We are up early and on the way back to Baku to finalize our visa extension! We had a great day yesterday. I spent time at the psych hospital again with the Furmans doing makeovers with before and after photos (we printed them and gave to the ladies). We did 27 faces and nails. They all wanted lots of makeup to look like movie stars! They loved the sparkly polish and rhinestone on their nails. We played som nice calm music for them during this time. Everyone left with smiles and believe me, you would not be smiling if you lived in this place. It is nothing like a home of any kind. After lunch we went back to the hospital to play games. The rain had finally stopped so we got to play outside in the courtyard. We had egg on spoon races, played with the parachute, played dodge ball & volleyball with a soccer ball (ouch!) We played jenga and took many more pics. We did get smiles out of everyone i think, which was a huge goal of ours! They laughed, also. It was about 20 men and 2 women this afternoon we were working with. All the men seem to smoke and have to take cig breaks. We went in the worst of the mens ward and into the womens ward. Someone is working on some renovation for this men's ward. I can not put into words what we saw. It is definately the worst place to live i have ever seen. I did see the difference Asbury has made with the happy color walls in the women's ward. We also saw some of the blue plastic beds.
Melanie has taught the patients and the kids at the vo tech school the cha cha slide & they love it! Bob, Bill & Jim have spent much time in English classes and have developed quite a relationship with the English teacher. The kids really love them. Another fabulous day! Full to the brim.
Ruthie
Note: They leave early in the morning, 10/9, to travel back to Tulsa. Thanks for your prayers! Also, they were able to get their one-day Visa extension when they were in Baku earlier today 10/8.
Friday, October 08, 2010
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Central Asia Update, Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Hello everybody!
Yesterday (Tuesday) was an incredibly full day...mentally & physically.
We are staying with a local family and enjoying the customs here. Lots of great cheese, yogurt and tea. Our family has a wonderful garden with grape trellis, and everything else you can imagine growing. Chickens, rooster...really everything needed to live! We had a short orientation and then immediately went to play/work. We made chili and cornbread yesterday for our party last evening. We went to computer class, English class, rug making class--all levels involved here! The students here at the vo-tech are so much fun. So happy and gaining self confidence daily. They are treasures to be with and we enjoyed the day. It was so much fun to prepare the food with the young girls and we played bananas with the kids in English class. The teachers here are awesome and full of energy and all bright spots in this world. We have also made a new friend who is a peace corp volunteer from Shawnee OK. She is about my age and we speak the same language. Fun! I also got to spend time in the psych. hospital. We did art class in which I challenged them to do something different than normal. We did music class and performed for each other. And I was able to do exercise/yoga class for the men and women yesterday. That was a great experience! I loved to share this with them. This hospital is an unbelievable experience and like no place you have ever seen or been. I can't really explain it, but I know some are very sick and some don't seem sick at all. Last night we got to spend some time with Z who is a wonderful widow woman with 3 boys. She is making it! She is a leader and is definitely a bright light. We encouraged her and were able to support her with words of love. We are making meat stew today, doing classes and have done music already. We sang lots of old familiar songs you love and have not heard for a long, long, time! Fun!!! We are making makeup bags and loving it!!! We are broken and full. We are having a blast!
Ruthie
Yesterday (Tuesday) was an incredibly full day...mentally & physically.
We are staying with a local family and enjoying the customs here. Lots of great cheese, yogurt and tea. Our family has a wonderful garden with grape trellis, and everything else you can imagine growing. Chickens, rooster...really everything needed to live! We had a short orientation and then immediately went to play/work. We made chili and cornbread yesterday for our party last evening. We went to computer class, English class, rug making class--all levels involved here! The students here at the vo-tech are so much fun. So happy and gaining self confidence daily. They are treasures to be with and we enjoyed the day. It was so much fun to prepare the food with the young girls and we played bananas with the kids in English class. The teachers here are awesome and full of energy and all bright spots in this world. We have also made a new friend who is a peace corp volunteer from Shawnee OK. She is about my age and we speak the same language. Fun! I also got to spend time in the psych. hospital. We did art class in which I challenged them to do something different than normal. We did music class and performed for each other. And I was able to do exercise/yoga class for the men and women yesterday. That was a great experience! I loved to share this with them. This hospital is an unbelievable experience and like no place you have ever seen or been. I can't really explain it, but I know some are very sick and some don't seem sick at all. Last night we got to spend some time with Z who is a wonderful widow woman with 3 boys. She is making it! She is a leader and is definitely a bright light. We encouraged her and were able to support her with words of love. We are making meat stew today, doing classes and have done music already. We sang lots of old familiar songs you love and have not heard for a long, long, time! Fun!!! We are making makeup bags and loving it!!! We are broken and full. We are having a blast!
Ruthie
Monday, October 04, 2010
Central Asia Update, Monday, October 4, 2010
Hello all!
Baku is a beautiful old, but modern city! We are staying in a hotel in the old part of the city within the old, ancient city wall and close to the maiden tower. The old buildings are beautiful, big wood doors & carved limestone buildings, with ancient grape vines over verandas. The Caspian Sea smells great and there is a huge new sidewalk all along the sea. I haven't seen any oil production, but it is very evident that Baku is using some of the $70/bbl oil money to build new buildings and businesses. It is clean, the people are friendly. When we got here last night, we only received 7 day visas (not the 30 day that we asked for), which is a problem because our plane home leaves after the 7 day visa is up. We did not get a good reason as to why this happened. It was disappointing to say the least! We are all feeling relieved though, tonight, because of our friends here. Our friends met us this morning and have promised to pick us up on Monday morning and take us to the immigration service office to get additional days added to our visa. Their formal legal training is a huge asset for them in their work, and will be for us on Monday. Because of the years of Asbury folks building relationships with these wonderful, kind and loving people, we think we will be able to solve this problem of ours! Thank goodness! We ate lunch with them at a great restaurant and had an assortment of food common here. It was delicious and was about a 3 hour lunch, at least! They are very inspiring, confident, wise people. Again, I am so happy & relieved beyond words that we could call on them to help. We have spent the rest of the day walking around, looking at carpets, and people watching! There are many, many, many cats here...I have never seen so many and maybe I have seen 2 dogs! Fig trees, roses, beautiful architecture, some high fashion and a real sense of history make this a very unique place! Everyone is looking forward to a good nights sleep. We will have a restful day tomorrow, exploring more. Monday to settle our visa problem and then on to G-town! We are all flexible and know that we are experiencing just what we are supposed to be!!!
Ruthie
As of 7 pm their time, they are in G-town. They are 10 hours ahead of us.
Baku is a beautiful old, but modern city! We are staying in a hotel in the old part of the city within the old, ancient city wall and close to the maiden tower. The old buildings are beautiful, big wood doors & carved limestone buildings, with ancient grape vines over verandas. The Caspian Sea smells great and there is a huge new sidewalk all along the sea. I haven't seen any oil production, but it is very evident that Baku is using some of the $70/bbl oil money to build new buildings and businesses. It is clean, the people are friendly. When we got here last night, we only received 7 day visas (not the 30 day that we asked for), which is a problem because our plane home leaves after the 7 day visa is up. We did not get a good reason as to why this happened. It was disappointing to say the least! We are all feeling relieved though, tonight, because of our friends here. Our friends met us this morning and have promised to pick us up on Monday morning and take us to the immigration service office to get additional days added to our visa. Their formal legal training is a huge asset for them in their work, and will be for us on Monday. Because of the years of Asbury folks building relationships with these wonderful, kind and loving people, we think we will be able to solve this problem of ours! Thank goodness! We ate lunch with them at a great restaurant and had an assortment of food common here. It was delicious and was about a 3 hour lunch, at least! They are very inspiring, confident, wise people. Again, I am so happy & relieved beyond words that we could call on them to help. We have spent the rest of the day walking around, looking at carpets, and people watching! There are many, many, many cats here...I have never seen so many and maybe I have seen 2 dogs! Fig trees, roses, beautiful architecture, some high fashion and a real sense of history make this a very unique place! Everyone is looking forward to a good nights sleep. We will have a restful day tomorrow, exploring more. Monday to settle our visa problem and then on to G-town! We are all flexible and know that we are experiencing just what we are supposed to be!!!
Ruthie
As of 7 pm their time, they are in G-town. They are 10 hours ahead of us.
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