First Haircut

Mom, remember when I was little and cut my own hair? That’s kind of what I looked like today after my first haircut here. I came home and Stephen cut it again. Now I have short hair.

Floating Train

Saturday morning we set out to explore more of our city. It was a chilly but sunny day, so we went to the port to take pictures at the enormous lake on which our city lies. Our timing was perfect and we saw something you may not see anywhere else in the world. The one railroad that runs through town comes from a neighboring country and ends up at the lake. But, instead of going around the lake – which would take a very long time and a lot of track – it goes across.

How does this work?

Well, as you can see from the pictures, the tracks go right up to the water where a large boat docks. The boat is equipped with rails so the train can back onto it. They load every train car with all its heavy cargo onto the boat - all except for the engine. Then they take the cars and cargo across the lake to a similar dock and unload them with another engine that will take the cargo to the western part of the country. We saw the unloading part of the process.

We thought it was pretty crazy and watching the process made for a fun Saturday morning. They even invited us on the boat! Yes, our idea of fun has had to change a little since living in Central Asia.

It's Almost New Year

March 21st is “Nevruz”, or the K New Year. It’s celebrated by dancing the day away with family and friends in an open field outside of the city. For Nevruz, women typically dress up in a “gras fistan,” the traditional K dress (think old school proms minus the big hair). The dresses are very colorful with lace, sparkles, and poofy sleeves. Sarah picked out material for hers this week and had it made. She’s modeling it above.

The Standard Toilet in Central Asia

This is the bathroom in our office, complete with rubber slippers. The small pitcher under the faucet in the top left is the “flusher.” Use your imagination!

Never Has OK Meant So Much

It’s official! We can buy chicken at the store. We hope OK means the same thing here as it does in the States.

The best things about living in rural Central Asia:

1. The labels on products are in every language in the world except English.
2. Sarah gets to learn creativity in cooking (all of you who can look at a recipe and go to the store and actually find every ingredient don’t understand this one).
3. Where else can simply eating chicken be the most dangerous thing you do in a day?
4. The electricity and water could go out at any moment – while shampooing your hair, shaving your head (with an electric razor), baking a cake, or riding the elevator.
5. Water pressure and temperature fluctuate more than a pregnant woman’s hormones. No Sarah is not pregnant.
6. The greatest candy bar in the world can be purchased for approximately 14 cents.
7. The only things with more potholes than the roads are the sidewalks.

Canned Tomatoes (by Sarah)

I found canned tomatoes at the grocery store this week. So, I did what any normal person would do. I frantically grabbed every single can from the shelf and filled my cart! I questioned my sanity when I found myself with my head against the shelf, reaching my entire arm to the back to grab every last one. I decided I wasn’t insane, but if I had to chop my own tomatoes one more time I would be. So, I continued shopping, asking the Father for more canned tomatoes to be imported please!

Chicken Soft Taco (by Stephen)

After over a month of not seeing chicken anywhere because of the infamous bird flu, to say that I was craving it would be a huge understatement. To my joy as I walked along the sidewalk, trying not to turn an ankle in the potholes, I saw it in the window. It had a glow about it that lured me in like a tractor beam. I instantly turned to enter the small restaurant and felt tears rolling up in my eyes. Before I ordered the equivalent of a chicken soft taco, I shrugged my shoulders and said to the owner, “Bird flu?” He pointed to a sign which I think (and hope) said “100% guarantee you won’t get bird flu.” Good enough for me! It was the best chicken I’ve ever eaten. Since then I’ve become a regular, and friend to the owner of that small restaurant.

Love Day Treats

Happy Love Day (as it is called here)! Sarah baked her
heart out yesterday. Stephen and the neighbors were the
beneficiaries. (The pictures aren't this dark - we haven't figrued out why they look this way.)



Valentine's Day cookies in honor of our 3 favorite people J.J., Camo,
and Katie (not necessarily in that order).

Why another blog?

We've created this blog for our loved ones - family and friends. It makes us sad that living far away means missing out on much of each other's lives. So, we're hoping that this blog can in some ways bring us closer to you than we really are. Our plan is to post pictures and stories about normal, everyday life apart from our work here. In return, we would LOVE for you to post, comment, or email us about the small, yet exciting events in your lives. On bad culture shock days hearing those short, simple stories keeps us sane. We'll do our best to update often! We love you.