Spring 2010

Family and Friends,

I'm sorry to be missing for so long. I have discovered that this website is now blocked in the country of Kazakhstan. They must have had too many international people following foreigners and their local court cases. Oh well, I try to stay out of all of that. It is just unfortunate stuff gets blocked.

Well, obviously I am writing this and so I have found a roundabout method. Having a personal VPN server is certainly recommended for international travelers. I am doing something else but a VPN would have been my first choice.

Now, I imagine this post or series of posts will take some time to get out there. Here are the highlights. I now work for a good company teaching English in Almaty. We have moved to a house that is a real blessing. The price was within our budget but that also means there is a lot to fix and deal with. Right now the biggest issues are the overflowing septic tank, clothes washer that doesn't do a final high-speed spin (my guess is that the high power transistor on the variable frequency drive module is fried), and the rodents that keep eating through the floor in the kitchen where there is a small crack. We haven't caught any of them and they are staring to do some real damage. We were also forced to take a one week vacation in Thailand for visa reasons. That was rough ;-).

With no further delay here are a few pictures. Then I need to get back to lesson plans.

With love to everyone (especially Moms, Dads, Grandparents, and Grandma),
David

Dog and a little of the house.

I promised to post a few pictures of the house when we moved in. Okay, this really isn't that much about the house but rather about the newest member of our family, Max.

Hope you enjoy. I'll get some more pictures up when there is time.

We have a place to live!

There is good news for Gina here in Almaty. The hunt for a permanent place to live has come to an end. Today we signed a temporary holding contract on a house that is being remodeled. Starting Feb. 1st we will live in a beautiful house just inside the city. It will be a commute to almost everything but we think it will be worth it.

Here is the details. It is a good price, a large 4-room house with several storage rooms and an unfinished attic that will become my workshop. It has a nice kitchen and lots of room to host. There is a sauna and even a gardener. Actually the owner is the gardener/ housekeeper but is willing to give us our space if we want it. She has a country house that she can disappear to but there is a "summer" home there on the property that I think she lives in.

Now for the pictures. I scrapped these off the real estate advertising page. So, these show what it will look like in the summer. Right now there is snow everywhere.

We will put up real pictures in Feb.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all our family and friends!

Christmas has come and gone. Here in Kazakhstan Christmas is not celebrated on December 25 but rather on January 7. There are reasons for it but the truth is I have come to realize just how many or our Christmas traditions are identical to New Years traditions here. Gift giving, a new year's tree, getting together with family,... It was a blast. Literally! At midnight and even some before the whole city became one large fireworks show. Having a nice seat on the Nth floor of a nice apartment building made the viewing all the more exciting.

With no further ado here are a few pictures from New Years.

















You must not think that Christmas is no longer important to us. We just haven't had much time to enjoy it. The Monday before Christmas we moved our stuff from the room where we were staying to a borrowed apartment. It was very kind of some friends to loan us their 2700 sq. ft. apartment while they are out of town on business. Here are a few shots from the windows and the festive decor.








On the job front, God is good! I have had an interview with two different companies and have been accepted by both contingent on details that will only be know mid-January. So, either way I should have a job that will take care of visas and pay a decent salary. Gina and I are looking forward to some stability to our lives in 2010. That does not mean we feel any less called by God or that what we are being called into is less important than what we were doing.

Blessings to all,

David and Gina Helbley

Summer is gone and Fall is back. We expect snow soon.

Here I am at the beginning of another post. For today you will just get the pictures. I will work on adding comments after we get moved into our new apartment. I was just reminded that the last thing you have seen from us is our rough vacation. Well, we have been busy as always and working hard on new supplementary curriculum for the school.