I have what? Something written on my forehead?

When I was in Almaty, Kazakhstan in May, I missed the next to the last week of my Russian class back in Austin. I looked for some small souveniers to take back to my classmates. While checking out at the grocery store, I spied packs of gum, labeled "Хубба Бубба" (Hubba Bubba) -- I had to get some to share back home. Hubba Bubba bubble gum has been around for a long time, and to see it transliterated into Russian for some reason seemed really funny to me. I bought several packs of gum and brought it back home.

I didn't really try to read the rest of the package, but my Russian instructor, Joe Liro (aka Professor Pancake) noticed written on the package the following: Наклейка внутри. The word "внутри" means "inside." Hmm . . . Something is inside the package beside the gum, but what was it? The word "клей" means "glue or paste" -- something "sticky" -- aha! Наклейка is a "sticker"! And here is a scan of the sticker that was inside my pack of Hubba-Bubba. The little guy in the sticker is asking, "I have what? Something written on my forehead?" And that is what is written on his forehead. Do you find this humorous? I do! If you do, congratulations, you have not lost the sense of humor you had as a child! I'm told that women tend to lose it and men tend not to, which explains why men find find slapstick humor like The Three Stooges funny more often than do women.

I had one other pack of Hubba-Bubba. That sticker had a kid with his head down on his school desk apparently asleep and the conversation bubble over his head said, "Я не сплю, я думаю."

What's written on your forehead?

Russian Keyboard

A few years ago I bought the software to allow my keyboard to type in Russian. Even though there is a free Russian keyboard included with Windows, its the standard Russian keyboard with keys arranged in ways that make it hard for someone used to the QWERTY keyboard to find them. This software has worked great up to recently when it has started to misbehave. At first it would switch not to the phonetic keyboard but to the standard Russian keyboard when using the hot keys to switch from English to Russian. More recently it has been causing the computer to lockup when switching languages.

Finally yesterday I had had enough. I knew that there have been keyboard layout design programs around for years, but the last one I tried to use was difficult to learn and I gave up. So I googled for help. I found a free keyboard layout designer from Microsoft and downloaded it. The program allowed me to import the standard Russian keyboard from my computer and then rearrange the keys to the phonetic arrangement I was used to. (Russian "a" is on the "a" key; Russian "ф" is on the "f" key, and so on. This program then creates a .msi file that you install and presto, you have your new keyboard layout.

I've uninstalled the program I bought and am just using Windows language-switching. No more lock-ups when switching languages. Hooray! (Ура!)

By the way, if anybody who's used to the qwerty keyboard wants to get the keyboard layout I made, just let me know, I'll send it to you.

Am I Lucky or What?! -- Toastmasters Speech

You already know about this from my post of a few weeks ago, but here's how I put these events together for a speech from the storytelling manual at Capital City Toastmasters.

Storytelling Manual, Project #2, Let’s Get Personal, August 9, 2006
“Am I Lucky or What!?” 6-8 minutes

I’m going to tell you a story that I’ve already told to several friends. The variety of reactions I’ve gotten to this story is fascinating to me. Let’s see what your reaction will be!

When I was in Moscow in June to perform the wedding ceremony for my good friend Masha and her American groom, I made quite a few new friends. At the reception I got to talking to a 20-something young woman named Lyudmila and her brother, Andrey. I learned that their older sister, Evelina and her husband, Kostya are currently working on graduate degrees at Baylor University – yes, our Baylor, just up the road in Waco. I gave Lyudmila my contact information and urged her to contact me and tell me how to get in touch with her sister. Besides being a friendly guy, I’m always looking for friendly Russian speakers with whom to practice my language skills.

I was thrilled when, a week or so after I got back from Moscow, I heard from Lyudmila and subsequently communicated with Evelina and Kostya. We discussed getting together sometime and then somehow the subject of rodeo came up. They had been in Texas for 2 years and never been to a rodeo – “Horrors!” I declared. “You have to see a rodeo!” And as luck would have it the Taylor Rodeo was coming up in a couple of weeks and they agreed to come to dinner beforehand and then go to the rodeo with us.

The most important decision about this evening was, What to fix for dinner? Since this is Texas, it seemed appropriate to grill out. Steaks would have been perfect, but we already had hamburger patties, so burgers it was! Burgers, coleslaw, beans, chips – a good American meal. To internationalize it a bit, I visited Sasha’s Russian Gourmet Deli and purchased Xalva and Kvas. Xalva is a kind of dessert that I first ate in Kazakhstan – like a lot of things, it looks disgusting but is actually quite sweet and delicious. It’s made from sunflower or sesame seeds that are pulverized and formed into something that would pass for a rock if you saw a hunk of it in the forest – but it flakes apart with a fork and is eaten with the fingers. Yummy. Kvas, on the other hand, is a beverage that looks good – looks exactly like root beer, but is really quite disgusting. It’s made from bread – somehow – and Russians LOVE it, why they love it, I cannot imagine. Evelina and Kostya loved the kvas and xalva and seemed pretty pleased with the burgers as well.

At 7:15 we took separate cars to the Taylor rodeo, which is just 20 minutes away. We got there in plenty of time for the first event, saddle bronco riding. Explaining the events and watching Evelina and Kostya enjoy them was a lot of fun for me. I felt like an ambassador of Texas goodwill. My personal favorite event is “mutton-bustin’.” You know this one? Where little kids cling to the backs of sheep, with the last one to fall off the winner. The most exciting event was the bull-riding. It is at once the most difficult and dangerous event of the rodeo, and as such is saved for last.

Near the end of the bull-riding, Janis’ cell-phone rang. I could tell from her expression that it was something serious. When she got off the phone the first thing she said was, “Everything is OK, . . . . but . . . “ You know the “but” is coming. There had been a fire at our house, but it had been contained to the deck. We needed to get home, so we said our good-byes to Evelina and Kostya and headed home.

Here’s what happened. Sometime after 7:15 the grill with charcoal still hot got knocked over. I suspect that one burger that lost its grip and fell onto the charcoal was putting out an aroma that enticed one of our normally perfectly behaved dogs to go after it and tip over the grill. Nobody was at our house, so nobody noticed that at some time the deck began to smolder and burn. But around 8:30 a young man who used to live in our area and now is a firefighter in Liberty Hill was driving up our road and saw the flames. He pulled in, found nobody home, called 911 and extinguished the blaze with our garden hose. A south breeze had blown the fire to within 3 feet of the back door, but amazingly the house was completely unaffected by the fire, except for the deck.

It was shocking to see the hole, about 6 feet across that had been burnt into our deck. And yet how much worse it could easily have been.

And it is at this point in the story that we get the variety of reactions. Most of my friends from work say, “You were sooo lucky!” But you know, for some reason, I didn’t feel lucky. I didn’t know what to feel. I was glad the house didn’t burn down, I was sad that the deck, which I had built myself was ruined, but I didn’t feel any of this very strongly, I wasn’t sure how to feel.

At church we got different characterization of this event. Most of our church friends said some variation of, “Well, thank God the house didn’t burn down.” Or “Somebody was watching out for you.” This is the theologically correct characterization for a Christian. All good things come from God. But was this particular event, the fireman who drove up our road just at the right time a “special” act of goodness toward us? Certainly there is nothing about us in particular to attract such benevolence. Why does my house get spared a fire and whole villages in southern Lebanon get bombed out of existence in roughly the same period of time?
There is no logic to explain this.

Why can’t I just be happy about this? My house didn’t burn down. I am happy, I just don’t understand, “Am I lucky, or What?!”

Something on my Mind

Go ahead, make the obvious observation that I'm a bird-brain.

We had quite a few animals around here before Janis mentioned that one of the nurses at work had a cockatiel she needed to give away to a good home. We only have five dogs, three cats (the two inside cats are de-clawed), three horses, and a pig, but no bird. We've actually never owned a bird in 31 years of marriage, and so, of course we took the bird.

For the first several days, Hollywood, our new cockatiel, was pretty shy. But he does love to get out of his cage and for the past few days he's mounted the shoulders of Janis, Ashleigh and Kelsey. This afternoon when I got home he was on the dining room table interacting with Janis. When I went into the kitchen, he flew in there and perched on the ceiling fan (powered off, of course). Twice while I was fixing something for dinner I heard unexpected fluttering near my ears and ducked. Janis said I should be more calm because "Hollywood seems to like you." I brought my snack into the living room, and Hollywood followed. Watching me from the living room ceiling fan, Hollywood seemed to size up the possibility of landing on my head. I was prepared for him and sure enough here he came! After enjoying the view from my head for a while, he moved onto the computer keyboard, at which he pecked for quite a while.

Now he's on Janis' shoulder. Ansel, Janis' cat, is watching him at close range with great interest. So far, the dogs and cats simply seem curious about Hollywood.

Stay tuned for further developments

Of new friends, festivities, fire on Friday

It was going to be an exciting day, but turned out to be even more exciting.

The Taylor Rodeo started yesterday, Friday, July 14th. Janis and Ashleigh rode their horses in the Williamson County Sheriff's Posse Mounted Drill Team to start the festivities. All of that, plus the rodeo itself went as planned.

I had invited Evelina and Kostya Petrenko along with their friends Dennis and Natasha to join me for dinner before and then for the rodeo itself. Evelina is the eldest sister in a family of six siblings, out of which I had met two -- Andrey and Ludmila in Moscow in June at Nathan and Masha's wedding. And having found out that Andrey and Ludmila have a sister in Waco studying along with her husband at Baylor, I got in touch with them. Their friends Dennis and Natasha are from the Ukraine.

Here's a picture of the four of them (from the right, Dennis, Natasha, Evelina, Kostya) -- also notice Kelsey with Adreyene and Kelsey's friend Bobby off to the left. Evelina also posted on her blog some pictures from the rodeo and from visiting our "farm" beforehand.

Near the end of the rodeo we got a cellphone call from Ashleigh, who had gone home already -- the fire department had just left our house. It seems the charcoal grill with hot coals still in it had gotten tipped over onto the wood deck and started the deck on fire--while no one was home. This might have happened shortly after we left for the rodeo at 7:15. Sometime around 8:30 a passing motorist, who just happened to be a firefighter for the Sam Bass Fire Department, saw the fire and took the initiative to stop and investigate. Finding nobody home, he got the garden hose and was able to extinguish the fire. He also called 911 and the Weir VFD responded right about 9:00. Our passerby, we learned, is named Jason Pierce. Check his page on the Sam Bass Fire Department web site.

Thankfully, the fire did not reach the house! There is a 6x6 foot hole in the deck now, and of course the grill is destroyed -- but, oh my, how much worse it could have been. The insurance adjuster will come, I hope, on Monday and then we can get on with rebuilding the deck.

Friends, festivities, and then fire. What if it had been Friday the 13th and not the 14th?

Moscow!!!

On the day I arrived in Moscow, I went downtown and walked around. The sun was setting only around 10:30 pm while I was there. This photo was taken about at dusk. I'm standing on a bridge over the Moscow river, looking at the Kremlin. You can see clearly one of the Kremlin towers and in the background one of the 4 ancient churches that stand inside the Kremlin walls.

I was in Moscow primarily to officiate at the church wedding of my friend Masha and Nathan. The wedding took place at a charming little church located within an old cemetary in the eastern part of Moscow. The wedding was beautiful and meaningful. It was a bilingual wedding as we had those who only spoke English, only Russian, or both. The service was conducted in English with an excellent interpreter translating into Russian. Afterwards was a very nice reception in a different part of town.

Besides officiating at the wedding, I spent my time sight-seeing and visiting. I stayed with Sasha and Ira -- brother and sister-in-law of my friend, Vladimir, in Austin. They have a spare room (a real luxury in Moscow) and gave me the run of the apartment. They were gone to their summer cottage (dacha) from Friday to Monday night, so during that time I felt like a real Muskovite with his own place. It was fun.

I got good at riding the Metro (subway), ate some new foods, made some new friends, and saw some beautiful sights.

Now, to plan the next trip back!!

In Moscow

I arrived in Moscow on Wednesday, June 7th at about noon. Masha and Nathan (bride and groom for Saturday's wedding) were there to meet me. We grabbed some lunch at the stolovia (cafeteria) and talked for an hour and then waited for Vanessa (Masha's friend from D.C.) to arrive. Vanessa had trouble with her luggage and so she was late coming out to find us, but after she did we all rode the marshrutka (shuttle bus) to the closest Metro stop and then rode the Metro together. Nathan, Masha and Vanessa all got out at her stop and I rode on to the station where I changed lines and then rode on to my stop in southwest Moscow.

I had a little trouble finding Sasha and Ira's apartment, but did finally and when I did, they were not home! It was nearly 5:00 and I expected Sasha to be home. I decided to try to talk to a neighbor (the apartment entrances are in clusters of 4 on each floor, and often these people if they live in the same place a long time, become good friends with their neighbors). One neighbor answered the door and I succeeded in communicating in Russian who I was and what my problem was regarding finding Sasha. He made some calls and then he got the key to Sasha's apartment and let me in! Hurrah! I was a little concerned that Sasha's dog -- a beautiful big German Shepherd would not remember me, but if he did or didn't at least he didn't attack, we greeted each other (he smelled my hand) and then all was well.

Sasha and Ira came home by about 6:15, and we had a nice reunion.

This post is coming from an Internet Cafe in the underground mall next to Red Square. I'm almost out of time, so further posts and (I hope) some pictures will follow.

No Trip to KZ Next Year

I got the official word today that East-West Ministries International has decided to cancel the 2006-2007 version of their normal school-year institute, CALTC, where I have been teaching, in Almaty, Kazakhstan. I'm not surprised. Ivan, one of the Russian-track teaching assistants had hinted that this decision might be made. And indeed, the student enrollment had declined in each of the past five years to just 9 students this year. This time off will give the Central Asian leadership time to consider the needs for pastoral training in their area and various methods they might use to meet these needs.

But for the time being, seems my trips to KZ have run their course. Thanks again for your support.

Home again!

Following a day of souvenier shopping and resting on Saturday, I flew home on Sunday. Since one gains 11 hours returning home, Sunday was actually 35 hours long. And it felt like it as I sat on airplanes for 6, 9, and 2 hours flying to Frankfurt, Chicago, and Austin. With some time in between to enjoy the Frankfurt and Chicago airports.

I'm now in my second day of recovery from jet lag and I think in one or two more I'll be recovered. Thanks to all who supported and prayed for this trip.

Friday Evening in Almaty

Here are my friends, Dana (sounds like Donna) and Barzhan (sounds like Barzhan) at a little indoor/outdoor cafe not far from the faculty apartment. We met for dinner on Friday night and had a very nice visit together. I first met Dana 4 years ago when Mark Roberts and I travelled to Almaty together. Mark had met Dana earlier and invited her to one of our student dinners. (That evening Mark and I laughed harder than anyone in the history of the world and afterwards Dana has always been known as Crazy Dana in our family.) She and Barzhan met and got married a little over a year ago, and now are expecting their first child. After dinner we took a stroll down Rozabakieva Street to a store where they insisted on buying some candy and tea to send home with me to our family. Nice time, good friends!

Mission Accomplished

Student Teaching was the order of the day for Friday. With just 8 students it was possible to assign each one a 20 minute slot to present the sample lesson that they had worked on all week. To a person, they all did a great job. I'm not just saying that, because I was their teacher, but they really all did super. Two taught in a classroom setting and then the rest taught as in a home group as pictured here.

After each teaching session we spent time as a group discussing the things the presenter did well and any suggestions for improvement.

By the time we finished all of the student teaching there was just 15 minutes left to review for their final exam, which will be administered on Monday morning (after I'm safely back in the States -- an excellent strategy!).

Thursday Night in Almaty

Four days of teaching are now complete. Most of today was spent watching and discussing the film, The Miracle Worker. It's a 90 minute film, but we had to stop frequently to explain what was going on, especially if there was a period of intense dialogue. As always, the film's powerful emotional impact was not lost on these prospective teachers, despite the language barrier.

Tonight was the second of two student dinners. Two students with their wives and combined four children joined me along with an interperter. We had a nice time of the home-cooked meal. And then enjoyed a rousing game of "spoons."

Here are a few pictures from class and from dinner.

May Day dinner with the Leytner Family in Almaty

Here from left to right are Valentina, Sasha, Levin and Galina. These are the Leytners with whom I had dinner on Monday night.

I went back to their house after teaching on Tuesday because I had forgotten my Penn State cap there. I thought I would just drop by and pick up the cap, but of course, they insisted I stay for a bite to eat. Then Levin and I walked a few blocks to the mall where he needed to get milk, and I found a video store and purchsed a couple of Russian/English videos to aid my oral comprehension of Russian.

Teaching went well on Tuesday. The students seem to be grasping the lesson planning ideas I'm giving them.


Here is one of our students in the classroom test driving one of the wooden cars that I brought to give to orphans and other needy children.

After the first day of teaching

Even though today was a national holiday, CALTC Russian track held class. Overall assessment is that the day went well. The enrollment is down this year to 9 students. One of them is out of the country right now, so there are 8 students. Even though the numbers are fewer than in other years, the enthusiasm of these students is very high. They all seemed to be tracking with me during the lectures, and most importantly, they laughed at my jokes!

They were assigned 4 chapters of the text to read tonight with a quiz to follow tomorrow morning.
Tonight I went as a guest to the home of Levin and Valentina Leytner. Their daughter, Svetlana is a friend of mine in Austin. I delivered a package to them from Svetlana and picked up twice as much to bring back! This is normal. This is the 4th year I've had this experience as part of my Almaty trip. Valentina cooked an incredible meal, including (learned after I started chewing) smoked horse meat -- I thought it was ham : (

Now I'm back at the faculty flat and ready for bed.

Sunday Evening in Almaty

Today was a great first day in Almaty. I went to the Russian-speaking church associated with the school. There I saw several old friends, including this couple, Masha and Yura, with whom I had lunch afterwards. The picture looks blue because we're outside under a canopy that is translucent blue, thus coloring the light. Yura directs the music at church and Masha works in bookkeeping at the school. They've been married for five years. A very nice couple.

I did get in a good nap this afternoon. Not so much that I wont' go to sleep tonight, I hope. Well, tomorrow is the first day of school. Though it's a national holiday, the school is carrying on. I'll post a report on the first day tomorrow night.

Sunday Morning in Almaty

Almaty, Kazakhstan -- here I am on Sunday morning with my first cup of tea! Our flight arrived on time at Almaty at just before midnight local time last night. I was met at the airport by Ivan (teaching assistant from CALTC) and Maxim (a former student who still lives in Almaty, has a car, and serves as a driver). I asked Maxim what kind of car he has and he said "a good one!" Its a Toyota station wagon imported used from Japan, complete with steering wheel on the right side.

I'm alone at the faculty apartment right now, though Ivan said that I might be getting a roommate, another CALTC teacher today (Sunday). It feels familiar here. I'm in the same room I stayed in the last few years. Everything is the same, same old furniture, same no desk lamp, etc. I do see a new fan, a floor model. They've already had a few hot days here and of course there is no AC. But the weather for this week is supposed to be kind of rainy and cool -- highs in the 60's or low 70's.

Ivan is coming over to walk to the Resurrection Church with me this morning. Most of the Russian-speaking folks from the school attend here. I'm sure I see some former students as well as other friends.

Thank you all for your prayers. So far everything as gone very well!

Frankfurt Airport -- Saturday, April 29

I arrived at the Frankfurt, Germany airport this morning at about 10:00 local time. It's 7 hours ahead of Texas here, so back there is just 3:00 AM. I should be asleep. I didn't actually sleep much on the flight from Chicago. We travelled on a 777, configured with 5 seats in the middle, and I had the middle of those 5 seats -- pretty much hemmed in. Just could not get comfortable. Well I fee OK now and here at the airport in addition to wireless Internet there is a section with "lounge-like" chairs where you can stretch out and take a snooze, which I hope to do next. The picture is not of our plane. This is the tail section of a Boeing 747-400, taken from the window of the McDonald's restaurant in Terminal B.

I also saw an engine of some kind on display outside the window shortly after getting off the flight from Chicago. I'm counting on Steve Dest to ID it.

Next stop, Almaty.

Departure Day -- Friday, April 28

Here I am at the Austin airport, ready to check in. I don't like to take so many bags, but I have things to deliver that forced me to take a second bag to check.

1. I have 25 little wooden cars hand-made by a man in Sun City that I'm going to deliver to some folks in Almaty who take a special interest in orphans. I'm sure that they will find a way to use these little toys in their regular outreach to the kids.

2. Less altruistic, but just a much fun, I have a package to deliver to Svetlana's parents, sister, niece. Svetlana (originally from Almaty, now teaches Chemistry at UT) dropped off the package for me on Tuesday. The great thing about this part of my trip is that I go to Svetlana's parents' house for dinner, where her mom fixes a feast each year. They have a dacha in the country where they can grow lots of their own fruits and vegetables, so a lot of what we eat at their house comes from their own garden. This dinner is to take place on Monday, May 1st, which is a national holiday, so the whole family should be able to gather.

Next post will be from Kazakhstan!

Professor Pancake makes a guest appearance

"Professor Pancake" (in Russian Profssor Blinchikov) aka Joseph Liro, Admissions Director at the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest, and my Russian instructor at ACC this year, will make a guest appearance in my class at CALTC in just a few days.

For years I have been looking for the right person to play this role. I've been wanting to film a skit of a somewhat absent-minded professor expounding on the Seven Laws of Teaching by Gregory. I use these seven principles in my class on teaching methods. The students are required to provide their own paraphrase of the seven laws in a poem, skit, Powerpoint presentation, object lesson or other creative activity. So I thought it would be fun to have my own humorous rendition. But I needed a Russian speaker who would play this role. Joe did a GREAT job, even flirting with an imaginary female student during his "lecture." I think this will be very well received by my class and help to keep the atmosphere in the class light-hearted and enjoyable.

Hurrah for Professor Pancake!

8 Days to departure

Getting down to the wire now. I have one project to complete. Just today I filmed "Professor Blinkov" (would be rendered in English as Professor Pancake) teaching a short lesson on the "Seven Laws of Teaching." Professor Blinkov is actually Joseph Liro, my Russian teacher, who agreed to play the part of a slightly senile professor, complete with cap and gown, lecturing to an imaginary audience in Russian about these teaching principles. He did a fantastic job. The video is hilarious. Now I just need to transfer it onto my PC using Windows Movie Maker and package it into little chunks to use throughout my lectures. I think it will spice up the class quite nicely. One of my favorite parts of Joe's characterization of Professor Blinkov is his frequent flirting with an imaginary female student in his class -- very charming.

Spinal Injection, Reprised

Turns out that all along the Doc planned a "series" (just 2, thankfully) of epidural spinal injections for my L4-L5 disk. Number 2 occurred yesterday.

Problem with a procedure that produced pain last time is that you anticipate the pain the second time, which is almost worse that the experience itself. This time was quite a bit different. There was one area she (Dr. Yaniv) hit that cause some pain, but not shooting all down the leg like last time.

Another difference was almost immediate improvement in the pain in my hip and lack of pain in the back when bending over. Now starts physical therapy (tomorrow) to try to whip ol' Mr. L4-L5 back into shape.

Stay tuned.

BTW, just 10 days until departure for Kazakhstan!

The Miracle Worker

One of the features of my Christian Education class at CALTC is to show and discuss the film, The Miracle Worker, the story of how the child, Helen Keller, came to be able to communicate, though she had been deaf and blind since a young child. I show this film because it shows the dedication, creativity, stubbornness of her teacher, Annie Sullivan, and how these characteristics allowed her to become a "miracle worker."

Also interesting about showing this film, is that it is available only in English. So I've prepared a scene by scene synopsis of the film which has been translated into Russian. Then as we watch the film, we pause periodically for the class interpreter to explain what is going on.

Despite the language barrier, the message is clear. It's always amazing to me to see the tears in the eyes of the students at the conclusion of the movie when Annie and Helen finally have the long-awaited breakthrough of understanding. This is a powerful illustration of the frustrations and joys of teaching.

Two versions of this film exist. One from the 60's, I believe, starring Haley Mills, and the newer one from Disney. Either is worth watching.

Where, exactly, is Almaty, Kazakhstan??

As these two maps show, KZ is bordered by Russia to the north, China to the east, and three of the other "stans" to the south. Almaty (formerly known as Alma Ata, and still known that way for airline schedules) is located in the southeast portion of the country. It's about a 7 hour flight and 5 time zones from Frankfurt, Germany, my European stop-over. I'll be arriving in Almaty at about midnight on Saturday, April 29.

Famous last words: "This will just sting a little"

Today I had the epidural steriod injection for Mr. L4-L5 Disk. This is an outpatient procedure. Janis drove me down to the surgery center in Austin for the 8:45 procedure. We arrived at 7:30 a little earlier than directed. The procedure itself didn't take long. In the operating room I mounted the operating table, still fully clothed, but with my pants unfastened. The area to receive the needle is slightly below the belt line, so one assistant said he was going to pull my pants down "a little." This was the first lie. I felt by the cold air that "a little" was pretty much all the way that mattered.

The next "little" was the shot to deaden the skin. This stung "a little" as advertised. Then the second lie. "There, that was the worst part of the procedure." As if!

After a minute or so to allow the local to deaden the skin, the doctor began to insert the needle into my back. Prior to this, the other assistant gave me two little star-shaped yellow balls to squeeze because "sometimes there is some discomfort with this procedure." The first hint of this was an odd sensation -- not a sharp pain but uncomfortable all the same -- as, Dr. Esther Yaniv explained, the needle was going through some tight muscles. She assured me there was just a little muscle to go through. Then came the real surprise, a sudden shooting pain down my entire left leg. I remarked to those present that this was uncomfortable -- not in those exact words, not in words at all, in fact, but they got the message. The doctor asked if the pain had subsequently disappeared and I remarked that it had. She seemed to think that this pain was good, because it meant the needle was going the right way. I'm sure glad I didn't stifle my reaction to the pain, which seemingly would have left her wondering if she was doing it right! This charming sensation suddently reoccured a second time and after that it was about all over. She said I might feel the same thing again when she inserted the medicine, and I hope she wasn't too disappointed when it did not!

Soon thereafter I moved onto the provided gurney and to the recovery area. There wasn't much to recover from as my vitals seemed to show, so I was allowed to go on home.

So now time will tell how Mr. Steriod likes living with Mr. L4-L5 Disk. I sure hope they like each other.

Back Problems shouldn't hinder this trip

Travelling to Almaty, Kazakhstan from Austin, Texas requires two rather long (7-9 hour) flights. Chicago to Frankfort and Frankfort to Almaty. Sitting in coach for that long can be problematic to anyone. But for the past two years I've had chronic lower back pain.

Today I found out the source of the problem.

It's a deteriorating disc between the 4th and 5th Lombar vertebrae -- I saw the MRI pictures -- very elightening. It was immediately obvious to my layman's eyes that "one of these discs is not like the others" (sing along if you remember the song from Sesame Street.) So I'm going in on Monday for a steriod shot to the disc, to be followed by more rigorous therapy to try to squeeze the bulging disk back into shape. The hope is that with the right therapy the deterioration can be managed and surgery averted.

My departure for Almaty is just 30 days away, so I'm hoping to make the most of these 30 days by a) getting as much therapy as possible and b) losing some weight on the Adkins diet. I had already stared on "b" on Saturday and now it seems the two goals go well together. More trips to the doctor, more time in the gym, more protein, no carbs, etc.

Stay tuned for more pain reports.

What one teacher says about teaching this year's class at CALTC

Yana, the CALTC interpreter reports:

Hi guys!

I've been thinking about various ways to enhance the teaching process and make the weekly course an effective experience both for the students and instructors.

Just about three weeks ago, we had a course taught by someone from Dallas, first-timer teaching here at CALTC...the course turned out to be a real success mostly due to the fact that the instructor could read the class and be flexible enough to adapt to their needs. I'm not asking you to copy that course...but to consider some of the insights he got after teaching here for a week. I asked the instructor of that course (Rich Milne) to write a feedback of some sort that, I hope, will give you some insights into this year's class. That is helpful and "insider's" info...a better insight than I could have given you before the actual course. Here it is:

Teaching in the CALTC Russian track was much like teaching a college class, but with a group of students from a much more varied ethnic range, and much broader age range as well. From kids about 22 to a couple who are early 50s, the class ranges from fairly naive to very connected both to ministry and to life. With a Turkmen, two Uzbeks, and six more or less ethnic Russians, it is also a diverse group ethnically.

I believe they prefer not to be lectured at, but to be involved in class discussion. Role-playing is something they specifically asked for more of, and getting students to participate in answering questions and engaging each other was usually quite easy.
I found them an easy group to talk with, and very willing to try and understand what was being taught. They did not ask a lot of questions without prompting, but questions directed to specific students were always answered.

As a group they very much like stories, both I think for cultural reasons, and because stories cross the ethnic and national divides very well. I read stories from Max Lucado each day, and this may well have been the high point of the day for them. The stories were chosen to compliment what I was teaching, and I would highly recommend this to anyone if you can find stories that relate to what you are teaching. Or make them up.

All of these students have already been involved in some sort of ministry, and all expect to continue on in ministry. So making applications that relate to ways to use the material in ministry contexts would always be helpful to the students, and their grid for relevant trips in that direction as well, I think.

The class environment is quite simple, with nine students sitting in three or four 'groups' that always seem to stay together. The classroom is quiet, and the 50-60 minute teaching periods were well-matched to their attention span. Be aware that there is no lunch as such, but just a longer break around noon. The students get a heavy snack around 11 each morning, and that replaces lunch in the present program.

Several of the students, Yura and Vladimir, seem to have a more academic background than the rest of the students, and they can be a resource for you at times, if you can bring them into the discussion. This will also help them to be more engaged in the class, especially if you happen to be teaching material that they know while the rest of the class is hearing it for the first time.

The more structured interaction you can include the better for this group, and they are very willing to break up into groups and do assignments as a group. If you give homework, realize that they have access to very few resources, and that even Russian is a challenge for several of the students.

All of these students have a sense of humor, but American jokes may or may not be that funny in Kazakhstan. So, enjoy the class, let them have plenty of chances to interact with you, the material, and each other, and the week(s) will be a great success for you and for them!

Please let me know if that was at all helpful...I'm more than open to answer the questions you might have.

Thanks,
Yana

Preparation for Almaty, Kazakhstan

Today I'm going to try to finalize my teaching materials for my 1-week teaching trip to CALTC in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Since this is my 6th trip and 5th time to teach the Christian Education course, it only requires adjustments to improve of last year's program.

I prepare my own notes and then from them I prepare the student handouts for them to use in following the lectures and completing activities. I also prepare three quizzes over the reading material and a final exam.

Yana, the translator for CALTC, will send me back my materials in Russian so I can modify or create powerpoint slides to accompany the lectures.