Central Eurasian Mission - Week 38 - Dec 4 - Dec 10, 2017


Our Christmas tree with fiber optics was left her by the Morrisons, the previous humanitarian missionaries.  And then we added the nativity set which was made by one our project partners who have a sewing shop where they make souvenirs.  We're celebrating Christmas in Kazakhstan.




This week I had an unpleasant event - I broke a tooth and I wasn't even doing anything bad.  Suddenly there was something hard in my mouth, I pulled it out and threw it away, and THEN discovered an edge of one of my lower teeth was sharp. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo!



We contacted both the Mission President's wife and the Area dentist if there was an 'approved' dentist in Astana.  Crickets!  Nothing.  So we went to Facebook.  Dad put a notice out on the Astana English Club Facebook asking if anyone knew of a good dentist who spoke English......noting.  Then he put it on Expats in Astana, and someone gave us a name of ast and even called her for us and made an appointment.  So.....off we went on a dental adventure.  There are hundreds of dental clinics around this city, and now we got to go inside one.  The sign says Art Dent.



Dentistry is called stomatology - Oral medicine (sometimes termed dental medicine, oral and maxillofacial medicine or stomatology) is a specialty focused on the mouth and nearby structures. It lies at the interface between medicine and dentistry.  Who knew???



Reception was fine!



Went home and everything seemed fine.............but I could not floss between the repaired tooth and the one next to it.  I knew everything had gone too well.



So----call the dentist on her private number and I got an appointment for the next morning to solve the problem.  Seems that a tiny bit of the glue got between the teeth and prevented floss from entering.  So got that fixed.  I'm wondering if that is normal occurrence or.....not.

It is Christmastime  in Astana City.  Really, I never expected to see Christmas decorations and advertisements, and displays here.  It is a culturally Muslim city and the preaching of Christianity is stringently  regulated by the government.  But there is Christmas - shopkeepers and vendors are out there - probably there is very little of Christ in Christmas here, but it makes Dad and me think more about Christ and the reason we celebrate Christmas.  Here is a big sign on a trailer that is parked in the parking lot of a hotel.  It says New Year's Corporate Business Parties.  I suppose that isn't really Christmas, but it is Christmas art.

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Here is a little store which sells Christmas decorations.  You can get a jazzy Santa.



There are strands of colorful garland wrapped around stairway handrails, decorated artificial Christmas trees, strings of lights for sale, and bundles of greenery which could be used for decorating.  We even saw an outdoor Christmas tree lot - it was hard to see because it was snowing and the taxi's windows were fogged up, but I could see scrawny pine trees and spruce trees (I bet you didn't know this...the Russian word ёлка, means spruce tree or Christmas tree or a children's New Year's Eve party).

We went to a big mall called Eurasian Mall (Evrasia Mall) which is about  mile walk from our apartment.  As we went up the concrete steps to the entrance, we heard Christmas music, and then while walking down the aisles I almost started dancing along with Bing Crosby while he was dreaming of a White Christmas.  In the meat market portion of the mall we bought some smoked horse (think smoked ham) and then got some Black Prince cheese in the cheese section two aisles over.  Then we discovered the bulk spice section where I can buy chili powder if my supply of taco seasoning ever dwindles.  And then the honey section were we bought this jar.



We found a cake decorating shop - who'd thunk?  I bought a spatula that actually had a flexible spatch rather unlike the stiff spatula I now have, and I got cup cake liners (no more muffin pan stickness), and measuring cups in cups  in wholes, and halfs, and quarters, and thirds!!!  Yes - small simple pleasures.

Our main shopping goal was to get a hat for Dad.  First, we wanted to know his size which wasn't really required because he could have just tried on the hats ....

 

He liked this style (yeah - I did too).  These hats are called ushanka hats  (ушанка).  They are worn by many men on the streets.



flaps down



And the final choice, now at home in our apartment.  He looks a little like a Cossack!



We had two humanitarian missteps this week.  The first was with Murat, our partner who asked for massage equipment for his disabled people to use.  The "committee' in Moscow determined that, even though his NGO does good work for disabled people and that these massage apparatuses would be beneficial, the equipment was not really essential.  So, it's like telling you children that taking seven dozen beautifully decorated Christmas cookies for your Sunday School classmates would be beneficial, the treats are not necessarily be essential, (yeah, tell that to the SS kids).  So we had to write him a letter explaining why that his project had not been approved.

The second was not necessarily a misstep but rather confusing and uncomfortable. When a project is approved by the committee in Moscow, we have to create a Basic Agreement which is as close to a real contract that we can get.  We format it, both in English and Russian, and the items that we are providing, and their cost, must exactly match what is on the invoice.  In other words - you may not provide a different invoice at the signing of contract event.  What could go wrong?  I mean, you go there, pull out the Basic Agreement from its document protector, put it on the table, smile, provide a pen, and with perfect charade motions, air sign the document.  We would not need a translator for this!  What could go wrong?  Well, first of all the lovely women (all but one are blind) pull out a new invoice - - no no no, we think, that will not work!  They explain that they got a new invoice because the previous one was 'old' and besides this invoice is for less money because they got a better deal.  Sigh.....we realized that, without a translator, I wouldl have to try to tell them that because they have a new invoice, we will have to make a new Basic Agreement back at our office (our apartment) and then email it to them....and they will sign it and email it back to us.  Even though I was sure that they understood me, I could tell they were unimpressed.  So - they called up our translator and asked her what was happening.  They handed the phone to me, and I told Assemkhan, and handed the phone back to them.  Yep, I was right.  So we go back to the apartment, and a couple of hours later we emailed the new BA to them, and moments later they sent the signed copy back.  We gathered all the correct documents and emailed them to our Country Accountant (who is sometimes our advocate and sometimes, it seems our adversary)  and now we wait for the money to be transferred properly.  I know those blind ladies are waiting too..

Here's Dad in his waiting mode.



We've posted pictures of our backyard before - the big school field, and the soccer pitch, and the basketball court, and the hockey rink.  We'd been wondering all along, how the  hockey rink, with a concrete floor, would be turned into an ice rink.  Our questions were answered when we noticed two orange city tanker trucks parked next to the rink.  These are the same trucks that water the roadside trees, plants, flower boxes, grass, and bushes in the summer - and the same ones who drive up and down the streets and spray out water which pushed dirt and dust to the curb (and also causes pedestrians to flee from the edge of the sidewalk).  Well, these two trucks were ice rink fillers!  There were kids swarming excitedly, everywhere.  They climbed on the fence and wiggled up so they would stand right behind the goal area.  The workers had to yell at them to get out of the way.  They even went onto the rink area itself to test oi the water had frozen yet.  Now, days later we see kids running and sliding on the ice.  It doesn't seem as though any have skates, but apparently skates are not essential to heaving fun.







We had a friend of the Church visit our little group here in Astana.  Ken Bateman is from Idaho and works for a US government-like entity here in Kazakhstan.  He figures out ways to gather up nuclear waste and then send it back to the country of origin (think Russia).  When he comes, it is kinda like having your favorite uncle visit.  He brings news, gifts from family members, and sometimes takes things back for us to Idaho where it will be picked up by someone's family member.  And...he takes us out to dinner..............I used to think that taking out a group of missionaries to dinner was.....well.....maybe beneficial but certainly not essential.  We all have money and don't need anyone to buy us dinner....... but it makes a big difference knowing, that at least one man from Idaho loves us enough to meet with us and buy us dinner.  Here is our group at our favorite sashleek place.



E Topham prepping his plate.  Yeah...it was all good!



On Sunday we had our first deep snowfall - about 4-6 inches.  I was excited to go outside and be the first to make my footprints on the track



It was not particularly cold and there was no wind, which is the deal breaker.
"An angel from on high" had visited and had walked about the track at least six times.








It was also the first time we had to walk to Church (about a mile) wearing our Columbia snow boots and plowing through deep snow.  Our legs were sore the next day because of big steps and snow piled up at curbs and so forth.  I wore a long skirt whose hem got wet, but no worries, the inside of the church was so warm that the fabric dried quickly.  We even turned on the air conditioner in the room where I have Primary.

We saw people, in coordinated groups, snow scooping away the snow.



Some sidewalks alongside main roads had been cleared by a tractor.  The piles of snow that had been scooped away were now piles of snow at the curb which we had to maneuver through.



And the snowplows were clearing the streets.  They line up in a staggered formation, one behind the other, so that all the snow is pushed to the curb.  Later on a front loader will come along and fill up numerous dump trucks which will take the snow somewhere.



Here we are in our snowsuit and ушанка glory



We had the YVs over for Sunday dinner.  No photo as it would be the same as previous weeks.  We go to Almaty next week for another conference and return Saturday evening.  I will plan to make a dinner during the week that can be frozen (I'll leave the pot on the balcony) and then I'll thaw it on Sunday.  Good times!