Long Overdue...

hey ladies and gents

no pics today because its not my computer and my pictures aren't uploaded. only the briefest of brief updates on my life. i've spent the last 10 days or so traveling with the amazing joyce oh to amsterdam, netherlands/ stockholm, sweden / paris, france / rome, italy/ and now, venice, italy. it has been INCREDIBLE. some nights have been insanely cold but we have had the most beautiful weather during the day. blue skies, green grass, sunny sun!!!! our hostels have been great, food wonderful, people hospitable, everything you could ask for. plus its not quite the peak of backpacking season so its not AS crowded as it could be.

i'm about to get kicked off line in 2 min and 38 secs so i have to go. but to all my peoples back home, GOOD LUCK ON FINALS and ENJOY the last moments together before summer!!!

mwah!
h =)

Appletree + Astana, Kazakhstan

Laura with the Sasha and ??? ... it was a nice day so we got to play outside

Playing our own version of volleyball... me with Vera. I love this girl! Despite not being able to communicate intelligibly with her... =)

In action shot of Michelle running after our train as we left Karaganda for Astana...

Bayterak - the Statue of Liberty equivalent to Kazakhstan... you can see the entire city's amazing architecture from the top

Trying to fit my hand into the President's hand mold... apparently if it fits, a song plays throughout the building. My hand didn't fit... =(

=)

Appletree is the amazing small institution Laura volunteers as that is open to abused children in the suburbs of Karaganda. The kids go for a few hours before or after school and hang out and get a warm meal. Because it was nice they were able to play outside for a few hours but it made me really sad to see little kids running around in a lot filled with pieces of broken glass. I don't know, I'll definitely remember it as one of those 'wow, that's some much need perspective' kind of moments...

Astana is Kazakhstan's capital. It's an incredible city because the capital used to by Almaty (further south) and after moving it, the government has gone to great strides to make it aesthetically pleasing. The architecture is INCREDIBLE wherever you turn. It actually seems slightly out of place given the dry stretches of steppe that surround the outskirts of the city.

Gotta stop procrastinating... =)
- H

Karaganda, Kazakhstan + LAURA!!!! =)

Inside of a yurt (homes of nomadic Kazakhs) displayed at church...

what's wrong with this picture??? =)

Karaganda Team minus Ethan and Michelle but plus Katie and Sasha

We're half standing a lake thats still frozen...

Some of the girls on the rickety old roller coaster that needs some serious maintenance!

I love love LOVE this picture!!! =)

Thank you LAURA!!!! The two of us on a ferris wheel that had no door...

Karaganda Kazakhstan. Everyone has got to go sometime!!! It's like an entirely differently world. Its the strangest thing to walk on dirt paths, ride in teeny tiny van/bus things that would defy every safety code in America, while also seeing the most high tech cell phones and ALL the women wearing 4-5 inch stiletto pointed boots!! Super bizarre...

Its really crazy to see Laura live and work here. I got to sit in all of her classes (she's a fabulous teacher btw! =), listen to her translate all the Russian I didn't understand (believe me, I understand NO russian), and watch her relationships with both her team members and the Kazakh nationals - and it's all incredible! Really made me think about how the harvest is truly plenty...

Some of my favorite memories: walking around with Asima and Afia, listening to Michelle's class give presentations (favs were how to put a gun together and how to make a greek salad), Karen's pet Rosco, playing with Vera at Appletree, watching the worship team at church, meeting the Simm's family, Laura's reaction to frosting covered waffle cookies =)... I can't fully describe it but I just felt incredibly relaxed and comfortable the entire time I was there. There wasn't any adjusting necessary despite some of the major differences...

Thanks Laura for an AWESOME time!!! =) Miss you already...
26-28

- H

Jersey Boys + English Countryside

Fire Juggler in Covent Garden... dude, its crazy! =)

Me, Sana, Laura after the Jersey Boys Musical

Sana and Laura... I majorly love these girls!!!

English Countryside...

All the houses and stores are made out of stone. PLUS all the villages we saw were made up of less than 8 streets!

Me and Juliet... it was chilly, rainy, and gray. What a stereotypical English day to visit the countryside... Can you tell we're cold and wet??? Maybe we just look awkward and scary... =)

I went to Covent Garden with some friends to this place Dirty Martini, apparently known for their amazing martinis. Having never tried most of their flavors before, I decided to be exotic and got both a chocolate and lychee one (not together). THEY'RE SOO GOOD!!! They costed an arm and a leg but, I thoroughly enjoyed every sip! =)

So Jersey Boys was AGES ago (like before Greece and Turkey) but I HAD to post it because it was INCREDIBLE!!! The cast was amazing, the music was amazing, and most importantly, my company was AMAZING (Sana and Laura). And the best part was, we got FREE tickets and had INCREDIBLE seats. Its definitely, by far, my favorite musical to date! No wonder it was voted Best Musical two years ago...

The rest of the pictures are from visiting the English countryside. We took a bus out like 2 hours and saw four villages: Stow-on-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water, Cotwolds, and Buford. It was crazy! All the streets were cobblestone, all the houses made of stone, there were daffodils EVERYWHERE, and they were all picturesquely quaint. Plus, each of these villages were separated by miles of pastures and sheep. It was awesome getting out of the city for day but I don't know how much I'd like living in the English countryside... though it rained ALL DAY (which is weird bc it hasn't rained much in general), I think it gave me a glimpse of what England is really suppose to be like; rainy and gray.

I'm traveling to Kazakhstan to visit the WONDERFUL Laura tomorrow morning. For the prayers out there, could you please lift up the next two weeks please? That Laura and I would have a wonderful time together and that in the midst of it all that I'd get my work done as well. Unfortunately I have to take my work with me to Kazakhstan to finish... =/

Cheers!
Hannah =)