Back to school shopping

Last night we had a visit from Acel and Talant and the girls... but lets be real, its little Emma you want to see, so here she is .    Actualy Talant came to bring us the back to school school supplies that he had picked up for us in the city. We was able to get a great deal at the bazaar, and has saved us $100's of dollars by buying bulk. In fact when he was at the bazaar, he ran into a few others that he knows, and when they heard that we were doing a bulk purchase for supplies, they asked if they could get in on the cheaper price.  Talant was laughing and telling me it was a co-op they had and every one was Happy for the savings... Now we will not have to buy that stuff when we are at the bazaar with the kids. He was going to get some back packs, but I had not sent enough money with him... not sure what I was thinking over 1000 note books were going to cost along with everything else... but it worked out for the best, because the knapsack really is a personalized item for the kids, so it was great for them to be able to choose there own.. they were so excited to get just the right one.. it's funny how they can all look so much alike , yet they are all different..   Some things can take for ever to happen here in Kyrgyzstan , that's why I was so surprised when the phone rang at 7:45 this morning telling us that the workmen would be here at 8:00.  We had told Sergey and Anya that one of the things that we were planing for the apartment this trip was a combo Heater / air conditioner.  As much as I love the idea of an air conditioner, the spring and fall can be extremely cold when the city heat is not on yet.  We had planed in the spring to put in a back up heating system here so that teams and travelers using the apartment would be more comfortable... when we got shopping around, we found that the most reasonable and cheapest to run system is the new heater / air conditioners.  For those that are interested, they are in the $300 range , and that includes instillation.  Like I said we had planed to do it in the spirng, but then the revolution took place and things had to be put on hold... this time when I brought it up, Sergey was quick to jump while the iron was hot and speaking of heat, it is likely to hit the 100's again in a few days, so this will be a welcome treat, they were even joking that maybe the office will move here, I would say that it is more likely then just a jock.    hahaha

new air conditioner / heater

Every time we come, there are more kids at the orphanage that we do not know, but they sure are quick to work their way into your hearts.   For them this was an extra special day because they have not been with us on one of these outings before .  The workers in the market were glad to see us again. There are always a few that make the extra effort to make the kids happy... it can be hard to decide when you have not had that opportunity before, and it is a special salesman that does not get frustrated. and it's even better when they give us a special price..... that is actually lower then normal .

Off to the Bazaar

We were so happy to spend some time with Luba. She is no longer living in the orphanage, and it is harder for us to spend as much time with her now, but it's always nice to see her and have a good hug.. she says hi to every one , and is so thankful that you have not forgotten her. She is also very excited that she will be going off to teachers collage next week under a sponsorship from one of you.  She had been talking to Sergey a few weeks ago and was not sure if she would continue with school, but he assured her that if she wanted to go that we would help her.   We also talked with her about setting her up with a support network with our friends in Bishkek that will help her to get settled, as well as to get her eyes checked again.

Luba ready for school now

The sights and sounds gulp and smells of the market are always "interesting" to say the least... how many of you have a cows head on your shopping list ?

 

Cookies, bread and a cows head - someone is having a party .

We had a careful budget for each of the kids. when you are shopping for so many, it can get out of hand very quickly if you don't. But more important, we have to make sure that we do not buy more for one then another or it can lead to problems for them when they get back with the other kids.  The kids knew that they had enough money to each get a knapsack, a new pair of pants, a new shirt, a track suit, and a pair of shoes, and if they shopped wisly, one more personal item.  Now for the early tean girls, they wanted to exchange the shoes, shirt, pants, track suit and knapsack to beef up their personal item, and buy a fancy purse. 

Baktigul, Gulbarchy and Alina with Orphanage worker

Finally Bekah gave up and turned her girls over to Altynai to finish, and somehow everyone came away happy

Altynai uses her Jedi mind control to get the best possible price  over and over !

I am not sure how many of your remember Benson from a year ago, but he arrived here yesterday. I am not sure how long he is staying, we have not got that far yet, but he was in terrible pain. His teeth were killing him. Julie took one look in his mouth and told me it was a mess.  We got out our ambasol and mouth rince, but there was no teeth left to put a temporary filling in, so we just gave him pain killers for the night, and today we sent him to the dentist.   The dentist told Altynai that he had 10 teeth that were very serious. so they started today with the worst. it will take 4 trips to get to a place to where they can just worry about the small cavities.  Today he had 2 teeth pulled and one had fillings on three sides.  so he is asleep on the couch now.  and we are $20 lighter.

And to save you scrolling up to the top of the post, here is Emma and Emma one more time .

Emma and Emma again