February 19th - Day 9: Visit to the park

Since Masha is taking the weekend off, we have Aliya as our interpreter for the weekend.  She's studying at the university to be an interpreter and an accountant and she is great to have around.  While her English is probably not as good as Masha's, she is very outgoing.  She always seems happy to help us out and if she doesn't know the answer to something, she's eager to find it.  She also showed great interest in Emil.  While she studied during our visits, she took time out to get down on the floor and play with us.  Olga (the area coordinator) suggested that Sierra might enjoy going to the park so, after our afternoon visit, Igor took us home to pick up Robin and Sierra and we all went off to Kirov park.  It seemed quite large with lots of paths to walk on and at the far end of the main entrance, there was a carnaval, shut down for the winter, of course.  We found a nice big slide for Sierra to go on and all in all, it just felt great to be outside and walk around! 

          Emil in Granny blanket (made by Aunt Becca)                                      Father and son jammin' on the piano

                   Cook in kitchen at baby house                                          Entertainment in Uralsk - Amy and Sierra

                                                                                                                        sitting on the washer during spin cycle

                                  Emil learning Russian?!                                                                        Sierra at the park

                    Rocket slide made out of pipeline                                                                        Lenin

                Robin tries to "set Aliya straight" on Bush                        Frozen Ural River.  Hole in ice is from Jan. 19th, the

                and the war in Iraq                                                                day that (Russian Orthodox) Kazakhs believe that God

                                                                                                                  blesses water; they jump in the frozen river for good luck

                            With Igor and Aliya in the park                                                                          Spa night