Happy and Sad, Kazikhstan and Ramadan

Kids are all officially in school now.....and I am at home alone. First morning when they all got on the bus, I sat on the floor in the dark and listened to the quiet.....then I started to cry. But, then I stopped crying and got a LOT done in a short amount of time:) They are all doing great and enjoying school. Elisabeth is sure she got the nicest teacher in the whole school. Sarah and Emma are becoming so grown up and can make their own lunches. Rebekah and Josh are both in the middle school now and are able to "hang out" during breaks and tried out for the MS drama production together. I am planning my schedule for the year and am hoping they call me to sub at the school a couple of days a week. Also, I hope I can finally finish my one (and only) quilt and catch up on the scrapbooks.....and get a lot of great exercise in:)

Here is a picture of the first day:

Brent got back from his trip to Kazikhstan last week and this time he took lots of pictures. Here are some:

Ramadan started on Saturday, August 22nd. It is really interesting how this changes the day to day life here. The muslim people fast from sun up to sun down, so basically they reverse their schedule of life. They eat all night, then sleep in and do very little all day, then RACE home at sun down to the iftar (break fast) meal with their families. We went to mall on Saturday and most of the stores were closed. A lot of the places are closed most of day and open later in the evening. Funniest thing of all that I have seen is how completely dead the streets are at about 6 pm (normally rush hour) because everyone is eating:) Now, I could go into a deep analysis of the cultural vs. the spiritual ways of fasting for Ramadan and how some people really are devoted to the true Islamic reason for the fast and others do it because society has forced them.....but I won't. I will however includea couple of pictures---Ramadan lanterns (it is a time of celebration and not unhappiness---one child told me they "LOVED Ramadan--they get gifts, eat sweets, and don't have to go to bed!") and one of something I found written on an electrical box down the road: