Our Global Journey

Saturday was full of adventure!  There is a group at school called "Helping Hands" that does service at an orphanage in the village of Talgar - about 1 hour from where we live.  Dr. David Kim, math and physics teacher extraordinaire, is their advisor and I volunteered to help.  Originally the students were supposed to come, but then we found out that Saturday was a national holiday so all the bus drivers had the day off.  However, Dr. Kim (DK) had arranged for a mission group from Korea to come that day and give free dental care, donate computers, and do activities with the kids.  We still went to the orphanage, but without our students!  Bummer! We got completely lost on our way.  We had downloaded this new app called Navitel, but we were using the free version to try it out.  Halfway there the app quit, and wouldn't reload.  We literally stopped 7 times to ask people for directions.  Problem : We don't speak Russian and they don't speak English!  So each time

We are starting to venture out and about.  Driving is becoming less stressful as we get used to it.  I kind of like it because I approach it like a puzzle.  I pretend that I am a puzzle piece and I need to keep fitting between cars until I make it to my destination.  :)  It's fun and challenging.  The only part I don't like is the crosswalks.  There are crosswalks everywhere, even on Al Farabi, which is a road I liken to a freeway.  Pedestrians in crosswalks always have the right of way, and they know it.  They will walk out without any warning, even if cars are going 80 km an hour (my speedometer is in kilometers)!  They give me a lot of anxiety because I am paranoid I am going to run right into someone crossing the street! Friday we went up to Kok Tobe with a group from church to celebrate the 10th year of the LDS Church in Kazakhstan.  It was a few church members, the Branch President, Mission President, Area Authority, and a senior missionary couple from Astana.  One mem

We teach at Almaty International School, which is a pre-K thru 12th grade school.  We have students from about 45 different countries which is amazing.  About 35% of our student population are native Kazakh students.  Our children get to take Russian classes three times a week, but all other classes are taught in English.  Adeline said to me yesterday, "Mom, I really love our school.  I don't think there is a better school for me."  I cannot tell you how overjoyed I was to hear that.  :)   Keith chillin' in his classroom Our school as viewed from the second story of the elementary building The front of our school. This is the view we get to see on our walk to school every morning.  I don't think it will ever get old.    Almaty International School viewed at night with the full moon.

Henry and I went camping this weekend with the guys from church for a father and sons outing. We went up the canyon about 15 minutes outside of the city to a lovely meadow.  In the morning we went on a hike in search of wild raspberries, mushrooms and apples. Experts believe modern apples originated from the wild apples found in Kazakhstan.  There were wild flowers everywhere. Purple, pink, white, yellow. Many different kinds. Very beautiful.  For lunch we made a traditional dish called plov. It's was quite the process. It starts with frying onions and meat then adding carrots and spices. That's boiled for a while then rice is added and steamed until all the liquid is absorbed. It's all done in a large cast iron pot designed specifically for this dish. It took a few hours to put it all together but it was well worth it. So tasty.  We finished off the meal with large slice of watermelon. They still have the kind with black seeds so Henry and I had a seed spitting war. Good t

Our house is lovely.  We found out that what we thought was a common yard area is actually all ours!  It's huge! And the best part is that gardeners take care of the entire thing! We have three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs.  Downstairs is a nice sized kitchen, dining room, living room, entry and half bath.  It's larger than our home in Boise, so we have upgraded!  The best part is that there is a great little park right across from our house and it's a great neighborhood with lots of kids.  I feel totally safe having them go the park by themselves and we want to get them bikes so they can ride around.   This is the park right out our front door.   The front of the house, including our little Subaru.  The silver car is where the neighbors house starts.   Side of the house.  This entire area is our yard - and someone else takes care of it!  AWESOME! Another picture of the yard, cause I love it so much.   Back door and picnic table. Our kitc

We are here and made it without a hitch.  We arrived at 3AM on Friday morning and were graciously picked up by our 3 administrators with a bus and a luggage van.  They were so gracious.  We got to our new home around 4:30 AM and got in bed at 5:00 AM.  When they left they said they were picking us up at 10 AM to go grocery shopping.  After being awake for over 30 hours, I thought they were joking, but they were not!  The grocery store was overwhelming.  We were exhausted, we couldn't read any labels, and weren't even sure what we needed.  We'd only been in our home 5 hours.  Rochelle Meylink, fellow teacher and tour guide, was so patient and helpful as we walked through each aisle.  The kids got whiny and after we paid we were waiting for one other person to check out so we told the kids to sit on the floor by the corner.  As SOON as they sat down, everybody's heads turned.  People walking by had shocked looks on their faces.  I realized we had done something wrong, b