So I know that it’s been at least 2 months since I last posted a blog but a lots been going on and my access to internet took a serious dive as the real winter set in at Kobda.  So let me update you January was filled with snow and a lot of work.  For […]

So there have been a lot of questions about mailing me things and how that whole process works.  I’m not going to lie…I’m a little confused about the whole thing as well but I will pass onto you whatever information I know and I’m sure that over the next two years we can figure out […]

Emily...I think all I can say is wow...just...wow. You are one very brave girl~~I have no doubts God is with you through every step of this adventure, but can't say I would have the courage and adventurous spirit that you do. May He continue to bless every second of every day of your amazing journey. We love you!!

"Note to self: never get in a taxi that has to be pushed to start." I'm sure you hate Borat references by now, but that's way too easy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH2CABcffAo#t=1m18s

Happy Holidays everyone!  I hope everyone had a good Christmas and have exciting plans for New Years!  A lot of people have asked me what I did for Christmas and how Kazakhstan celebrates the holiday and I have an answer for both! The volunteers in the Aktobe Oblast (my region, remember) all gathered in the […]

WOW! this is amazing, what a blessing . i am so happy that this all worked out and I hope you had a great rest of your holiday. Love and prayers always Chelsea

So I know that I haven’t been abe to post anything in about a month and I should be updating you on my life in the village but I have a much more exciting story to tell! So this weekend is the Kazakhstani national independence and all of the schools have a two day holiday.  It […]

So the time has finally come to move out of Panfilova (my training site) and to get ready to move to our actual sites. Our schedule for the week is super busy. Monday and Tuesday were spent packing and buying last minute objects. Wednesday we move from the village to a hotel in Almaty where […]

The Kazakh Language   So this has been a relatively slow and quiet week and I don’t have many crazy stories to tell but I had an opportunity to get on the internet and wanted to post a blog so I have decided to write about a topic that I’ve wanted to explain for a […]

Hello Beautiful ! it was so great to finally discover your blog; and amazing to find out about your site revelation and the blessings that have come from this news !!! EEEK - "No Men 2010" couldn't have gone more wrong , and i couldn't be happier for you= ) Oh Jane Austin, she has a magic way about these things, you know;) I will eagerly await more news as you post! I am so glad technology exists to keep the masses updated with your adventures ; truly, you are too wonderful to lose Love and Prayers always, Chelsea Kadovitz

Kristin/Weenz and I just read this post. There was a lot of incredulous laughter, especially when you described the temperatures and the wolves, and the only thing we can say is that you're tougher and crazier than I thought you were. Good luck with everything in Kazakhstan in the next two years ... I'll be sure to mail you a picture of the green Oregon winter in a few months, just as payback for all those pictures you'd send me when I was at Carleton of people in swimsuits at Pepperdine in February. Did you ever get a letter I wrote about a month and a half ago? If you didn't, it's possible that the Kazakh bureaucracy ate it. So it goes.

The time finally came!  I now know where I will be spending the next two years of my life and let me just say from the onset that I have never been so excited nor happy about something that I had so little control over.  I can already tell that life is going to be […]

So I am sitting at my dining room table eating breakfast by candlelight. I wish that I could say that it was somehow a very romantic morning or that I decided to really simplify my life and go the rustic route with my morning routine but this is not the case. You see, it is […]

Hey Emily, I can't say how much I've enjoyed reading through your report! "WOW!" ... is all I can say right now :) I also have a friend who's from Kazakhstan who now lives in a small place south of Frankfurt here in Germany. When she came to Dresden a couple of years ago (she had never been to the East of Germany before by then) and I sheltered her at my place... we became friends in no time :) She gave me some rough information about life, culture and people in her home country and so I think I can relate to much of what you describe in your "stories" :) I well understand that you earned some extra "bonus-points" for speaking the language of Kazakhstan without actually speaking Russian ;) ... which was the 'official' language for so long - and also demonstrated the power from Moscow reaching out to those far-away states of the former Soviet Union. Anyway, I just like to give you some feedback, telling you that I really enjoy reading about your life in this foreign country under social and cultural rules and conditions that are very different from what you've probably been familiar with before, I guess. Keep up your spirits and with providing updates every once in a while. I often think of you being there, ... now 3hrs ahead of Dresden :) Take care and know that many people keep you in their minds and prayers. All the best - miss you, my friend. In Christ's love, Marion :-)

Emilyyyy tell Alma you want to come to the Kazakh gymnasium!! Maybe she'll make an exception and give you what you want. You could be my sitemate!! :)

This was an especially exciting week for me! This week the villages of Panfilov (my village) and Isik (a neighboring village) conducted site visits to help us get a better idea of what the life of a PCV is really like. I was sent to Aksukent, a small village (comprising of mostly Uzbek people) outside […]

So this was an odd weekend for me.  Friday night/Saturday morning around 2am I woke up absolutly freezing.  I thought, “hmm, that’s odd”  and pulled myself closer to myself and wrapped my blankets farther around me.  That’s when it happened.  Pounding headache, chills, and a general feeling of never being warm again.  That’s when I […]

Glad to hear you are doing well and that you are learning Kazakh. You will do a great job teaching and I know the Peace Corps will be proud they chose you. Any special goodies you would like? Miss you. XOXOX Lynne

So I finally made it!  I’m here, alive, and well in Kazakhstan.  I know that in America it’s been about four weeks since I last posted but in Kazakh time (and especially Peace Corps time) it feels like its been two months.  So many things in life have changed for me and surprisingly there are […]

Well, everybody, the time has finally come…I am currently three days away from flying off the Kazakhstan for two years with the Peace Corps.  I know that I haven’t been in the country for long (roughly ten days between Ecuador and Kazakhstan…a new record even for me in regards to traveling) and that there are […]