http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/kimgym/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from kimgym en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:08:33 +0000 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:08:33 +0000 I arrived back in Washington on Saturday afternoon greeted by my parents after an amazing and thrilling week in Europe. The last few days in Antalya were memorable as I said bye to the people that I have come to know and love there over the summer. I wrapped up my contribution to the social skills arts and crafts project which turned out to be a success despite the original plan falling thr http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/Puyallup/blog-316306.html Irsquom sitting here at Karns with Aysagul and all the dep girls who are watching a movie on Karnrsquos big screen. There is a major thunder and lightning storm outside and we have all seen rain for the first time in MONTHS Itrsquos pretty exciting to see rain and the smell is powerful. A Turkish friend and special education teacher named Belma came over tonight and we baked cookies http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Antalya/blog-311443.html It has been a pretty busy in a good way past few weeks. As I have gone through this summer I have often found myself thinking of the different things individual friends and family members would appreciate in certain moments. For example I was walking down a street in Istanbul the other day thinking of the things my brother or my sister would appreciate about the particular sights sounds http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/blog-304121.html Today I went to rehab center 1 and spoke with Stella about how a particular child was doing after I introduced a technique called brushing to him and his mother last week. Stella said the mother had reported yesterday that the child did not like the brushing although the child did appear to like it when he was in control of the brush doing it on himself last week during his therapy session. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Antalya/blog-298020.html Some of you may be wondering about my safety over here in Turkey due to the recent shootings in Istanbul at the US consulate and the kidnappings of Germans in the far eastern Turkey. I'm sure it's made the US papers. This update is to assure you that we are taking extra safety precautions here in Antalya such as not hanging out at American type places like Starbucks for long periods of time http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Antalya/blog-297649.html Itrsquos been a couple weeks since I wrote so there is a bit to catch up on. I canrsquot believe I have been here for a month. Despite everyday being quite different with new surprises coming at me consistently Irsquove gotten used to a kind of basic routine. Irsquove been enjoying walking a lot usually at least 34 miles each day. Despite the heat and getting drenched in sweat its http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Antalya/blog-292577.html 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. Herersquos the scoopRehab 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 Men http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Antalya/blog-286857.html Irsquove been in Turkey for a week now and herersquos the storyLessons 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Antalya/blog-284184.html 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 t http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Antalya/blog-282544.html Written from the plane sent from Istanbul Airport awesome free wireless internet They do it rightIrsquom writing this update from a plane Irsquom flying Uzbekistan airways from Tashkent to Istanbul and from there Irsquoll fly to Antalya. Irsquoll 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/blog-281409.html SamarkandHappy 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 Irsquom glad we are back in Tashkent and getting ready for another half week. We visited several popular places around the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Uzbekistan/Samarkand/blog-280200.html Wednesday and ThursdayPictures coming soonSome fun things lately1. Taking action photos on our porch2. 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 cents4. Being crafty in our apt preparing things for the orphanage5. Going really fast through a lot of traffic when the professional driver d http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Uzbekistan/Tashkent/blog-279209.html MondayToday 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Uzbekistan/Tashkent/blog-278343.html Weekend funPictures coming soon...Saturday Tourist stuffWe woke up late and I decided to go for a run in the yard as I think I was going through running withdrawls. Irsquove been doing some other exercises in the morning that have made me quite sore in places I havenrsquot been sore in a long time to try to make up for running. But nothing compares and then Irsquom just left stiff and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Uzbekistan/Tashkent/blog-277689.html Day 4ldquoFor I know the plans I have for yourdquo declares the Lord ldquoplans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 291114God 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Uzbekistan/Tashkent/blog-277252.html We've had a lot of down time this week for planning and getting aquainted. But this means we've had time also for lots of pictures and some goofing off This update will be continued and I would like to write about the time in the orphanage today but for now I'm uploading a few fun pictures. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Uzbekistan/Tashkent/blog-276968.html Day 3Today we brought in a whole bunch of our sensory materials for our lesson on Sensory integration and Sensory processing dysfunction. I was really excited for this topic because it is SO applicable to the children in this orphanage setting. Ella and I reviewed a lot of our materials such as a booklet from a class I took last fall on Sensory integration old class notes and other sources. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Uzbekistan/Tashkent/blog-276597.html Day 2Today we gave our first lecture which was an overview of normal child development. There is lots of opportunity for intervention here in the orphanage and although the caregivers want to learn many of them are set in a way of thinking that limits the potential for these children. For example the caregivers feel that the kids who canrsquot use their hands canrsquot go to school and l http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Uzbekistan/Tashkent/blog-276596.html Day 1We woke up early despite the lack of sleep in the past 2 days. Our house is really nice Itrsquos on a dusty broken street but the house itself has lots of room 2 bedrooms adjoined by an open doorway. Ella and I are sharing a room and Sharon has her own. We have a shower with hot running water a TV although we havenrsquot turned it on yet a fridge a washing machine and even http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Uzbekistan/Tashkent/blog-276594.html Irsquove been thinking a bit on these flights how meaningful songs are. I think Irsquove been up for way too many hours with minimal sleep and lots of time to think. A man from India sitting next to me on the plane asked me if I was a writer because I kept scribbling away in my journal and pausing to think. I also watched 2 movies both of which were moving and made me cry. The Bucket http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-276590.html