My trip to the Village

     I’ve had the backup plan for a while now that if I didn’t figure out what I’m going to do with my life that I will just find a small village somewhere in the middle of nowhere Russia and live with a little Babushka and Deyadyshka . Well I may not be in Russia, but I think I found a village that I like! Yesterday my Kazakh mom told me we were going to the village where she and her daughter grew up.

    Originally when I heard the word village, I was thinking this was going to be very primitive and there were not going to be any Russian-English speakers. Now the primitive thing I was not afraid of because I prefer that but the whole not being able communicate thing is really hard for me! As we were driving through the foggy green mountain pass in a taxi filled with strangers I was excited to finally see my first Kazakh village. As we pulled up to gate number 21 I quickly discovered Dad had my back as my Kazakh mom’s English speaking niece opened the gate. I was immediately greeted by all of her family and brought inside for some tea which is a custom here. It’s tea in the morning. Tea at lunch, tea before lunch and after lunch, afternoon tea, pre-dinner tea, after dinner tea and midnight tea. TEA TEA TEA! That’s fine with me though cause I do that at home too there’s just no one to talk to and no chocolate and cookies are on the table. They always tell me I drink tea like a Kazakh because I can throw it back. I always tell them it’s because I’m Japanese. After a nice lunch of plov and salad, I got to take a ride to a different street in the village which lined with the homes of a tone of their other relatives. When we got there it was like something out of a movie. They had barns for the sheep, cows and horses. They had a cellar to put the canned goods and things in the winter time. They had a huge garden and apple trees with a little baby cow in the middle. I was loving it! After we had another round of tea with this part of the family, they decided to show me down the street of relatives, some of them unsuspecting of a new American guest. This was such a cool experience meeting all of their family and eating bread whenever I entered a house as is a custom. I surprised many of them when I broke out the camera so they would go and change their clothes. Everyone was so nice to me and humbly welcomed me into their homes. This tour was also led by two ladies who were English teachers so that was nice for me to be able to get all of what was going on.  I also got to help some boys practice their English after a bit of coaxing by their mom. One boy didn’t want to practice his English because he thought I was Kazakh so when they told him to say something in English to me he was a bit confused. He was thinking why he would talk to me in English when I wouldn’t understand it anyway.

     After another dose of tea, I went with some of them to a grave site where the grandfather, grandmother and oldest son and his wife were buried. This was a new experience and unique experience for me. We piled into a truck and road down this bumpy dirt road past the shepherds with their sheep and cows.  Everyone covered their heads to honor their relatives’ graves since they are of the Muslim faith. This was also my first time visiting a grave site like this. They have gates all around the individual graves and at the top of the front arch there is a plaque with their name. One of the boys recited portions of the Qur’an and then his father said a prayer. I was kneeling along side of them lifting up my own words in my own way. When we got back we ate a nice dinner of Bisparmak which made me happy!

     Overall this was an amazing experience and as we drove away in the early morning I looked back at the glorious mountain range that so beautifully border Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and felt so satisfied. I hope I will be able to go back soon. I have certainly had no shortage of blessings here. I notice Dad’s hand in everything from a little girl’s smile, tea time laughter, journal entries, and the wonderful Kazakh nature to conversations with new friends. I am so thankful to be here and this trip to the village far surpassed any expectations I could have had. I just hope one day these beautiful people who made me so happy can experience the same joy, hope and love I hold dear to my heart every day.

Post Delegation

How do I even begin to sum up the last 10 days? Well how would anyone sum up ten days jammed packed with everything from orphanage visits, cooking meals, may day parades, schmoozing with the governor, touring the sights, having tea with local heroes, improve dance parties, sword swallowing, walking around the city, watching Kazakh national dances, giving wheel chairs out and so so much more. I suppose I just did but that is really only a quarter of the things that happened over the course of those 10 days the delegation was here.

On the Wednesday the delegation was to arrive I spent the day making sure the house was all ready for them to come. The anticipation and excitement was making me anxious but I was glad to soon be able to meet a batch of new friends. As they all got into the house with their things and took a much needed clean bathroom stop, the delegates sat down to a meal where I then was asked by one member if I spoke English. I love being asked that question! I told her yes indeed I spoke English and I even come from America.

This delegation was made up of people from three states, Virginia, Indiana and Colorado. It was in my opinion the A team since there was a lot of cultural peace relationships being built on this trip. That is where the schmoozing came into play. The main purpose of this delegation however was not the flashy glitz and glam or even playing with orphans. Their purpose, although at first I didn’t even see the importance of it was to lift up the city of Taraz and the country of Kazakhstan. Let me tell you these people wielded the sword better than any warrior I have seen before. They came out strong and covered this city with the power only the Father can give and for me that was an amazing thing to witness and be a part of. I really learned from these people and I will never forget the time I got to spend with them.

These past 10 days have been absolutely crazy and none stop but every moment has been a blast and I am so thankful I got to meet all of these new friends and hang out with them as they did their work here in Kazakhstan. It has been interesting being on this side of things rather than being a delegate. I think I really like it, plus going to the train station was not a sad thing because I didn’t have to get on it to go home. I don’t want to assume too much but I think I could get used to that.

Now we still have three of the delegates left here so things are a bit quite now but I still get to join them on their exciting adventures.

In the words of our team leader Walter, we will make peace not by two presidents talking and meeting together. We will make peace by the people meeting one on one and getting to know each other and building relationships by exchanging cultures. That is exactly what we are all here to do and that is why I came to Kazakhstan and I hope I will be able to spend lots of time in the near future working on building these relationships and furthering the work of my Dad.

P.S. Pictures will follow I just need to load them onto the computer but stay tuned.