Bukhara

Saturday morning we left at 5:50 a.m. for Bukhara, a famous old city along the Silk Road.  The kids were so excited to fly again!  Caleb in particular was a joy to watch; he was so proud of sitting all by himself in his own seat (he was in a carseat on the way here to help him sleep better).  He kept unbuckling and rebuckling the seatbelt and smoothing down the extra part on his lap just right.  

After a short, pleasant flight, we deplaned and checked into our hotel (below) before eating a nice breakfast.  I was surprised when I thought about the contrast between my first hotel breakfast in Samarkand and the one that day, where I was familiar with all the foods and knew that I much preferred the crepes that were folded in triangles to the ones that were rolled (filled with strong-tasting cheeses), for example.

 After breakfast we went sight-seeing.  Our kids did really well this trip and I was surprised at how well they sat through the guided tours--getting older, getting used to it, or maybe a combination of the two.  Christoff even stood with all the adults and listened (though it probably helped that he had a friend two years older on the trip, too).  The most memorable thing about the first place we visited (a combination of mosque, madrassah--Islamic school, and cemetary) was all the superstitions attached for getting wishes granted.  One place was roped off to keep people from going into it to do something that was supposed to allow the person buried there to grant them a wish (frowned upon since only Allah can grant wishes).  The most fascinating was the Tree of Desire, which is this huge old tree trunk on its side rubbed smooth by millions of people trying to scratch off a piece of bark, which if you hold while going around it and stooping/crawling under the space between the trunk and the ground three times, entitles you to a wish.  Even elderly people took their turn going underneath (see below)!

 Finally, around 1:30 we got to stop and have lunch at a Tea House.  We ate some traditional foods...lepyoshka with salad (cucumbers, tomatoes, onions), a potato and corn salad, etc., squash soup, and a meat and potato dish.  Caleb fell asleep after the soup course and Mia and Kade lay down to rest...I’m sure we were a sight, but they were so tired out after their early morning I decided it didn’t matter.

 "Traditional" Safety Precautions--Careful, Caleb!

 That afternoon we went to a Women’s House Museum, which was one of the highlights of the whole trip for me.  After showing us where and how the women lived, the owners took us into a large room lined with benches with little tables that Uzbek tea cups on them.  We sat down.  First they showed us exactly how they put bedding in a traditional Uzbek cradle around the pot, and how they would wrap the baby to hold the little pipe thing a in place, and how they wrapped and tied the baby down so that all the pee would end up in the pot; they assured us that this was just for nighttime.  It was interesting to understand exactly how it worked.  Then they chose me “the mother of 5” to do the clothes demonstration.  I got to wear the whole traditional Islamic garb, from the bulky bottom layer to the cloak with sleeves tied behind my back to show I’m married to the hat to the face covering.  And it was wierd to feel like I was looking through netting but see pictures of me looking completely covered.  I’ve always wondered what it would be like, so it was really fun to try it out.  They had me walk three steps behind Jared up and down the carpet to demonstrate how women walked.  So fascinating!

 Yes, that creature behind Jared is actually me (Julianne)!

 Drinking water from an Uzbek teacup

 Our souvenir this time was....sunglasses! :) (We'll buy something more expected next time).

 We ended our day eating another traditional-style Uzbek dinner while watching a fashion show highlighting traditional Uzbek dress and dancing.  I love the way Uzbeks move their hands so beautifully when they dance! 

 The second day we spent mostly walking around Old Bukhara.  We saw madrassahs, the oldest mosque in Bukhara from the 12th century (and learned about the special place that points to Mecca and how they built the door opposite it so you would be pointing to Mecca when you walked in), Mausoleum of the Samanids (the most ancient brick building in Central Asia 9-10th century), another mausoleum that legend says the Bible prophet Job visited--you can touch the holy water from the well he created and get a wish, a minaret, and the kids’ favorite--an area they excavated last year and found the foundations for an old caravansarie.  They built walls to show where they might be located, and since it’s Uzbekistan, they were free to run around, jump over the low walls, etc.  We saw a lot of shops and learned about Uzbek marionette puppets (I really want to buy some when we go back) and how they’re made, Uzbek herbal tea with 6 spices--delicious (we had a sample), and the traditional Uzbek musical instruments. 

Megan's 9th Birthday-May 10

Megan and her friend Dora did a double birthday party because their birthday is the same day, and since Dora is in the other class, we invited all the girls from both classes--a total of 14 girls including Mia.  It was a fashion show theme, so each girl created her own dress from an XXXLarge Men’s Tall T-shirt (which was about knee-length), a pair of scissors, fabric glue, and ribbon and accessories.  Afterward, they did three rotations--nails with Dora’s mom, hair with Masha and Laura (good that I had two helpers, since this rotation took the longest), and practice walking down the runway with books on their heads for good posture and balance.  Then we had a dinner with silly appetizers and then quickly put on the pretty dresses they had chosen.   About four parents came to watch the fashion show, which was fun (the rest just sent their drivers to pick the girls up at the end--such a new culture for us!).  Anyway, then the girls each had a turn to show their fancy dresses and then the dresses they had made.  We finished by singing Happy Birthday and having cake with ice cream.  

 Megan's actual birthday still had a few surprises.  For breakfast, she wanted pancakes with strawberries (and wistfully wished for blueberries) and whipped cream.  She was really excited when I showed her the blueberry muffin mix (with real canned blueberries) I had found at the commisary!  They were so good!

When Megan got home, she decorated her own cake with American Whipped Topping (just found it at the commisary, and it’s so great to have no wierd taste!) and fruit.  It was really fun to watch her--it’s the first time one of my kids has wanted to be the one to decorate it.  After cake, we watched Megan and Mia perform an acrobatic show--a perfect end to the day.

Kade's 7th Birthday--May 9

Kade’s birthday was also an Uzbek Independence Day holiday, which meant that there was no school and Jared had the day off work. :)  Perfect!  We had a few of Kade’s friends over for a Scooby Doo party.  It started off a little rough, as we soon realized that three of his four friends (a Japanese boy, Korean girl, and American boy born and raised overseas) had never even heard of Scooby Doo.  So we sat them down in the living room and watched a cartoon for about 15 minutes to give them the idea. After the cartoon, everyone was hungry, so we took them to the kitchen for birthday cake...only to find the cake missing!  And so the mystery began.  With games like Find Missing Daphne (Sardines with Scooby Snack --dog-bone shaped sugar cookies I made--rewards),  Practice chasing the villian (Duck, Duck, Goose), Find Velma’s glasses, and Wrap up like a Mummy (two teams wrap up a person in toilet paper--practice for disguises), we had a great time!  The highlight for me was our Malt Shoppe.  We surprised Kade with a chocolate fountain (the only thing he really wanted for his birthday) with cherries (got ripe just in time!) and Korean strawberries (imported so no risk of getting sick) and bananas.  The kids absolutely loved it!  Then they divided into teams to make the tallest sandwiches with bread, peanut butter, cheese, and a bunch of fruit/veggie/chip toppings.  Everyone had a blast, and we got some great pictures!  Nobody ate much, though...I think they were too full of chocolate-dipped fruit.  Then they captured the villain (Christoff in a black cloak with a Halloween mask) and had the cake.  It was a lot of fun!   

Christoff's Exhibition

Christoff and his friend Omair worked very hard on their Exhibition about technology, how it has changed over time, and its effects on people.  It was exciting to come to school and see them present what they learned.

Talent Show

A few weeks ago Megan participated in the school talent show.  My favorite part was watching Megan and Yoon-A dance.  All their hard work paid off--they were together, danced confidently, and their costumes looked great!  I was so pleased to see Megan overcoming her fears and getting onstage and performing the way she did.  Afterward, Yoon-A’s mom presented Yoon-A and Megan with huge bouquets of beautiful flowers.  We were happy because they really earned them. :)

Easter Fun

The highlights of Easter...the baskets everyone made for our Easter egg hunt, dying eggs, and, of course, finding one of the turtles in the back yard. :)

Saturday we went to an African circus. It was interesting to see the cultural differences between this show and the others. The Chinese circus emphasized grace and focused movement, the Uzkbek one seemed to be a really bizarre story line with lots of animals, and the African one was full of energy and fun. The acrobats interacted with playfully together, ate fire, and showed amazing flexibility. Some of the Chinese circus performers surprised us with our two favorite acts from their circus, and the clowns left Christoff and Kade laughing hysterically and even produced chuckles from me (the ultimate test). :)

Spring Has Sprung!

Happy Navruz (March 21)! We went from our last snowfall on Sunday to full-fledged Spring by the end of the week--perfect timing to celebrate Navruz, the first day of Spring!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Friday night, the kids put the finishing touches on the leprechaun trap and then Jared and I spent a good chunk of time trying to get them to calm down enough to fall asleep. With prospects of leprechauns who grant wishes, sleep was apparently hard to come by...

Unfortunately, the morning of St. Patrick's Day, we found that the leprechaun once again escaped from our trap. But he colored our milk green that went with our Lucky Charms (we brought them here with us).

That afternoon we had Wadi and Zaria (the two kids who do Primary with us) over for our St. Patrick’s Day party. It was tons of fun! We had teams build treasure chests out of boxes, played Chubby Bunny (a St. Patrick’s Day version), the flour game, the Human Knot, and the raft game (where the boat keeps sinking and you have to all fit onto progressively smaller rafts). Seeing the kids bond made all the planning and preparation worth it.