Behind us sat an older couple. Across the aisle were a man and a blond-haired boy, maybe about four. Next to Christie sat a young black man. There were a couple other people in the church. The Philippino teachers sat in the choir, singing.
A man with an American accent read the first reading and the Responsorial Psalm. The African man read the second reading. Christie read the General Intercessions. The man and small boy collected the gifts. Sophia went up for Communion--we knelt in front of the altar and the priest came by with the host dipped in wine, to place on our tongues. She knelt next to the blond boy, and the priest blessed the boy and then Sophia. (I had instructed her to cross her arms across her chest, which at our church at home shows that you want a blessing, not communion, and the priest understood that.)
After church we talked to a few people and met one of the nuns. The altar boy came up and introduced himself, in non-accented, perfectly articulated English. He is from Maryland and is in 4th grade at one of the real English-language schools in Astana (I have learned that there are one or two, they are rather small, but are actually English language, as I had thought my school would be!!)
We talked a bit about pancakes and maple syrup and he said he'd ask his mother to get me a recipe for pancakes. So yay, an American boy not much older than Sophia, and Catholic too.
Yay, an English language church! A short Mass (due to so few people)!
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