Old Churches and a widow's mite--Sunday Sept 23rd

Guy and the Girls overlooking the river

We got lucky with another family outing today. This time we took in the sights around Petropavlovsk. The town is small enough that it only took about an hour to see everything that our translator could think of. We drove to the Birch Forest and yes, there are a lot of Birch. I could tell that the driver of the van was wondering what the big deal was about seeing the birch forest, but hey it must be somewhat important since we bought a couple of things carved out of birch from a local store. It was pretty, too. Then we drove to the river which is on the north part of town. We stood at the top of a small (200 feet) bluff and looked down on it. That is the only hill that we have seen since being here. Even Astana was very flat. Then we drove past the University. That was pretty cool and Igor said that it is one of the top 3 Universities in Kazakhstan. I don’t know how many of the graduates stay local or what they all go in to, but I was glad to see the post high school opportunity for the locals.

The birch forest and some local wildlife

Since the country is half Muslim and half Russian Orthodox, there are some great churches. We saw a 200 year old Russian Orthodox church currently under renovation, a new one (down the road from the Regional Boarding School) and a mosque that is not far from our hotel. When we have gone out and about, we have actually heard a couple of Muslim prayer chants permeating local neighborhood by way of a loudspeaker (at least I assume that is what it is.) I really like listening and when I hear it, it turns my thoughts heaven ward as it should.

Ye Olde Russian Orthodox church--renovatoions in the background

While we were driving down to the river, Yulia and Olia recognized a building they called a Sanatorium and said that they had been there with their mother. After chatting, Guy and I realized that it was not the same we were thinking of that would be in the U.S. Apparently, a Sanatorium, is a cheap version of a spa. The girls said that they remembered going there and playing in the gym that was there and having a lot of fun while there mom was doing something else in the building. Then Guy asked them if they remembered where they had lived. They did. They gave a name to the place they lived and Igor said that it was a scary part of town where cab drivers charge double to take you there at night (really) and won’t take you at all if you look suspicious. Igor called it the working class area and it is obviously on the “wrong side” of the tracks. The first thing that popped in my mind was, how did Yulia and Olia survive time alone in that kind of situation? It makes me so sad. I wonder how they felt living there. I wonder what they saw. In time, I hope we come to know and I hope the girls can make peace with anything or anyone that was not good to them. Guy and I don’t have any idea if anything awful ever happened or not, as if neglect and a father in prison aren’t bad enough. But, we do know that they are good girls and I really feel that Yulia is especially wise, discerning and drawn to what is good. Olia is still young behaviorally. Her age is 8, but her emotional state is a year, or probably two, behind. Yulia has had to be her mother, so she has gotten a lot of things her way with a little bit of pouting and whining. Even though she does well at the RBS with all the structure, it is obvious that she will have to learn to take accountability for her actions and do things she may not want to do in order to improve her chances at life in general. We aren’t too worried, but it will take some effort, thought and lots of love to help her. And with parenting being what it is, we hope both Yulia and Olia choose to be helped.

After our sightseeing trip, we spent some time playing with the kids at the school. Cade, Jansen, and Denver spent time playing with some of the boys on the jungle gyms. It was so fun to watch how boys play just like normal even when there is a language barrier. King of the Mountain, running, jumping and doing tricks is a world wide form of play. Meanwhile, Guy played goalie for some older kids on the dirt soccer field. At 37, Guy is still a boy, but I guess that is a good thing to have Peter Pan as your husband. I filmed a little of that and the girls just played around with their friends. They just love to have me watch them swing on the bars and play with stuffed animals. If I teach them the phrase “watch me Momma” then that is probably all I will ever hear. The only thing better to them is when I video their tricks and antics. One of the things that really touches me is Yulia’s thoughtfulness. She brings me a little something most days and the first thing she does is give it to me. It might be a little bouncy ball, broken bracelet, used lipstick, mood ring or other little trinket, but she really wants me to have whatever it is. She is just so sweet and I am so moved by her gift of the “widow’s mite.” She really gives me all that she has. A quality that I cherish and I hope will stick with her even as her life instantly changes when she lands in America.

The most popular soccer surface in the world, dirt.

Deb