Central Eurasian Mission - Week 14 - June 19-25, 2017

One of the things we really enjoy about our mission is working with foreign speakers in English Club.  You wouldn't really call it English CLASS, because it is so loosely structured.  A better title would be English Conversation Time with Native English Speakers.  We call it English Club.  English is one of the languages required for all students in Kazakhstan, but, as anyone knows who has studied a foreign language, it's one thing to learn the rules and grammar, and quite another thing to be able to wrap your tongue and lips around the foreign sounds.  It is a lot of fun for the participants who come to practice their English skills, but it has also been very interesting for us as we have been able to meet a diverse group of people.  The youngest is about 8 and the oldest maybe 50.  The 20 and youngers tend to gravitate around the Young Volunteers, the others come our way.  It's been great.  I'm sure we are learning more about their country, people, customs, politics than they are about ours.  But, that's really the idea - to let them chat away and talk to us about things that are familiar to them, wrapping their tongues and lips around English words.

About two weeks ago, I discovered that one of the guys who is in his mid-40s (think: this could be my son...) is a bit of a plant enthusiast and has a collection of about 30 Phalaenopsis orchid plants AND knew where to buy them at a good price, AND offered to pick me up and take me around to his favorite shops.  Oh, dear.  Be still my beating heart.  Do I dare go shopping with this guy, knowing that I can't bring any plant back to the US??  That was actually Kim's parting comment as I went out the door to meet him, "Now, remember...".

Our first stop was to a real wholesale florist, KazFlor, on the outskirts of town, kind of between the industrial district and a really old and low income residential area. It really looks like a wholesale florist warehouse in Portland.




I noticed some people lined up at a water pump near the residential area filling water jugs and my friend explained that they don't have safe water running to their houses and need to fill jugs at this pump for drinking water.  He let me try the pump after the people were gone.






While we were in the industrial area, he wanted to take me to his distribution warehouse.  He imports sunflower oil from Russia and sells to all the stores in Astana.



He also has distribution centers in several other cities.  We toured the warehouse and saw all the products they sell in the showroom.  There is a rail siding located on the back side of the warehouse where workers were unloading rail cars of sunflower oil.  He explained that they receive three rail cars every day.  Here is one of them.



He was very excited to show me his forklift.  That was a word he had just learned in English Club.

Our next stop was a florist/gardening store selling hundreds of phalaenopsis and other orchids, as well as all kinds of blooming and foliage plants.  He told me he just wanted me to see this place, that there was another shop with better prices.

On the way to the next shop, he said, "Oh, I want to show you the restaurant I'm building".  We pulled up in front of a four story building still under construction and went inside to review the progress.  Karaoke is very popular in Kazakhstan, and this restaurant will have about four separate rooms for groups to sing Karaoke.  Billiards is also very popular.  This restaurant has a room that will accommodate four full size billiard tables.  PLUS, they will serve European style food.  He said he expects to open in July.



This will be the billiard room.

The last plant stop was a in an old style shopping mall.  The new malls here look a lot like our fanciest malls.  The old malls (my friend referred to them as Trade Centers) are big open buildings, usually several floors, absolutely FILLED with little glass cubicles about 20  feet square and larger, most of which are jammed from wall to wall with goods.  This shop was no exception - maybe 20 x 20', room for two sales people behind the counter, two customers in front of the counter, the rest stacked with all manner of plants and gardening products for sale.  This is where I found my three stem phalaenopsis, an out-of-bloom phal, and a 40 lb bag of potting soil (thank goodness we were travelling by car!!).  

The very last stop was at another restaurant owned by my friend called Arizona.  The whole theme inside is wild west and...Arizona.  There is a giant relief map of Arizona on the wall, a seven-foot-tall saguaro cactus just inside the door, a huge scorpion on the ceiling, checkered table cloths, six-shooters on the wall, staff in cowboy hats, you get the picture.  And this little restaurant even comes with a two-table billiard room and a karaoke room.
Here is entrance to karaoke room and the inside of the room.





We had a freshly squeezed mint lemonade to top things off before we headed back to our apartment to face my sweet wife with a 40lb bag of potting soil, two orchid plants, a bottle of plant food and a handful of bamboo stakes to give support to my windowsill cherry-tomatoes which really are showing a lot of buds now!

Some very happy/good news to report!!!  Our mushroom project for Bolashak has been approved! "Approval" is a mid step in the process.  First you have to find a suitable project, research it and the people, get all the paperwork, invoices, bank information, and then enter it into the Humanitarian computer program called CHaS......which (spoken in my quiet inside voice) is not the best of computer programs, but it is the only one we have.  Then you press 'send' and off it goes to the Moscow where it is reviewed by thems whos in charge.  That committee only meets once a month, so sometimes there is a lengthy wait.  And we only had to wait for two weeks, with baited breath,, "was our idea of a project a good one?"  "Did it meet all the parameters?"  We got the 'okay', so we're happy our first attempt was approved.  Now.............we have to get a power of attorney so we can sign a contract (which we put together last night) and submit all of the invoices, etc to the country accountant, which is somewhat like walking along a rocky desert trail in eastern Oregon, knowing that long animals live amongst the rocks, stalking you.  But - we are optimistic that by the end of July that there will be mushrooms growing in a ground floor room of a big apartment building in Astana.

One day we had nothing to do so we decided to deliver some cast off clothing to a previous partner who operates a mini mini Deseret Industries and gives clothing to those who need help.  We had to go to the same building where all the Greenhouse partners have their offices.



They didn't know we were coming.....and we just walked in, and in my best Russian, I said"we have some clothing to donate"  We were taken into the mini mini Deseret Industries room where we gave the clothes, signed our names, and then we left.  By this time, some of the folks inside put two and two together, realized that we were LDS Charities, and followed us outside.  So we chatted a bit and were friendly.  Then we were on our way to explore 'upstream' part of the river.

Yep - here it is again



At one spot by a pedestrian bridge there were these two sculptures that we 'met'

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We walked about a half hour until we came to the end of the riveresevoir.  You can see the trees and bushes growing on the embankment.



The fun thing for us was to see, on the other side, red water tank trucks driving up to some towers with water tanks.  The trucks were being filled with river water, after which they go out into the city and with big pumps and hoses, water all the plants.



Here you can see the spray of water.



These trucks also 'flush' the streets at all times of the day.  They drive down, pretty much, the center of the road, and spray water to both the right and left.  The force of the water sends a strong spray all the way to the curb.  It is really funny (well not so funny if you are one who is running) when a truck comes down the street.  People will be walking and minding their own business - or standing calmly at a bus stop, when suddenly, they realize the truck coming.  Everyone instantly runs away from the curb - otherwise your pant cuffs and shoes will be wet with a muddy spray.  Once I saw a truck coming and moved away......  I noticed a woman who didn't see it coming.  I caught her eye and did the international 'finger sign language' indicating the truck was coming, and she ran like crazy out of the way.

The next day, Dad was supposed to have a Skype meeting with the church's Area Audit Missionary and with the HV in Almaty.  I didn't want to stick around and passively listen to three men discussing money, so I went on a walk.    My goal was to see the other end of the rivereservoir.  To get there I had to walk through some back streets and passed by this little tire repair shop which is made from a freight shipping container.



Then I walked along a wide boulevard which took me along the backside of some of Astana's famous eye catching buildings.

This is the Kazakh National University of the Arts.  To the left is the Kazakh Yeli Monument (nope, don't know what it immortalizes) with a golden eagle on the top..  Behind that you can see the Pyramid, which is a useful landmark.  The pyramid is the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation.  It was built, in 2006,  as a home where every three years, all the religions of the world can come together and meet.  It has an opera hall, a library, meeting rooms, and is a global center for religious understanding.



Here is the same building and Yeli monument from the other side of the humongous city block.  To the left and beyond is the grand mosque where I ate lunch one time.  This big plaza is also the site of where we watched the national military parade and where we were nearly crushed by a mass of Kazakh humanity.



This place, to the left of the Yeli Monument, is the Palace of Independence opened in 2008.  It has a scale model of how Astana will look in 2030,   And a bunch of other stuff.  At first sight, I thought it was a sports stadium.



And further down the street is the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan.



I finally got to the other end of the reviereservoir which really looks like a slough.



Along my side of the river there was a huge park with a bizillion young trees (maybe planted two years ago) and park benches and brick walkways.  There was no shade, so it wasn't too inviting, but in 5-10 years it may be a place of peace and refuge.

Entrance












On the way back to our apartment building I passed a massive construction project of new apartment buildings.  All construction sites are surrounded by walls of corrugated sheet metal so you can't see much of anything except upper stories.



The left side is in Russian and the right in Kazakh



These are going to be fancy shmancy places.  Here is a floor plan if you want to invest in a retirement place.



Yesterday evening we went on a walk (2 mi rt) to find and explore another park.  There are no cozy little parks anywhere in Astana - ones where you might stroll to after dinner and sit and enjoy a gelato. Here the parks are massive in size.  Most are new and really not 'established' - like nice shade trees and lush grass, though I doubt grass will ever be called lush in Astana.

This one is advertised as a Fitness Park.  And one sign stated that ten thousand trees had been planted. They must be planning to do some heavy thinning in 5-10 years.



There is an incredible rope park that would make the proprietors at Aspen Grove green with envy.



It is fenced off with an attended gate.  I think there is an admission charge, and kids had helmets and harnesses.




Nice paths and semi comfy benches.





In an open plaza like area there was a stage upon which were girls dressed in polka dot western clothing......and Mickey and Minnie Mouse...and Donald and Daisy were dancing.



Unfortunately, for us, it was kinda painful.  Mickey and Minnie looked kinda like rats and Donald and Daisy were bottom heavy.  One musical piece was banjo and fiddle music, and the chorus was, over and over, "where did you come from, where did you go, where did you come from Cotton Eye Joe".  To me it just seems 'wrong' to listen to western music is a park in central Asia -  it should only be performed at a rodeo or fair somewhere in the western США.

The little kids LOVED the music.  They were twirling and shaking.



On the way home we stopped at a sashlik place.  And, good grief! - Dad kinda grabbed the proprietress for a photo - he must have still been humming the western music to himself.





Here's another dinner we had this week.  The two plates of food and a liter bottle of pop is about $6.50. It's really too much food for us (although we have proven that we can eat it all), so we take a plastic container and take half home for lunch or dinner the next day.  Ploff and Beshbarmak.





Dad's treasure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Central Eurasian Mission - week 13 - June 12 - 18, 2017

One thing that impresses me about the Kazakh people is that they are very nimble.  Only one of us has seen someone fall.  Dad saw a young girl do a faceplant on a brick sidewalk.  So far, I have only stumbled ferociously one......maybe twice....... on the threshold of a door.  Many, I say MANY, thresholds are part of aftermarket renovations. So -- there is the floor that is flat, but a partition with a door has been installed and to hold the vertical pieces together, there is a horizontal brace across the floor.  This 2-3 inch, narrow raised piece of metal, at floor level is a trip hazard - at least for Americans.  I only tripped twice on my first or second day in Astana, but since then muscle memory and brain memory causes me to lift my foot waaaaaay up as I go over a threshold.  I don't need more than two incidents to learn my lesson.



Then .......the stairways.  In the US there are building codes and all stairs (maybe some aren't up to code - like at a distant place in northern Montana) are the same height.  Not here in Kazakhstan.    You see, here, the government doesn't take care of every step you take - you're supposed to use your eyes to see potential changes in height and mostly to pretend you're on a hike where there are roots and even tree trunks crossing your path.  At the grocery store next door, there are at least ten steep stairs just to get to the entrance of the store.  And there are stairs to get to the second floor, where we need to go each time to get fruit juice.  The last step is an inch higher that the others and, yep, if you don't remember, you'll trip.  We say to each other as we ascend the stairs, "watch the last step."

The picture below is closeup of three steps on the approach to our outdoor fruit and veggie stand.
The metal angle iron that covers the edge of the step is completely loose, waiting for an unwatchful pedestrian..  I see this one coming and walk up the dirt path next to it.  I'm an American and will trip on it!




This is a fun Photo.  One way we commonly use to approach our building is along this sidewalk with three steps and a center ramp that was never quite finished - or maybe it crumbled away.  Anyway, most moms with a stroller just use the dirt path to the right and some just bump over the last step.
My mantra is, "don't slip."\



But the sidewalks are the best areas, manholes covers , and other flat outdoor spaces  with protruding metal spikes.  Here is the gallery of these litigious possibilities.





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The tripping hazards and are uncountable which is why I like to walk on the track in the early morning hours.




We received an email from the second councilor in the branch presidency that the Minister of Religions Affairs and  Civil Society, Mr. Nurlan Yermekbaev, was making an Annual Report in the KazMedia center on Friday June 16th and had invited three representatives from the church to be in attendance.  None of us had any idea what the meeting was really about, but three were selected - the branch president, the second councilor and Ray.  The meeting was to start at 11am across town on one of the hottest days of the year, requiring a 40 min bus ride and 15 minute walk (in suit and tie) as the temperature climbed to 91 deg.

The meeting hall was filled with about 250 guests representing many different faiths registered in Astana as well as interested citizens.  It was really interesting to see all of the different eccumical clothing.  As clergy, we were seated in the second row from the front.  It was also broadcast by closed-circuit links to meeting rooms in13 communities around Kazakhstan, each of which had guests assembled for the presentation.  This is the big screen showing all of the video participants.




The first hour of the presentation by the Minister was in Kazakh and Russian and was accompanied by slides and charts also in Kazakh and Russian.



During the second hour guests in attendance and from the communities in the video-linked meeting rooms had the opportunity to ask questions and clarifications about the report.  After the meeting, I'm afraid I didn't know much more than before it started.  I did bring home a copy of the report, in Kazakh and Russian, for Kim to translate in her spare time.

Afterwards, it gave me a great opportunity to wander a little through the downtown on the way back to the bus stop and get a few photos of summer decorations.  Here is the Kazakh statue in the central plaza.



Here's the American one.



Here is a display of flowers and butterflies (no, not real butterflies)



This has been a very slow week for humanitarian services.  Everyone we had contacted contacted has gone out of town.  Dad and I have reverted to playing scrabble.  We did go find an office supply store which was very exciting. We found a hole punch, paper clips, whiteboard markers, paper folders, and twine!!!  You can buy anything here, just not everything can be found as easily as at a Fred Meyer store.  We had our arms full of our goodies when the elecricity went out, and of course, cash registers don't work without energy.  It wasn't really any different than the power going at at Target, but we had just walked a mile to get there and then the trip home.

We went back to the store two days later, bought our office supplies, and thenand found this restaurant on the way home.  The sign says "Chinese Food"  -- lunch time, hunger, sounds good.



The restaurant was in the basement of this big building.



It looked a bit sketchy but we were adventurous after the office supply store.  Down the stairs.  Note on the right the ramp - I don't think it is ADA approved, so it might be for hand trucks.



and into the interior - looks Chinese...maybe Arabian....maybe Kazakh.



When the menu came, in my very best Russian (from Dialog 4, first year Russian), I asked " What do you advise us to order?"  The waitress took the menu, flipped a few pages, and pointed to two things.  Fine, we want those.  Turned out to be traditional Kazakh noodles.  Very Yummy!




We made a return visit to a previous restaurant - remember this one?  Same guy and same finger in the photo.



The shish kabobs were not available yet (come back at 8 PM) so the lady listed off what was available.  I thought I ordered lagman noodles and a salad, but got lagman soup and salad instead.

/www.google.kz/search?q=lagman+noodle&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS728US728&oq=lagman&aqs=chrome.4.69i57j0l5.5893j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

It was yummy, as we expected, but we had dill breath afterwards.



As you know Dad is the Branch Clerk and is also on the Area Audit Committee which is a couple of guys who audit church funds in a branch or ward or stake twice a year to make sure donations are being properly accounted for.

I have been made Primary President which is different.  The staff is me and the two sister missionaries, one directs the music and the other does the lesson - at least that is what we did this week.  I do Sharing Time, and starting this week, we are now singing all the songs in Russian.  The eight kids are all American expats with a Russian speaking mother so they are completely bilingual.  The child who who read the scripture did it in Russian.  This is our small attempt to try make the branch a Kazakh branch rather than an expat branch.  Next week Dad and I speak in Sacrament meeting.  I will speak in Russian with someone translating into English and Dad will do vica versa.

I have a new favorite color.  Previously, I think I said it was Kazakhstan sky blue, but my mind has been changed by this flower.  It is chicory, found alongside the track.



'Til next week.  By the way, I enjoy writing this blog for everyone to read and to keep up on our activities.  I hope you enjoy it.  We wouldn't mind getting news from any of you and letting us know your inner thoughts and sentimental feelings.