July 17 - Thursday 5:30 am Wpg time - Hi everyone we're baaaaaaa-ck! After uneventful but loooooooong flights, we arrived on time Wed afternoon and had a wonderful welcoming group of family at the airport - thanks folks! After 23 hours of travel and being awake for 40+ hours, we're not sure if anything we said was making sense, so we'll say thank you again here.
To those who made signs and left food at our house - thanks very much!! That's so thoughtful and we really appreciate it ! Thanks again also to our friend Nick who took great care of our cat and house! Farley was unsure of us for a few minutes, then settled right in our our laps, purring away...... ahhh t'was lovely to be home!
To back up a bit: Tuesday we packed up and did laundry in the afternoon, had our last (for a while anyway) visit at the babyhouse, and had one of her caregivers explain that we have to go away for a while but we'll come back soon to play again every day (sniff, sniff). That was really hard. Then we did a last shopping at Ramstore and headed back to the apartment to finish packing. We tried to clean the place up nicely as well, as we'd love to have the same apartment when we go back for trip #2!
Well, Almaty had something to say about us leaving - the biggest electrical storm we saw the whole time we were there started around 8 and lasted until 11 pm! There were huge winds that pushed even the big trees over sideways, gigantic lightning and thunder (which even set off all the car alarms in our complex's parking lot) and very heavy rain! With the heat we'd been having we weren't surprised at the storm, but wow was it spectacular! Our whole area of the city lost power for well over an hour (all the streetlights and even Kok Tobe, the gondola ride on the mountain which we could see from our balcony - all power was out!) This of course made packing tons of fun, carrying flashlights from room to room and using the laptop screen (on battery power) to give some light. So much for having time for a nap!
Side-note: another fun part of Tuesday was that in the morning there was no cold water - which doesn't sound too bad until you want to flush the toilet (no-go), or take a shower - poor Paul got scalded when the cold water suddenly shut off part way through his shower! We quickly filled all the bowls and pots we had with hot water and put them in the fridge to cool.
Then later in the evening there was cold but no hot water - again making for an interesting shower attempt....
Thankfully the power came back on before we were picked up at 1 am, so we were able to use the elevator to bring all our luggage downstairs - Vladimir came alone as Sveta had picked up Tina and her little guy Aleksi who were flying out on the same flights as us - yay!
The flights and airports were made much more fun hanging out with Tina and Aleksi - he is a happy and beautiful baby and kept us all entertained. Tina is doing wonderfully, especially being on her own and away from home for 9 weeks! We were able to help with their bags and got to play with him when Tina needed to use the washroom or go to the airline counters. We were sad to say goodbye to them in Montreal. Good luck with everything Tina, it was great to meet you both!
Once home, we unpacked a little and played with Farley, then Paul actually went to join his baseball team for their regular Wednesday evening game - I'm stunned he was able to do this as I barely stayed awake until 7:30 pm before I crashed hard! I woke a couple of times then finally got up at 3 am - not bad at all, considering...
Today we'll finish unpacking and do a schwack of laundry, and start calling people to say hi. This may take us a couple of days depending on the need for sleep.....
So that's it for journey #1.........stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Savlac-istan!
Thanks again - take care everyone!
lotsa love, Nic and Paul
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
July 15 - leaving on a jet plane......
July 15 - Tuesday 8:30 am- Hi everyone! Another very hot and sunny day is coming today - yesterday was the same, around 37 C. We had a quiet day yesterday, read/watched tv, napped and got ready for our visit. We then went out for dinner with Bernard/Carole who have since left for home. Safe travels!
During our visit time, one of us had to go back to the Lufthansa office to try and confirm our flights - Paul offered to go so poor guy missed most of our visit time! But he did manage to confirm our flights for the 16th! So we'll be picked up tonight around 1:00 am (so I guess that's tomorrow), and our flight is at 03:20 am. After a few stops and starts and 11 hour timechange going backward, we hope to be back in Wpg around 3:30 pm, still on Wed. So Paul does get his 'lost' Wednesday back after all! LOL
We have such mixed feelings about leaving - it is heartbreaking to leave our girl as our visits are going so well, but this is how the process works here so we have to do it. And we know we'll get strength and comfort from being home, with family and friends and our normal routine - it will replenish us and we'll feel stronger when the time comes for us to come back to Almaty. And then we'll come back to finish this up, and come home as a family! YAY!
We want to thank you all again for following along our adventure - it has helped more than we can possibly explain, to know that folks are rooting for us and supporting us. We feel blessed and lucky to have you all.
We'll send a quick post once we're home, and then another when we know about trip #2. Other than that our regular life is much too boring to write about......... :-)
take care!
N&P
During our visit time, one of us had to go back to the Lufthansa office to try and confirm our flights - Paul offered to go so poor guy missed most of our visit time! But he did manage to confirm our flights for the 16th! So we'll be picked up tonight around 1:00 am (so I guess that's tomorrow), and our flight is at 03:20 am. After a few stops and starts and 11 hour timechange going backward, we hope to be back in Wpg around 3:30 pm, still on Wed. So Paul does get his 'lost' Wednesday back after all! LOL
We have such mixed feelings about leaving - it is heartbreaking to leave our girl as our visits are going so well, but this is how the process works here so we have to do it. And we know we'll get strength and comfort from being home, with family and friends and our normal routine - it will replenish us and we'll feel stronger when the time comes for us to come back to Almaty. And then we'll come back to finish this up, and come home as a family! YAY!
We want to thank you all again for following along our adventure - it has helped more than we can possibly explain, to know that folks are rooting for us and supporting us. We feel blessed and lucky to have you all.
We'll send a quick post once we're home, and then another when we know about trip #2. Other than that our regular life is much too boring to write about......... :-)
take care!
N&P
Sunday, July 13, 2008
July 13 - back to the surface of the sun...
July 13 - Sunday 7:00 pm - Hi everyone! It's another hot and sunny day in Almaty - hope the weather is getting better at home, heard it's been cool and rainy! It was 37 C here yesterday and supposed to hit 40 C today - it's really tough not to wilt in this many days of this kind of heat. I've never been one to nap during the day but I tell ya - it's serious siesta-weather here!
Saturday: Drinks was fun - met a woman named Tina from Montreal who is now finishing her process in Almaty after spending 9 weeks in Uralsk adopting her little boy, so it was very nice to meet her (and him!) and hear about their experiences in Uralsk. She is travelling home on the 16th which is the same set of flights we're hoping to get on, so it would be nice to be able to chat with her on the way home. Bernard/Carole and Jen/Bert also came out for drinks - we met at an outdoor sports bar/ cafe in the pedestrian mall by TSUM - so funny to hear music videos from home when we're so far away - we heard Rianna and even Avril Lavigne!
The pedestrian market was again very entertaining - a few gypsy kids (but not many), groups of teenagers/ young adults just hanging around and laughing in groups, and then out of the blue a group of about 20 Hare Krishnas went by in a little parade- singing, playing guitars and tambourines - it was wild!
We looked at a few souvenirs in TSUM but will wait to see what the prices are like at the Green market as we heard they may be much better. They have beautiful felt things that someone said are made from camel hair - dolls, tapestries, yurts (traditional Kazakh nomadic homes), and vests/ hat/ slippers that are gorgeous with beautiful embroidery. The market should be really interesting - we've heard they expect you to negotiate for price, so Paul is looking forward to that! And yes for anyone who knows me well, I've been asked not to speak during the bartering, as I'm horrible at it......... LOL
Sunday: 10:00 went with Bernard/Carole, Jen/Bert to the Green market - it's an amazingly huge outdoor (covered) market with hundreds of tiny (4-5 feet wide) stalls selling everything under the sun - clothes, toiletries, souvenirs, groceries, meat, you name it! The food/meat area itself was amazing - an open air space around half the size of a football field with tables overflowing with meat, fish, fruit/ vegg, nuts, spices, pastries being made by older ladies - the smells were overwhelming! The majority of people here buy all their groceries this way - nothing like the sterile, cold grocery stores at home!
We did manage to find a few souvenirs, which we're happy about - not as much bartering as we were hoping for, but oh well. We'll go back for more on our 2nd trip but it was fun to grab a few things. We looked at prices of children's clothes in case we end up needing to buy some here on our 2nd trip - not bad at all! And lots of stalls have high-end purses like Prada, Gucci, D&G etc - didn't seem to be knock-offs but who knows. The prices were still really high!
We walked around for a couple of hours then thankfully stopped for lunch at Bombolo's - the same place Paul and I went to a few days ago with the cool-mist-blowing fans - it's a wonderful respite from the heat! I had a cordon bleu - like dish of pork/ham/cheese wrapped in bread crumbs, and Paul had BBQ pork/beef shyshlyk (kebabs, but wrapped in tortillas) and french fries. We are still craving meat as we're eating so little of it here - we're joking (kindof) that we're going to have steak, pork chops, burgers and more steak every day for 2 weeks when we get home!
Now we're resting for the evening (I napped the minute we got back from the market) and we'll get ready to see our girl tomorrow - yay! We've still had so little time with her - only 18 hours total over 2 weeks. We'll have a couple more visits before we leave but then we'll have to rely on our memories and our pictures (we've taken tons) to get us through the weeks when we're away from her. We're hoping that someone here will show her the pictures we'll leave of us and talk to her about us, to help her believe we're really coming back! Svetlana has offered to check in on her for us which is wonderful of her and we're thankful....
The whole thing is still very surreal - we've seen her eat but only for a minute, we haven't seen her use the potty or sleep, or any of the usual parenting things of everyday life, which we're so looking forward to! For everyone who wants to warn us about how hard or tedious some parts of parenting are, we can only say 'Lucky you!' and 'Bring it on!' after waiting so long for this opportunity. So far we've only had these brief sessions of play-time with her, which of course has been lovely, but we so wish we could take her home and be a family!
Take care,
N&P
Saturday: Drinks was fun - met a woman named Tina from Montreal who is now finishing her process in Almaty after spending 9 weeks in Uralsk adopting her little boy, so it was very nice to meet her (and him!) and hear about their experiences in Uralsk. She is travelling home on the 16th which is the same set of flights we're hoping to get on, so it would be nice to be able to chat with her on the way home. Bernard/Carole and Jen/Bert also came out for drinks - we met at an outdoor sports bar/ cafe in the pedestrian mall by TSUM - so funny to hear music videos from home when we're so far away - we heard Rianna and even Avril Lavigne!
The pedestrian market was again very entertaining - a few gypsy kids (but not many), groups of teenagers/ young adults just hanging around and laughing in groups, and then out of the blue a group of about 20 Hare Krishnas went by in a little parade- singing, playing guitars and tambourines - it was wild!
We looked at a few souvenirs in TSUM but will wait to see what the prices are like at the Green market as we heard they may be much better. They have beautiful felt things that someone said are made from camel hair - dolls, tapestries, yurts (traditional Kazakh nomadic homes), and vests/ hat/ slippers that are gorgeous with beautiful embroidery. The market should be really interesting - we've heard they expect you to negotiate for price, so Paul is looking forward to that! And yes for anyone who knows me well, I've been asked not to speak during the bartering, as I'm horrible at it......... LOL
Sunday: 10:00 went with Bernard/Carole, Jen/Bert to the Green market - it's an amazingly huge outdoor (covered) market with hundreds of tiny (4-5 feet wide) stalls selling everything under the sun - clothes, toiletries, souvenirs, groceries, meat, you name it! The food/meat area itself was amazing - an open air space around half the size of a football field with tables overflowing with meat, fish, fruit/ vegg, nuts, spices, pastries being made by older ladies - the smells were overwhelming! The majority of people here buy all their groceries this way - nothing like the sterile, cold grocery stores at home!
We did manage to find a few souvenirs, which we're happy about - not as much bartering as we were hoping for, but oh well. We'll go back for more on our 2nd trip but it was fun to grab a few things. We looked at prices of children's clothes in case we end up needing to buy some here on our 2nd trip - not bad at all! And lots of stalls have high-end purses like Prada, Gucci, D&G etc - didn't seem to be knock-offs but who knows. The prices were still really high!
We walked around for a couple of hours then thankfully stopped for lunch at Bombolo's - the same place Paul and I went to a few days ago with the cool-mist-blowing fans - it's a wonderful respite from the heat! I had a cordon bleu - like dish of pork/ham/cheese wrapped in bread crumbs, and Paul had BBQ pork/beef shyshlyk (kebabs, but wrapped in tortillas) and french fries. We are still craving meat as we're eating so little of it here - we're joking (kindof) that we're going to have steak, pork chops, burgers and more steak every day for 2 weeks when we get home!
Now we're resting for the evening (I napped the minute we got back from the market) and we'll get ready to see our girl tomorrow - yay! We've still had so little time with her - only 18 hours total over 2 weeks. We'll have a couple more visits before we leave but then we'll have to rely on our memories and our pictures (we've taken tons) to get us through the weeks when we're away from her. We're hoping that someone here will show her the pictures we'll leave of us and talk to her about us, to help her believe we're really coming back! Svetlana has offered to check in on her for us which is wonderful of her and we're thankful....
The whole thing is still very surreal - we've seen her eat but only for a minute, we haven't seen her use the potty or sleep, or any of the usual parenting things of everyday life, which we're so looking forward to! For everyone who wants to warn us about how hard or tedious some parts of parenting are, we can only say 'Lucky you!' and 'Bring it on!' after waiting so long for this opportunity. So far we've only had these brief sessions of play-time with her, which of course has been lovely, but we so wish we could take her home and be a family!
Take care,
N&P
Saturday, July 12, 2008
July 12 - quick note today...
July 12 - Saturday 12:00 noon - hi everyone! Very hot and sunny again today! We had great visits yesterday (late afternoon) and today (mid-morning because it's the weekend). Can't believe we have only known her a week and a half!
We'll head home for some lunch then it sounds like we're heading out for drinks/ dinner with some of the other families. Fun! We're not allowed to visit the BH tomorrow so we'll try again to get to the Green market. The stretch from the Saturday visit to the Monday visit feels soooooo long!
Thanks again for the comments, emails and calls - can't tell ya how much they help to give us strength and feel not so far away!
take care,
N&P
We'll head home for some lunch then it sounds like we're heading out for drinks/ dinner with some of the other families. Fun! We're not allowed to visit the BH tomorrow so we'll try again to get to the Green market. The stretch from the Saturday visit to the Monday visit feels soooooo long!
Thanks again for the comments, emails and calls - can't tell ya how much they help to give us strength and feel not so far away!
take care,
N&P
Thursday, July 10, 2008
July 11 - funny conversation in broken Russian
July 11 - Friday 7:30 am - Hi everyone! Bright and sunny so far today so maybe the rain/clouds have passed us by.
Not much to talk about today - yesterday we went to the Lufthansa head office to try and change our return flight date - still have to wait 1-2 days to find out if we can come home mid-next week, or if we have to wait for our original return date which is the 23rd.
We had a great visit at the BH - visit # 10 already - wow! She was laughing and being silly, which is wonderful to see.
Then we went to a notary to sign more paperwork - power of attorney for the lawyer who will represent us in court, etc. All good, another step done - like Bernard and Carole said yesterday it's like putting one piece of a puzzle in at a time. And the end result is soooo worth it!
While we were waiting at the notary I managed to have a small conversation with Vladmir, our driver who seems very nice but speaks no English at all. I know some words for family members in Russian so I asked about his Semya (family) - he seemed surprised, then launched into a wordy answer, which made me laugh as I had NO idea what he said. So we showed pictures of our families (that I carry everywhere), and pointed to myself, then my Mom and Dad, saying 'Mama/Papa', pointed at Lise and said 'Sestra' (sister), etc. Then we showed Paul's family group picture, pointed at his sisters and said 'Sestra, Sestra, Sestra, Sestra' - and he laughed - lucky boy to have so many sisters! I couldn't remember the words for niece/nephew so we pointed to the various family groupings in both pictures and said 'Semya' again. He smiled and nodded a lot, then I think he said he has 2 'dotchkas' (daughters) and one 'seen' (son), all grown. I think one of his daughters has 2 children - he pointed to himself and said 'Dyedushka', which is the word for Grandfather - and he used hand gestures to say that one of the kids is 2 and one is 6. It was an exhausting conversation by the end with all the gesturing, but it was fun - poor guy just drives the families around all day and doesn't talk with anyone - must get pretty boring!
Hope you have a great day! Go Bombers!
take care
N&P
Not much to talk about today - yesterday we went to the Lufthansa head office to try and change our return flight date - still have to wait 1-2 days to find out if we can come home mid-next week, or if we have to wait for our original return date which is the 23rd.
We had a great visit at the BH - visit # 10 already - wow! She was laughing and being silly, which is wonderful to see.
Then we went to a notary to sign more paperwork - power of attorney for the lawyer who will represent us in court, etc. All good, another step done - like Bernard and Carole said yesterday it's like putting one piece of a puzzle in at a time. And the end result is soooo worth it!
While we were waiting at the notary I managed to have a small conversation with Vladmir, our driver who seems very nice but speaks no English at all. I know some words for family members in Russian so I asked about his Semya (family) - he seemed surprised, then launched into a wordy answer, which made me laugh as I had NO idea what he said. So we showed pictures of our families (that I carry everywhere), and pointed to myself, then my Mom and Dad, saying 'Mama/Papa', pointed at Lise and said 'Sestra' (sister), etc. Then we showed Paul's family group picture, pointed at his sisters and said 'Sestra, Sestra, Sestra, Sestra' - and he laughed - lucky boy to have so many sisters! I couldn't remember the words for niece/nephew so we pointed to the various family groupings in both pictures and said 'Semya' again. He smiled and nodded a lot, then I think he said he has 2 'dotchkas' (daughters) and one 'seen' (son), all grown. I think one of his daughters has 2 children - he pointed to himself and said 'Dyedushka', which is the word for Grandfather - and he used hand gestures to say that one of the kids is 2 and one is 6. It was an exhausting conversation by the end with all the gesturing, but it was fun - poor guy just drives the families around all day and doesn't talk with anyone - must get pretty boring!
Hope you have a great day! Go Bombers!
take care
N&P
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
July 10 - a break from the heat...
July 10 - Thursday 7 am - Hi everyone - hope all is well at home, we heard it's been cooler the last few days. It was cooler here yesterday afternoon/evening, it stayed cloudy and there was a nice breeze - ahhhhhhhhh! Today it looks cloudy again and the Weather Network page calls for 25 C and rain - that's totally fine with us! Nice break from the whole surface-of-the-sun thing !
We had 2 visits yesterday, one to take our girl to the international doctor which is downtown (approx 20 minute drive). She was not happy being in the car or at the doctor, but handled it like a champ. The 2nd visit was for playing, which was awesome.
Driving here is an experience unto itself - we'd heard about it from other people but you still can't believe it until you see it for yourself! Everyone drives really fast and recklessly- lanes, stop signs, even traffic signals seem to be more suggestions than rules. The cars come within inches of each other all the time as they straddle the lane or go hurtling around corners. They do not pay attention to pedestrians and we've been warned that drivers believe they are MUCH more important than walkers, so not to trust crossing signals. Only cross when you're sure there are no cars around.
For the most part we only have to cross smaller streets - every day we walk out of our apartment complex and go a couple blocks up Mendekolov which is mostly residential (apartment buildings), then we cross and turn onto a smaller side street (can't find the name of it anywhere, not even on our map) to get to Ramstore and to the place where we meet our driver for our BH visits. Our balcony faces away from Mendekolov so we look at Al-Farabi which is a major route, with 6 lanes of crazy drivers - yikes!
Also - everyone here considers themselves a taxi - it's very normal for someone to stand on the side of the street and stick out their arm - within minutes a car will stop to pick them up. After a quick negotiation of price, the person will get in the car, usually in the back seat. We've seen this every day, with both men and women doing it, sometimes with children with them. Wow - can't imagine doing that at all.....
Today we're headed to the Notary and to the airline office/airport (still trying to change our return flight date). Then this afternoon we'll have another visit at the BH. Hope you all have a good day!
take care,
N&P
We had 2 visits yesterday, one to take our girl to the international doctor which is downtown (approx 20 minute drive). She was not happy being in the car or at the doctor, but handled it like a champ. The 2nd visit was for playing, which was awesome.
Driving here is an experience unto itself - we'd heard about it from other people but you still can't believe it until you see it for yourself! Everyone drives really fast and recklessly- lanes, stop signs, even traffic signals seem to be more suggestions than rules. The cars come within inches of each other all the time as they straddle the lane or go hurtling around corners. They do not pay attention to pedestrians and we've been warned that drivers believe they are MUCH more important than walkers, so not to trust crossing signals. Only cross when you're sure there are no cars around.
For the most part we only have to cross smaller streets - every day we walk out of our apartment complex and go a couple blocks up Mendekolov which is mostly residential (apartment buildings), then we cross and turn onto a smaller side street (can't find the name of it anywhere, not even on our map) to get to Ramstore and to the place where we meet our driver for our BH visits. Our balcony faces away from Mendekolov so we look at Al-Farabi which is a major route, with 6 lanes of crazy drivers - yikes!
Also - everyone here considers themselves a taxi - it's very normal for someone to stand on the side of the street and stick out their arm - within minutes a car will stop to pick them up. After a quick negotiation of price, the person will get in the car, usually in the back seat. We've seen this every day, with both men and women doing it, sometimes with children with them. Wow - can't imagine doing that at all.....
Today we're headed to the Notary and to the airline office/airport (still trying to change our return flight date). Then this afternoon we'll have another visit at the BH. Hope you all have a good day!
take care,
N&P
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
July 9 - day 9 of bonding time...
July 9 - Wed 9 am. Hi everyone - It'll be another hot one today, can feel it already..........
THANK YOU SO MUCH ! for all the wonderful comments and good wishes - it is very exciting to share the news of 'our girl' with you all!
Yesterday (Tues) we had a great visit at the BH, mid/late afternoon. Then we went out for dinner with Bernard and Carole from Montreal - found a restaurant called Kristina's close to our apartments, and had a waitress who wanted to practice her english - excellent! The meals were good - I had cashew chicken with grilled vegetables, and Paul had a mixed meat plate - beef medallions, chicken wings, and lambs shanks. Both were great! We both miss eating meat as we're not eating much of it here, so this was very nice.
We're still getting protein with lots of eggs, peanut butter (Kraft, brought from home - yum!), cheese and some sandwich meats. The fruits and veggies here look good but we've been warned about them, so we're only trying things we can peel - cucumbers, bananas etc. And for water we're getting 5 L jugs for drinking, making coffee, brushing teeth, making ice, etc - but using the tap water for washing dishes, showers. The jugs of water are cheap (150 tenge or approx 1.25 US $) and we can get them at every corner store, so we're going through at least one 5 L every day.
And the junk food is hilarious - we bought 'Pringles'-style chips in these flavours: mayonaise/tomato, paprika, and good old sour cream and onion. There are lots of other odd flavours too - we're still looking for the Caviar-flavoured chips that Sara and Julian had found when they were here - sounds so exotic!
Oh about the shower - we don't want to complain at all as it's working great and we have hot water almost all of the time, but we'll call it 'interesting'....... no curtain, for one thing - and just a hand-held shower head - so you have to twist and contort yourself to try not to spray water all over the floor!
And - we received wonderful news from home - you may have noticed in the blog comments that Paul's family is talking about the 2 girls added to the family this week - Paul's sister Joanne had a little girl on July 7 - her name is Ania and she's beautiful! Everyone is doing great! Love ya Jo and Meb- congrats!
Have a great day!
take care,
Nicole and Paul
THANK YOU SO MUCH ! for all the wonderful comments and good wishes - it is very exciting to share the news of 'our girl' with you all!
Yesterday (Tues) we had a great visit at the BH, mid/late afternoon. Then we went out for dinner with Bernard and Carole from Montreal - found a restaurant called Kristina's close to our apartments, and had a waitress who wanted to practice her english - excellent! The meals were good - I had cashew chicken with grilled vegetables, and Paul had a mixed meat plate - beef medallions, chicken wings, and lambs shanks. Both were great! We both miss eating meat as we're not eating much of it here, so this was very nice.
We're still getting protein with lots of eggs, peanut butter (Kraft, brought from home - yum!), cheese and some sandwich meats. The fruits and veggies here look good but we've been warned about them, so we're only trying things we can peel - cucumbers, bananas etc. And for water we're getting 5 L jugs for drinking, making coffee, brushing teeth, making ice, etc - but using the tap water for washing dishes, showers. The jugs of water are cheap (150 tenge or approx 1.25 US $) and we can get them at every corner store, so we're going through at least one 5 L every day.
And the junk food is hilarious - we bought 'Pringles'-style chips in these flavours: mayonaise/tomato, paprika, and good old sour cream and onion. There are lots of other odd flavours too - we're still looking for the Caviar-flavoured chips that Sara and Julian had found when they were here - sounds so exotic!
Oh about the shower - we don't want to complain at all as it's working great and we have hot water almost all of the time, but we'll call it 'interesting'....... no curtain, for one thing - and just a hand-held shower head - so you have to twist and contort yourself to try not to spray water all over the floor!
And - we received wonderful news from home - you may have noticed in the blog comments that Paul's family is talking about the 2 girls added to the family this week - Paul's sister Joanne had a little girl on July 7 - her name is Ania and she's beautiful! Everyone is doing great! Love ya Jo and Meb- congrats!
Have a great day!
take care,
Nicole and Paul
Monday, July 7, 2008
July 8 - a few pictures because we're on high speed
Hi - here's a few more pictures - some of the outdoor courtyard by the TSUM store, and another of the view from our balcony.
July 8 - can't think of a title today.......
July 8 - Tuesday 7 am. Hi everyone! It's cooler so far today but looks like it will become really hot again. We like the early-morning times as it's so quiet - looks like the work-day doesn't begin until 9:30 or so, as there's very little traffic until after 9:00.
We had a great mid-morning visit at the BH yesterday, she kept us running around the whole time- oops there's a tidbit for ya! Then we came back to the apartment, relaxed, read, watched TV - noticing a pattern in our movements?? (LOL) We seem to be alternating between early-day and late day visits, which we really enjoy as we get to see her at different times of day. Each time she's shy at first then opens up to us more once we start playing.
OK so yes we're ready to share a little bit of news - we're thrilled to say we're proceeding with the steps to adopt a little girl - yay! She's beautiful and just over 3 years old. Sorry we can't say any more than this right now - thanks so much for your patience!
We've noticed new commenters have joined in - some of Paul's cousins from all over Canada, my Aunt/ family in Thunder Bay, our next-door neighbours, and our long-time family friends in California, as well as our immediate family and our friends - welcome everyone and thanks for following along! We really appreciate it and love hearing from you!
Have a great evening!
Take care,
Love N&P
We had a great mid-morning visit at the BH yesterday, she kept us running around the whole time- oops there's a tidbit for ya! Then we came back to the apartment, relaxed, read, watched TV - noticing a pattern in our movements?? (LOL) We seem to be alternating between early-day and late day visits, which we really enjoy as we get to see her at different times of day. Each time she's shy at first then opens up to us more once we start playing.
OK so yes we're ready to share a little bit of news - we're thrilled to say we're proceeding with the steps to adopt a little girl - yay! She's beautiful and just over 3 years old. Sorry we can't say any more than this right now - thanks so much for your patience!
We've noticed new commenters have joined in - some of Paul's cousins from all over Canada, my Aunt/ family in Thunder Bay, our next-door neighbours, and our long-time family friends in California, as well as our immediate family and our friends - welcome everyone and thanks for following along! We really appreciate it and love hearing from you!
Have a great evening!
Take care,
Love N&P
Sunday, July 6, 2008
July 7 - rest of Sunday
July 7 - Monday 8 am. Hi everyone - it's hot and sunny again so far today, supposed to get up around 30 C. I guess we're getting more used to it, as when it cools to 26-28 at night it feels so cool!
Yesterday afternoon we tried to stay busy as it was the first day we weren't allowed to visit the babyhouse (which sucked), so we went shoppin' (yes Paul was thrilled...). We checked out the big department store called TSUM and the outdoor pedestrian mall beside it - interesting stores in the outdoor area, an extremely crowded electronics store (didn't stay long in there as it was literally elbow to elbow people), and the TSUM store has 3 floors of KZ souvenirs, high-end fancy designer clothes, and really beautiful things. Lots of china and crystal chandeliers and breakable stuff so I felt like the proverbial bull, and of course I'm looking around at everything and not really watching where I'm going so I kept tripping over a step or a dip in the floor - Paul says I might want to 'look down' once in a while when I'm walking, maybe he's right?!?
We bought 2 books at TSUM - one a very cute children's alphabet / picture book with words in all of English, Kazakh and Russian, and the other a gorgeous coffee-table book filled with history, stories and culture of Kazakhstan, also in English, Kazakh and Russian. These will be wonderful keepsakes!
We stopped for a quick beer and people-watching at an outdoor cafe, with fans that blew cool mist over the tables - very nice! Then another stop at Ramstore for groceries, spices, junk food and beverages, came home and relaxed. We've talked with quite a few people from home in the last couple of days - thanks so much for your calls, we really really appreciate them!
Oh we also did much better with getting a taxi, to and from TSUM - there are no meters in the cabs here so you have to negotiate up front what the price will be. After our first taxi experience when we were WAY overcharged, we've since learned - today we said 'TSUM, pyat sot', which is 500 Tenge or approx 4 dollars US. At first the cab driver said nyet, 1000 Tenge- so we said nyet, spaseeba and walked away to find another taxi - but he chased us down and agreed to 500. On the way back from TSUM we again said 500 Tenge, and our driver spoke a bit of english so he said 'that's very cheap, but OK'. So we're learning!
Today we should be back on our visiting schedule but we're not sure what time yet - we'll call Svetlana shortly to find out when we can go.
Have a great day and week! Thanks so much again for following along and for your comments and emails - they really do make us feel not as far away.
Take care,
N&P
Yesterday afternoon we tried to stay busy as it was the first day we weren't allowed to visit the babyhouse (which sucked), so we went shoppin' (yes Paul was thrilled...). We checked out the big department store called TSUM and the outdoor pedestrian mall beside it - interesting stores in the outdoor area, an extremely crowded electronics store (didn't stay long in there as it was literally elbow to elbow people), and the TSUM store has 3 floors of KZ souvenirs, high-end fancy designer clothes, and really beautiful things. Lots of china and crystal chandeliers and breakable stuff so I felt like the proverbial bull, and of course I'm looking around at everything and not really watching where I'm going so I kept tripping over a step or a dip in the floor - Paul says I might want to 'look down' once in a while when I'm walking, maybe he's right?!?
We bought 2 books at TSUM - one a very cute children's alphabet / picture book with words in all of English, Kazakh and Russian, and the other a gorgeous coffee-table book filled with history, stories and culture of Kazakhstan, also in English, Kazakh and Russian. These will be wonderful keepsakes!
We stopped for a quick beer and people-watching at an outdoor cafe, with fans that blew cool mist over the tables - very nice! Then another stop at Ramstore for groceries, spices, junk food and beverages, came home and relaxed. We've talked with quite a few people from home in the last couple of days - thanks so much for your calls, we really really appreciate them!
Oh we also did much better with getting a taxi, to and from TSUM - there are no meters in the cabs here so you have to negotiate up front what the price will be. After our first taxi experience when we were WAY overcharged, we've since learned - today we said 'TSUM, pyat sot', which is 500 Tenge or approx 4 dollars US. At first the cab driver said nyet, 1000 Tenge- so we said nyet, spaseeba and walked away to find another taxi - but he chased us down and agreed to 500. On the way back from TSUM we again said 500 Tenge, and our driver spoke a bit of english so he said 'that's very cheap, but OK'. So we're learning!
Today we should be back on our visiting schedule but we're not sure what time yet - we'll call Svetlana shortly to find out when we can go.
Have a great day and week! Thanks so much again for following along and for your comments and emails - they really do make us feel not as far away.
Take care,
N&P
July 6 - nice relaxing Sunday
July 6 - Sunday 10:30 am (written, but not posted until evening) - Hi everyone - it's cloudy/ drizzly so far today, still warm but not as hot without the sun blazing in through the windows and balcony. We're getting a fan for the apartment next week when our friend Gretchen finishes her bonding time and goes back to Ottawa. Sorry to see ya leave Gretchen, but we'll enjoy the fan!
We had a sloth-like day yesterday after our BH visit - we just vegged out, read, made dinner (chicken breasts and pasta) and watched TV. For everyone who told us we'll like the Sopranos - you're right it's great! Today we're not allowed to visit (Sundays are still counted as one of our 15 required bonding days, but we don't actually get to go), but we have a bit of shopping to do, and also want to clean the apartment. It's amazing how normal it makes me feel to scrub the bathroom and sweep the floors! (Mom, stop laughing......) The family who lives here left a steamer- vaccuum, so we'll give that a whirl on their beautiful carpets. We figured out the laundry machine, so hopefully the vaccuum will be the same.
Looks like we'll be coming home early, around the 15th/ 16th depending on what flights we can get - so that's 10 days down and 10 to go! It's a holiday here tomorrow (Monday) so if the Lufthansa Airline office isn't open we'll try to make the date change over the phone, or else we'll get it arranged on Tuesday. Then once we're home we wait for our court date - apparently we'll know within a week of being home, when we're expected to come back - could be anywhere from 3-8 weeks in between trips, and it's totally up to the judge assigned to the babyhouse. Of course we're hoping for a short time in between, so we can come back, get through court and the rest of the process, then come home as a family!!
To answer some questions people have asked (other than the obvious one): Yes there apparently are mosquitos here but we haven't seen any so far - there's no screens on the windows so we're very glad of this. We seem to have a thunderstorm every day, either at 5-6 pm or overnight - last night's was spectacular with lots of lightning. Other couples here have suffered with power outages and/or tempermental elevators at their apartments, but so far we've been lucky with both - I think we're in a nice building! We have hot water almost of the time, I think it's only been once or twice that we've tried to get it but couldn't. The people have mostly been nice - not outwardly friendly like we're used to - nobody will smile at you here - but when we've asked for things in broken Russian or using combination of charades/English they've been kind, some even answer in broken English, and we've always managed to get what we need.
Let us know any other questions you have - it's tough to try and keep this interesting when we're not talking about the one thing you all want us to talk about.......
Take care, have a great day! We are so thinking of you Jo & Meb!!!
N&P
We had a sloth-like day yesterday after our BH visit - we just vegged out, read, made dinner (chicken breasts and pasta) and watched TV. For everyone who told us we'll like the Sopranos - you're right it's great! Today we're not allowed to visit (Sundays are still counted as one of our 15 required bonding days, but we don't actually get to go), but we have a bit of shopping to do, and also want to clean the apartment. It's amazing how normal it makes me feel to scrub the bathroom and sweep the floors! (Mom, stop laughing......) The family who lives here left a steamer- vaccuum, so we'll give that a whirl on their beautiful carpets. We figured out the laundry machine, so hopefully the vaccuum will be the same.
Looks like we'll be coming home early, around the 15th/ 16th depending on what flights we can get - so that's 10 days down and 10 to go! It's a holiday here tomorrow (Monday) so if the Lufthansa Airline office isn't open we'll try to make the date change over the phone, or else we'll get it arranged on Tuesday. Then once we're home we wait for our court date - apparently we'll know within a week of being home, when we're expected to come back - could be anywhere from 3-8 weeks in between trips, and it's totally up to the judge assigned to the babyhouse. Of course we're hoping for a short time in between, so we can come back, get through court and the rest of the process, then come home as a family!!
To answer some questions people have asked (other than the obvious one): Yes there apparently are mosquitos here but we haven't seen any so far - there's no screens on the windows so we're very glad of this. We seem to have a thunderstorm every day, either at 5-6 pm or overnight - last night's was spectacular with lots of lightning. Other couples here have suffered with power outages and/or tempermental elevators at their apartments, but so far we've been lucky with both - I think we're in a nice building! We have hot water almost of the time, I think it's only been once or twice that we've tried to get it but couldn't. The people have mostly been nice - not outwardly friendly like we're used to - nobody will smile at you here - but when we've asked for things in broken Russian or using combination of charades/English they've been kind, some even answer in broken English, and we've always managed to get what we need.
Let us know any other questions you have - it's tough to try and keep this interesting when we're not talking about the one thing you all want us to talk about.......
Take care, have a great day! We are so thinking of you Jo & Meb!!!
N&P
Saturday, July 5, 2008
July 5 - 2 days to report on...
July 5 - Sat 7:30 am (but updated and posted mid-afternoon, so this is kindof 2 posts in one)
Hi everyone! It's beautiful early this morning, cooler from an overnight rain - ahhh! (Note: it got hotter mid-morning and stayed hot....) Maybe that's why I (N) slept so well, almost 10 hours! It's still supposed to go over 30 degrees, but in comparison to the last few days, that's niiiiiiiiice !!
We're told it will get even hotter as we move more into July, then August and September is more moderate.
Yesterday was a good day - after the high-speed internet place we had some lunch (KD and hotdogs - wow how 'home' is that??!?) then relaxed and prepared for our babyhouse visit. After that we were going to go to the market but our translator had to do something for another family so we decided to wait until she can come with us. So we came back to the apartment instead and I fell asleep early in the evening while I think Paul watched movies/ TV. We're being spoiled here by having many english TV channels, while other familes have 1 or even none. Totally depends on the apartment.
Today (Sat) we had a late-morning BH visit (very good visit), then came back here to relax. In the next few days we hope to get to Green market, which is a large outdoor market with everything from food to housewares to clothing, etc - there's also a park in that area that I'd like to see called Paniflov with lots of sculptures and greenery, a department store called TSUM, and a KZ history museum. Svetlana has offered to come with us for the first time to that part of the city - it would be helpful to confirm where these places are while we're with her, then we can go back ourselves another time. We have a city map and so far it's been helpful, but it's of course always easier when you're with someone who knows their way around. We'll let you know how it goes!
Our translator Svetlana is amazing - we don't see our coordinator Lonya very much (only twice so far, for only a couple of minutes at a time)- but we see Sveta just about every day. She juggles I don't know how many families here, taking them/us to our BH visits, ministry meetings, to/from the airport, to the doctors, the notary, bringing us things we need in the apartment, helping us to go shopping, etc - her day starts very early and ends late in the evening, and her cell phone is constantly ringing! And yet she still tries to get home to make supper for her 2 teenaged sons, then heads back out the door to finish her day.
Thanks again for your patience (some of you more than others.... Cindy, try to keep breathing ) while we attempt to confirm some details before sharing information about the child we're visiting with. Please know we're doing this for the child's protection, in case anything happens which would change our plans. I can tell you that the visits have been challenging but fun, and we've been able to go at different times of day which has been great. We will definately put more information soon.
Have a great weekend! We heard the Bombers stunk up the place on Friday night..... ugh
take care,
N&P
Hi everyone! It's beautiful early this morning, cooler from an overnight rain - ahhh! (Note: it got hotter mid-morning and stayed hot....) Maybe that's why I (N) slept so well, almost 10 hours! It's still supposed to go over 30 degrees, but in comparison to the last few days, that's niiiiiiiiice !!
We're told it will get even hotter as we move more into July, then August and September is more moderate.
Yesterday was a good day - after the high-speed internet place we had some lunch (KD and hotdogs - wow how 'home' is that??!?) then relaxed and prepared for our babyhouse visit. After that we were going to go to the market but our translator had to do something for another family so we decided to wait until she can come with us. So we came back to the apartment instead and I fell asleep early in the evening while I think Paul watched movies/ TV. We're being spoiled here by having many english TV channels, while other familes have 1 or even none. Totally depends on the apartment.
Today (Sat) we had a late-morning BH visit (very good visit), then came back here to relax. In the next few days we hope to get to Green market, which is a large outdoor market with everything from food to housewares to clothing, etc - there's also a park in that area that I'd like to see called Paniflov with lots of sculptures and greenery, a department store called TSUM, and a KZ history museum. Svetlana has offered to come with us for the first time to that part of the city - it would be helpful to confirm where these places are while we're with her, then we can go back ourselves another time. We have a city map and so far it's been helpful, but it's of course always easier when you're with someone who knows their way around. We'll let you know how it goes!
Our translator Svetlana is amazing - we don't see our coordinator Lonya very much (only twice so far, for only a couple of minutes at a time)- but we see Sveta just about every day. She juggles I don't know how many families here, taking them/us to our BH visits, ministry meetings, to/from the airport, to the doctors, the notary, bringing us things we need in the apartment, helping us to go shopping, etc - her day starts very early and ends late in the evening, and her cell phone is constantly ringing! And yet she still tries to get home to make supper for her 2 teenaged sons, then heads back out the door to finish her day.
Thanks again for your patience (some of you more than others.... Cindy, try to keep breathing ) while we attempt to confirm some details before sharing information about the child we're visiting with. Please know we're doing this for the child's protection, in case anything happens which would change our plans. I can tell you that the visits have been challenging but fun, and we've been able to go at different times of day which has been great. We will definately put more information soon.
Have a great weekend! We heard the Bombers stunk up the place on Friday night..... ugh
take care,
N&P
Friday, July 4, 2008
July 4 - Yay we found High-speed!
July 4 - 11:15 am - Hi everyone we're at a high-speed internet cafe right now, just around the corner from our apartment - it was a nice change from the dialup, and it's really cheap ($1.20/hour). We were told that the afternoons get very busy with teenagers playing online games, so we'll only come once in a while, and always in the mornings.
Yesterday we had a nice visit at the babyhouse, saw lots of children playing outside which was great to see.
We then went out for dinner at an Italian place in the mall (Il Patio), with Bernard and Carole from Montreal. Today after this brief but fun time on the internet (gotta LOVE high-speed- dialup is crazy slow!), we'll have some lunch then go back to the babyhouse. I think we're going to the Green bazaar after that, which is a huge outdoor market. I'll tell ya about that tomorrow!
take care, have a great day
P&N
Yesterday we had a nice visit at the babyhouse, saw lots of children playing outside which was great to see.
We then went out for dinner at an Italian place in the mall (Il Patio), with Bernard and Carole from Montreal. Today after this brief but fun time on the internet (gotta LOVE high-speed- dialup is crazy slow!), we'll have some lunch then go back to the babyhouse. I think we're going to the Green bazaar after that, which is a huge outdoor market. I'll tell ya about that tomorrow!
take care, have a great day
P&N
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
July 3rd, another day on the surface of the sun
July 3 - Thursday 7:30 am - Hi everyone! It's another beautiful day here, and it's going to be HOT again! Yesterday it was around 38 C, very humid and no wind - wow... we walked to the downtown area for dinner (30-40 min walk) with the group (Jen/Bert, Gretchen, Pam/Grev) and the humidity just hung in the air! (yep we taxi'd home) It thunderstorms almost every day here, either at 5-6 pm or overnight - the humidity is killer........ we're thinking wistfully of our air conditioning at home........
The downtown area is very crowded, with lots of restaurants, shops and apartment/ office buildings, so there is no air movement at all on the ground - and the exhaust fumes are unreal. We are more glad all the time that our apartment is away from that area - we don't have the exhaust smell or smog, and being on the 6th floor we have a nice breeze and a gorgeous view!
Pam and Grev leave tonight to go back to Ottawa, as their first trip is now complete. We are very glad we met them and wish them a safe trip home! They're also at Babyhouse # 3, which means we'll have the same judge for court, so we're hoping to be on similar schedules for our 2nd trips. (The judge is who determines how long the paperwork takes between trips, and we've heard anything from 3 weeks to 8 weeks in between)
Speaking of the babyhouse, we didn't see any more of the building yesterday but we did see kids in the outside play area - large cribs are set up for the babies (10 ft x 10 feet cribs, it looks like), in an area under big trees so there's shade, and there are swings and play structures for the toddlers/bigger kids - it's great for them to get some fresh air.
Without giving too much away...... we have met a child that we'd like to continue visiting! (yay!) We're very impressed with this child and hope the visits continue to go well. We asked a TON of questions of the BH director yesterday and received some background, and we'll have more questions after a couple more visits, I'm sure. We'll start now to visit every day, and see how it goes. We'll post an update once things are further along. Thanks for your patience!!
Have a great day!
take care,
N&P
The downtown area is very crowded, with lots of restaurants, shops and apartment/ office buildings, so there is no air movement at all on the ground - and the exhaust fumes are unreal. We are more glad all the time that our apartment is away from that area - we don't have the exhaust smell or smog, and being on the 6th floor we have a nice breeze and a gorgeous view!
Pam and Grev leave tonight to go back to Ottawa, as their first trip is now complete. We are very glad we met them and wish them a safe trip home! They're also at Babyhouse # 3, which means we'll have the same judge for court, so we're hoping to be on similar schedules for our 2nd trips. (The judge is who determines how long the paperwork takes between trips, and we've heard anything from 3 weeks to 8 weeks in between)
Speaking of the babyhouse, we didn't see any more of the building yesterday but we did see kids in the outside play area - large cribs are set up for the babies (10 ft x 10 feet cribs, it looks like), in an area under big trees so there's shade, and there are swings and play structures for the toddlers/bigger kids - it's great for them to get some fresh air.
Without giving too much away...... we have met a child that we'd like to continue visiting! (yay!) We're very impressed with this child and hope the visits continue to go well. We asked a TON of questions of the BH director yesterday and received some background, and we'll have more questions after a couple more visits, I'm sure. We'll start now to visit every day, and see how it goes. We'll post an update once things are further along. Thanks for your patience!!
Have a great day!
take care,
N&P
July 2nd, Ministry meeting
July 2 - Wed 9:00 am (not posted until 11:30 as internet flaky this morning). Hi everyone! We had an overwhelming but good day yesterday. Our meeting at Ministry of Education went well and really quick. She asked us 'why Kazakhstan?', and 'are we prepared for the extra work involved with raising an abandoned child, to help him/her learn to attach and trust?', and 'do we have support at home from our families, are they happy about the adoption and will they help us if needed?'. Seeing the number of comments, emails, and calls, and the love and support we feel from our family and friends, it was very easy to answer yes to that one! Then she asked if we plan to adopt again and if so, will we come back to Kaz and bring our child back for a visit. Then she wished us good luck and that was it! Svetlana had prepared us for many more questions, so it sounds like they ask different questions all the time.
Then we went for lunch with Bernard and Carole from Montreal (who arrived on the same flight as us but also had the Visa delay, so are just starting the process now), and Gretchen from Ottawa - we introduced B&C to Mad Murphy's as they hadn't been there yet. Then at 4:00 we went to Babyhouse # 3, which is close to our apartment (approx 20 min walk). As we've said, we won't be posting any information about the child/ children we meet, until things are more confirmed. We don't mean to tease you, we just feel this is the way it has to be for now. We promise to put details as soon as we're able/ comfortable doing so.
The building and grounds at BH3 were quite nice - a large play area outside and the inside was clean and very formal. Of course it's not what we'd consider a normal home for a child (kindof stark and intimidating), but it's clear that they do what they can to make it nice. We weren't there very long and only saw 2 rooms - we did hear children singing in another room, which was fun to hear. We're going back today and hopefully will see more of the place.
After we got back to the apartment we were very hot and tired, so we had a quiet evening - tried some Kazakh wine called Tamada (not bad but too sweet for us) and vegged out.
Hope you had/ are having a good Canada day - we toasted home at lunchtime! We're learning more about the political and cultural life here from the people we're working with, and suffice to say we feel enormously lucky to live where we do. It's very easy to take our freedoms for granted, but a quick stop in another country is enough to remind us how good we have it.
Take care,
Nicole and Paul
Then we went for lunch with Bernard and Carole from Montreal (who arrived on the same flight as us but also had the Visa delay, so are just starting the process now), and Gretchen from Ottawa - we introduced B&C to Mad Murphy's as they hadn't been there yet. Then at 4:00 we went to Babyhouse # 3, which is close to our apartment (approx 20 min walk). As we've said, we won't be posting any information about the child/ children we meet, until things are more confirmed. We don't mean to tease you, we just feel this is the way it has to be for now. We promise to put details as soon as we're able/ comfortable doing so.
The building and grounds at BH3 were quite nice - a large play area outside and the inside was clean and very formal. Of course it's not what we'd consider a normal home for a child (kindof stark and intimidating), but it's clear that they do what they can to make it nice. We weren't there very long and only saw 2 rooms - we did hear children singing in another room, which was fun to hear. We're going back today and hopefully will see more of the place.
After we got back to the apartment we were very hot and tired, so we had a quiet evening - tried some Kazakh wine called Tamada (not bad but too sweet for us) and vegged out.
Hope you had/ are having a good Canada day - we toasted home at lunchtime! We're learning more about the political and cultural life here from the people we're working with, and suffice to say we feel enormously lucky to live where we do. It's very easy to take our freedoms for granted, but a quick stop in another country is enough to remind us how good we have it.
Take care,
Nicole and Paul
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