest, I am starting to get my energy back and am feeling much better. During the next few blogs I will be playing catch up from last month. It was such a busy month that I didn't take the time to write about all the fun things going on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
