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.