It’s been a couple weeks since I wrote, so there is a bit to catch up on. I can’t believe I have been here for a month. Despite everyday being quite different with new surprises coming at me consistently, I’ve gotten used to a kind of basic routine. I’ve been enjoying walking a lot, usually at least 3-4 miles each day. Despite the heat and getting drenched in sweat, its more fun to walk to the rehab center than ride the dolmesh/bus because there are so many things to look at along the way- lots of window shopping, interesting people, and [View Full Entry]

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I spent 4 full days at the rehab centers this week, mainly observing the therapists and the teachers at work. It has been fascinating to learn the ins and outs of therapy services children receive here in Turkey. Here’s the scoop: Rehab centers are for children with a variety of special needs, with a large percentage of the children who attend them diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Mental Retardation, and Learning Disabilities. I also saw a boy with Spina Bifida and a 19 year old with Muscular Dystrophy. Over 500 children total are served by these two rehab centers. There are [View Full Entry]

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I’ve been in Turkey for a week now, and here’s the story: Lessons of the week: 1. God answers prayer, even if it's delayed 2. Just being in another country is enough to see the world through a different sort of lens, and make you question your opinions on things, and spark realizations about little things- like how honesty in business is often taken for granted in the US, how important it is to know that others have confidence in you, how the definition of Christianity is really misunderstood, here and around the world, how humor can help any situation and [View Full Entry]

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I'm only occasionally not clicking "quiet publish" so I don't clog all your inboxes. But I have written A LOT since I sent out a publish notification so if you have missed the past couple weeks of entries and wish to read you can click on previous entries. I arrived in Turkey a few days ago, and have been getting settled. This week I start to work out what I'll be doing here this summer with the special needs population. It is nice to be out of Uzbekistan, and I have really enjoyed re aquainting myself with Antalya! I had forgotten, [View Full Entry]

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Written from the plane, sent from Istanbul Airport- awesome free wireless internet! They do it right! I’m writing this update from a plane- I’m flying Uzbekistan airways from Tashkent to Istanbul, and from there I’ll fly to Antalya. I’ll post this blog next time I have internet. The last 3 days of our stay in Uzbekistan went by quickly. Monday and Tuesdsay we went to the neuro hospital for children. I’ll write about that in a minute. Tuesday night I got some sort of sickness and had all the symptoms of flu- I won’t go into details. But Yulduz is convinced [View Full Entry]

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Samarkand Happy Memorial Day weekend to everyone! Our weekend was spent sitting on a train, wandering about the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, sightseeing, and shopping. I have to say that although being a tourist and sightseeing is fun, one weekend is enough at a time! I’m glad we are back in Tashkent and getting ready for another (half) week. We visited several popular places around the city, learned about the history from our tour guide on Saturday, and spent probably too much time in little shops within rooms of a historical mosque that used to be used as classrooms. Now they [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday and Thursday Pictures coming soon Some fun things lately: 1. Taking action photos on our porch 2. Seeing Swan Lake, the ballet, in a nice theater in town on Weds evening 3. Eating locally made ice cream almost daily from the corner store for about 30 cents 4. Being crafty in our apt preparing things for the orphanage 5. Going really fast through a lot of traffic when the professional driver drove us to the orphanage one morning when we were extra late 6. Exploring the neighborhood like children, marveling at all of the things that are different from the [View Full Entry]

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Monday Today we encountered some frustration and discouragement, as reality has begun to sink in about how much we will really be able to accomplish. After today we now have 4 more days left at the orphanage, and so much to do. Next week we are going to be at the neurological hospital for children. This morning started with an opportunity to use our flexibility and go with the flow skills. Our interpreter was called to a meeting at the last minute this morning, as some MTI staff are leaving tomorrow and a project proposal for the next fiscal year has [View Full Entry]

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Weekend fun Pictures coming soon... Saturday: Tourist stuff We woke up late, and I decided to go for a run in the yard, as I think I was going through running withdrawls. I’ve been doing some other exercises in the morning that have made me quite sore in places I haven’t been sore in a long time, to try to make up for running. But nothing compares, and then I’m just left stiff and sore! So, I ran for 20 minutes or so and listened to my I-pod in the 30 yard long space our house lies in, surrounded by a [View Full Entry]

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Day 4 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11-14 God has a plan for these kids. Today we gave a lecture on seating and positioning. I was very thankful for a continuing ed. course I took this past winter in Fairbanks on seating and positioning, because after the initial introduction to the topic, I called a boy up as an example for all to see, and I couldn’t use my notes! As we attempted to evaluate him [View Full Entry]

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