6 July 2008 - Happy Birthday, Astana, Kazakhstan!!

Today ends the 10 day celebration of Astana's birthday. It has been 10 years since Astana became the capital of Kazakhstan and everyone has celebrated all week, including us. Because so many of the NGO's are out of the office, there was nothing we could do. In spite of that, we managed to pick up all the printing for the NRT and get it collated and put together. We also packed 10 boxes with equipment and manuals and they are now ready to ship to Kostanai on Monday. Monday night we went to the "Othello" (the opera). It was wonderful! It was either in Italian or Latin, but they had Russian subtitles, so everyone could understand it, but us, of course! (But we already knew the story line!) The music was so good and the actors were incredible! We absolutely loved it!! Here we are with Kulnazira, who is an NGO that we work with. We were able to meet this wonderful man who is the Ambassador for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Alexander Keltchevsky. This organization works with the Parliament in advising them about laws here in Kazakhstan that will help or hurt them. We felt that he was a good man to know. It is amazing to us that everytime we go out, we meet someone that we need to know!! The Lord is truly directing our work.

Tuesday night we went to the Symphony on the River and it was wonderful!! The night was calm and beautiful. They built a stage on the river and bleachers on the river bank.

Here we are at the concert. There was a laser light show during the concert that was incredible. The concert started at 9 and went until 11 and then the fireworks began.

The fireworks were unbelievable and went on for 30 minutes!! They started with boats on the river with fireworks on them and they went to the far bank and into the sky. It was the best fireworks display we have ever seen. This huge sign that says "With Love, Astana" was facing us from across the river.

Mira and Anne standing at one of the lighted arches on the river walk.

Anne, Roy and MIra after on the concert at one of the lighted trees around the city.

Wednesday we went to the Pyramid of Peace to see what we thought was "Carmen" the opera, but instead turned out to be an interpretive dance of "Carmen". They were a wonderful dance group from Italy. We enjoyed it very much.This is outside the Pyramid after the concert. We are laughing because a very young gentlemen kept looking at Roy as we came out of the concert. He went ahead of him and then stood and looked back at him. Finally, he couldn't stand it any longer and walked up to Roy and in perfect English said, "Has anyone every told you that you look like Donald Rumsfeld?" We laughed and told him, "Yes, almost everywhere we have ever been, but no one has ever asked us that in Kazakhstan!!" He asked if he could have his picture taken with Roy and then he took just a picture of Roy. He also asked if he could email us so we gave him our card. He is an investment banker at KAZ Bank. What a delightful person!

Friday was the 4th of July and the Wikles invited us to the US Embassy for a good old fashioned barbecue. It was great to be able to visit with other Americans and eat American food! God Bless America!! Be grateful where you live even if gas is $4.00 a gallon!!

In the evening we went to Astana Park with Mira to see Kazakh dancing and traditional Kazakh dress. They also had booths set up to sell their crafts.

This man, with his traditional dress, is displaying his eagle. Traditonally, Kazakhs used eagles to hunt with. They are also on the Kazakh flag.

Here is some of the traditional dress of the Kazakhs.

We loved seeing the young people dressed in the clothes of their Kazakh ancestors.

Saturday we went to the Russian Circus with the handicapped children from the English Club. We also met Mira's dad and mom, Asylbek and Dametken Mussabekova, and her brother, Kazbek. We had a hard time communicating because Mira was at a friend's wedding, but Kazbek did his best! They are wonderful people and we hope to meet them again before we go home. They live in Pavlador and Kazbek goes to the university here in Astana.

After the circus, we walked home through Astana Park and took one last look at all of the yurts. A nice man took this picture of us in front of this one. It has been a wonderful week of many events.

We may not post for the next two weeks. The American doctors arrive on Saturday, the 12th, and they don't all leave until the 23rd, so we will be busy! But we are excited for them to come. We will let you all know how everything goes!

Thanks for all of the wonderful family and friends that pray for us each week. We feel your prayers every day!!

Love,

Elder and Sister Welling