Sunsets, Saule, and Speeches

Had a great weekend! My girlfriend came into Pavlodar for the weekend and it was great to see her. The weather was hot on Saturday, so we hung around the apartment, but went for evening walks, which proved to be infinitely more enjoyable. Walks in the rain are cute, especially when followed by even more cutesy candle-lit dinners :-)

And I’ve also been participating in some round table discussions commemorating the closing of the nuclear testing sites here in Kazakhstan. They have round table discussions every year, but next year will be the 20^th anniversary, so they’ve been working on ways to better the rehabilitation efforts of those negatively affected by the tests. Much of this is government involved; as result, I have to be careful with what I say. But my involvement has simply included giving facts about how America responded when the testing site in Nevada was closed. And here, round tables discussions are closed with round table dinners with lots of food and rounds of toasts. Round.

This will be a short post, basically an excuse to post pictures, but my social life is finally more complete. For many months, I had almost no one to see except the volunteers on the weekend. But now, I’ve got a girlfriend, other local friends, and I’m really feeling like I belong here. It’s important to feel that sometimes I think. Oftentimes, I feel like I don’t really “belong” anywhere – it’s just part of my nature and I’m ok with that feeling – but I feel like I have a role here, a purpose, and that means a lot. Короче (in short), I’m in good spirits :-)

I forgot to get my camera back from Saule last time she was here so I told her to take pictures of herself and her village. Here are both in one picture.


The opening concert for a series of roundtable discussions about how to rehabilitate children negatively affected from nuclear testing.


Pretty cool, huh? Almost every evening, we have such sunsets.


An evening walk to the river.


Saw this and had a good laugh.


On our way to the conference in "Аққу" - we had a police escort, can you imagine?


Me, director, couple doctors, and Yura (does something with the "Nevada-Semey" movement)


At the entrance to the village.


Our delegation of people from across the country. It's been a while since I've heard so much Kazakh spoken in one place.


Yeah, yeah, don't even say what you're thinking. But it's me at the roundtable conference thing.