Days 1 & 2

Day 1--Sunday, October 26, 2008

We arrived in Almaty late last night. We got some sleep, but it never seems to be enough. We had asked for a hotel, but were taken to an apartment. It’s not too bad. Olga, and her son Sasha, came over at noon to lay out the week for us, and to take us to the grocery store. We could not have asked for nicer people (Sasha translates for Olga). They helped us to figure out what was what in the store (e.g. what I thought was butter turned out to be mayonnaise), and how to use the tenge (Kazakh currency). Olga told us that we were given an apartment because it is less expensive than a hotel, and it is within walking distance to the orphanage. They also told us that it might be a month to one and one half months after we return to the US before we can come back to pick up our son. I hope it’s not that long. We were hoping for just 3 weeks. Olga also gave us a cell phone to use while we’re here, and took us to get an international calling card to use both with our phone and our PC. There is a café nearby (I’m not sure where yet) that has WiFi, so we’ll let you know how that goes once we find it. Tomorrow is a holiday for Kazakhstan, but Olga will still speak with the Ministry of Education (MOE). We will meet with them on Tuesday, and finally go to the orphanage to meet Aydar on Wednesday.

Day 2--Monday, October 27, 2008

First and foremost—we miss everyone terribly and appreciate your help while we’re away. Please give Karis big hugs and kisses for us. There are no words to describe how much we would like to be with her.

Sasha came today and showed us where the orphanage is—just a quick 10 minute walk from our apt. There are a number of children’s play items along the way—some like elliptical machines, swings, etc. We have an appointment tomorrow with the MOE (Ministry of Education) at 3:00. Olga will go with us, but we’re still nervous. They will ask us questions about our income, why we chose Kazakhstan, if we realize that Kazakhs have the right to adoption first, etc.

We bought calling cards to call everyone as well as to dial into the internet. Dial-up is incredibly slow, and we couldn’t read the instructions anyway once John dialed into the server (e.g. we had to input the card’s serial number and password), so John went exploring and found the café with WiFi. Sasha has been incredible—he has helped us with these tasks as well. I’m still sick (can’t seem to shake this cold), so I stayed at the apt. and took a much needed nap while John was out. There is a 10 hour time difference between Kazakhstan and the East coast of the U.S. John has adapted well. He took some great pictures while he was out. We’re not sure what the structures are (“Was that a school or a prison?”), but they’re interesting. We need to have the date printed on our pictures for court. We’re still trying to figure that out with our camera. We think we may have it, but we won’t know for sure until we print some more photos.

We couldn’t cook last night because the gas wasn’t turned on for the stove. Olga called today for us and found out the valve is behind a kitchen drawer! We had eggs for lunch, but by the time John came home this afternoon, the kitchen smelled like gas, so we turned it off again. John is making dinner as I type this. Oh no! John is cooking horsemeat for dinner. I have to go hide! Goodnight……