Masha'Allah

Beautiful country-side. The mountains of Kstan in the fall! Masha'Allah!

Masha'Allah is an Arabic phrase that expresses appreciation, joy, praise or thankfulness for an event or person that was just mentioned (definition from Wikipedia). It is used to remind people that all things come from God. People also say it superstitiously to ward off the "evil eye," believing that admiring something about another person in an envious or covetous way could cause something bad to happen to that person. So if you compliment a person or their things, always tack on a "Masha'Allah" afterwards so they know you're not saying anything out of jealousy or envy.

That's what neighbors are for

Project 365 Day 26: Our neighbors often send children over with plates of hot food fresh from their stove. It's really nice to know they think about us often. Today was a particularly neighbor-food-full day. From left to right: Lentils, Kitilk (meat and rice stuffed inside rice cakes and fried), dates, honey, fried green beans. We usually send the plates and bowls back with baked goods like pumpkin bread, zucchini bread, and banana bread.

Bubble Tea

Project 365 Day 25: I was craving bubble tea today. Reminds me of great friends back home.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Project 365 Day 24: It's my dad's birthday! In his honor I'm posting a picture of a father and daughter. I took this photo in eastern Turkey last year.

Dr Pepper Day

365 Project Day 23: I had my first Dr. Pepper in over a YEAR today! What a great taste from home! These pics are from last summer while I was traveling Highway 6 through the world's "capital" of Dr. Pepper (Dublin, Texas).

Kdish dinner

Project 365 Day 22: A typical Kdish dinner (from bottom left to right) shredded spiced lamb, deep fried egg, yogurt, and cheese. Each of these dishes is eaten with bread, which is used to scoop the food out of the bowl. No forks or spoons required!

Washing Machine

Project 365 Day 21: Our beloved washing machine. The left side is for washing and the right side is for spinning. Each load of laundry goes through each side twice. First time: Fill with water, wash with soap, drain, spin. Second time: Fill with water again, run with fabric softener, drain, spin. We don't have a dryer so then we have to hang our clothes to dry. Estimated wash time per load: 1.5 hours

Sheep guts

 Project 365 Day 20. When they slaughter a sheep or lamb, the K's use every part of it. They like to stuff the intestines with a mixture of rice, meat, tomato paste, onions, and spices. It's actually pretty tasty.

Toolbox

Project 365 Day 19. We recently inherited a toolbox so I was inspired to organize all the tools in our "man drawer" into the toolbox.

Project 365 Day 18: What Women Want

BEAUTY! No matter the culture, women enjoy beauty in all forms. And women especially want to be beautiful themselves. The Kdish women often ask me for aaslee (meaning "real" or "pure") beauty products from America because most of the products available to them are adulterated. Even if the products are genuine, the consensus among the K's is that American stuff is just better. Except for the awesome stuff that the Swiss company Arbonne makes, I can't say that I disagree ;-) It's been nice to see more quality products coming into Kstan since I've arrived. I think Mary Kay or Avon could be really big here.

Project 365 Day 17: Cell Phones & Text Messages

Cell phones are EVERYWHERE. And they have cutesy accessories for women like glittery jeweled high heels and hearts and butterflies. But the best thing about Kdish cell phone usage are the text messages. They are all very sappy, but sweet. Here's a sampling of some messages that have been going from phone to phone over the past few months. I've left them as they have come to me so please excuse the bad grammar.

"Everyday, Everywhere, Everytime, I may not be with you, but my thinking, my care, my msgs, my prayers & my lovely wishes are always with you."

"One day u will ask me what's more important to you my life or your life...? I will say my life and you will walk away from me without knowing that. that you are my Life...

"One day my heart ask my eyes: whay r u crying? my eyes say: I am looking 4 my love I cannot find her! my heart say: do not cry she inside me. How r u my life"

"Someday you may lose ur hair, your teeth, your looks, or even your memory. But there's something you won't lose. Me, Coz I'll always be your friend.."

Sugar said to honey: “We are the sweetest people in the world.”

Honey said to sugar: “Apparently you haven’t met the person reading this.”

"Many people come in our lives they come and go and are forgotten but out of them some keep on twinkling like stars on the screen of mine and you are definitely one of them."

"If you live to be 100 years, I want to live to be 100 years minus 1 day so I never have to live without you. I can’t live without you."

"ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTVWXYZ….what’s missing?? U!"

Project 365 Day 16: Cultural Values

Russian Customs Form

Look at item 3.4 in the customs form. Not sure what the Russians were getting at. Maybe that people visiting their country must leave their cultural values at the border? LOL. Not a bad description of what it's like to make one's home in a foreign culture.

According to Wikipedia, "Values are an integral part of every culture. Along with worldview and personality, they generate behavior. Being part of a culture that shares a common core set of values creates expectations and predictability without which a culture would disintegrate and its members would lose their personal identity and sense of worth. Values tell people what is good, beneficial, important, useful, beautiful, desirable, constructive...etc. They answer the question of why people do what they do. Values help people solve common human problems for survival. Over time, they become the roots of traditions that groups of people find important in their day-to-day lives."

Living in a foreign culture exposes cultural values. Mysterious behaviors, unpredictability, and conflicting expectations abound. It's good for me to examine my cultural values, to ask why I do what I do, and to put myself in the shoes of someone different than me to examine why he acts the way he does. It's a strange and wonderful journey.

Project 365 Day 15: Bread Shop

Bread is served at literally every meal here. Along with rice. Both of these foods have historically symbolized life. That is why in Kdish culture it is considered sinful to waste even one scrap of bread. Every neighborhood has several bakeries so it is easy to find all sorts of freshly baked breads for very little money. I can get at least 8 of the loaves in the picture below for about $1.

Project 365 Day 14: Women's Basketball in Kstan?!?

BOX-OUT!