Yes, this is a Yak. While I was in Central Asia a good friend invited me to go out to the pass near town where you can see Yak herds. It is kind of difficult to tell how big they are from this picture but this guy was somewhere between the size of a sheep and a buffalo. I tried to get up close to some but they seemed to very anxious about my presence. Seeing the Yaks is just awesome.

The trip to the International School was equally wonderful, I could not have wanted a better group of teachers and students. The teachers were open to the assessments and the students all wanted to be tested. I think it was due to the prizes I gave away at the end of the assessments. My first day in town got off on the right foot with a staff meeting where I could explain what I hoped to do. Teachers immediately started to help me organize and prioritize which students should be assessed first. Once it was all done I was able to get 10 students assessed with 10 written reports for parents and teachers that included relative weakness, relative strengths, and specific recommendations that might help make learning in the future more efficient. But I was not doing all this alone, each night I would get on Skype with Joyce and review the days assessment and she was able to skillfully participate in educational interventions. I enjoyed meeting with parents and teachers and watching the process of having my words translated into various languages to parents. I also offered a teacher workshop on the digital interventions I had uploaded to their server. Overall, I think the children and teachers were able to benefit from what was done. He made it all possible and all for his glory. I am so thankful to have been a part of the process. I would love to bring pictures of some of the sweet faces but I just cannot do that here. It is my hope to return with Joyce in June 2014 to continue more assessments on a few students that I did not get to. But since this has happened Joyce and I have been invited to Thailand to do some assessment work early 2014. We are also looking at Joyce going to Uganda for some assessment on home schooled children during the summer of 2013. So many opportunities have come up and we are not sure which ones to take at this point. We will continue to ask Him about this and would ask you to join us on this next decision. Joyce and I are looking to eventually do this on full time once we have everything in place. This recent trip has shown us that our educational service is not only viable but desperately wanted and needed.

One day while riding on a public bus in town a friend asked me what I liked and didn't like about the city. I had not thought of that question and responded that I was enjoying the cultural differences and just wanted to soak it up as much as I could while I was there. Yet after thinking about it I realized that I loved everything about my experience. Part of the experience was the beauty of the area. This image is a sample of the landscape just outside of town. Although is was very dry it was beautiful.