Thanksgiving WEEK!

[Disclaimer: This post covers the past 8 days, and is long. It also, however, has many pictures and is definitely worth reading. ]

It’s been a crazy week, and I’ve LOVED every single minute of it. Every year, for Thanksgiving, ESI teachers get a week off of teaching to come together for an in-country retreat. For Kazakhstan, this takes place in Karaganda and Karkaralinsk, about 1,000 miles north of Taraz . This means, for the 6 of us in the south, a 21-hour train ride. So that’s where this story starts.

It was just 2 hours into the ride. We were riding “plotz-car,” which basically just means the car is open. There’s no seats, just beds. I was situated on the bottom bunk (due to the likelihood that I would possibly maybe probably sleepwalk), Carolina was above me, Dave and Alicia were across. I tried my first blini:

People love Blini here. I, however, didn't love it. Don't be fooled by my smile. Curtis took it from me after one bite. Thanks, Buddy! I tried my second Blini later in the week at retreat. I hated that too. I guess I don’t like Blini! (I do realize this is probably a disappointment to all my friends up in St. Pete, however, I will not suffer through another Blini just because you like them.)

Then, a family boards and takes over the 5^th and 6^th bunk in our section. The family consists of Father, Mother, and beautiful Baby Girl. We get to talking (and when I say talking, I just mean talking. I don’t actually mean understanding.) and find out he’s a father of 6, Baby Girl being his youngest. It didn’t take long for the whisky to come out, and eventually, he just hopped off the train at one of the stops and bought me this:

Yes, it’s a fish. It's the mother of all fish (fishes? Is fish an uncountable noun?)! It was soaked in vinegar and dried like jerky. The eyes of this jerkied animal stared back at me as I accepted with a “ooooooh, spaSEEba!” and a smile. He then sat next to me on my bunk and attempted, for the better part of an hour, to hold my hand. REALLY?! His wife was RIGHT there. His daughter was playing at my feet. I just kept pulling my head away. Finally, I cheraded that I needed to sleep. He retreated to his wife, I retreated to my corner and my hand sanitizer. And that was that. 21 hours later, at about 5:20am on Sunday morning, we arrived in Karaganda. We met our team (what a JOYFUL reunion!) and headed to the bus stop to board a bus for the 4-hour trip to Karkaralinsk, where we’d be staying until Wednesday.What a beautiful place! It was a welcomed surprise to have snow, as it’s been pretty mild in the south thus far.

We spend a good part of our week out on a frozen lake. Being the through-and-through Mid-Westerner that I am, I ran right out on the lake. My fellow teachers, many of whom are from the south-west, stopped after about 10 feet, frozen with fear. I was fun to coax them out onto the lake and watch them meticulously listen for cracking ice with each step. Before long, they were running and sliding and jumping with me, and they had a BLAST! I did too.

It was an incredible few days with people I just met in July but who have quickly climbed the ranks to join my best and closest friends. It was amazing to be able to spend a week fellowshipping and relaxing with the people I trained with for a month, the people who are here for the same reason I’m here, the people who share my heart and HIS heart for Kazakhstan. I LOVE THIS TEAM!

Being in the south, I can’t attend a Sunday club. So, it was truly marvelous to be able to w()rship and lift up HIS name as a team. (Thanks, Jeffrey, for your mad guitar skills and willingness to lead us before HIS throne!)

We were challenged to a volleyball match by some nationals who, like us, were staying at the complex. Obviously, this was not an opportunity that I was going to pass up! We had a wonderful time, and through our playing with them, doors were opened and truth was shared and relationships were built. They spent a lot of time with us in the few days after this game. HE works in mysterious ways, but HE is clearly ALWAYS working!

The girl’s on the ESI Kazakhstan team have a tradition of taking a sun-bathing by the lake picture in bathing suits, dispite the snow. I didn’t take my bathing suite, but was NOT about to miss out on this opportunity! I borrowed some shorts from someone, threw on a tank-top, and hit the beach. We sunbathed:

Sat on the docks:

Did a little sliding:

And a little jumping:

And just ENJOYED eachother.

I was the only new teacher to join in the sunbathing tradition. They say that every year, the new teachers who participate ALWAYS come back. Please, join me before the throne as I seek HIS will for my life next year.

Wednesday afternoon, we headed back to Karaganda, where the Northern Kazakhstan team lives, and began preporations for our Thanksgiving feast, which was to take place Thursday at 2pm. Since I’m such an incredible cook, I signed up to bring drinks. All of the Americans in Karaganda came to the dinner! Have you ever seen so many Americans in one place before?!?:

Didn’t think so. We enjoyed our meal:

And wrote on balloons and tossed them around for a while, until we had to stop because Jesse “Hive Boy” Foster is allergic to latex, and was having problems. That made me laugh a lot.

I’m incredibly thankful for my family this year. It’s tough being SO far away for the holidays, but it just makes me love them all the more (if that’s even possible…)!

My dear friend and roommate from Moody, Becca, has some high school friends (Phil and Andy) that live in Karaganda. We ended up having our Thanksgiving feast at their house! They are wonderful and I’m thankful for the opportunity to have met them. We took this picture for you, Becca!:

While Thursday is the American National Holiday of Thanksgiving, Friday is the Mus1!m national holiday of Eid al-Adha, where Mus1!ms celebrate the Feast of the Sacrifice, remembering A11ah’s command to Abraham to sacrifice Ishmael. And while I don’t share their beliefs, I was eager to experience their culture and see their customs. I was invited, along with 4 other American teachers, to visit the Mosque on the h0ly day with a student. It was an eye-opening culture lesson, and gave me SO much to think about. The student, Gulima, brought each of us girls a beautiful head covering, and for JD, she brought a traditional hat worn out of respect by Mus1!m men. She brought us into the bathroom for traditional cleansing (in which we did not participate) and showed us how to correctly and reverently cover our heads:

We then headed into the courtyard of the Mosque, waiting for the pr-yer to be over. The men gathered outside to pr-y together. They’re so devout, so religious, so dutiful, SO LOST. And it breaks my heart. And, it challenges me. When was the last time I took this posture of respect and reverence before MY FATHER’S throne?:

To celebrate this holiday, the Feast of Sacrifice, the Mus1!ms bring sheep to be sacrificed. We were invited to watch. It was an incredible display that brought to life this verse from Isa!ah: “HE was oppressed and afflicted, yet HE did not open his mouth; HE was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so HE did not open his mouth.” These sheep were led into the slaughtering room, tied next to the alter, and sacrificed, one by one. And the others just look on, and when it was their turn, the just went up there and took it.

And while I did not have a hand in the sacrificing of these lambs, I had a hand in sacrificing THE LAMB. And HE just took it, for me. The room was covered in blood. The slaughterers were covered in blood. And me? I’m covered by the blood of THE Lamb. His sacrifice trumps ALL.

I’m continuing to learn the ways and customs of the people I KNOW I’m called to reach. I love this culture and these people, and so does HE. And with everything I learn, I’m reminded of the immensity of the ONE I serve. HE’s got us all in his hands.

That night, Jeffrey took me out to dinner at a Georgian restaurant. We both ordered Sheshleek, a local dish that's just basically kabobs. I ordered pork, since I can't find that meat anywhere in the south. He ordered the lamb. I almost lost it. Not that I've ever been able to eat lamb, but now... Yeah, never.

I left on my own this afternoon for Astana for my flight. I rode in a Marshrutka (a VERY full 15 passenger van) all the way there. I needed to get a taxi to the airport, and I was talking to my seat partner about it. The driver overheard, and after everyone had left, he motioned me back into the car and communicated that he would take me. After an hour-long tour of the city and a few very persuasive attempts to get me to have dinner with him, he brought me, safe and sound, to the Astana airport. And he did it for FREE! Sometimes being an American has it's bonuses. Other exciting news: My Russian is getting better and I was able to talk to him for the better part of an hour! Mala Dietz to ME!

It was an incredible week, complete with many laughs, HIS joy, and tearful goodbyes. HE’s got a wonderful team in place in Northern KZ, and it was blessing to be able to reunite with them this week. Kris, Michelle, Lauren, Jesse, JD, Julie, Jeffrey, Curtis, Katina, Alicia, Dave, Carolina: I LOVE YOU ALL, miss you all, and thank HIM for making our team as amazing as it is! Keep on keeping on!

Happy THANKSGIVING to all!

[if you're still reading, props to you. this was a LOOOONG post.]