Where did all the chocolate go…ooo…oooo….

In my mind, the title of this blog goes to some song about cowboys…

In any case, on this day (really September 30th although I’m likely to post this much later) we know where the chocolate went. To OLYA!!!

For her birthday, Sara and I pulled out the chocolate stops. Sara made her super easy fudge and I pulled my chocolate chips out of hiding and used the rest of my stash for authentic American chocolate chip cookies. I think she was happy! Here are some pictures from her birthday (one she shared with Jason). I think the crowns are a nice touch, don’t you? Those were also a Sara, Kiikzhan, and I special! Birthdays really are so much fun…though I’m ready for a break at this point!

EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Literally! A fault line juts into the southern corner of Kazakhstan. In fact, some say the earthquakes are a reason (one of the many) the capital was moved from Almaty in the south to Astana in the north. Supposedly I've already felt TWO earthquakes while living here. My host family told me to sit down for one (it was so minor you couldn't feel it standing) but I missed it. The other I woke up in the night and wondered why I felt "shaky" but was ill at the time and thought it was me!

So Sunday night I was laying down not yet asleep and RUMBLE! Earthquake! It felt as if I was lying on top of a old running dryer, the kind that rattles and bumps, but not enough to go anywhere! I looked over to see the water sloshing in my water-bottle on the dresser. The whole thing lasted maybe 8 minutes...just enough for me to go from thinking "COOL! My first earthquake!" to thinking "Ummm...what if it gets worse?!" I realized I had no idea what to do if the earthquake got worse! Till now that is. I've done the smart thing and found some tips (all logical) on earthquake behavior recommended by the Red Cross...

Yet another thing I never thought about in Delaware or Virginia!

Lesson from my mother: “A little paint and fabric goes a long way”

So this year the Polytechnic Institute gave two rooms to the Youth Impact Program. So Olya asked me to team up with her and Moldir to bring empty rooms to life on a low budget. We found some pictures we liked, they came up with a few slogans and we picked out fabric at the bazaar. Ideally we could throw in a few couches as well, but the thrift-shop-second-hand-couch concept hasn’t reached KZ yet. So we did our best and I think the rooms look pretty good! Here’s a shot from Moldir’s room.

Kazakh Teacher

I’ve been spoiled lately. My Kazakh teacher is now coming to our office since there are four of us enrolled in classes that occur one after the other. Here is a picture of my teacher (on the left), her assistant Anya, and her grandson. On a recent exam I did really well with grammar which is shocking, but not so well in vocabulary…. Here’s the problem.

Right now I have about 50 words to learn. I truly learn about five a week meaning they become a part of my regular vocabulary. But every week my teacher gives me about 20 new words…can you see the backlog? So generally I pick words that are relevant to me, words like “pick up” “cheap” “remember.” I tend not to memorize words like “ski” “to conquer” as I’m not likely to use those. Yea, guess which ones were on my exam?! I think I’m progressing, slowly but surely, like molasses…or a sloth...or an iceberg...get the drift?

Mr. Postman bring to me...

So Thursday I was at Ulan and we were handing out some gifts from sponsors and pictures from the carnival. We asked the children if they wanted to write their sponsors, but the truth is, many still don't have sponsors.

Sponsoring a child is about $200 per year ($50 each quarter). It allows us to do big projects, like the purchasing of mattresses, redoing old floors, installing new doors or windows. But the other half of sponsorship is letting a child know that they matter. On our end we have birthday parties for the children each month, and from the U.S. come letters (in the form of emails or physical mail) and gifts. I can't describe to you how excited the children are when they get these little things that let them know they are special to someone, somewhere. If you want to be a sponsor, see our website.

Unlocking the chamber of secrets

So the doors were opened (metaphorically speaking) and I got my “surprise” from the rooms with the signs. No, it wasn’t a pony. No, they didn’t keep the clowns in the conference room for 3 days like I guessed. What I DID get was a huge poster with pictures of my close office friends writing me sweet or funny messages. With a tiny apartment it was difficult to know where to put it, but now it sits next to me on the bed (topping my guitar) and I smile every morning at my friends’ birthday surprise for me!

Ramadan and the sheep on my porch

Living in Kazakhstan, I’m learning a lot about Islam this year. For example, did you know that Ramadan has occurred in the month of September? Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. During Ramadan, Muslims fast and pray. One night during Ramadan, translated, the “Night of Power,” is a night many will stay awake to pray all night. It coincided with my birthday this year.

Ramadan ends with Eid, which is the breaking of fast. For Eid at my house this week a lot of food was cooked and we had guests for two days! We also, in our tiny kitchen, chopped up a whole sheep from the village. I watched only out of morbid curiosity as my Mom dug through the innards and salted it down. The whole caboodle is now on our porch…who knows what the future holds for it now!