More in the adventures of Jonah and Charlotte ...
Our situation is wonderful and keeps getting better. Charlotte has been aroudn this whole city searching for fun things to do and has gotten many offers on jobs. She teaches at the American Univeristy, the London School and the International Academy of Government, Law, Finance and Business. She is the best!
My internship is going well, I'm doing a lot of translation work. The economic crisis hit this place too, but people here don't believe the government owes them a bailout. I've translated many documents about the cutbacks companies are having to undergo and the instability of different industries.
There are rumors that the U.S. Airforce Base here might get shut down, because Russia has offered to loan Kyrgyzstan $2 billion if the base is closed. But General Petreus has said that it will remain open. People here beacme very scared when they realized that the only base left here once the Americans are gone will be the Russian base in the south. Originally the American was put here for protection, the Russians were called in by the new President Bakiev when the Uzbeks invaded. No one wanted the Russians here particularly, but now they will be the dominant presence. : ( Kyrgyzstan is under Russia's thumb still.
Charlotte has a new shopka and the weather is just starting to get warm. The ice covering our dvor (yard) has melted outside our apartment building and we can make it to work without slipping!
We have had many of interesting experiences with the people here, many people comment on how in love Charlotte and I are. Several people have said: "Charlotte! Aren't you lucky!? Your husband doesn't beat you!" I thought that was ironic because I probably deserve the beating in this marriage! Charlotte is so good to put up with me breaking the fridge, the outlet, the cacti, the new bowl and making her kiss me through this beard.
It is really sad, however. One woman told me the other day, that her husband has never told her that he loves her, "That's just how Muslims are," she said. "You Christians love each other." The situation for women here is probably the saddest of all.
From the pictures below you can see that Charlotte and I met with the Vincent's from Almaata and we'll be posting the vieos shortly! Thank you for reading our blog and we appreciate all your emails and posts!
God Bless Kyrgyzstan and God Bless America!
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Charlotte, We were checking out the family blog and noticed that you have one too! We've been reading about all of your adventures! You two look like you're having a blast. We also watched your videos and are very impressed by Jonah's guitar playing skills. We need to meet him in person so we can hear the real thing. We love you and hope all is well.
ReplyDeleteLove, Mandy- Andrew and Austin
Yo! Jonah, I'm hearing rumors that Kyrgyzstan is being knocked off the internet by politically-motivated electronic attack. Sound about right to you? Is it over yet?
ReplyDeleteEstonia had to put up with a really gnarly attack a few years go... Glad to see you're still around and posting. I'd be really interested to hear about the politics of this...
Have the fun!
Charlotte!! Cammie told me about your blog! I'm so glad we can keep in touch better now. Are you in Russia? Woah, very cool. We are in Huntington Beach CA and having a fabulous time.
ReplyDeletebtw- I agree it's sad that so much of the world has not figured out how wonderful marriage can be when both parties are treated with eternal love and respect! Unfortunately, I know of lots of Christian/American couples where the husband has never said "I love you" to his wife and where wives endure physical abuse from their husbands. Americans- and even Mormons- are definitely not exempt from that problem.