Central Eurasian Mission - Week 48 - Feb 12-18, 2018



This week the weather was nice - well it was still in the minus degrees area of the thermometer, but there was no wind and it was nice and sunny.  We decided, while we were sure that everything would be frozen, to visit the local river, aka reservoir, and be bold and walk across the river.  Here's Dad standing under the bridge in the middle of the river.

And here we are walking with our arms spread wide - just in case we were to fall through the ice....not really, we were just being silly.





Our signature pose - and that of countless other goofballs.



There had been a lot of vehicle traffic, snowmobile traffic, and cross country skiing
.



There were no ice fishermen on the river this morning, but we could see where they had been fishing.  There were mounds of snow here and there and some trash.  But the sure signs were the holes in the ice which were frozen over.



Here was a wet spot where wetness was seeping into the river.  I'm pretty sure (because I saw it on a map) that there is a water treatment plant close by, and this seepage must be coming from there, and it must be hot.



And some poor lost pigeons were hanging out by the water


When we were down by the river last summer, and since I always touch the water of any new river I come across, I knelt down by the river bank and put my hand in the water, in a place that was a similitude of where I did that last summer, I also knelt down and stuck my hands way down into the snow.......and just came to hard ice.  It was quite hard to regain my balance and stand up again.



We actually accomplished some Humanitarian work during the week.  We have some LDS Charities Wheelchair Specialists, Rick and Cyndy Johnson, coming in March.  This is with the WAQYP governmental charity that I've written about before.  I actually think that a wheelchair project is going to happen.  This kind of project is a "major initiative" and so we're kinda excited about it.  There is a meeting scheduled for March 16th to which we have invited the Minister of Public Health Care, the Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and any other people that WAQYP wants to attend the meeting.  That day we will also meet with the Center for Independent Living which is the wheelchair repair shop.  Exciting times.

And we're finishing up a project with a social entrepreneur who is probably the most important man in Kazakhstan who is helping disabled people get training and job experience and then helping them find employment or having them work in his sheltered workshop.  Unfortunately, I don't think the project will be approved.  There is a new group of people in Moscow who are reviewing projects and either approving them or disapproving them.  It seems as though they don't like projects where it looks like a business is being developed....and the founder is making money.  We've spent a lot of time on this one, and it's disappointing to feel it won't be approved - and there's nothing we can do about it.

On the bright side, we're both doing well in our Russian classes.  Dad can read and write and speak Russian!  It is really exciting!!  He is even able to help me by asking me vocabulary words and he can read the Russian words to check that I am right or wrong.  And he's even asking for things in stores - like he asked the produce lady at the store if she had Red Prince Apples.

On Wednesday after Russian class, we got off the bus, looked at each other and decided to head in the opposite direction toward the 5 Minute Market.  You see, we are looking for popcorn!  And.......there was no popcorn, but we discovered a cafeteria, and it was dinner time, and why not?  It was a great place.  A huge assortment of food.



I got a plate of lasagna and Dad got a chicken breast stuffed with....something. Both were delicious.  And we got some compote which is the drink in the glasses with a pink liquid in the picture below.  It was good and tasted.......pink.



The dining area was great - we'll go back there.  It is only about a mile walk from the apartment.  It was cold inside - Dad had to keep his hat and coat on while eating.





A random note.  I got my hair cut this week.  The last time I was there, the manager gave me the phone number of the shop and indicated that I should call for an appointment - I guess she doesn't like drop in appointments or whatever.  So I went in on Monday, and in my very best Russian asked when I could come in this week - and it was on Friday at ten.  As I left the apartment, I grabbed the money Dad had put on the table but neglected to get the one loose coin - a 100 tenge coin worth about 30 cents.  When it came time to pay I was short the 100 tenge.  Kinda embarrassing.  So I said I'd come back later and here I am going in with my thirty cent coin.



Sunday night we (by "we", I mean all 8 of the volunteers) went to the Holmgren's home for dinner.  Sister Holmgren made delicious pizzas.  And......Dad and I helped two of the daughters, Aja and Zoe, learn how to do Family History indexing!  I was excited to do that because encouraging people to do Family History is one of my responsibilities in the mission.





Next week will be busy as we have two appointments.  One is with a young woman who had an NGO where she helps children and teenagers who have Down Syndrome.  The other is with a man who we've previously done a project.  We're just going to go and listen to him tell us about his ideas.