Ordinary Days...Extraordinary Adventure

Life can sometimes be just ordinary here in Kazakhstan. But I have come to realize that “ordinary” for me…as I have come to know it can really seem like such an extraordinary adventure to some. For example, the other day I received a phone call from the receptionist telling me that the K’GB was at our office to take a statement from me about a matter involving a former student at our English Center. Now how many people get to say that they’ve been interviewed by the K’GB?

A regular part of my grocery list is buying “abresca” which basically refers to the leftovers after butchering a cow. This gets added to macaroni and fed to my dog since this is cheaper (and probably healthier) than buying dog food. The other day as I was dividing up the abresca into smaller bags, I cut up an esophagus because it was “too big for the pot”. It was routine, something that has become a part of my simple life here…and I chuckled as I thought of how many people would be able to just talk about such a thing.

Canning tomatoes, blanching beans, carrots, beets, freezing mushrooms, homemade sausage, making pizza from scratch, or cake that didn’t come out of a box…all a part of life in KZ. I have recently tried my hand at making beef jerky and I have decided that I will never buy it in a bag ever again.

Not Quite a "Butterball"

Thanksgiving is always a little different when you live in Kazakhstan (or any other foreign country) and this one was no different. We did have a great time though, just the three of us! It is amazing how much time one spends cooking for thanksgiving. We ordered and picked up two turkeys from a contact in the village and one look at them and you would think that they were chickens on steroids. Despite it's size, it sure was rather tasty!

Sara, Ken and I spent time on Friday shopping at the bazaar for all the needed ingredients, took a trip out to the village that afternoon to pick up the turkeys and cooked pretty much the entire day on Saturday. Our meal also included corn pudding, broccoli casserole, mashed potatoes, and three kinds of pie...one for each of us - pecan, pumpkin and apple. Of course...we did share and we definitely ate too much!

The rest of our time was spent playing games and enjoying some holiday traditions which Sara mentions more in her blog. It was a great time together spent with friends!

Random Events or Divine Appointments?

I always find it interesting when events happen that although frustrating at the time, you realize later that it all happened for a reason. The weather had been exceptionally warm (60s) the other day and by afternoon we had VERY high winds. Electricity was going out all over the city and since I was supposed to go out and set up to show a movie at PTL I texted Olya and asked her to call to see if they had electricity. No sense driving to the other side of town if they didn't. They did so I headed out. The minute we got there the electricity went out. So, we decided to reschedule and went out to dinner. The first place we stopped we didn't like the atmosphere so we went down the street to a different place. Three quarters into the meal a kid came in and was begging from the tables. He came to ours and we started asking him questions. He stated that his mom was out all the time and his father was in jail. He lived in the micro region that doesn't have much...most places don't have electric, gas or heat. Some buildings don't have windows. We told him to wait and we would take him and buy food. He had two friends outside waiting for him. We finished about 15 min. later and walked all three of them over to the store and bought some bananas, apples and samsa (potato, meat filled bread things). The one boy was 14 and homeless. He had plastic slippers and socks with a light jacket. The other kid lived with his grandmother. We gave him them a business card and told them to come to the office some time for some clothes and I gave the homeless kid my gloves. Looking back, I am glad we didn't have any electricity.

A Simple "Thank You"

Each morning driving to the office I pass the local "street cleaners". Starting early in the morning, individuals...mostly older women wearing worn orange vests are on the streets with short brooms, rakes, sack and a dustpan (often just a piece of cardboard) are cleaning up leaves and other debrie. I often pass as they are bent over scooping up dirt or raking the fall leaves. In just a few weeks these same women will be out in the frigid weather breaking up ice and shoveling snow. A thankless and an often dangerous job, I wondered if anyone ever expressed appreciation for the hard work that they do? For several weeks I thought about ways to say "thanks". So earlier this week when we were listing the house we have for sale on TV, I decided that it would be a worthwhile investment to have an "ad" run on the TV saying "thanks to everyone who works hard to keep our streets clean!". Even if it blesses just a few people, it is a simple way to say "thanks".

Snow!

I mentioned last week that I worked all day on the yard and it was a good thing because the next morning we had about 4 inches of snow! Nothing like going from a day where it is 60 degrees and sunny to cold and snow. Fortunately as of today it has all melted but I am sure that we are in for a lot of snow this winter.

I have been very busy working on updating a few websites along with writing curriculum for the Youth Impact Program. It has been such an encouragement to see what has been put in writing actually being implemented and making an impact on the lives of the youth we are working with!

All in a Day's Work

Although I think vacation days are supposed to be for rest or having fun, I decided that I needed a day to get the house winterized. While Ken was busy putting flooring in the living room I worked on the outside which desperately needed attention. It turned out to be 9 hours of raking leaves, putting plastic up and insulating the windows. Of course as always, it was a great time greeting neighbors walking their cows and sheep out to pasture as well as attempting to talk with my Russian speaking neighbor. We actually ended up helping each other rake leaves which was really helpful. Later this weekend I will touch up the fence.

The latest news from home is that I need to find either a new home for my horse (the chestnut thoroughbred pictured above) or sell her. Interested parties may e-mail me!

At work we are busy writing the Youth Impact program. This program is to teach life skills, employment skills and business training to graduated orphans. The more we interact with the orphanages as well as the graduates, it is so apparent that this program is needed. Most of these youth lack direction, are afraid of the future and don't have much hope for a better life. Fortunately this program will help mentor and encourage them and at the same time, give them practical skills for life!

China Reflections

This time last year I was traveling around China with my best friend Annie. Over 6,000 miles of amazing beauty, facinating people and interesting food. One thing about China is that there are people EVERYWHERE! There is an amazing difference between 15 million people (Kazakhstan) and 1.4 billion (China).

One of our greatest challenges without any language was to make food selections. Our first train was great in that the menu was in Chinese and English. That was one of the few times we had the benefit of an English menu. One particular time we went to a restaurant – drew pictures, made noises and hoped that we were going to get something with chicken. What arrived was a flaming wok with every part of the chicken that wasn’t edible – beaks, feet, chopped up bone, etc. That evening, we picked through what we could, ate the rice and tofu and settled later on for ice cream and cookies.

The terrain was absolutely beautiful! The best way to describe Southern China is “uniquely stunning”. The mountains are shaped like the humps of a camel and lush green plants and trees were everywhere. We took a bamboo raft ride down one of the rivers for an up close look at some of nature’s picturesque scenes. It was certainly an amazing trip!