Friday, October 30, 2009
Summer is gone and Fall is back. We expect snow soon.
Here I am at the beginning of another post. For today you will just get the pictures. I will work on adding comments after we get moved into our new apartment. I was just reminded that the last thing you have seen from us is our rough vacation. Well, we have been busy as always and working hard on new supplementary curriculum for the school.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
A simple quiet vacation in Central Asia
Preface: This is actually Gina's post and words. I have taken the liberty of adding somewhat random pictures to the text and changing one word from "or". Enjoy, David
We had quite a vacation!
It started a week late because there were some other things we had to do. We didn't have a chance to call ahead and verify that we were coming because all of our Russian speaking office staff were already gone on their vacations. So, we got on a bus to Bishkek - the capital of Kyrgystan- and from Bishkek decided to take a taxi to our final destination on the lake because it would be faster than a bus. It was faster, until our driver tried to pass another car on the left while he was making a left-hand turn and we collided. Luckily we crashed just outside of Tokmok - the town where David was helping with the new school being built and the furniture factory - so we called up friends and someone came to get us. David had two cuts on his face, one over the eye and one under the eye, from his glasses.
Fortunately his glasses were fine, not even bent, good thing we bought glass instead of plastic, good things for the glasses at least, no good for his face. Anyway, I had whiplash and a concussion, bruised knees, and a cut inside my lip which swelled up nicely. The other passengers both had head wounds. The man in the front seemed to be fine except for a surface cut on the back of his head but the woman who had been in the back with us had a serious cut and a bad concussion. Both drivers were uninjured but our car was totaled. We weren't allowed to leave until the ambulance finally came and then we all had to go to the hospital and sit around there for several hours. David has some nifty Frankinsteinesque stitches framing his right eye, two on the bottom and three on the top.
The church members in Tokmok had an empty apartment they let us use for the night and we stayed there with the woman who had been in the back seat with us because she didn't have anywhere else to go. David's eye was a beautiful purple color but Nadia, the ADRA director, made some tea out of some weeds which David soaked cotton in and kept over his eye and that made the swelling go down. The color is almost normal now.
The construction manager in Tokmok is conveniently also a chiropracter/physical therepist on the side. I think it's more of a hobby than an occupation. He was really busy but he took five minutes to "pop" me because I was in a lot of pain from the whiplash. That was scarry. It sounded like "RELAX RELAX RELAX CRAKCRAKCRAKCRACKKKK "RELAX RELAX RELAX CRAKCRAKCRAKCRACKKKK "RELAX RELAX RELAX CRAKCRAKCRAKCRACKKKK. I wasn't relaxing very well. Amazingly! It helped. I haven't had stiffness or pain since. That afternoon, which was Tuesday, we caught a bus, not a taxi, to the Lakeside town of Bosteri where the church guest house is. We didn't leave till the afternoon because we heard that all the Pathfinders were there and we didn't want to arrive and find there was no room for us. When we finally contacted someone and were able to confirm that they were expecting us we jumped on the last bus of the day.
It was raining when we arrrived and armed with nothing but an address 
and our memories from a year ago we walked half way across town from the bus stop until we found the place. We must have been quite a sight, tired, swollen, bruised, and soaked to the bone.
The first thing we did was dry off, tell the whole saga in mime and poor Russian, and sit down to dinner with about 20 10-15 year-olds and their directors.
It was awsome! The guest house is a bit like camping
but with a nice big kitchen. 
There isn't any indoor plumbing
[with] hot water but there is a Russian sauna which usually had some residual hot water even several hours after the fire died.
One of my favorite parts of the guesthouse, after the sauna, is the flower garden
and several apricot trees
which are very fruitful in the summer. On Wednesday it was cold
but on Thursday we went to the lakeside - Issykul is a large salt water lake that is purported to have medical benefits for swimmers. David had been ordered to do some swimming for his eye. Unfortunately, our Kazakh sunscreen was ineffective and we returned from our day on the beach very burned. Friday we rode the largest ferris wheel either of us had ever seen,
David happily shot photos of camels, and we talked to a young man about bringing us two horses on Sunday because we wanted to spend the day exploring the mountains. Sabbath we were very glad to find our friends from Bishkek had arrived Friday night and even more glad to find they had brought aloe vera with them. We attended church, didn't understand much, tried to sing Russian Hymns Karaoke style, had a picnic in the back yard, and then enjoyed an English Bible study with our friends.
Sunday morning the boy did not come with the horses. We called several times. He didn't understand my Uighur. I didn't understand his Russian. We went to the bazaar
while we waited and bought honey. Tried Kymiz - fermented mare's milk- didn't like it. "Like beer" the smiling Kazakh man said in Russian, Yuck! Finally two boys came at 11 O'clock. They insisted on coming with us on our expedition so they climbed up behind us neatly seated on the world's most uncomfortable saddles and off we rode toward the mountains, bump bump bump bump.
The boys knew where a waterfall was. "It's very beautiful" they said.
High up the valley we came upon a Kyrgyz summer pasture, a yurt, a campfire, and several foals tied. "Come in and drink Kymiz" a smiling Kazkah man offered, he knew the boys and I heard him ask them in Kyrgyz how much money they had gotten from the foreigners for their excursion. We kindly declined his offer explaining that we did not like Kymiz. It took us three hours to get to the waterfall.
We climbed half way up
while our adventurous young guides climbed all the way to the top and happily waved at us. 
It only took us two hours to return trotting most of the way - the horses were clearly glad to be going downhill and toward home. My knees and calves gave out half of the way back and I couldn't post anymore so I sat limply in the saddle going bump bump bump bump. Even at a full gallop the ride was anything but smooth. We had to keep stopping to tighten the saddle because the horse knew how to hold it's breath when the boy was pulling the cinch. Once while remounting I got kicked. It was a good horse in the beginning and even responded to knee and reign commands but by the end of the trip it was clearly sick of the little boy with the whip who kept hitting it and telling it to go faster. The boys were fun, proof that you don't have to speak a common language to be friends. They giggled with boyish delight as they tried to get us to repeat bad words in Kyrgyz. I will never forget the picture of David bumping along on a trotting horse while wrestling with the boy behind him. Conclusion: Kyrgyz horses have attitude, and Kyrgyz boys clearly have unlimited energy and tailbones of iron.
We arrived back in Almaty on Monday morning after a ten hour all night bus ride with a drunk Russian man pressing his knees into the back of David's seat, saddle sore, sunburnt, bruised, and tired. We can't wait to just lie around home for a few days and recover from our vacation.
It started a week late because there were some other things we had to do. We didn't have a chance to call ahead and verify that we were coming because all of our Russian speaking office staff were already gone on their vacations. So, we got on a bus to Bishkek - the capital of Kyrgystan- and from Bishkek decided to take a taxi to our final destination on the lake because it would be faster than a bus. It was faster, until our driver tried to pass another car on the left while he was making a left-hand turn and we collided. Luckily we crashed just outside of Tokmok - the town where David was helping with the new school being built and the furniture factory - so we called up friends and someone came to get us. David had two cuts on his face, one over the eye and one under the eye, from his glasses.
Fortunately his glasses were fine, not even bent, good thing we bought glass instead of plastic, good things for the glasses at least, no good for his face. Anyway, I had whiplash and a concussion, bruised knees, and a cut inside my lip which swelled up nicely. The other passengers both had head wounds. The man in the front seemed to be fine except for a surface cut on the back of his head but the woman who had been in the back with us had a serious cut and a bad concussion. Both drivers were uninjured but our car was totaled. We weren't allowed to leave until the ambulance finally came and then we all had to go to the hospital and sit around there for several hours. David has some nifty Frankinsteinesque stitches framing his right eye, two on the bottom and three on the top.
The church members in Tokmok had an empty apartment they let us use for the night and we stayed there with the woman who had been in the back seat with us because she didn't have anywhere else to go. David's eye was a beautiful purple color but Nadia, the ADRA director, made some tea out of some weeds which David soaked cotton in and kept over his eye and that made the swelling go down. The color is almost normal now.
The construction manager in Tokmok is conveniently also a chiropracter/physical therepist on the side. I think it's more of a hobby than an occupation. He was really busy but he took five minutes to "pop" me because I was in a lot of pain from the whiplash. That was scarry. It sounded like "RELAX RELAX RELAX CRAKCRAKCRAKCRACKKKK "RELAX RELAX RELAX CRAKCRAKCRAKCRACKKKK "RELAX RELAX RELAX CRAKCRAKCRAKCRACKKKK. I wasn't relaxing very well. Amazingly! It helped. I haven't had stiffness or pain since. That afternoon, which was Tuesday, we caught a bus, not a taxi, to the Lakeside town of Bosteri where the church guest house is. We didn't leave till the afternoon because we heard that all the Pathfinders were there and we didn't want to arrive and find there was no room for us. When we finally contacted someone and were able to confirm that they were expecting us we jumped on the last bus of the day.
It was raining when we arrrived and armed with nothing but an address 
and our memories from a year ago we walked half way across town from the bus stop until we found the place. We must have been quite a sight, tired, swollen, bruised, and soaked to the bone.
The first thing we did was dry off, tell the whole saga in mime and poor Russian, and sit down to dinner with about 20 10-15 year-olds and their directors.
It was awsome! The guest house is a bit like camping
but with a nice big kitchen. 
There isn't any indoor plumbing
[with] hot water but there is a Russian sauna which usually had some residual hot water even several hours after the fire died.
One of my favorite parts of the guesthouse, after the sauna, is the flower garden
and several apricot trees
which are very fruitful in the summer. On Wednesday it was cold
but on Thursday we went to the lakeside - Issykul is a large salt water lake that is purported to have medical benefits for swimmers. David had been ordered to do some swimming for his eye. Unfortunately, our Kazakh sunscreen was ineffective and we returned from our day on the beach very burned. Friday we rode the largest ferris wheel either of us had ever seen,
David happily shot photos of camels, and we talked to a young man about bringing us two horses on Sunday because we wanted to spend the day exploring the mountains. Sabbath we were very glad to find our friends from Bishkek had arrived Friday night and even more glad to find they had brought aloe vera with them. We attended church, didn't understand much, tried to sing Russian Hymns Karaoke style, had a picnic in the back yard, and then enjoyed an English Bible study with our friends.
Sunday morning the boy did not come with the horses. We called several times. He didn't understand my Uighur. I didn't understand his Russian. We went to the bazaar
while we waited and bought honey. Tried Kymiz - fermented mare's milk- didn't like it. "Like beer" the smiling Kazakh man said in Russian, Yuck! Finally two boys came at 11 O'clock. They insisted on coming with us on our expedition so they climbed up behind us neatly seated on the world's most uncomfortable saddles and off we rode toward the mountains, bump bump bump bump.
The boys knew where a waterfall was. "It's very beautiful" they said.
High up the valley we came upon a Kyrgyz summer pasture, a yurt, a campfire, and several foals tied. "Come in and drink Kymiz" a smiling Kazkah man offered, he knew the boys and I heard him ask them in Kyrgyz how much money they had gotten from the foreigners for their excursion. We kindly declined his offer explaining that we did not like Kymiz. It took us three hours to get to the waterfall.
We climbed half way up
while our adventurous young guides climbed all the way to the top and happily waved at us. 
It only took us two hours to return trotting most of the way - the horses were clearly glad to be going downhill and toward home. My knees and calves gave out half of the way back and I couldn't post anymore so I sat limply in the saddle going bump bump bump bump. Even at a full gallop the ride was anything but smooth. We had to keep stopping to tighten the saddle because the horse knew how to hold it's breath when the boy was pulling the cinch. Once while remounting I got kicked. It was a good horse in the beginning and even responded to knee and reign commands but by the end of the trip it was clearly sick of the little boy with the whip who kept hitting it and telling it to go faster. The boys were fun, proof that you don't have to speak a common language to be friends. They giggled with boyish delight as they tried to get us to repeat bad words in Kyrgyz. I will never forget the picture of David bumping along on a trotting horse while wrestling with the boy behind him. Conclusion: Kyrgyz horses have attitude, and Kyrgyz boys clearly have unlimited energy and tailbones of iron.
We arrived back in Almaty on Monday morning after a ten hour all night bus ride with a drunk Russian man pressing his knees into the back of David's seat, saddle sore, sunburnt, bruised, and tired. We can't wait to just lie around home for a few days and recover from our vacation.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Christmas at the Language Center
We had been building up to this event for at least a month, since Thanksgiving. Christmas had finally come. At least our Christmas Friday Club. This was to be the last Friday Club Gina and I would be here for in 2008. It was a very big event. There would be two skits, a gift exchange, and graduation.
Masha, Svieta, Nadia, and Gina had been worked hard to write a skit that would portray the joy of Christmas, the gospel message, and tell the story in both English and Russian. It was a tall order but they had accomplished it.
Our director lead out this Friday Club announcing the different opening events while most of us got into costume and I rehearsed my lines.
Before the main skit the youth group again had a skit.
This time they told about a family who helped several poor and needy people who came to their door the night of Christmas when they were expecting Jesus to arrive and spend the evening meal with them. When they were disappointed at the end of a long wait, they prayed and asked why Jesus had never come. The reply was that he had come, in the form of three needy people and each time they had shared their meal with him.
The play was lovely and inspiring. I always enjoy it when our youth get involved in the events at the language center.
Time had come for the play several of the students and teachers had been practicing for.
Charl, a blind beggar man, sat near the entrance of the market place in Bethlehem calling out for gifts of money for the poor. Svieta, a rich merchant, dropped a stone in his hands as she walked past. Several of the other merchants laughed as they made their way into the market to set up for the day.
A few moments later David, one of Jesus's followers, came in and offered to tell the beggar a story that was worth much more than money.
He then proceeded to call all the villagers together and invite them to hear a story that would be of great interest. Alla /Gina Sabbath morning, who was a visitor from the north, wanted to know what was going on and so one of the traveled merchants who knew Russian translated for her.
My character was then able to tell the gospel message. One of the merchants scoffed at the story and another merchant told how it must be true because she was present so many years ago when the shepherds came and found the child the angles had told them about.
In the end the merchant who was first very mean to the beggar sees the new hope in Jesus and she apologies to the beggar and invites everyone to her house to celebrate this good news.
The play was well received and we had such a fun time. The evening was not over.
We then went on to graduate two of my favorite students I had since coming to Almaty. The graduation proceed as normal with the presentation of certificates and then took a sudden twist when my two students asked me to sit down as they had prepared a speech.
They then proceed to tell a fabulous tale about learning English with me over the last several months. They incorporated several hundred idioms into the speech. It was an amazing master piece and so special. Gina and I were rolling with laughter. I was so touched by this amazing gift.
That evening was so busy but will go down in the my memory as one of the best Christmas parties of my life.
Less than 48 hours later, Gina and I were on an airplane headed for the USA to spend Christmas with our families. This was another Christmas present that was so special.
Masha, Svieta, Nadia, and Gina had been worked hard to write a skit that would portray the joy of Christmas, the gospel message, and tell the story in both English and Russian. It was a tall order but they had accomplished it.
Our director lead out this Friday Club announcing the different opening events while most of us got into costume and I rehearsed my lines.
Before the main skit the youth group again had a skit.
This time they told about a family who helped several poor and needy people who came to their door the night of Christmas when they were expecting Jesus to arrive and spend the evening meal with them. When they were disappointed at the end of a long wait, they prayed and asked why Jesus had never come. The reply was that he had come, in the form of three needy people and each time they had shared their meal with him.
The play was lovely and inspiring. I always enjoy it when our youth get involved in the events at the language center.
Time had come for the play several of the students and teachers had been practicing for.
Charl, a blind beggar man, sat near the entrance of the market place in Bethlehem calling out for gifts of money for the poor. Svieta, a rich merchant, dropped a stone in his hands as she walked past. Several of the other merchants laughed as they made their way into the market to set up for the day.
A few moments later David, one of Jesus's followers, came in and offered to tell the beggar a story that was worth much more than money.
He then proceeded to call all the villagers together and invite them to hear a story that would be of great interest. Alla /Gina Sabbath morning, who was a visitor from the north, wanted to know what was going on and so one of the traveled merchants who knew Russian translated for her.
My character was then able to tell the gospel message. One of the merchants scoffed at the story and another merchant told how it must be true because she was present so many years ago when the shepherds came and found the child the angles had told them about.
In the end the merchant who was first very mean to the beggar sees the new hope in Jesus and she apologies to the beggar and invites everyone to her house to celebrate this good news.
The play was well received and we had such a fun time. The evening was not over.
We then went on to graduate two of my favorite students I had since coming to Almaty. The graduation proceed as normal with the presentation of certificates and then took a sudden twist when my two students asked me to sit down as they had prepared a speech.
They then proceed to tell a fabulous tale about learning English with me over the last several months. They incorporated several hundred idioms into the speech. It was an amazing master piece and so special. Gina and I were rolling with laughter. I was so touched by this amazing gift.
That evening was so busy but will go down in the my memory as one of the best Christmas parties of my life.
Less than 48 hours later, Gina and I were on an airplane headed for the USA to spend Christmas with our families. This was another Christmas present that was so special.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Techno past times with a purpose.
Have you ever been sitting in your apartment and been completely frustrated because the phone company won't sell you hi-speed Internet, dial-up isn't fast enough to sustain VOIP Internet phone calls, the Internet has stopped working for the last two weeks downstairs where you are bumming half the bandwidth from the local computer store for half the price, and your signal strength just isn't quite good enough to the local open access points? Well I have.
In anticipation of this fateful day I had already seen on YouTube a tutorial for a high gain antenna. Its amazing what you can find in the trash, down at the construction bazaar, and talking to the actually people who repair computers, verses the sales reps who just want to sell you something new.
A little solder and an hour of assembly in between classes and vola. Supposedly a +18dbi antenna. If that doesn't do the trick I don't know what will.
As fate would have it, the Internet started working again from my paid source a few days later. I let the couple from South Africa borrow the whole contraption over Christmas while I was gone so they could call family. We found one open access point from their apartment.
It just so happens that a Netgear WG111T USB wireless-G dongle conveniently has a mini-antenna connector right there for your antenna upgrading needs. The signal was improved but I found it necessary to shade the built-in antenna by placing the whole unit directly behind the reflector. As expected, the antenna was very directional.
In anticipation of this fateful day I had already seen on YouTube a tutorial for a high gain antenna. Its amazing what you can find in the trash, down at the construction bazaar, and talking to the actually people who repair computers, verses the sales reps who just want to sell you something new.
A little solder and an hour of assembly in between classes and vola. Supposedly a +18dbi antenna. If that doesn't do the trick I don't know what will.
As fate would have it, the Internet started working again from my paid source a few days later. I let the couple from South Africa borrow the whole contraption over Christmas while I was gone so they could call family. We found one open access point from their apartment.
It just so happens that a Netgear WG111T USB wireless-G dongle conveniently has a mini-antenna connector right there for your antenna upgrading needs. The signal was improved but I found it necessary to shade the built-in antenna by placing the whole unit directly behind the reflector. As expected, the antenna was very directional.
Teambuilding at Ak Bulak
One bright sunny mid-December Sunday all of the teachers and some of the staff at the two language centers piled into a car and a van. The destination was Ak Bulak. A ski resort about an hour East of Almaty. All we knew was that it was an outing and we would be team building.
We arrived at the resort to find fairly modern looking ski lifts, including an express gondola. Up to this point the season had been rather dry. Even though it was mid-December only one of the local ski resorts was actually operational. We rode on both of the lifts the ski resort had to get to the top. The second half of the journey was on a typical open air 2-person ski lift. It was good to be in the high crisp mountain air. The journey up the mountain was fairly painless too.
Gina and I posed at the top for a quick picture.
One group picture with all of the foreign language teachers and our director.
Going down the mountain provided a good shot of the valley. It was a beautiful day.
I had fun getting people's attention and then snapping a shot or two.
We all had a lot of fun.
If anyone wants a promo poster I can provide this in much higher resolution!
It turns out that most of our team building that day comprised of short epic snow battles and group photos. It was a little different than I expected but I would say at the end of the day we did feel a little bit more like a team. We finished the day with an enjoyable lunch celebrating the many different cultures represented among our group.
We arrived at the resort to find fairly modern looking ski lifts, including an express gondola. Up to this point the season had been rather dry. Even though it was mid-December only one of the local ski resorts was actually operational. We rode on both of the lifts the ski resort had to get to the top. The second half of the journey was on a typical open air 2-person ski lift. It was good to be in the high crisp mountain air. The journey up the mountain was fairly painless too.
Gina and I posed at the top for a quick picture.
One group picture with all of the foreign language teachers and our director.
Going down the mountain provided a good shot of the valley. It was a beautiful day.
I had fun getting people's attention and then snapping a shot or two.
We all had a lot of fun.
If anyone wants a promo poster I can provide this in much higher resolution!It turns out that most of our team building that day comprised of short epic snow battles and group photos. It was a little different than I expected but I would say at the end of the day we did feel a little bit more like a team. We finished the day with an enjoyable lunch celebrating the many different cultures represented among our group.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Mountains, The Sunday After Thanksgiving
Just encase you haven't figured it out by now the mountains just out of Almaty is the favorite place Gina and I like to hang out with our students. This day we were headed out just after the first good snow of the season. The hiking wasn't too bad but we were ready for the bitter cold that we were sure to find on top those rugged mountain peaks. After all, it was chilly in the valley.
Gina posed nicely for me on the railing of what looked like a coral of some sort from times past. This stop was a little over half way to our final destination.
Some of our local church members like to hike and regularly join us on our mountain adventures.
Talking and generally enjoying the company on the way up is a must. It also provides breaks so that none of us have to actually admit that we are tired.
What better to do with fresh snow than have a snowball fight? Charl never even saw it coming!
The hike took us up some fairly steep hills. We just kept telling the students, "It will be worth it."
Once we got near the top we had to start thinking about where we would eat our picnic. Local customs don't really allow people to sit directly on the ground. There are some deeply held beliefs about why a person should do that, especially women. When I figure it all out I may give it a posting all its own. What does all this mean? Well, you get the picture. Charl and Ruslan helped carry some logs we found to our final eating place on top of the hill.
Picnics with friends and great food in the crisp clean air have to be some of the best things on Earth!
Getting some special pictures along the way is special. You should get some reward or at least a picture for putting in so much work.
Two of my favorite guys.
That day the view across the foothills was amazing. The cool fog in the valley only helped to accent the warm sunny day we enjoyed in the mountains.
Gina posed nicely for me on the railing of what looked like a coral of some sort from times past. This stop was a little over half way to our final destination.
Some of our local church members like to hike and regularly join us on our mountain adventures.
Talking and generally enjoying the company on the way up is a must. It also provides breaks so that none of us have to actually admit that we are tired.
What better to do with fresh snow than have a snowball fight? Charl never even saw it coming!
The hike took us up some fairly steep hills. We just kept telling the students, "It will be worth it."
Once we got near the top we had to start thinking about where we would eat our picnic. Local customs don't really allow people to sit directly on the ground. There are some deeply held beliefs about why a person should do that, especially women. When I figure it all out I may give it a posting all its own. What does all this mean? Well, you get the picture. Charl and Ruslan helped carry some logs we found to our final eating place on top of the hill.
Picnics with friends and great food in the crisp clean air have to be some of the best things on Earth!
Getting some special pictures along the way is special. You should get some reward or at least a picture for putting in so much work.
Two of my favorite guys.
That day the view across the foothills was amazing. The cool fog in the valley only helped to accent the warm sunny day we enjoyed in the mountains.
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving. What kind of thoughts does that bring to your mind? More food than you could ever eat, family get-togethers, travel, thankfulness, long car rides stuck between your siblings? Well for me it is all of those things and so much more.
Thanksgiving 2008 Gina and I prepared for our second Thanksgiving away from our families. This time it would be different. This time we had family. Not quite the same as our parents and siblings but we had close friends.
Gina, Charl, and I had been bonding with some of our students for over 8 months when Thanksgiving came. We had been building up to the major United States holiday for weeks. The last 3 Friday Clubs had been dedicated to the teaching our students about one American holiday that we are very proud of.
If my memory serves me correctly, the first week we showed some videos about the Mayflower and gave a brief history lesson surrounding the holiday. The second week we showed "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving." It was crammed packed with USA traditions and expectations surrounding the holiday, including the all American Apple Pie.
We had been served apple pie several times since our arrival in Almaty. There was something different about the local version from the pie from home. I would call the Almaty version "Apple cake". I can't tell for sure but it might have even had yeast in the cake and just a few pieces of apple.
For our third Friday Club before the big Thanksgiving feast we showed a video about how to make American Apple Pie and handed out recipes for many dishes including Pie and vegetarian stuffing. They were all invited to the big feast and encouraged to bring others. This was part of the reason they were also encouraged to bring home cooked food for the festival, especially an American Apple pie for the pie contest.
The students were trained, prepared, and warned that their stomachs would burst by the end of the evening. Now it was time for the big event.
Our director was a little shocked when she arrived and found out I had stolen almost all the tables in the whole school and transformed our main meeting room into a dining hall. We had seating for 40+ and needed every last one of the seats.
We were overjoyed to see some of our closes friends had come. A few even brought friends.
The youth group from the church joined us for this special event. Most of our youth can hold down a simple conversation in English and a few are fairly good at English. They performed a skit emphasizing cooperation among the group and what can be accomplished when we all work together. I didn't understand all if it since it was performed in Russian.
Following the play, we ushered people through line. All of the food the students brought was traditional in nature. They brought the types of food guests are supposed to bring. Cakes, juice, fruit, and other desserts, all of which were good and many were customized for the event. So, it was a good thing that Gina, Charl, and I had been cooking the main course all day. Charl and I are proud to say we accomplished some stellar mashed potatoes. Gina on the other hand touted the worlds largest single casserole dish of vegetarian stuffing, gravy for the potatoes, one apple pie, and three pumpkin pies.
All of the food was delicious. The students especially like Gina's gravy.
After our students were well under way with the meal, we announced the pie contest. We called for volunteer that would be the official judges for the event. Two of our most outgoing students rose to the challenge. I added my comments as we went along but never to contradict the official judges or to sway their opinion before they gave their verdict. Mostly I couldn't wait any longer before having a chance to try all of the different apple pies. They were scrumptious! 
The rest of the evening we talked and took group pictures. We all had such a great time.
And of course a picture of Charl and a group of students that wanted a picture "Just with him."
Thanksgiving 2008 Gina and I prepared for our second Thanksgiving away from our families. This time it would be different. This time we had family. Not quite the same as our parents and siblings but we had close friends.
Gina, Charl, and I had been bonding with some of our students for over 8 months when Thanksgiving came. We had been building up to the major United States holiday for weeks. The last 3 Friday Clubs had been dedicated to the teaching our students about one American holiday that we are very proud of.
If my memory serves me correctly, the first week we showed some videos about the Mayflower and gave a brief history lesson surrounding the holiday. The second week we showed "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving." It was crammed packed with USA traditions and expectations surrounding the holiday, including the all American Apple Pie.
We had been served apple pie several times since our arrival in Almaty. There was something different about the local version from the pie from home. I would call the Almaty version "Apple cake". I can't tell for sure but it might have even had yeast in the cake and just a few pieces of apple.
For our third Friday Club before the big Thanksgiving feast we showed a video about how to make American Apple Pie and handed out recipes for many dishes including Pie and vegetarian stuffing. They were all invited to the big feast and encouraged to bring others. This was part of the reason they were also encouraged to bring home cooked food for the festival, especially an American Apple pie for the pie contest.
The students were trained, prepared, and warned that their stomachs would burst by the end of the evening. Now it was time for the big event.
Our director was a little shocked when she arrived and found out I had stolen almost all the tables in the whole school and transformed our main meeting room into a dining hall. We had seating for 40+ and needed every last one of the seats.
We were overjoyed to see some of our closes friends had come. A few even brought friends.
The youth group from the church joined us for this special event. Most of our youth can hold down a simple conversation in English and a few are fairly good at English. They performed a skit emphasizing cooperation among the group and what can be accomplished when we all work together. I didn't understand all if it since it was performed in Russian.Following the play, we ushered people through line. All of the food the students brought was traditional in nature. They brought the types of food guests are supposed to bring. Cakes, juice, fruit, and other desserts, all of which were good and many were customized for the event. So, it was a good thing that Gina, Charl, and I had been cooking the main course all day. Charl and I are proud to say we accomplished some stellar mashed potatoes. Gina on the other hand touted the worlds largest single casserole dish of vegetarian stuffing, gravy for the potatoes, one apple pie, and three pumpkin pies.
All of the food was delicious. The students especially like Gina's gravy.
After our students were well under way with the meal, we announced the pie contest. We called for volunteer that would be the official judges for the event. Two of our most outgoing students rose to the challenge. I added my comments as we went along but never to contradict the official judges or to sway their opinion before they gave their verdict. Mostly I couldn't wait any longer before having a chance to try all of the different apple pies. They were scrumptious! 
The rest of the evening we talked and took group pictures. We all had such a great time.
And of course a picture of Charl and a group of students that wanted a picture "Just with him."
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