Getting ready for the big bad winter

As I’m writing this it’s currently about 60 degrees outside and has been comfortably around that number for over a week. Yippee! Nevertheless, we’re gearing up for a ferocious winter. Ferocious because we’ve never endured a winter in Kazakhstan and we expect it to be bad. Really bad. I mean, we’re about an hour away from Siberia!

A cozy hibernation requires lots of wood and coal. Our neighbors, the Salzberg brothers, are in the business of woodcutting. When Nathan finally caught them on a sober day they loaded up their big truck with logs and rumbled over to our side-gate and unloaded all of this . . .

There are two empty sheds near this pile so we decided to use one of them for wood storage. But first Mr. Jones has to chop all those logs up so that they’ll fit into our stove and he’s sure been busy with that axe! I have to say, I love watching him engaged in all this manual labor about as much as I like the vision of him pouring over books in a library. My new macho man has since decided we need another truck load of wood (he’s broken 2 axes already – Desi calls them ‘oxes’) but truly we really don’t know what we’re doing and expect to burn through a lot of wood. We’d like to feel we can liberally do so without fear of running out in the middle of a deep January freeze and then needing to chop another truck load and perhaps get frost bitten in the process . . . you get the idea.

It took a few more days, but Valya finally busted into our kitchen one morning and said it was time to go get the coal. An hour later Nate arrived with a driver and 7 tons of coal. They dumped it in one big black dusty heap and now hard-worker-Jones gets to shovel it all, bit by bit, into the other empty shed. It’s taking a long time.

Meanwhile after each session he comes in coated with coal dust. This is a big change for a guy who’s used to city life with thebabes and moonlighting libraries and classrooms! He has the marks to show it too. Our first lighting up of the stove was very exciting – Valya did the honors while we watched and took notes. It’s going to take some practice to get it as hot as he did. I may have the hydraulics a little skewed, but the way I see it is the heat rises to the attic where there is a tank of water which is heated and pumped via external pipes and radiators throughout the house. It works! I love that I can hang wet laundry on the pipes in the winter and have them dry there. All of our winter things and other miscellany arrived from Russia last month. We are not going back for that last hoped for month. We did end up getting our Russian visas (for 1month) but we are out of time.

Nathan Jones also fixed the old fashioned washing machine in the banya. One side is a spinner, which I was always able to use, but the other side it turned out only needed a little squirt of oil and now it’s rotating like new (it’s maybe a 50year old machine). I’m happy to have things simplified a little – though I still have to remove the clothes, ringing each of them in the process, and then rinse them manually and give them each another cursory ring, then place them in the spinner for a real professional job. They dry more quickly this way, of course. All this still takes about 3hours, non-stop action, but the weather’s been great and I’m still getting my kicks out of it. It’s nice to be so easily pleased.

Also, we decided to buy a used bike at the local rynick. It’s been a bit of a trial and we’re regretting it. My very first go at riding a bike again took me by surprise – it’s hard!! And it wasn't long before I fell and skinned my knee – tearing one of my 4 pairs of pants. Ugh! The fall messed up the right peddle too. And then the tires went flat. Nate was able to replace the peddle after a series of frustrating attempts and then the pump I bought turned out to be a real ‘light-weight” not doing the job properly. We borrowed Valya’s pump but after a week it went flat again! And again! I bought the bike to make life easier, I must say.

Lament over. Here are a few more pictures:

It’s BLAZIN’!!

A nice box of freshly chopped wood.

This is my borst cooking on the wood burning stove – love it!

Desmond P. Jones has his first chore: gathering kindling for the fire

I’m a hard working guy.

Zoe and I taking a moment to cuddle and kiss.

Milestones

There are certain hazzards
to opening a cereal box with ones teeth . . .

A loose TOOTH!

A few days later Desmond P. Jones had a transformed smile.

And a chain reaction – now the neighboring tooth is loose too!!

Whoops! There it went! Pretty fly for a toothless guy.

[If I hadn't seen cuteMargaret's recent pics on her first day of kindergarten, I think I would have been freaking out! DPJ turns 5 next month!]

Making lists, counting blessings

I'm a big listmaker – always loved dumping out what's in my brain on paper. All things become alive, validated by its visual nature. Sometimes I even find it hard to depart with my lists, esp. the grocery lists. I usually have several old ones hanging around the kitchen for quick reference.

I recently read a talk by Elder Maxwell that said this (thanks Miggy!):

Occasionally I see individuals who are meeting life's challenges reasonably well but who unfortunately fail to appreciate the general adequacy of their response. They let the seeming ordinariness of life dampen their spirits. Though actually coping and growing, some lack the quiet inner-soul satisfaction which can steady them. Instead they seem to experience a lingering sense that there is something more important they should be doing or that their chores are somehow not quite what was expected, as if what is quietly achieved in righteous individual living or in parenthood is not sufficiently spectacular.

Grounded, Rooted, Established, and Settled (Ephesians 3:17, 1 Peter 5:10)
NEAL A. MAXWELL
(the link is in my sidebar, under the other inspirational talks i love list)

It hasn't always been easy to adjust to this simplicity around me; the shrinking of my social circle, the struggle with my emotions, the dearth of activities, my lonely mono-lingual universe, surrendering more of myself to my children . . . and over and above all, the steady feeling that I'm not appreciating this time enough – that there are hidden treasures here I still haven't brought into being, or that I'm deliberately snuffing, as Elder Maxwell put it for me, the "quiet inner-soul satisfaction which can steady [me]. "

While walking home one night from the library, I started making another list, simply called. . .

Things I like:

Old barns
Clothes on the line
Cows coming home
My daughter in black
Borst
Sunshine
My son’s conversation
Buying garden/farm fresh food
Children bestowing hugs
Walking
Banya night
Me with my glasses on
Church with myfamily in our home
The smell of wood/fire/burning
My laptop and internet (even though it’s dial-up!)
Working in tandem with Nathan
Quiet houses with gardens
The call to prayer
Flying kites
Reading
Cold ‘fizzy’ water
My children playing and sleeping
Haribo gummies
Contact with family and friends
Horses
Time to myself

[Note to Picasa album followers: I finally upload all 100+ photos from August – see link in sidebar)

Pardon Me Poetry: a personal reprise

Sharbakti Afternoon

We took our stroller
out onto the dusty streets
noses still crusty, paint stains
on his jeans. They are both
wearing their snowboots.

The playground is freshly painted
in primary colors.
The trees are losing their leaves
but the small sour apples
still cling.

The wind is trying to tell me
something – Oh! my daughter
needs to poop!
(potty training, 2nd week)
Too late for the
pink-starred panties.

I take her across the street
trying to obscure ourselves
behind a small facilities building.
It is quiet but for
the wind and my grumbling.

Maybe it's time for some pictures

This is the humble Saturday morning rynick in Sharbakti.

I love Saturday mornings because of this. All these (mostly) women bring garden&dairy goods from their farms and it's such a thrill to buy their hand-churned butter and fresh morning eggs and milk. I love the squash and the only little woman selling dried beans. Our goal is to eat as many veggies as we can because soon it will all be gone and the only thing we'll likely find will be cabbage and potatoes.

I love borst.
The babes are still working on it. This will be our lifeline through the winter I suspect. A favorite potato and cabbage dish for Russians.

This is us at the top of that big mountain.
In Almaty we climbed all 900+ steps -- well some of us did.

Here's the Catholic Church in glorious bloom.
It's one of our favorite places to go and play in Sharbakti.

Discovering a great park in Almaty
with lovely flower gardens, cotton candy, a carnival and a zoo!

The Russian Orthodox Church in Almaty

Zoe in her preferred elevated position

Des and Zoe outside one of the rynicks in Almaty

It's also called the Green Market

I loved it! One doesn't see such abundance in our village. I haven't seen one ear of corn yet, maybe later this month.

Banya babes!
We are beginning to ask the question: What will be do in the winter when it's 40 below? It's not likely we can trapse out to the banya and back or even get it hot enough. There are no other alternatives for getting clean!!

~

Stay tuned to the sidebar for 90+ more pictures from August. Picasa is working overtime for me and my dialup connection. Bless them! [Completed 10.12.08]

Taking a moment to remember. . .

I love Nathan P. Jones. That’s why I married him. It was fifteen years ago and I was 21. People may often here me grumbling or laughing a bit about him. It’s easy because he’s naturally self-depreciating and creates this farcical target of himself. I enjoy laughing at him actually. I find him quite funny. So much so that I remember early on because I laughed too much, he began to question my sense of humor, as if I didn’t really have one because I overused it or something. He laughs at me too and I don’t think I always find the mutual humor either.

The day after we got back from Almaty, Nate turned around and went back to Pavlodar to drop off our passports for another attempt at getting Russian visas. The babes and I stayed behind at the dom in Sharbakti. Because we’d been away for over a week, we needed to make a trip to the marketplace to replenish our food and supplies. I was tired and weak, but I packed up thebabes and we took our 25minute walk to the center. First stop was the bank as Nate had taken all the money we had for his quick trip to Pav. I always worry about the one ATM in the village being out of service at the time when we desperately need money. It’s happened before – but I was prompted the last time I withdrew money to get extra to tuck away in case that happened. I didn’t have extra tenge this time and sure enough, the bank had changed locations and wasn’t quite up to full function yet. UGH!!! Immediately the anti-Natee thoughts started (I wasn’t laughing) In Semey, as we were walking past a bank with an ATM, I asked him whether we needed to withdraw money. He said no.

I checked the coin zipper of my wallet and found that I had a little over 500tenge (1USD=120T) so I went to the little renyck where a few local women sale things from their farm/garden and purchased 8 eggs (150T) and 1 liter of milk (75T) and then to the nearby store to get two loaves of bread (110T) and then we stopped at the ‘halfway market', which is on the way home, to get four liters of fizzy water (200T). We made eggs sprinkled with fresh dill (I bought dill in Almaty) and ate bread. I still had root veggies (potatoes & beets) around and cabbage in the fridge so I made borst later that afternoon.

While I was walking home from the center marketplace with my few items (you should have seen how long my shopping list was!) my feelings toward Nate evened out a bit. He was in Pavlodar after all, returning later that afternoon, and I could email him to get extra money there. Really, all these emotions began roiling the night before when, at 8pm, we finally got home from our week and a half trip to southern KZ and we couldn’t get the front door to our dom open. There was an auxiliary lock we hadn’t known about. It was raining lightly and Nathan had to hurry over to Valya’s, cutting through the potato fields to the street behind us, for help. Valya was at work but eventually his wife Sveta came over with the key and opened it up for us. Nathan stepped inside first and called out a sympathetic warning, “Prepare yourself!” As I moved into the kitchen I saw that all the kitchen cupboards & countertops had been gutted and all our stuff deposited on the nearby table. What!? I hit rock bottom. Who removes the cupboards, unannounced, in a functioning kitchen? I was soooo looking forward to getting back into ‘mykitchen’ and cooking all the abundant, gorgeous veggies we’d been seeing as we traveled about – it’s harvest time!! As we walked throughout the house we discovered that two other pieces of furniture had been removed and our stuff left lying about. Arghhhh!!! I was really upset. Nate was great and had jumped right in to clean up and unpack. We had Russian equivalent ramen noodles for dinner.

A couple days before, as we were checking into the hotel in Semey, Nathan began chatting with another traveler. He was German and so Nathan reverted into that language to communicate and share travel stories, all the while transitioning into Russian to reply to the woman checking us into the hotel. It was athletic! My lingual universe is starkly mono. Des asked some sort of question about what Nate was saying and I began to explain how his daddy spoke German as well as Russian, and then I went on to have one of those conversations where one brazenly, because there is love, exults.

The other night over pizza we were chatting with Des about school and intelligence. I said to Des that his daddy was very smart, and Nathan of course, corrected me quickly, “I’m not smart – I just try really hard and don’t give up.”

That’s perhaps the most decent thing I’ve heard him say about himself. And I was glad Des and Zoe were sitting right there to hear it.

This week marked 6months for us, so far from all of you. Booohooohooo . . .

It’s nice to get something accomplished

All this visa talk must be pretty boring to read about. I’m a bit tired of it myself. Last week in Almaty a miraculous thing happened. Good old Stan Tours of Central Asia (which gets a positive mention in the Lonely Planet – David is the MAN!) came through with a great tour company recommendation, an efficient little business run by some friendly Koreans. These competent folks took our passports one morning last week and only about $800 of our dollars (the price was much lower than quoted by David) and said come back tonight and we’ll have your 6-month, multi-entry Kazakh visas ready for you . What? Could it be? We desperately hoped we weren’t being toyed with like we are currently with this outfit in Pavlodar (we’ve handed over to them $2K for our Russian visas and still nothing three months later!) So, 5pm comes and Nathan heads over there with DPJ and those wonderful people had our passports all neatly stacked and inside all 4 of them was that glorious visa stamp and all the proper documentation!! They had even made copies of all the visas and relevant pages for nosy police officers (I had an incident a week before here in Sharbakti) Three cheers for the Happy Tours company in Almaty!!

We also had the chance to go to church for the first time in over 5months – there is a small little branch with four sets of missionaries. The senior couple told us that currently no more missionaries are being called to Russia and those that have callings in the MTC are being sent to other places. All this is due to the messed up visa situation. So sad. It has got to change – c’mon Putin, er, Medevev!!! Anyway, what I find so great about little branches, that I want to implement wherever I am, is the instant reception by people when they see a new face and the invitations to get-together that follow introductions. We were invited to dinner that afternoon with the senior couple missionaries (The Vincents) and then for the following day a playdate at another expat family’s home. I love that and it meant soooo much!! I want to do that for people – instantly open up myself, my place to them. . . silent hopes and notes taking.

Nate also met with the State Department Fulbright representative at the U.S. Embassy. That was a great meeting and she was very helpful with a lot of suggestions and it even seemed cool with her that we were hoping to return to Russia for a month, and stay a bit past our targeted KZ return.

Before leaving town we spent a couple of nights up in the lofty mountains near Almaty. We stayed in the utilitarian hotel meant for athletes – there is a large ‘olympic’ stadium up there, the price was a lot better than down in the city (Almaty is so expensive, I think ranked #44 on expensive cities in the world). The backdrop to the stadium is an immense mountain and some brave souls created nearly 900 steps to take to the top. Nate challenged us by saying, “Wouldn’t it be great to accomplish something like that?” Gasp! We decided to take it one step at a time. Zoe faltered at about 20-steps and chose to take the rest atop Nathan’s shoulders. Des, on the other hand, found the steps a little under-challenging and climbed onto the railing and scaled himself up using all fours. A budding rock climber!! After shashliks we returned to the bottom via the road route and just outside the stadium, we spotted some horses and so Des&I went on a 15minute ride. I love horses!! Ideally I love the notion of getting off the road and away from cars speeding down the hill . . . but, as I tell Des everyday, I’m trying to be grateful for what I get.

The train ride to Almaty was from one end of the country to the other (north-south) it took us 2nights and one never ending day to get there. We were only able to find top bunks, just two, and so we sat a top and stood in the little narrow hallway from time-to-time. The babes didn’t sleep during the day like I hoped they would. They played and complained and met one or two other rowdy kids and ran and chased each other from compartment to compartment. We watched a couple of videos too and, ultimately, we made it. Unbelievable. For the return trip back up to Sharbakti we decided to try a different route – boarding at 2pm and sleeping one night (we had bottom bunks this time!) and then arriving at a city called Semey at 11:30 the next morning. Nate talked Semey up and so we decided to stay the night and catch a 5hour bus ride to Pavlodar and then from Pav a 1hour bus ride to Sharbakti. Whatever – the bus ride was long, not comfortable. But I liked Semey and I want to go back soon and see the Dostoevsky museum!!!

Oh, and another thing about Almaty and Semey I love was the internet efficiency!! I uploaded about half a dozen videos to our Youtube gallery and tons of pictures from May-July. See sidebar on the right for links. I managed to engineer two, 3-hour sessions at icafes while Nate&babes went out and did something fun amongst themselves. And in Semey, I was finally able to fulfill my dream to hook up via my own laptop at an icafe. I think, secretly, this was the activity I was most looking forward to, that and going to the big western-style grocery store (in Almaty) and finding things like peanut butter and ‘pizza’ spices. They even had salsa!! Hooray for big cosmopolitan cities.


p.s. A follow up on the well situation – it was about two weeks before we finally had water again. For several days we had to go next door to our neighbors and draw water from their well. We’re very happy to have a fully functioning pump again!

Zoe en Voice

Me grow up big kid too!

A cough in my mouth – I found it.

While Desi was sleeping one morning, she walked over to the side of the bed and gently said, "Hello little guy!"

"I want an armbar." Nathan has included her in the little wrestling matches he and Des have regularly – though she said this to me, out of the blue.

Zoe: Me thinkin' . . .Oh yeah?
Me: What are you thinkin' about?
Zoe: Uhhhhh . . . . pizza!

I'm an animal!

There was a big fly buzzing over our heads. Zoe makes the little Spiderman hand action and says, "Me spins web that bug."

After watching me receive a big hug and kiss from Desi, she noted with alarm that he was turning to do the same to her and she shouted fiercely, " No! Not me!" and pushed him away.

Me grow up, drive car and see Africa – how about that?

I'm a big little girl.

I want gum to chew outside, my dear.

"I'm boom-bing." She was making "boomboomboom" sounds.

After putting a cap on her head she says, "Go back to New York, show Neibaur my cute hat – Neibaur hat."

While Zoe and I were happily intertwined on the bed she sighs, "This mommy, this baby cuddle."

"Me swimming with the grown-ups." She was on the bed pretending.

Please, pretty please, pretty please with please on top!

Zoe took my chin softly one morning and said with a little twinkle in her eye, "Little chicken."

Me go outside – I meet my grammy, grammy's house.

Zoe was helping me make my bed one morning and observed, "Me nice guy"

"I have bubblebeard on." She and Desi have been doing a lot of bubble blowing with straws and soapy water in cups.

I want to eat food.

We happy guys?

"I kissed Desmond because I wuv him." She's recently started saying "Desmond," and seems to prefer it over "Des" or "Desi". His name sounds so cute in her little voice.

Desi Candor

I wanna see Zoe's cute face.

In a whinny voice Des asks, "Mom when can we go back to New York? I want some strawberries." There have been several other berries (raspberries, gooseberries, johannesberries, etc.) that we've been feasting on, for less than a dollar a pound (!) But, the spoiled little boy, really only wanted some strawberries. Point NY. Later that night a new friend paid us a visit and brought some melt-in-your-mouth strawberries from her grandmothers garden! They were most delicious! Point KZ!

"Look what I have in my hand!" He had gone to find Zoe, who had strayed out of site at the playground, and was returning holding her hand.

Dad? Can you give me the telephone? I need to call Heidi.

As Desi wrapped his arms around my neck, he grabbed a handful of my hair and said, "Your hair is solid!"

Des is always talking about when he turns five and the things he's confident he will be able to do. Most of all he's obsessed with the prospect of somehow having the means and capacity to go shopping and buy everything he wants for himself and others. He's constantly negotiating with Zoe on the basis of buying her whatever she wants, "Zoe, wait! Wait! Do you want a toy? I'll buy you a toy when I'm five!" And sometimes he'll throw in, "And I'll get you your own room!" He makes these promises regularly and she's usually consoled by them. The other day was the best when he confidently, earnestly told her, "When I turn 5, i'm going to buy you a pink stroller with butterflies, ballerinas and hopping frogs on it!"

"Heidi is the bestest, bestest toy!" As mentioned above, he obsesses about toys and this is perhaps the highest complement on his love index – being equated with a toy.

Mom, when it's my birthday at Russia, I'd really like to go back to New York.

Do you want to be a glove?

I'm doing work so no one frustrate me!

Look! I drew a map of the whole wide world of Africa!

I wanna figure out stuff with birds – see the birds, I wanna be a bird! I'm gonna climb the roof – would that be bad? Why?

Desi woke one morning after a troubling dream. He told me a bit about it and after listening I began to question him. He was quickly losing the memory of his dream and couldn't answer my questions, so finally, a little annoyed, he replied, "It's just a dream for heaven sakes!"

"Oh! My kisses that Heidi gave me are still in my pocket!" At the airport in NYC, when we were saying goodbye almost 5months ago, Auntie Heidi tucked into his pockets several special kisses to keep so he could have them in Russia/KZ when he missed her.

While playing with the phone, Desi says, "I called for a McDonalds meal Zoe, for when we go back to New York!"

I'm messy – I'm a messy human.

You're my friend Zoe.

Life’s a weed, lately.

Noxious, unwanted episodes have been sprouting up all week! DPJ has made a new friend next door, finally, and in his attempt to entertain and show his friend a good time he's become more daring in his exploration about the property. Monday night while Nathan was outside making preparations for banya, our neighbor Sasha and his little sister Tanya were also outside playing with D&Z. I was indoors preparing dinner and taking it easy (it's become a tradition of sorts that the babes don't come back inside until they are clean, it takes about 2hours to get the banya ready and hot.) So, Nathan comes in at one point and leans against a wall and buries his head in his arm. He was awfully silent for about a minute. Then he tells me that Desi has broken the pump to the well. He and Sasha were throwing stuff down into it -- heavy stuff like metal and wood, as well as random dirty things like homemade whiskbrooms, etc. I was so afraid that one of the babes might have been injured (a well! think of it!) that our thirst and necessity for water didn't quite take root. It's taken root now, day 4, and we're completely dependant on buckets.

Then Nathan gets an email with the 'final' verdict on our attempts to renew both our Russian and Kazakh visas were, "No" with caveats. We cannot get a 1-year Kazakh visa but perhaps a 3-month, though the law stipulates that foreigners can only get Kazakh visas once a year. What?! Which is it? And no, we cannot get another 3-month Russian visa but there's a chance the agency can arrange for one month. Meanwhile, our Kazakh visas expire the end of August and the Fulbright folks expect us to be in KZ on 15Sept per grant stipulations. Too much density, we need to prune back.

And while Jones is stricken with all this grave, complex information, Des enters the room with an open paint can and proceeds to drip/spill/unload a modest amount all over the carpet. He found the paint in the bathroom, tucked away in a far corner, and before bringing it along to show Nate had dribbled/leaked/oozed a generous amount all over the bathroom floor. I was out at the time sitting in a flower garden, near the fountain, reading Dostoevsky and dabbling in poetry. It was lovely and then I returned home. Alas!

Speaking of weeds, Des brings me one of these this week, a conciliatory gesture, as there have also been several small upsets lead and instigated by him that have multiplied our nightmare.

Upon close inspection of the weed . . . could it be? Could it be marijuana? Nathan confirms. Our neighbors, the Saltzburg brothers, pointed it out to him when they were over to give a hand with the well and pump.

Laughter. Contemplation. On such a week, the weed emerges. I took a walk with thebabes this morning and there are patches of it growing wild everywhere. No one seems to mind it.

It's just a weed.

Housekeeping in Sharbakti, KZ

Considering the sort of company I keep and the schedule I maintain, I’m finding it hard to believe that I’ve missed a whole month of current updating, only managing to catch up a bit with some Pod pictorials. I say this because my social circle has shrunk to 3 people (all related) on a day-to-day basis and together we really have not much to do except get on each others nerves. Well, not all the time but at least 4-6 times a day Zoe will let up a shout or Des will wail his new wail and I will . . . well, you get the happy family picture.

Anyway, a month has already passed since leaving Russia for Kazakhstan. We were lucky to pull right up to a rather large home upon our arrival in Sharbakti and have been living here, all by ourselves, ever since. New Yorkers, hold on to your chins: we're renting the house for about $60/7000T a month! (We were paying $200/5000RU in Russia for the shared house) We hoped to find another family to live with but this house was available and too good to pass up (it’s actually up for sale and may be purchased before we return – some folks from Tashkent, UZ walked through last week. The KZ government is inviting all the diaspora to return and, to sweeten the deal, is offering subsidies to purchase homes.)

As we prepare to leave for Russia in the next week or two (hopehopehope – we don’t have our visas yet), I’m feeling a wee bit sad to lose all this autonomy and legroom (and satellite television!) This is certainly the largest place the babes have ever lived in. Nate found out that only 5% of the population here in Sharbakti have indoor plumbing. Because this house has been carefully renovated and is on the market to sell, we’ve scored indoor ‘plumbing’ – meaning there is a toilet and sink, which are connected to a large elevated tank that has to be filled up every couple of days or so from the well in the middle of the yard (but there is an electric pump and hose.) We still need to bring in auxiliary buckets of water for washing dishes and cooking – keeping up the pretensions of hardship.

The best news, of course, is that there is a banya!!! There is a separate little house on the property, the summer kitchen, and the banya is located at the back behind a tightly sealed door. Since it is detached from the house, I’ve had these extraordinary moments of stepping outside, wet and in my towel, to walk stealthily back inside the main house. It’s typically late in the evening and I’m always so alert and invigorated and happy after banya, so to be able to step outside, fresh from that experience, and look up into the sky and contemplate and breathe and listen is a precious combination. Thebabes enjoy banya as well, especially as it’s become tradition for them to play in a way they normally aren’t allowed to – they get SO DIRTY!!! Fun times for all on banya night (which is about every other day).



The property we’re situated on charmingly resembles a junkyard. Yes, a junkyard. We’ve been slowly transforming little sections since we arrived but it is what it is. D&Z of course love it and have created several interesting things with all the clutter – museums with robots and statues; a multi-level house for the cat; slides and store fronts to ‘sell’ the junk they collected. We’ve tried several times to start a bug collection but it’s not taking off. This boy doesn’t seem very interested in bugs. We made a swing from a large overhanging tree limb and they’ve found several ladders, which they move around to different places to climb and play on. A junkyard isn’t complete without an old car and we have a perfectly old, rusty ,turquoise-blue, vintage Lada. Thebabes climb in there and drive to Africa frequently.

All this said, it’s definitely lonelier without other people around us. Sometimes it feels like we’re on our own little isle because we’re not living with anyone and the neighborhoods here are designed in such a way that you really don’t see your neighbors. Everyone has high fences that can’t be seen over or through, and so when walking down the street, you see lots of colorful fences and rooftops but not a lot of people (or any of their gardens!) No one plays out in the street like they did in Pod. We’re all cut off from each other. We can’t even see any of our neighbors to the right or left of us from our back yard and it was only this week, after 4weeks of being here, when we finally hooked up with our neighbors right next door who, it turns out, have a son and a daughter exactly the same ages as Des&Zoe!

So that’s been a challenge some days but it’s allowed us to get used to each other more and while it’s been painful and exhausting it’s been good for us to grow like that.

The one immediate blessing about this village that I’ve identified (I’m sure there will be more – I’m openopenopen!) is the Catholic Church and their vast gorgeous, lawn-blanketed property and all the jollygood kids that populate it. I’m telling you, it feels like girls camp or a stake youth activity every time we go there except the leaders are nuns in creamy dresses and don’t look stressed out!! I think the kids, all ages, choose to spend most of their time there. The church feeds them three meals a day and they have a little house they can play in (more for the winter time I’m sure and they are nearly finished with a huge building just across the street, which the father told Nathan, is for the children). The order of the church is called, The Family of Mary. One of the marvelous nuns, Sister Florida is from Austria, remarked to me that, “so many of these children need a mother.” I believe she really loves them. The children have some loose, unstructured activities it seems, but mostly they relax on the lawn talking or playing ball or running around. There is a large garden too and last week when we were there they were thinning out the rows of carrots and brought a whole basket of little carrots for us all to munch on. All this pleases me immensely! The kids are really great to us and pamper thebabes. I get pampered too as most of the nuns and the father speak English. The father is about Nate’s age and is from Colorado (Laurel, did I mention? He totally reminds me of your husband, Phillip, in looks and in the gentleness he exudes – so I think of you both every time I see him. Nice.) One of the nuns, Sister Martina, is from Indiana. She is quite young and really nice. I love nice. There is Sister Florida, mentioned above, and two other nuns who I haven’t gotten to know yet one from Slovakia and the other from Germany, I think. Apparently the two brothers are American too but I haven’t met them yet. None of the kids speak English really – but luckily we’re finding out that playing and having fun doesn’t always need a mutual language.

Here are some snapshots – taken over the last month – some from our week in Pavlodar and the rest here in Sharbakti.

The American family we ran into took this pic of us on the mosque premises.
Update on them: They recently finished successfully all their court proceedings for adopting and now have their two daughters with them. One is 6 and the other is 2 (biological sisters). They will be taking them home to Louisianna next month!! Hooray for them!

This is how we spent a lot of our time out&about Pavlodar, Zoe on Nathan's shoulders and the rest of us on foot.

Playing in the 'Garden of Culture' here in Sharbakti



Des came down with what looked like the hives on our second or third night in Sharbakti. It had been over a year since his last breakout and I'd left the medicine in Pod. But he woke up the next morning all creamy skinned again with this cute little puffy face. No more hives since . . . Whew! :)

Me in the banya doing laundry.
I'm completely serious when I say: I enjoy doing the laundry. Yes, by hand. I don't know why -- it's just fun in a primitive sort of way. I appreciate experiencing something I wouldn't otherwise be able to.

Outside our dom in Sharbakti on our first week.

It took us a few days to process everything about our new home and it's accompanying excesses (of junk!) but then we kicked into gear and felt very grown-up, trying to take care of all these household matters!

Me&Zoe inside my first mosque in Central Asia!!
I had to don an abaya! So cool.

Frolicking on the lawn (a lawn!) at the Catholic Church with Sister Martina and a couple of the kids.

A rare glimpse at more than just rooftops -- the doors are usually at the side of the house or at the back -- ours is at the back.

Several of the gates separating the properties from view are bright and colorful like this one.

The dusty streets of Sharbakti.
It's hard keeping feet clean. 'Clean', by the way, has become a loose and slippery notion. Thebabes outwit me everytime . . . I've taken to painting my toenails brick-red to give the allusion of clean.

Some Things Stay the Same - Part III

Thoughts of the free market still plague me -- what toys can I buy with my beloved dollar?

Pavlodar, Kazakhstan

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SISTER!!!

Thanks for being such a wonderful sister and such an amazing example in my life! I am so lucky to have you as a sister- to teach me love, patients, kindness, and strength. I miss having you so close and spending those hectic Saturdays together. I look forward to your return and being able to share more sisterly moments. I hope your birthday is special and although you are so far away, you are a daily part of my life and thoughts. Love and miss you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG SISSY FACE!! :))
xoxo
Heidi

Resizing image...

(When you get back we will work on getting better pictures taken together-- this is all I had) ha ha

Preschool Pick Up

This post was meant to be sent while we were still in Podsosnovo, Russia. I miss Pod.

It's like pulling teeth to upload pics so it's taken sometime. I had a breakthrough this morning with a complying dial up connection and babes who were engaged in building a castle in the kitchen while Nate cleaned up! Sweet!

Desi goes to preschool 5days a week and stays from breakfast till after naptime. He's had some ups and downs but overall is really doing well for a little guy who doesn't speak the language everyone else in the school does.

We've recently discovered that for some reason he's been placed in the 5-6 year old class. What strikes me most about this are the little girls and how attune they are to Desi. They look after him and are quite motherly toward him; and it sometimes carries over to me. Watching over the stroller, helping me with Zoe, making sure we get all our stuff, and on mornings when Des is reluctant to enter the classroom they take his hand and lovingly, but assertively, usher him into the classroom.

So I finally went to pick him up last week with a camera and took some great shots of these great little kids. They have been really very nice to DPJ and I'm very grateful for it!

It was cutecutecute when I pulled the camera out -- they are congregated instantly and posed to perfection without any coaching. They know they're cute!

On the bench. Sasha is the boy laying down (I don't know many of their names) he became Desi's instant friend. A really sweet boy who would often caress Desi's face. I don't think he was feeling well on this day.

Des seemed to be more subdued in personality during his time at school. He couldn't talk much, of course, because he doesn't speak Russian yet. When I would pick him up, he would immediately begin talking to me, literally nonstop, and his teachers and classmates would look on and listen in wonder to his little enthusiastic voice.

Here are the women bringing in breakfast to the classrooms. Each class has their own attendants who bring in the meals, etc (Desi's is actually the younger one) . Note the pail, perhaps with water or kasha (hot cereal), and the bread wrapped in a cloth, the tea pot and a little dish of butter or jam.

This is Sasha. Desi's bestbud in Russia.

Spiderman made an appearance one day. This is Sasha all dressed up and posing with the ladies. Oh! It looks like one of DPJ's Superman capes is also being sported. They were definitely intrigued with Desi's toys, etc.

Provincial Observances

Preamble: These observances were composed in April/May but before I had a chance to post them, I found that I'd mistakenly deleted most of them and then saved the document. The next time I opened it there were only 3 listed out of the 12. I had an idea today to try and find a shadow doc via Google Desktop and there is was -- a (recovered) doc that was in some hidden cache file. I did numerous searches via my systems (Dell) search tools and I found nothing. If you haven't downloaded Google Desktop, I urge you to try it!! It's most handy!

1. I love that Nathan has become more of the point person when things go awry with the babes. Instead of reproaching me, people go to Nathan and give him an earful ("Will you please get your son to stop playing with those fish heads in here?") Of course, I'll still be intercepted by the occasional babushka concerned for the welfare of my underdressed (or in two cases overdressed!) children. It's a generational thing that spans all time zones.
   
   
2. Luba is something of a horticulturalist. She has plants overpopulating all the window sills and nurses them daily. Last night I caught her in the kitchen lovingly spritzing one of her larger plants in the sink. She had a cup of water in her hand, which she drank from but instead of swallowing, she blasted it back out all over her plant. I couldn't help it and began to laugh uncontrollably. She joined me and explained in pantomime that she hadn't a spray bottle so this was her method. She's a genius.
   
   
3. Mayonnaise. The choice dressing of the Russians. There are about 20 different varieties in the stores – can't find mustard but there is plenty of mayo! I've studiously avoided regular usage of the stuff for most of my life (plain yogurt is best; esp. the Greek kind!) but find I'm being reeducated as Luba makes little hints & helpful suggestions to use mayo on our cucumbers and tomatoes, or drizzle on top of the freshly fried fish she's made, or in the pork cutlet sauté with potatoes and carrots, or on the pelmeni and veriniki (meat and potato dumplings). I'm not saying it wasn't all good, but it just doesn't feel right!
   
   
4. After a fun evening of laundry with Luba, she leaves to spend the rest of it with friends across the street. I shout after her, "Have fun!" and Nathan, who was beside me, remained silent for a minute and then said, "They don't have that expression in Russian. I wouldn't know how to translate that."
   
   
5. Nathan currently works (for free) at the collective farm's brewery here in Podsosnovo. He often has to beg his coworkers to allow him to help out with the work, and while thus engaged, he tries to get them to discuss their lives and families. Last Friday there was a little celebration after lunch, and some of the workers retired into a small, tucked-away room taking frequent shots from several bottles of vodka (and eating sunflower seeds). Nathan sat with them for a couple of hours listening to them talk and occasionally joining in on the conversation (and, it must be said, also partaking of the sunflower seeds). At one point, Nathan's coworker Roman explained: "We Russians never drink vodka at home, because by the time we leave work it's all gone."
   
   
6. It's nice to have a cat on mouse duty (and to find that I am no longer allergic to cats – yes, mom, can you believe it?!) However, on a recent Sunday the cat joined us in the living room as we were in the middle of our sacrament meeting with something suspicious in her mouth. Des announced, "The kitty's got some chocolate!" But upon closer inspection it was not chocolate; it had 4-little feet and a head&tail! Ugh! The presiding priesthood holder expedited a fast removal from the scene but the spirit was decidedly disturbed.
   
   
7. Russian women love their stilettos and general high heeled shoes. Even in winter with multiple inches of snow on the ground, I've witnessed countless numbers of them stylishly navigating the icy surfaces without any problems. I am more at ease in my military reminiscent Earth boots. Clunky but comfortable.
   
   
8. Motorcycles. I cannot understand the appeal. Ever since my mom got into an accident with a neighbor guy on a bike (yeah, she was hot) and hurt her ankle, I've been a combination of terrified and annoyed by them. They are so noisy. And guys who usually have motorcycles have a certain personality (uber- machoism perhaps) which really turns me off (I know, gross generalization) Anyway, Pavel (19-yearold son of Nikolai&Luba) has a bike. He pulled it out of the garage, all rusty and busted, and resurrected it and his social standing in just over 3-weeks. The guys and the girls flock to him. He's outside from noon to last light and his machina posse comes and goes throughout the day. Girls young and old will stand around, eating sunflowers seeds, giggling&ogling him; Guys with their bikes will come roaring up to the house and they'll all convene and straddle up and blast off. Ugh! A bike culture thing, another universal.
   
   
9. I'm so proud! Zoe had fishcakes for breakfast this morning. Luba&Nikolai go fishing a lot and the other night put most of their catch through a hand grinder creating a lot of fish meat (with bone chunks!) Zoe has become more adventurous in her eating since arriving here, which has been a relief to witness. Up to this point she's been a very reluctant eater. Fishcakes!! For breakfast!! YES!
   
   
10. There is this interesting anti-consumerist thing happening in my behavior (it's always been in my mind but I am finding real&necessary utilization and urgency for it). I note with dread all the waste we are generating as it builds up at the back of the dom. We buy lots of 'fizzy water' (carbonated h2o) and yogurt and juice and milk and various packaged things. . . all this creates large amounts of garbage and is starting to affect my usual tendencies to buy more, replace more, keep things new and nice. For instance, my rubber gloves have a hole in the finger, my impulse is to just buy another pair but then I think, what will I do with the old pair? It will just sit out back and contribute to the waste. . . or Luba needs a spray bottle and I entertained thoughts of going to a store and finding her a nice one but then realized my Mr. Proper spray cleaner (spin off of Mr. Clean) is almost out and she could use that instead. She also spends a lot of time watering her plants and I've thought of getting her a fancy watering can until I noted she had begun using our Bon Aqua water bottles and decided that recycling them was certainly more virtuous. Good lessons
    
    
11. Nikolai&Luba dote on Zoe (Des will get an occasional poke, smile or hair ruffle.) Nikolai can't walk past Zoe without making some little baby noise (a favorite is, "Coo Coo!" as in a coocoo clock. It sounds so funny coming from adults and I've heard several people say it to her) and calling out her name, or trying to reach for her or nibble on her. Zoe has tried her usual snubbing tactics with them, which is usually shouting the word, "NO!" But they are undaunted and keep coming back for more abuse. She and Luba will get into shouting matches that will usually end in giggles (Luba calls her "Madame"). One day Zoe was pulling her onsie down and looking curiously at her chest. Luba saw her doing this and began to laugh heartily and has since been poking at Zoe's chest and coaching her to eat more cabbage so that her breasts will grow.
    
    
12. I'm awkwardly noting a lot of split pants and open flies. Mostly in guys. Pavel, for instance, will sit astride his bike in a pair of pants with a huge split right between the legs. All this actually makes me feel a little better about an old pair of linen pants I love and have been sheepishly wearing with the very same problem.
    
    
    
    

Desi Candor

When I told Desi it was resttimenaptime one afternoon his response was, “I’m not resting! Aren’t you nuts?”

Zoe! You look just like a girl!

What do I smell that’s excusting?

Run for your lives! That mommy has a toothbrush!

Can we do something fun in Russia liiiiiiiiike. . . . . . build a tent?

Zoe? Do you want to be a peacemaker?

Is that in New Yorkan? (‘New Yorkan’ is the new standin for English)

After getting scratched away from a big hug he was giving Zoe he cries, “Arghh!! Zoe’s like a cat!”

Dad, did you forget? I don’t speak Russian!

The babes love me to buy these little chocolate eggs that have toys inside. On one unfortunate day, the toy inside Desi’s egg was a little beachgirl and he threw it to the ground in anger saying, “I don’t want a girl toy!” I then proceed to give him my gender-equal-love-lecture and being-grateful-for-what-you-have-lecture when he finally conceded with the following , “It’s ok, it’s ok. It’s ok that I have a girl toy. There’s a boy with a ballerina shirt at my school. So. . . it’s ok, it’s ok.”

Early one morning:
Me: What are you thinking about Des?
Des: I’m thinking about how to get out of Russia.
Me: Get out! Why do you want to get out?
Des: I want to go see Heidi.

Zoe, Do you want to get naked too?

As we were walking past the fields one cold morning, Des points excitedly to a stack of steaming hay, “Look! Hot hay!”

Des has had a runny nose. It seems he resists all instruction to use a tissue over his sleeve – until one day he said, as his nose was oozing, “I know just what to do about my nose!” He then dashes to his clothes cupboard and pulls out the pants he was wearing that day at school. He digs out from the pocket a battered tissue and begins to wipe proudly and says, “A girl from school gave me a tissue.”

Des: Zoe do you want me to kiss you?
Zoe: No
Des: Do you want me to hug you?
Zoe: No
Des: Do you want me to spank your bum?
Zoe: No
Des: Zoe, do you know what ‘spank your bum means’? Does it mean ‘read me a story’?

I'm turning dark and going into the toilet!

After making a funny, senseless sound for a few seconds, Des earnestly turns to me and asks, “Is that a funny memory? Is that going to be a memory for you? Are you writing it down?”

When Zoe grows up will she still be Zoes?

After a nice long cuddle, Desi sighed, "I don't want to grow to a grown up -- I want to stay with mommy. I don't want to leave mommy."

Will you be so happy to see my children? Will you love them? Will you? I'll take them to see their grandma&grandpa everyday!

Zoe en Voice

No! I said No!

While swinging one morning Zoe declared happily, “MyGrammy loves me!”

That bug standing on me.

Please! Pretty please!!

This butter's yummy!

Zoe: Neibaur . . .
Me: Are you thinking about Neibaur?
Zoe: Yes, Neibaur.
Me: Neibaur and Leila are our special friends. I think about them all the time. I miss them.
Zoe: No! My friends! Neibaur&Leila.
Me: Are they your friends?
Zoe: MyNeibaur. MyLeila.

With her legs as far apart as she could get them standing Zoe will proudly call our attention and say, “Kids do that”. She must have seen some kids somewhere doing that and has been trying it ever since.

“Nia nadda Stroller!” She addressed the stroller in Russian! We were out walking and she insisted on pushing it along and it proved too difficult. Nia nadda means it’s not necessary or you’re not supposed to do that. Des has been hearing a lot of that word.

Pointing at one of the biggest freckles on my arm Zoe asks, “Chocolate?” I say no. “Ice cream?” She wonders. I say no. “Take it off?” She suggests. I say no.


As a baby approached us, Zoe pointed and said, “Little man coming.”

“Not me, not me school.” She’ll say this in order to be reassured that she does not have to go to school. She only lasted about 4days before it was decided that she would not go any longer. She and I are now spending consecutive, one-on-one, days together and it is the most blissful discovery – the company of my daughter!

No way Jose!

“Eat something, tummy hurts.” She never used to ask for food and now to hear her say this on a regular basis is greatgreatgreat.

Desi happy?

Zoe had her finger up her nose. I asked her what she was doing and she explained, “Get something nose”.

“My teachers, byebyebye. Pakah pakah!” Again reflecting upon school and the happy fact that she doesn’t have to go.

Zoe found some coins on the floor and was so happy, “My kopeks!” then she started tapping them together and said, “ Singing kopeks!”

After searching a bit to find her favorite socks, she began to put them on and say, “Don’t worry socks, don’t worry. Mommy find you. Hi!”

In Kazakhstan

We’re in KZ for the next month trying to get back into Russia with a new 3month visa. Meanwhile we’re hotel hopping and sightseeing in Pavlodar. Today we ran into our first American family at the fountains as ourbabes were frolicking topless. It’s the first extensive verbal conversation I’ve had with another woman in a real long time. Nice.

Below are some pics of the city. These are highlights – don’t let them fool you into booking your next family vacation to Pavlodar, Kazakhstan.

Getting off the day shift at the Pavlodar Waldorf? Nope. Highschool graduates. Who needs a cap and gown when these little numbers are the rage!

The Russian Orthodox Church. We had a spectacular view from our hotel.

This was the playground in the shadow of the church. Thebabes loved it. I was rather on edge as everything was made of metal from what had to be soviet era, most of the equipment was rusting and jaggedy. The human hamster thing in the center was a big hit, as you can imagine. When the big kids occupied it, we were breathless.

In the same day we marched over the Mosque. Spectacular! It was so exciting to see a mosque again – it’s been since my trip to Dubai in ’98. I love mosques and hope to see several more in KZ and UZ!!
Here’s Des being provoking with his orthodox Jesus icon here on the Mosque premises. Where does he get these ideas?

So, goodbye urban metropolis we’re heading next week to rural KZ to wait out the Russian visa game. Nate’s promised I’ll love the longdrop facilities and bringing in water from the neighborhood well. Anyway, I’m living it up now in our hotel by taking showers everyday again and lounging around in my new housedress purchased at the rynick (bazaar) down the street. I’ve decided it’s cool to be a hausfrau and decided I’d dress like they do here. So comfy and quite liberating! I’m lovin’ it! Nate makes regular trips to the market to get me fizzy water too. He brings it home baby.