Thanksgiving

I spent Thanksgiving at Shaktyor (Russian for miner). It’s a resort owned by Mital, a huge mining company here. Only three to four hours away by bus, it was way easier to get to than Thanksgiving last year. Uzbekistan wasn’t able to make it this year—finances and fears of not being able to return combined to keep some of our dear friends at home. Kyrgyzstan was able to make it—12 hours on a train and a few more by car.

We had the place to ourselves, it being winter and mid-week. There’s a small man-made lake (frozen very solid, maybe 80 acres) set in some little hills with cool rock formations. The rocks reminded me of the one time I was in the Rockies, only much, much smaller. We had sun and above freezing temperatures for a few days and a day or two of snow.

We also had some of the freshest chicken ever. I watched it die and we were eating it within six hours. Same with the fish—the Russian word for Kokane is… Kokane. Crazy, I know.

I ended up leading worship (with Jon and Alana actually doing the singing) somehow. Hymns are hard on the guitar. Yeesh. The whole week was a great time to break from the routine and reflect on what God has been teaching me. Thanks Carla, Zephaniah 3:17 rocked my socks off!

I’m trying to get pictures up today, but I’m trying to get some big attachments sent to Lowell at the same time. In the meantime, it’s back to teaching. Also, keep your eyes open for another general update in your inbox this week as well. Right now I’m trying to remember what I assigned for homework a week ago. It's hard because my motivation is low. My motivation is low because I know less than half my students will do it and grades are meaningless. Why do I even bother?