The last couple of days my stomach has been just a bit dodgy, and I wondered what it was that might have caused it. Could it have been the ice cream that Sara (who also reported a funny tummy) and I had on the way back from Shymkent? In any case, it was just enough to be noticed, but not enough to stop me from doing anything.
Beth, Olya, and I went to visit a few dentists who had gone to the States for training sponsored by Interlink. While no doubt very professional dentists, their offices were fairly old and not the sparkling clean places found back home. (I don't say this as a criticism, only an observation.) They were very grateful for the training that they had received and looked forward to working again with their American counterparts. I didn't ask, but wondered what a typical trip to the dentist would cost here. The last dentist that we visited, an older, blonde-haired lady, did not have an assistant or a receptionist, nor did she take appointments. You simply showed up and waited. When we arrived, there was no one waiting, and only one patient being treated. The dentist explained that the treatment would take a while, so she asked the woman to get up from the chair while we were doing our interview. I felt a bit bad that this woman had to wait, but I wasn't the one in charge! After returning to the office, I taped an interview with Olya, who was working with the Youth Impact program.
The following day, I did another videotaping seminar to a group of young ladies and their teacher. The seminar was the same as the one I had done at Savva Orphanage last week and went well I thought. In the afternoon, Beth took me to a local university to videotape some more teacher-training sessions. The workshops were being run by a group of Americans who we had met earlier at the circumcision party. The videotaping went well, and the level of competence displayed by the students as they spoke English impressed me. The building itself was battered and beaten, the hallways grim and poorly lit. The classrooms were cramped, but functional. None of that mattered to the students or their teachers, who were clearly enjoying what they were doing.
The next day, Friday, was a day off for the Fourth of July. While the Kazakhs don't celebrate the holiday, Beth explained that it was good to observe the traditional American holidays when so far from home. After lunch, many of the office staff and their families came by the house where we enjoyed hamburgers, french fries, watermelon, etc. Later, what started as an "egg toss" with water balloons, soon turned into a huge water fight with everyone ending up soaked. Using my camera as an excuse, I managed to stay fairly dry. The evening was capped off with a bonfire (including "some-mores") and some fireworks. It was good fun. The next day should be fun as well--we are heading back to Savva one more time.
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