July 1-Tues 7:30 am. It's still Monday evening at home, so we'll be the first to say Happy Canada Day! Hope you all enjoy your day! Light a sparkler for us.....
It looks like it may be an exciting day here, as Svetlana called to say our Visa issue is now resolved (yay) and we'll have our meeting with Minister of Education today (Tuesday) at 11:30 am. If all goes smoothly we may be able to go to a babyhouse this afternoon. Very exciting! After waiting so long to be 'this close' to being parents, now that the moment may be here it feels soooo surreal!
Please note that we don't plan to put a lot of info about the child/ children we meet on the blog, until everything has been confirmed. This is just for security purposes, and don't worry we'll send updates as soon as we can!
Yesterday we had a stay-home day, just read and watched TV, napped in the afternoon - ahhhhh. It was very hot here (over 30 degrees C for sure) so it was nice to just curl up inside.
Like our first building, our new apartment is in a Soviet-era building, not very nice looking from the outside, but the apartment itself is very nice. The balcony looks into a central courtyard so we can see everyone else's balcony - reminds me of the movie Rear Window or maybe West Side Story. Everyone hangs thier laundry to dry on their balcony, as there are no clothes dryers here. From what we can tell this is considered middle-class housing. The cars are pretty fancy in the lot - new Volvos, Lexus, Toyotas etc.
We've noticed that the women aren't as dressed up as we were expecting- mostly capri pants and skirts. Could be fancier in the downtown area, and could be toned down because it's so hot here! The younger women dress fairly provocitively - low slung tight jeans, tiny tops and very high heels! I don't know how they can walk, as I keep turning my ankle wearing my Sketcher sandals (sturdy, flat walking shoes). Our building is at the top of a slight hill, so everywhere we go is down-hill, and then we have to go uphill to come back home. My calves are not happy!
We've tried some buns from the deli counter at Ramstor - buns with meat, cheese, or chow mein vegetables. Another counter offered pizza by the slice, hotdogs wrapped in pastry, and flaky pastry filled with cheese, chicken or veggies. These items were very popular with the other shoppers so we had to try them - very yummy!
We talked with Paul's sister Joanne last night, who's ready to give birth to their first child any day now - we're thinking of you Jo and Meb! We'd always figured we'd have our children around the same time, so this is uncanny timing!
Have a great day, and thanks so much for the comments and emails - they are very appreciated!
take care,
love N&P
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
June 30- Kok Tobe, and starting to find our way around...
June 30 - Monday, 7:30 am - Hi everyone! Yesterday (Sunday) we met up with Jen and Bert, Gretchen, Pam and Grev and went up the mountain to Kok Tobe (which means 'green hill') in a gondola! The view was lovely - the hills are very green and pretty and we saw both fancy, high-end houses and lower-economy style housing. At the top of the hill are beautiful crafts/ art to buy, games for the kids, and a couple of restaurants. We ate some lunch (pork shishlyk, or shish-kebab) and looked around, then came back down. It seems to be a popular place for families, maybe more because it was Sunday.
We had our first encounter with 'gypsies' on our walk to the Kok Tobe entrance - a group of young children (4-8 years old) were suddenly around us, touching our arms and legs and asking for money. We just kept saying Niet (No) and kept walking. You need to make sure you have nothing in your pockets as these kids are good....
On the way back we stopped at Ramstor for a few groceries then came home and vegged out - that was a lot of walking! Paul slept during the evening and I watched a movie, then I slept during the night and Paul discovered he could watch the NASCAR race live on one of the French channels we get - too funny! Again we were both up at 5 am today - we're hopefully getting closer to following the time here...
We're starting to get our bearings by walking around and determining which are the major streets. The Ramstor is approx 5 minute walk and from there the major streets are Furmanov (East-West, I think) and a block from there is Dostyk (North-South). Dostyk takes us right into the downtown area where Mad Murphy's is, and also the Green Market (large outdoor bazaar) - we'll check that out soon.
The neighbourhood we're in is called Samal, and all the apartment blocks are named Samal-2, then a building #. Our first place was in # 52, Samal-2 - and now we're in # 24, Samal-2. Oh - and the cars here are amazing - all seem to be new Volvos, Lexus, Cadillacs, etc - not sure how they do it!
Today we don't have much planned - probably back to Ramstor and walk around a bit, then this evening we hope to hear from Svetlana that our Visa issue has been fixed and our passports are on their way back to us. Then the real adventure can begin! I've tried to add a few photos to this post - very slow due to the dial up connection so I hope it works! There are 2 of the apartment, and 2 of our visit to Kok Tobe.
Take care - have a great day!
love N&P
We had our first encounter with 'gypsies' on our walk to the Kok Tobe entrance - a group of young children (4-8 years old) were suddenly around us, touching our arms and legs and asking for money. We just kept saying Niet (No) and kept walking. You need to make sure you have nothing in your pockets as these kids are good....
On the way back we stopped at Ramstor for a few groceries then came home and vegged out - that was a lot of walking! Paul slept during the evening and I watched a movie, then I slept during the night and Paul discovered he could watch the NASCAR race live on one of the French channels we get - too funny! Again we were both up at 5 am today - we're hopefully getting closer to following the time here...
We're starting to get our bearings by walking around and determining which are the major streets. The Ramstor is approx 5 minute walk and from there the major streets are Furmanov (East-West, I think) and a block from there is Dostyk (North-South). Dostyk takes us right into the downtown area where Mad Murphy's is, and also the Green Market (large outdoor bazaar) - we'll check that out soon.
The neighbourhood we're in is called Samal, and all the apartment blocks are named Samal-2, then a building #. Our first place was in # 52, Samal-2 - and now we're in # 24, Samal-2. Oh - and the cars here are amazing - all seem to be new Volvos, Lexus, Cadillacs, etc - not sure how they do it!
Today we don't have much planned - probably back to Ramstor and walk around a bit, then this evening we hope to hear from Svetlana that our Visa issue has been fixed and our passports are on their way back to us. Then the real adventure can begin! I've tried to add a few photos to this post - very slow due to the dial up connection so I hope it works! There are 2 of the apartment, and 2 of our visit to Kok Tobe.
Take care - have a great day!
love N&P
Saturday, June 28, 2008
June 28 - part 2
Still June 28 - now 4:30 pm - good news we are in a new apartment, and it is MUCH better than the first one!!! It's only 1 block from where we were before, but this one has a little store at the bottom which is great to get a few groceries, more bottled water and even beer! We'll walk around a bit to see what else we can find.
This apartment has a kitchen (with table/chairs), a living room /dining room with a long sofa (and a lovely dining table/chairs), and a bedroom (yes, with a table and a chair). Going from 0 tables to 3, and 0 chairs to 8 - wow my head is spinning! (it's funny the things you miss when away from home)
It also has a long balcony that you can get to from both the kitchen and the living room, and tons of windows in each room.
We lost our lovely mountain view as we now face another direction, but we can still see a bit of mountain from the new balcony, and we can see the part of the mountain called Kok Tobe, which is one of the higher mountain peaks and has a cable car ride that we hope to try out soon - very touristy. But we're very happy with the move - this place immediately felt more comfortable as a temporary home.
One thing I forgot to mention before - there are many stray cats around but we're told not to touch them as they're pretty wild. At the restaurant last night there were a couple milling around the tables, even under people's chairs - looking for food I guess. I really miss our cat Farley, but I at least get to see cats! We haven't seen too many dogs, and actually we were told it's not very common to have dogs as pets here.
That's all for now - have a great weekend!
take care
N&P
This apartment has a kitchen (with table/chairs), a living room /dining room with a long sofa (and a lovely dining table/chairs), and a bedroom (yes, with a table and a chair). Going from 0 tables to 3, and 0 chairs to 8 - wow my head is spinning! (it's funny the things you miss when away from home)
It also has a long balcony that you can get to from both the kitchen and the living room, and tons of windows in each room.
We lost our lovely mountain view as we now face another direction, but we can still see a bit of mountain from the new balcony, and we can see the part of the mountain called Kok Tobe, which is one of the higher mountain peaks and has a cable car ride that we hope to try out soon - very touristy. But we're very happy with the move - this place immediately felt more comfortable as a temporary home.
One thing I forgot to mention before - there are many stray cats around but we're told not to touch them as they're pretty wild. At the restaurant last night there were a couple milling around the tables, even under people's chairs - looking for food I guess. I really miss our cat Farley, but I at least get to see cats! We haven't seen too many dogs, and actually we were told it's not very common to have dogs as pets here.
That's all for now - have a great weekend!
take care
N&P
June 28 - not much of an update...
June 28 - 7:30 am. Hi everyone - well our Visa issue hasn't been resolved but we've been told of our options, and this should hopefully start to progress by mid next week. Also our apartment issues may be resolved in the next couple of days as 2 other potential apartments have opened up.
We met with 3 Canadian families at Mad Murphy's (Irish pub, very popular with foreigners, heard lots of English spoken) for drinks Friday night which was great, to compare stories and simply to be in the company of people going through the same steps as we are. And we survived our first cab rides there and back - got ridiculously ripped off on the way there but then learned better and paid much less for the drive back. We'll try walking it in the daytime to see how far it actually is.
Just so you all know, we very much appreciate your comments - makes us feel closer to home! So while we wait for news we'll continue to look around and learn about where we are. We may not have much to post for the next couple of days, but we'll try to find something interesting for ya.
We'll try to get info on the Bomber game tonight, but please let us know the details!
take care
N&P
We met with 3 Canadian families at Mad Murphy's (Irish pub, very popular with foreigners, heard lots of English spoken) for drinks Friday night which was great, to compare stories and simply to be in the company of people going through the same steps as we are. And we survived our first cab rides there and back - got ridiculously ripped off on the way there but then learned better and paid much less for the drive back. We'll try walking it in the daytime to see how far it actually is.
Just so you all know, we very much appreciate your comments - makes us feel closer to home! So while we wait for news we'll continue to look around and learn about where we are. We may not have much to post for the next couple of days, but we'll try to find something interesting for ya.
We'll try to get info on the Bomber game tonight, but please let us know the details!
take care
N&P
Thursday, June 26, 2008
June 27 - hello from the balcony
June 27 - 7:00 am in Almaty. Hi everyone - it's another beautiful morning to sit on the balcony and look at the mountains! We were again up pretty late, still trying to adjust to the time change - and there's a bar across the street that was showing the soccer game - wow are soccer fans LOUD! :-)
Thank you thank you thank you for the comments - it sure is nice to hear from you! We've also been able to see emails on our Shaw email from home, and also on our MSN account. So feel free to send emails to either of those. We've also watched a few episodes of Sopranos - thanks again for that nice gift!
No news yet on our Visa issue - hope to hear something today or Monday. We haven't met up with the other Canadian families yet but hopefully in the next day or two. We've learned from Paul's Mom that we actually have people in common with Jen and Bert - how funny- what a small world!
That's all for now - have a great day!
take care,
love N&P
Thank you thank you thank you for the comments - it sure is nice to hear from you! We've also been able to see emails on our Shaw email from home, and also on our MSN account. So feel free to send emails to either of those. We've also watched a few episodes of Sopranos - thanks again for that nice gift!
No news yet on our Visa issue - hope to hear something today or Monday. We haven't met up with the other Canadian families yet but hopefully in the next day or two. We've learned from Paul's Mom that we actually have people in common with Jen and Bert - how funny- what a small world!
That's all for now - have a great day!
take care,
love N&P
June 26 - we're here !!!
Thurs June 26 5:00 pm Almaty time / June 26th 6:00 am Wpg time (don't worry I won't start every update this way, just wanted to clarify the time difference)....
Hi everyone - we're here! We had a lovely send off Tuesday afternoon at Wpg airport by our Moms Pat and Aggie, Nic's sister Lise and our beautiful nieces Megan and Amy. After 3 long but uneventful flights and connections in Toronto and Frankfurt (except for a heavy rain/hail/thunder/lightning storm in Frankfurt that had us waiting on the runway for an hour) - we arrived in Almaty 21 hours later, at 1:30 am Thursday, Almaty time. Paul says we've completely 'lost' a Wednesday in there somewhere - does that mean he didn't really miss baseball ?!?
We grabbed our luggage - everything made it - yay! and were met at the busy Almaty airport by Svetlana (our translator), Natasha (not sure her role?) and Vladimir (our driver), who whisked us and a newly-arrived couple from Montreal to a grocery store for a few items and then to our respective apartments. We met the landlord briefly after a mix up with the apartment key but as it was so late we only said Hello (Zdrad-vutsi) and Thanks (Spah-see-ba).
The grocery store was a hoot - considering it was 2:00 am, there were many people shopping while we were in there. We picked up bread, eggs, milk, butter, 1 L of pepsi and 5 L of water, plus pasta/sauce/meat for a meal today/ tomorrow - this came to 2200 tenge or approx $20 US. We also browsed the huge wine/alcohol section and bought a bottle of Chilean wine that we've bought at home (which cost 1000 tenge or approx $12 US) - we'll get more adventuresome in our food/drink purchases, but thought we'd start with familiar things. For the liquour, it was funny - prices ranged from vodka starting at $2 US, to many North American brands such as Grey Goose, Crown Royal, Southern Comfort etc. These were all very expensive - for example it was $50 US for a 1 L bottle of Appletons rum - ummmm maybe not.......
The apartment is interesting - it's very small, the bedroom has an armoire and a TV, the hallway has a toilet closet and a seperate room with tub and sink, and the kitchen has a half-size oven/stove, half-size fridge/freezer, a card-table (but we need it for counter space) and a microwave. No coffee maker (!) but we brought a travel coffee maker and supplies, as we were warned that might be the case as very few Kazakhs drink coffee. Other things we were told that are true are that the bed is really a box-spring with no mattress, and there is a laundry washing machine but no dryer. On the upside there are multiple engligh-TV channels - including Fox News, CNN, Discovery, ESPN and even TLC!
There's also a balcony with a GORGEOUS view of the mountains ! As I type this, the clouds are clearing up and the mountain view is spectacular. We found it funny to realize that I've (N) never actually seen mountains before and had to travel literally to the other side of the globe to do so. I've been to Calgary many times- so close to the Rockies, but I've never seen them close-up......
So we'll decide in the next few days if we'll stay in this apartment or move somewhere else - we need to find out if there are other 'pluses' going for it, to make up for the sparseness - for example if we're in a good location with walking access to other adoptive families, inexpensive restaurants, markets, etc, then it might be worthwhile to stay put. If not, we'll look into our options next week.
We now have the internet hooked up with a minutes card (Nursat), and we'll mostly be adding entries during non-peak times (early morning our time, so mid-evening at home).
Today we slept in a bit, as we weren't able to sleep until way after the sun came up - time change is WEIRD! Then we walked around the neighbourhood and found the RAMSTOR (large shopping mall) closeby, where we picked up a few things for the apartment and grabbed some lunch. We were met there by Svetlana, Natasha and Lonya (the coordinator assigned to our file). We've learned that we already have a delay in our meeting with Min. of Education, due to a mistake on the Visa given to us by the Kaz government. Lonya and Svetlana are working on it and they're confident it can be fixed within a few days. So, in the meantime we'll continue to explore our temporary home. Please keep those good vibes comin' for us!!
For the other families currently in Almaty, our apartment is on Samal-2, by street called Dostyk (correction: Al-Farabi) . We're not in the downtown area, but north-west (correction: South-East) of it. Pam/Grev, Jen/Bert we now have your phone #s so we'll call you tonight - we'd love to meet up tomorrow or Saturday if it works for ya! Jen and Bert, we also learned that you are having the same 'issue' with your Visas as we are, so it would be good to chat.
That's all for now - thanks for the calls, texts and blog comments, and for all the love and support from home - we really appreciate it! We'll be in touch soon!
take care,
Nic and Paul
Hi everyone - we're here! We had a lovely send off Tuesday afternoon at Wpg airport by our Moms Pat and Aggie, Nic's sister Lise and our beautiful nieces Megan and Amy. After 3 long but uneventful flights and connections in Toronto and Frankfurt (except for a heavy rain/hail/thunder/lightning storm in Frankfurt that had us waiting on the runway for an hour) - we arrived in Almaty 21 hours later, at 1:30 am Thursday, Almaty time. Paul says we've completely 'lost' a Wednesday in there somewhere - does that mean he didn't really miss baseball ?!?
We grabbed our luggage - everything made it - yay! and were met at the busy Almaty airport by Svetlana (our translator), Natasha (not sure her role?) and Vladimir (our driver), who whisked us and a newly-arrived couple from Montreal to a grocery store for a few items and then to our respective apartments. We met the landlord briefly after a mix up with the apartment key but as it was so late we only said Hello (Zdrad-vutsi) and Thanks (Spah-see-ba).
The grocery store was a hoot - considering it was 2:00 am, there were many people shopping while we were in there. We picked up bread, eggs, milk, butter, 1 L of pepsi and 5 L of water, plus pasta/sauce/meat for a meal today/ tomorrow - this came to 2200 tenge or approx $20 US. We also browsed the huge wine/alcohol section and bought a bottle of Chilean wine that we've bought at home (which cost 1000 tenge or approx $12 US) - we'll get more adventuresome in our food/drink purchases, but thought we'd start with familiar things. For the liquour, it was funny - prices ranged from vodka starting at $2 US, to many North American brands such as Grey Goose, Crown Royal, Southern Comfort etc. These were all very expensive - for example it was $50 US for a 1 L bottle of Appletons rum - ummmm maybe not.......
The apartment is interesting - it's very small, the bedroom has an armoire and a TV, the hallway has a toilet closet and a seperate room with tub and sink, and the kitchen has a half-size oven/stove, half-size fridge/freezer, a card-table (but we need it for counter space) and a microwave. No coffee maker (!) but we brought a travel coffee maker and supplies, as we were warned that might be the case as very few Kazakhs drink coffee. Other things we were told that are true are that the bed is really a box-spring with no mattress, and there is a laundry washing machine but no dryer. On the upside there are multiple engligh-TV channels - including Fox News, CNN, Discovery, ESPN and even TLC!
There's also a balcony with a GORGEOUS view of the mountains ! As I type this, the clouds are clearing up and the mountain view is spectacular. We found it funny to realize that I've (N) never actually seen mountains before and had to travel literally to the other side of the globe to do so. I've been to Calgary many times- so close to the Rockies, but I've never seen them close-up......
So we'll decide in the next few days if we'll stay in this apartment or move somewhere else - we need to find out if there are other 'pluses' going for it, to make up for the sparseness - for example if we're in a good location with walking access to other adoptive families, inexpensive restaurants, markets, etc, then it might be worthwhile to stay put. If not, we'll look into our options next week.
We now have the internet hooked up with a minutes card (Nursat), and we'll mostly be adding entries during non-peak times (early morning our time, so mid-evening at home).
Today we slept in a bit, as we weren't able to sleep until way after the sun came up - time change is WEIRD! Then we walked around the neighbourhood and found the RAMSTOR (large shopping mall) closeby, where we picked up a few things for the apartment and grabbed some lunch. We were met there by Svetlana, Natasha and Lonya (the coordinator assigned to our file). We've learned that we already have a delay in our meeting with Min. of Education, due to a mistake on the Visa given to us by the Kaz government. Lonya and Svetlana are working on it and they're confident it can be fixed within a few days. So, in the meantime we'll continue to explore our temporary home. Please keep those good vibes comin' for us!!
For the other families currently in Almaty, our apartment is on Samal-2, by street called Dostyk (correction: Al-Farabi) . We're not in the downtown area, but north-west (correction: South-East) of it. Pam/Grev, Jen/Bert we now have your phone #s so we'll call you tonight - we'd love to meet up tomorrow or Saturday if it works for ya! Jen and Bert, we also learned that you are having the same 'issue' with your Visas as we are, so it would be good to chat.
That's all for now - thanks for the calls, texts and blog comments, and for all the love and support from home - we really appreciate it! We'll be in touch soon!
take care,
Nic and Paul
Monday, June 23, 2008
June 23- one more sleep!
Hi everyone - so we're in the final packing stages and things are going well. We had great visits this weekend with friends and family - thanks everyone for your love and support!
We're set to leave tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon (ack- tomorrow!?!) and we'll make stops in Toronto, Frankfurt then Almaty - hopefully we'll arrive (and so will our luggage!) late Wednesday evening. That will be early Wednesday afternoon Winnipeg time.
We'll add an update to this blog as soon as we're able, either from our apartment or an internet cafe.
Take care, enjoy the fantastic weather and we'll see ya in a few weeks!
N&P
We're set to leave tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon (ack- tomorrow!?!) and we'll make stops in Toronto, Frankfurt then Almaty - hopefully we'll arrive (and so will our luggage!) late Wednesday evening. That will be early Wednesday afternoon Winnipeg time.
We'll add an update to this blog as soon as we're able, either from our apartment or an internet cafe.
Take care, enjoy the fantastic weather and we'll see ya in a few weeks!
N&P
Monday, June 16, 2008
June 16 - one week to go!
Hi everyone - we're still in packing phase, and enjoying the slower pace. Things are really coming together! I've been emailing with a family in Ottawa who arrived in Almaty a couple of days ago and will hopefully meet their little one tomorrow. We're thinking of ya Pam and Grev! Pam has mentionned a few other Canadian families who are adopting from Almaty right now, and we're looking forward to meeting everyone!
We've also confirmed our house-sitter, which is wonderful. Nick will be at the house and keeping our cat entertained, I'm sure! Thanks a lot Nick, it is a huge load off our minds to know you'll be at the house!
Have a great week!
take care,
N&P
We've also confirmed our house-sitter, which is wonderful. Nick will be at the house and keeping our cat entertained, I'm sure! Thanks a lot Nick, it is a huge load off our minds to know you'll be at the house!
Have a great week!
take care,
N&P
Sunday, June 8, 2008
June 8 - packing and preparations
Hi everyone - we're still on track to leave June 24th, which gives us just over 2 weeks to put the finishing touches on the packing, etc... This is much better than when we had 7 days to put it all together! This way we're also able to rest up and keep things in perspective.
A big THANKS to our family and friends for all the support and love - it's wonderful to feel so many people are excited for us and wishing us well.
And thanks to our new friends in blog-land for their suggestions and encouragement! We've received great packing tips, information about Almaty city and what-to-expect descriptions from families who were recently in Kazakhstan adopting their little ones - thanks very much!
We hope to see or talk with everyone before we leave - so enjoy the nice weather and take care! N&P
ps - check out the weather Almaty has been having !
A big THANKS to our family and friends for all the support and love - it's wonderful to feel so many people are excited for us and wishing us well.
And thanks to our new friends in blog-land for their suggestions and encouragement! We've received great packing tips, information about Almaty city and what-to-expect descriptions from families who were recently in Kazakhstan adopting their little ones - thanks very much!
We hope to see or talk with everyone before we leave - so enjoy the nice weather and take care! N&P
ps - check out the weather Almaty has been having !
Friday, May 30, 2008
Change of dates
Hi everyone - ok the roller-coaster continues.... we learned today that we can't go to Almaty next week as we'd thought - for now it looks like we'll leave the last week of June. After the shock wore off we realized this is OK, and it actually removes some of the pressure of trying to get ready with such short notice. We're doing ok, all is good.
Take care, have a good weekend - ours is looking more relaxing now! :-)
Nicole and Paul
Take care, have a good weekend - ours is looking more relaxing now! :-)
Nicole and Paul
Thursday, May 29, 2008
NEWS - and wow what news!!
Hi everyone - well what a week we've had! I think we've said to many of you that 'you'll hear the screams from where you are, when we get our news'....... well, EEEEEEEEEEEK! So there it is. :-)
We found out a couple of days ago that we are to be in Kazakhstan next Tuesday, June 3rd. We've been matched with a babyhouse (orphanage) in Almaty, the largest city in Kaz (it used to be the capital city, during Soviet times).
Because so many international adoptions occur in Almaty, the process there takes longer - a full 3 months, so it's been recommended that we go for one month, then come home after court for one month, then go back again to finish the paperwork and bring our little one home.
So we'll leave next Monday, arriving late on Tuesday (with the 11 hour time change). We'll have a day to sleep/ settle in and get our bearings a bit, then we have an appointment with Ministry of Education on Thursday June 5th. Hope with us that all goes OK and we'll get to meet our child that day!! Once we confirm that we'll pursue the adoption of the child we've fallen in love with, we'll visit every day to fulfill the mandatory 15-day bonding period, then we'll petition to go to court to formally request the adoption. We are aiming to be home around June 27 - date flexible to allow for delays. Then we'll go back in late July/ early August to finish everything up. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!
I've been making lists (who, me? :-) ) and throwing things in suitcases for a while already, and packing is somewhat easier now that we know we'll do 2 trips, as we don't have to bring all the stuff we'd need to have custody of/ travel home with the child. When we come home in between we'll know much more what we need as we'll already know the child (that's so exciting to say - and terrifying too!). We're already dreading having to leave him/her, but either way it looks like we'll be home 'as a family' by late August/early September. Wow!!!!
We'll keep in touch best we can via this blog page- please feel free to leave comments, questions etc and we'll check and reply as often as we can. You don't need to login to leave a comment, just select 'anonymous' and it will let you. Remember to leave your name in this case, so we know who it's from. :-)
Thanks for all your support and encouragement during this bizarre and amazing journey!
take care,
N&P
ps - if you're just seeing this blog for the first time now, remember to read it in reverse order, from the bottom-up. Also see earlier entries by clicking on the month, on the right-side of this window. (ya you can take the girl out of software support, but you can't take the software support out of the girl...........) :-)
We found out a couple of days ago that we are to be in Kazakhstan next Tuesday, June 3rd. We've been matched with a babyhouse (orphanage) in Almaty, the largest city in Kaz (it used to be the capital city, during Soviet times).
Because so many international adoptions occur in Almaty, the process there takes longer - a full 3 months, so it's been recommended that we go for one month, then come home after court for one month, then go back again to finish the paperwork and bring our little one home.
So we'll leave next Monday, arriving late on Tuesday (with the 11 hour time change). We'll have a day to sleep/ settle in and get our bearings a bit, then we have an appointment with Ministry of Education on Thursday June 5th. Hope with us that all goes OK and we'll get to meet our child that day!! Once we confirm that we'll pursue the adoption of the child we've fallen in love with, we'll visit every day to fulfill the mandatory 15-day bonding period, then we'll petition to go to court to formally request the adoption. We are aiming to be home around June 27 - date flexible to allow for delays. Then we'll go back in late July/ early August to finish everything up. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!
I've been making lists (who, me? :-) ) and throwing things in suitcases for a while already, and packing is somewhat easier now that we know we'll do 2 trips, as we don't have to bring all the stuff we'd need to have custody of/ travel home with the child. When we come home in between we'll know much more what we need as we'll already know the child (that's so exciting to say - and terrifying too!). We're already dreading having to leave him/her, but either way it looks like we'll be home 'as a family' by late August/early September. Wow!!!!
We'll keep in touch best we can via this blog page- please feel free to leave comments, questions etc and we'll check and reply as often as we can. You don't need to login to leave a comment, just select 'anonymous' and it will let you. Remember to leave your name in this case, so we know who it's from. :-)
Thanks for all your support and encouragement during this bizarre and amazing journey!
take care,
N&P
ps - if you're just seeing this blog for the first time now, remember to read it in reverse order, from the bottom-up. Also see earlier entries by clicking on the month, on the right-side of this window. (ya you can take the girl out of software support, but you can't take the software support out of the girl...........) :-)
Monday, May 19, 2008
May 19 - Russian lesson #2
May 19- hi everyone - here's a few more Russian words we're learning.... these ones warm my heart, we can't WAIT to use these words!!!! :-)
Mother / Мать (Maht)
A child would say Мама (MA-ma)
Father / Отец (Oh-tyets)
A child would say Папа (PA-pa)
Baby / ребенок (Reh-beh-nohk)
Daughter / Дочь (Dahtch)
Son / Сын (Seen)
Family / семья (Sem-ya)
Grandmother / бабушка (BA-boosh-ka)
Grandfather / Дедушка (DYED-oosh-ka)
Granddaughter / Внучка (VNOOch-ka)
Grandson /Внук (Vnook)
Aunt / Тётя (TYET-ya)
Uncle / Дядя (DYAH-dyah)
Mother / Мать (Maht)
A child would say Мама (MA-ma)
Father / Отец (Oh-tyets)
A child would say Папа (PA-pa)
Baby / ребенок (Reh-beh-nohk)
Daughter / Дочь (Dahtch)
Son / Сын (Seen)
Family / семья (Sem-ya)
Grandmother / бабушка (BA-boosh-ka)
Grandfather / Дедушка (DYED-oosh-ka)
Granddaughter / Внучка (VNOOch-ka)
Grandson /Внук (Vnook)
Aunt / Тётя (TYET-ya)
Uncle / Дядя (DYAH-dyah)
Thursday, May 15, 2008
May 15 - quick Russian lesson
Hi everyone - in an earlier post I'd mentionned that we're learning little Russian language - now it's time to share! Here are a few useful words and phrases that I'm hoping to get more comfortable with - stay tuned for lesson # 2!
Hello! (formal) / Здравствуйте [Zd`rastvuyte]
Hi (informal, or to a child) / Привет [Pri`viet]
How are you? / Как дела? [Kak de`la]
Please / Пожáлуйста (pah-ZHAHl-stah)
Thank you ! / Спасúбо! ( spah-SEE-bah)
Excuse me or Sorry / Извинúте (iz-vih- NEE-tih)
Sorry, I don't understand Russian / Извинúте, Я не понимаю по-русски (iz-vih-NEE-tih, Ya ne pani-mayu pa-`ruski)
Do you speak English? / Вы говорúте по-англúйски? (vy gavaREEti pa-angLISki)
Good-bye (formal) / До свидания [Da svi`daniya]
Bye (informal, or to a child) / Пока [Pa`ka]
take care,
N&P
Hello! (formal) / Здравствуйте [Zd`rastvuyte]
Hi (informal, or to a child) / Привет [Pri`viet]
How are you? / Как дела? [Kak de`la]
Please / Пожáлуйста (pah-ZHAHl-stah)
Thank you ! / Спасúбо! ( spah-SEE-bah)
Excuse me or Sorry / Извинúте (iz-vih- NEE-tih)
Sorry, I don't understand Russian / Извинúте, Я не понимаю по-русски (iz-vih-NEE-tih, Ya ne pani-mayu pa-`ruski)
Do you speak English? / Вы говорúте по-англúйски? (vy gavaREEti pa-angLISki)
Good-bye (formal) / До свидания [Da svi`daniya]
Bye (informal, or to a child) / Пока [Pa`ka]
take care,
N&P
May 15 - no specific news
Hi everyone - we've learned that some families from our agency have received their letters of invitation (LOI) to travel to Kaz over the next few weeks - this is great news and we're thrilled for them. Wish it was us receiving the LOI........ hopefully this indicates that the process is moving and that it won't be much longer until we receive our own 'great news' !!
take care,
N&P
take care,
N&P
Monday, May 5, 2008
May 4- Happy Birthday Mom!
Hi everyone - just wanted to use this forum to say Happy Birthday to my (nicole's) mom Pat - happy bday Mom! We love ya!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Apr 28 - random thoughts
Hi everyone - here are some things I've been thinking about lately, in no particular order or significance:
- Our child has definitely been born and is waiting for us to come and bring him/her home. I often send out what I hope are comforting wishes and hope they can travel on the wind.
- Kazakhstan is pronounced 'Cause-ick-stan', with the first syllable's 'a' pronounced like in 'cause', not 'a' like in 'cat'. I'm having trouble making this transition myself.
- Also about KZ - Astana became the new capital city in December 1997. Paul and I were married in Dec 1997 - I find it interesting and somehow comforting to know a major event in our life and in Kazakhstan's life happened at the same time.
- I fluctuate between being excited, terrified, overjoyed and nervous about being away from home for 2 months, meeting our child and starting our life together as a family.
- I'm so sorry our dog Gypsy (who passed away a few months ago) won't have the chance to meet our child and cover him/her with her famous kisses. I absolutely know in my heart that she would have been wonderfully gentle and protective.
- Adoption is a one-time occurence in a child's life; when speaking about someone adopted into a family, it's more appropriate to say that she/he 'was adopted', not 'is adopted' as if it were a defining characteristic of the person.
- Our child's birth-Mother (or birth-parents) are not 'bad people'; I absolutely cannot think of them that way, not with the amazing gift they are bringing to our life - we are forever grateful to them. We will attempt to instill compassion and fondness for them and for the birth-country in our child for the rest of our life.
- Kazakhstan is not AT ALL how it was portrayed in the movie 'Borat' - that was purely fiction/satire. KZ is having amazing growth since breaking away from the Soviet Union in 1991; the cities are growing rapidly and becoming more cosmopolitan, and the people are attempting to bring back their culture- but of course this takes time and it hasn't even been a full generation yet!
- We are attempting to learn a little Russian, as this is still the major business-language in KZ. I'm sure we won't get much further than pleasantries and really simple phrases, but it would be wonderful to feel a bit of independence while we're there - at least to be able to ask for directions or buy simple groceries. (Paul's still hoping he'll find someone there who speaks French - haha)
- Just when I think I've finished baby-proofing the house something happens that makes me realize it's not there yet. It's been suggested that I crawl around the house on my hands & knees to get an idea of what needs to be changed/removed/bolted to the wall, in preparation for a 1 year old. That makes a funny mental-picture.....
- I have completely changed my stance on how much help we'll need when we first get home. My instincts are always to say 'we'll be fine and won't need help' - I've now converted to expecting to say 'please come over - can you move in for a while?' :-)
- Re-reading the point above about fluctuation of emotions, I want to say that today I'm more excited than terrified. But still nervous.
I think that's it for now. Have a great day!
take care,
N
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Apr 27 - other news
Hi everyone - no other news on our paperwork, but we've had a couple of 'other' events. The company I work for has down-sized and I was laid off, along with 12 others. At first we were upset as it's like being laid off when 8 months pregnant (just not nice), but now we're seeing it as a gift; I'll have some time at home (starting in May) to rest up and get a few things done around the house as we prepare to bring our little one home. Hopefully soon!
Also, Paul has been off work for a while with an injury, but he's starting to feel better and we're hoping he's up to returning to work and 'regular life' very soon. We thank everyone for your good wishes and for calling to see how we're doing - we really appreciate it!
take care
P&N
Also, Paul has been off work for a while with an injury, but he's starting to feel better and we're hoping he's up to returning to work and 'regular life' very soon. We thank everyone for your good wishes and for calling to see how we're doing - we really appreciate it!
take care
P&N
Friday, April 11, 2008
April 11 - more news
Apr 11 - hi everyone - this keeps getting stranger..... today we learned that our dossier was actually received in Kazakhstan on Feb 29, not a couple of days ago as we had thought. That means it has been in Kaz for 40+ days already, and could possibly be under review already! Things are definately getting exciting!
take care
N&P
take care
N&P
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
April showers bring... news?
Hi everyone! We've had an update - our dossier has arrived in Kazakhstan!! Currently it is lounging at the MoFA (ministry of foreign affairs) in Almaty, hopefully to be reviewed quickly and then sent to the MOE (ministry of education). Then the adoption coordinator Svetlana will match us with a region that has available children matching our requests, and if there is a match, we will (hopefully) receive a LOI (letter of invitation). Got all the acronyms straight? there will be a test later.... :-)
So right now the earliest we are looking at travelling would be early July. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
Also, we've learned the names of the other towns that may be our child's current home - it does not include the capital city of Astana, as I'd previously thought. The city names are Almaty (South East part of the country), Uralsk (North West) or Pavlodar (North East). See the Google map link and zoom in. Almaty used to be the capital city, so it is bigger (1.3 million people), has the airport and would certainly have more things to do, but is more expensive to live in. The other cities are smaller (200 000-300 000), but would still be very interesting, I'm sure!
Hope all is well with you all - take care
N&P
So right now the earliest we are looking at travelling would be early July. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
Also, we've learned the names of the other towns that may be our child's current home - it does not include the capital city of Astana, as I'd previously thought. The city names are Almaty (South East part of the country), Uralsk (North West) or Pavlodar (North East). See the Google map link and zoom in. Almaty used to be the capital city, so it is bigger (1.3 million people), has the airport and would certainly have more things to do, but is more expensive to live in. The other cities are smaller (200 000-300 000), but would still be very interesting, I'm sure!
Hope all is well with you all - take care
N&P
Saturday, March 8, 2008
What's going on?
March 8 2008- Hi everyone! We're finally ready to begin this blog as a way to keep our family and friends in the loop about the happenings in our adoption journey. We appreciate your good wishes, love and support - this has truly helped us and kept us encouraged! We feel extremely blessed to have such an amazing group of people 'with us' as we follow this path.
This entry is a long one, to get everyone caught up - so grab a drink and get comfy!
So - to answer 'what's going on?' - on March 7 we received word from our agency director that our file has cleared Canada's Foreign Affairs authentication, has been translated into Russian, and has now moved to the Kazakhstan Consulate for Canada office in Toronto, to be authenticated there. (*April update - see newer blog entry*)
This file contains all of our adoption paperwork, including application forms, letters from us saying why we'd like to adopt a child from Kazakhstan, reference letters from our friends/ family, government clearance forms, employment records, medical records, copies of our passports and other ID, actual pictures of us, our house, our neighbourhood, our extended families, etc...
We have been waiting anxiously for this update, as our file was received at Foreign Affairs in October and we were told they were 'finished' with it in mid- December, so it has been a bit of a wait for this first sign of movement. Regardless, we are thrilled that our file has been woken up and allowed to get some exercise!
We're unsure how long the file is expected to remain at the Consulate, but this should be the final step in Canada before our file makes the long journey over to Kazakhstan. We will be notified when the file has become air-borne.
Once it is received overseas, a few levels of the Kaz government - first the Embassy, then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) , then the Ministry of Education (MOE) reviews our paperwork. They then match us with a region, then a city/town, then a specific orphange (or 'baby house', as they call them), and then finally to at least one child who is eligible for adoption and who matches our requests. By other families' accounts, this part of the process can take anywhere from 8-10 weeks.
Then - hopefully - we will receive a LOI (letter of invitation), to come and meet a child (or a few) we have been matched with, and we hustle our buns to get there, as our appointment may be as little as 14 days after we receive the LOI. As it takes 24-30 hours just to fly into Kazakhstan from Canada, we expect this to be an intense 2 weeks as we wrap up at our jobs, prepare everything we need to take, prepare the house for our absence and coming home with a little one, and finally get on the plane to start our new adventure!
About the child/ children we would meet - the youngest age that a child can be adopted internationally from Kaz is 6-7 months old, after the government has made efforts to have the child adopted domestically. Most of the other blogs I've been following have been about children 10-14 months old, so this is more what we're expecting. We have requested to adopt one child - boy or girl, of any ethnic mix, as young as possible and as healthy as possible. From the pictures I've seen from other families, the ethnic mix could be a full 'Kazakh' look, a look of mixed Asian/ Caucasian, or a full Caucasian look. We've left all on the table, and we believe completely that the universe will lead us to the child that was meant to be in our family!
About the area(s) of the country - Canadian families can be sent to one of three regions in Kaz - Astana (the new capital city), Almaty (the old capital city), and one other area (I can't remember the name right now). (*April update - see newer blog entry*)
The reason we can only be sent to certain areas is that we'll need to be near one of the Canadian Embassy doctors, as one of the steps while we're there is to have the child looked over by a Canadian representative, to be sure s/he is healthy enough to be brought into Canada.
We expect to remain in Kazakhstan for around 8-9 weeks. This is divided into phases of approx 2 weeks each:
1) The first 15 days after we meet the child we've fallen in love with, is called the 'bonding period'. We'll visit with the child at the baby house every day for 1-2 hours, then arrange for a checkup with the Canadian doctor through the Embassy. This doctor's report gets sent to London, England to be approved (not sure why?).
2) Then we'll request a court date to request permission to adopt this child. Getting a court date can take 1-2 weeks, during which time we still visit every day.
3) After a successful court appearance, there is another mandatory 15 day waiting period, when any remaining birth relatives can come forward to appeal the adoption/ claim the child - we understand this is very rare. And yes we'll still visit our baby every day.
4) After this waiting period we are 'officially' the child's parents, and we'll be allowed to have custody for some/ all of our remaining time in the country. (YAY!)
5) The last stretch is the final flurry of paperwork we need to remove the child from Kaz and return to Canada - we'll apply for a new birth certificate (with our names as parents- yay!), visa, passport , and we'll see the Canadian doctor again - this part takes 1-2 weeks as well.
6) We come home as a family !!
Kazakhstan is viewed within the International Adoption (IA) circles as a country that takes fantastic care of their children - the baby houses are well-staffed with caring people, the babies are given as much nurturing and interaction as time allows, while keeping them on a fairly rigid eating and sleeping schedule, and the children seem to be fairly healthy and happy.
I've added a few links to this blogpage (if I can figure out how to do it properly), with information about Kazakhstan, what time it is there (11-12 hours ahead of Canadian central time, as they do not follow daylight savings time), and anything else we think will be of interest.
Please feel free to leave comments or questions on this site, and we'll do our best to keep everyone updated.
If you don't already have a Google/Blogger account, select to send your comments as 'Anonymous' and you won't have to log in before sending a comment (be sure to leave your name in this case, so we know who it's from). You may need to type in a 'security' word before you click the 'Publish' button - this is to help reduce the amount of spam left on the blog.
Also just so you know, everyone can see everyone else's comments; if you want to send us a private comment/question, please send an email.
Thanks again for following along this far!
Take care, lots of love-
Paul and Nicole
This entry is a long one, to get everyone caught up - so grab a drink and get comfy!
So - to answer 'what's going on?' - on March 7 we received word from our agency director that our file has cleared Canada's Foreign Affairs authentication, has been translated into Russian, and has now moved to the Kazakhstan Consulate for Canada office in Toronto, to be authenticated there. (*April update - see newer blog entry*)
This file contains all of our adoption paperwork, including application forms, letters from us saying why we'd like to adopt a child from Kazakhstan, reference letters from our friends/ family, government clearance forms, employment records, medical records, copies of our passports and other ID, actual pictures of us, our house, our neighbourhood, our extended families, etc...
We have been waiting anxiously for this update, as our file was received at Foreign Affairs in October and we were told they were 'finished' with it in mid- December, so it has been a bit of a wait for this first sign of movement. Regardless, we are thrilled that our file has been woken up and allowed to get some exercise!
We're unsure how long the file is expected to remain at the Consulate, but this should be the final step in Canada before our file makes the long journey over to Kazakhstan. We will be notified when the file has become air-borne.
Once it is received overseas, a few levels of the Kaz government - first the Embassy, then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) , then the Ministry of Education (MOE) reviews our paperwork. They then match us with a region, then a city/town, then a specific orphange (or 'baby house', as they call them), and then finally to at least one child who is eligible for adoption and who matches our requests. By other families' accounts, this part of the process can take anywhere from 8-10 weeks.
Then - hopefully - we will receive a LOI (letter of invitation), to come and meet a child (or a few) we have been matched with, and we hustle our buns to get there, as our appointment may be as little as 14 days after we receive the LOI. As it takes 24-30 hours just to fly into Kazakhstan from Canada, we expect this to be an intense 2 weeks as we wrap up at our jobs, prepare everything we need to take, prepare the house for our absence and coming home with a little one, and finally get on the plane to start our new adventure!
About the child/ children we would meet - the youngest age that a child can be adopted internationally from Kaz is 6-7 months old, after the government has made efforts to have the child adopted domestically. Most of the other blogs I've been following have been about children 10-14 months old, so this is more what we're expecting. We have requested to adopt one child - boy or girl, of any ethnic mix, as young as possible and as healthy as possible. From the pictures I've seen from other families, the ethnic mix could be a full 'Kazakh' look, a look of mixed Asian/ Caucasian, or a full Caucasian look. We've left all on the table, and we believe completely that the universe will lead us to the child that was meant to be in our family!
About the area(s) of the country - Canadian families can be sent to one of three regions in Kaz - Astana (the new capital city), Almaty (the old capital city), and one other area (I can't remember the name right now). (*April update - see newer blog entry*)
The reason we can only be sent to certain areas is that we'll need to be near one of the Canadian Embassy doctors, as one of the steps while we're there is to have the child looked over by a Canadian representative, to be sure s/he is healthy enough to be brought into Canada.
We expect to remain in Kazakhstan for around 8-9 weeks. This is divided into phases of approx 2 weeks each:
1) The first 15 days after we meet the child we've fallen in love with, is called the 'bonding period'. We'll visit with the child at the baby house every day for 1-2 hours, then arrange for a checkup with the Canadian doctor through the Embassy. This doctor's report gets sent to London, England to be approved (not sure why?).
2) Then we'll request a court date to request permission to adopt this child. Getting a court date can take 1-2 weeks, during which time we still visit every day.
3) After a successful court appearance, there is another mandatory 15 day waiting period, when any remaining birth relatives can come forward to appeal the adoption/ claim the child - we understand this is very rare. And yes we'll still visit our baby every day.
4) After this waiting period we are 'officially' the child's parents, and we'll be allowed to have custody for some/ all of our remaining time in the country. (YAY!)
5) The last stretch is the final flurry of paperwork we need to remove the child from Kaz and return to Canada - we'll apply for a new birth certificate (with our names as parents- yay!), visa, passport , and we'll see the Canadian doctor again - this part takes 1-2 weeks as well.
6) We come home as a family !!
Kazakhstan is viewed within the International Adoption (IA) circles as a country that takes fantastic care of their children - the baby houses are well-staffed with caring people, the babies are given as much nurturing and interaction as time allows, while keeping them on a fairly rigid eating and sleeping schedule, and the children seem to be fairly healthy and happy.
I've added a few links to this blogpage (if I can figure out how to do it properly), with information about Kazakhstan, what time it is there (11-12 hours ahead of Canadian central time, as they do not follow daylight savings time), and anything else we think will be of interest.
Please feel free to leave comments or questions on this site, and we'll do our best to keep everyone updated.
If you don't already have a Google/Blogger account, select to send your comments as 'Anonymous' and you won't have to log in before sending a comment (be sure to leave your name in this case, so we know who it's from). You may need to type in a 'security' word before you click the 'Publish' button - this is to help reduce the amount of spam left on the blog.
Also just so you know, everyone can see everyone else's comments; if you want to send us a private comment/question, please send an email.
Thanks again for following along this far!
Take care, lots of love-
Paul and Nicole
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.JPG)
