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