Update

Hi Everyone,

Joe's blackberry went down on Nov. 30th and we have not been able to send the blog update to my brother. Quite a bit has happened, as we countdown the days to coming home.

Life here is pretty funny on some days and bittersweet on others. Like yesterday, we went bowling, more like Joe took everyone bowling at the local bowling center. We have become close friends with the Lead Peace Corp Volunteer
in this area and she, along with three other friends came bowling. So did Alena and three other kids from the orphanage. One of the volunteers is a Georgia State Graduate named Jennifer, who has only been here four months.

What a great time. It was so special for the kids, as they have never bowled until we came. One of the girls yesterday, who's name is Svetlana, has a birth defect that has hindered her ability to walk. The story goes, her mother dropped her off as an girl because she was not healthy. Come to find out she had a tumor on her back that had grown and hindered her ability to walk. After two operations, one that the orphanage director got support for, she now walks with one crutch instead of two. As of yesterday, she had never participated in any activities due to her legs. Yesterday was the first sport she had ever
played and on the way back to the orphanage she cried tears of joy.

Things that we take for granted, like toilet paper, are non existent here. I needed to use the toilet and asked Alena to take me. She took me to the girls bathroom that they use and to my surprise there was no toilet paper. Just newspaper. Yes, they use newspaper. This piece had big advertisements on it and was torn as they needed it. I can not imagine what the ink does!! It is really wild. At least it was a real potty. Here there are potty's that are only holes in the floor. You roll up your pants and well, you get the idea. I have not tried to master that and use only above ground toilets. So far so good!

We are anxious to get home. It is amazing to be here and impact these kids lives. One we will never forget. However, we miss our dogs, friends, and family. And Joe misses work.

We know we are here for a reason, as we believe God is in control. So we check off the calender everday and savor the time we have with Alena and our new friends.

As usual, thanks for checking. We will update as much as we can. Hopefully the Kazakhstan wireless network will be up and running before we go. Take care.

Joe is sitting next to me, critiquing the blog and he wants me to put.....GO BUCKEYES!

We love you all.

Joe, Kelly, Jonathan, Jameson, and Alena