First Kyrgyz Field Trip - Ala Archa National Park

This week is "Fall Break" for most of the schools here in Bishkek, so we took some time on Saturday to head out of the city a little ways and enjoy the mountains!

We hope you enjoy the lovely pictures and God's amazing beauty that abounds here in Kyrgyzstan.

Our view of the mountains from the park.

As we walked in to find a "campsite" and set up for our picnic.

One of the local birds.

Sissi, posing on some rocks.

The guys, starting the fire for our lunch.

Our kids! I got some great shots of them all around the camp site.

Another cute picture of the kids.

And another one.

Krypto really loves having a little one around.

The kids, and their picnic lunch.

My boy, Gwangi.

A cute family shot that our friends took for us.

Our camp fire, cooking shashlik/kebabs.

Another amazing view.

Sissi, down by the river.

My sweet girl. She found a great spot to take more pictures.

My oldest, Krypto.

Family shot!

As we left the park, this is what we saw...it looks like a painting!

The name of the park, Ala Archa, means multi-colored trees in Kyrgyz (specifically a juniper tree, but there are obviously LOTS of trees in the park)...yep, they got that one right, especially in the fall!

I really loved the teal and burgundy colored house tops with all the fall colors. Awesome!

Maybe we should move to this valley ;)!? Seems so peaceful here!

Another view of the valley.

The entrance to the park!

The other side of the entrance to the park.

A Day in Istanbul

We arrived in Istanbul late last night.

When leaving Chicago we had a bit of a delay sitting on the tarmac because of all the extra traffic in the area...about 45 minutes...but, we made up most of that time in the air and only landed about 15 minutes late.

Once in Istanbul, we went through customs, got our luggage and met with our AD to head to his house which is on the Asian side of Istanbul. We got to take a car ferry, and that was fun!

Today, we got up to a wonderful breakfast of croissants, eggs, cheese, and apples. Then we put on our walking shoes and headed out to take a bus, then a ferry, and then a tram to arrive back on the European side of Istanbul, where many of the historical sites are located.

Here is our view from the ferry...East meets West.

Our view of the Blue Mosque or the Sultan Ahmed Mosque.

We arrived just in time for prayers to start, so weren't able to go inside. The outside was very interesting and Uncle Ed talked about how the chain was put in place so that no one, even the Sultan, could ride their horse into the mosque.

An Egyptian obelisk, built in the time of Moses, put in place in Istanbul over 1500 years ago to show the extent of the kingdom.

Uncle Ed giving a pretty incredible history lesson on our tour today.

The marker for the obelisk in the Hippodrome.

Another historical marker in the Hippodrome, the Serpent Column. It was made from the melted shields of the defeated Persians in a battle against the Greeks.

On the steps, leaving the Blue Mosque, with the Hagia Sophia in the background.

A fountain gift from the German Kaiser.

A memorial put up by Constantine to mark the founding of the city of Constantinople.

Lunch on the street with friends...shaved meat with french fries, tomatoes, pickles, and a sauce wrapped up in a tortilla-like wrap.

The entrance to the Hagia Sophia.

The ceiling with the Ichthus Wheel in the center.

The open area in the Hagia Sophia. Renovation ladders on the left. Beautiful chandeliers on the right.

Mosaic on the wall...Mary, Jesus, and John.

Mosaic of Mary and Baby Jesus.

There is restoration going on throughout the Hagia Sophia.

The Million Mile Marker...or the Zero Mile...where all distances in the Roman Empire were measured from.

Road signs.

Only 5,000 km or so from Bishkek...

We also went underground, to the Cisterns.

Very dark, and damp, and neat to walk through these.

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The upside down head of Medusa. There is another one that was put in sideways.

The busy bus area on our way back to the Asian side of Istanbul.

Tomorrow we are off to Bishkek! We'll keep in touch.

The beginnings of an international move.

We are in the final countdown of days left in the house. 

By this time next week we will be staying at my aunt and uncle's house. 

Through all of the upheaval, we have tried to keep some continuity going for the kids and also get done what needs to be done. 

We were able to get "most" of what I wanted to complete for school done these past 6 weeks. For that, I am grateful! It will make the rest of this school year so much easier. Otherwise, with the move and starting language training, I could see us going so late into next summer that we would end up year round schooling...and I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet...though it is always an option we can revisit.

Over these past few weeks, since I posted last, we have done the "flashback" from the time of the Egyptians, to the beginning of time. We covered Creation, the rest of Genesis, Ancient Mesopotamia, and all of the book of Exodus. The boys have been amazing, reading about 8-10 chapters out of their Bibles (not kids' Bibles, the real thing) each day and writing up summaries for me to review and discuss with them. We read a Children's Bible, from Yesterday's Classics, during our read aloud time for Sissi's Bible reading.

Here we are, outside on our street, measuring how long and wide the Ark was from Noah's time. Each piece of string was a cubit long, about 18 inches. It was great to get that visual context for its immense size and then to realize that it was 3 stories tall as well. Lots of room for lots of animals.

We had some visitors last week, our long time good friends, Tony and Yvette. We celebrated Thanksgiving early (ahhh, no pictures, what was I thinking...guess I enjoyed myself too much) and then took a day to pack up all of the books and my craft stuff in the house. We took over 4 truck loads to the storage locker. It was a great start to the packing.

Here is what our bookcases now look like...so empty.

Look at our school room/dining room...again, so empty with most of the books gone.

We also had our final play date with Sissi's best friend from this home stay, Riya. We met her in Sissi's dance class, from In Motion. They are a sweet family and we will miss them very much.

Continuing our study of the Patriarchs we had a Lentil Stew dinner with unleavened bread. It was pretty well received and Sissi has asked for a repeat. The boys...well, they could probably take it or leave it.

The past two days we've been studying the Tabernacle and the Israelite's time out in the desert. We had the kids re-memorize the Ten Commandments (might watch the movie this weekend, with Charlton Heston), talked about the Golden Calf, Mt. Sinai, and covenants.

Here is the front of our townhouse, the place we have called home these past 13 months. How fast the time has flown by, and we are sad to leave the neighborhood and our new friends here, but oh so very excited about our new neighborhood and the relationships we have awaiting us in Kyrgyzstan.

The street where we live (did you hear me singing it?...My Fair Lady reference there)

Another view of our street. Quiet and peaceful. A true gift from our Father during a very busy year in the US. We are already praying for the apartment that He will provide for us in Bishkek and the neighbors that will surround it and the people that we will meet.

Yesterday Indy drove up about 8 plastic bins and 6 other pieces of odd sized luggage to Maryland...camping equipment (tent and sleeping bags), ski gear, Christmas decorations and gifts, extra clothes, and shoes, winter gear, sheets, and some books. It will be flying out of the US around the 20th and should arrive in country just a couple of days after us. That is half of what we are taking with us, for 3 years. The other luggage, about 13 or so checked pieces that include our kitchen wares, current clothes, school stuff, bathroom items, and some toys, plus our carry-ons, are still with us. It has been such a lesson in minimizing, downsizing, and trusting our Father to provide what we don't have, when we need it.

More on the move later....