Another day in the elevator...

Early in the morning we went on a nice walk to a monument that we later found out was a memorial to those who suffered in WWII. There was a nice view of the, no, not the abandoned space ship, it's really the building that houses the year-round circus show.

A nice visit with baby Brady today. We had to share the ball
room with another family so they went outside first and we played inside first. Owen had a blast bowling again and the baby was crawling everywhere. When we went outside, he seemed so sleepy. Nothing like a nice sunny, warm day after the rain. Here's the front of the baby house and Owen enjoying the rocking seat with the other equipment in the background.

After our walk around the monument, we were on our way to our apartment on the fourth floor to have our snack and get the things for baby Brady when --- the electricity went out in the elevator. Suddenly it was pitch black and we weren't moving. Boy, was I glad Michael was there and I was glad for my compulsive paranoia about getting stuck in places that I had previously checked out the alarm button. I started pushing that while Michael opened the inside door to get a little light in. We kept calling out and knocking on the door until someone came. It was our neighbor who then when to get her English/Russian dictionary. Poor Michael,with all his fabulous Russian, didn't know "Help!" or "The elevator is stuck." Finally he told her that our translator was downstairs in the white van and she went to get her. They used a tool to open the door and we easily climbed out. We were in there about 30 minutes. Thank goodness for kind neighbors who helped us - we'll have Owen draw a picture for them later. I was a bit scared but Owen thought it was "very exciting!" Did I take the elevator later in the day after going to the market? Sure, wouldn't you??

(posted by Eileen)

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Fountains of Fun

Weather forcast was for rain and it sure did - lots of thunder
and lightning during the night. In the morning it was chilly but not rainy, so we braved the huge puddles in the road and sidewalks for a walk to a big fountain near our house.

Where there's art, Michael will frame it.

Our visit with baby Brady was good. He smiled right away when the caregiver brought him in. I think he recognizes us. We were in the ball room again and Owen found some plastic bowling pins so he was bowling quite a bit.

We went to a new restaurant after the visit and had some traditional foods. I don't know what I ate, but it was all good. Aijana wanted to take us all to an art musuem after lunch (at 4pm) but we all were tired so she just brought us back. We have our driver, Dima, until 8pm so Aijana always offers to take us more places but we are always happy to get home. That baby wears us out!

(posted by Eileen)

Days are Flying

The days are just flying by. When you don't start your day until 11:30, it's over before you know it. We usually get up, hang around the house, have breakfast, Owen takes a bath for about an hour, then we go to the orphanage until 2. Then we go out to lunch and maybe do a few errands or sightseeing and come home about 5. Since we eat a late lunch, we usually just have cheese and fruit and veggies for a snack instead of dinner. Owen goes to bed, Michael works, and I read or work on the blog.

Today was our 1/2 point of visiting baby Brady. We do 14 days before we can get our court date. I feel like we've been here a lot longer than a week.

After lunch at a terrific Turkish place (brought me back to the Iskander I had while visiting Michael in Istanbul) we went to a new grocery store. Here we are on the walk back to the apartment, all along the river. On the left is Aijana, our translator.


(posted by Eileen)

Baby visit and a nice dinner

We had a nice visit with baby Brady yesterday.

There are different rooms in the baby house where they put you for your visit and sometimes we have to share. That doesn't work well, the babies are so interested in each other, we spend the whole time trying to get his attention but whatever we do, gets the other baby's attention, too.

There are two rooms we've used. The music room doesn't have a lot of toys, but it has a piano and lots of room to crawl around. The "ball room" as we call it, has tons of balls, with a ball pit. Owen loves the big ball that Michael rolls to him and he pretends it knocks him over into the bouncy thing. Take a look.





Last night, I had dinner with some of the other American folks here adopting. Jen's husband, Rob, stayed home, so she and I walked about 10 minutes to the meeting place, the horse statue by the river. There we met Gretchen, a single parent from PA and her Aunt Susan, and Eric and Natalie from Virginia. We walked to the Oasis, a restaurant with not only a menu in Enlgish, but a non-smoking floor upstairs. We had a grand time, comparing notes and stories. Gretchen has her court date next Monday, May 22 and will be flying home and returning after the waiting period of 15 days. Eric and Natalie arrived the same day we did so they'll be on the same schedule as us. Rob and Eric, Michael and Owen will all be returning after court, so it'll be nice to have Jen and Natalie to hang out with.

When we do it again, Michael can go have dinner while Owen and I stay here.

(post by Eileen)

No blowing allowed.

Well, it stopped raining in the afternoon, so Michael and Owen got a walk in the park after all.



This sign (on the left) is my favorite. I assume it means "No blowing your car horn allowed", but it really cracks me up. Eileen thinks maybe it means "No marching band practice allowed".

It's raining in Astana

Today it's raining, so no walk in the park. Michael decided to try to make some art:





Owen knew what he wanted to do: play on the computer.



Eventually, we dragged him away and made him take a bath.



He loved that bath so much, he stayed in for an hour, giving Eileen some time to catch up on her crossword.



Now we're off to visit the baby...

No Ballet For You

Michael was hoping to check out the Astana Ballet to get some real Russian-influenced ballet. Today we stopped by the theater where they dance. Their next show is June 21st.

Oh well. Next time we're in Kazakhstan.

Sunday in the Aquarium with the Bradys

Sunday afternoon, we went to the aquarium. Outside were some lovely tulips.



Here's Owen in the tulips with some of that famous Astana construction behind him.



We were very impressed with the Aquarium. It had a huge tank that you walked through in a tunnel. You actually had sharks swimming over your head (which creeped Michael out a little). Eileen announced that as a veteran of many aquariums, she thought the tunnel was a great idea.


And, as a sign pointed out to us, we were in the only Aquarium in the world over 3000 km from an ocean.

Here's the mandatory "funny English" picture that everyone who travels has to post:



Outside they had a paddle boat that Owen wanted to try. It was pretty fun.



Dad tried to get Owen to spin his boat in place by spining one paddle forwards and the other backwards at the same time, but that turned out to be beyond four-year-old eye-hand coordination.



And here we are outside the Aquarium, the happy family.



(This entry was written by Michael).

Cheap and Cheerful

At lunch we decided to try the deserts that the cafe had to offer. All this for only 200 Tenge (about $2.00). Yum!

The Bishop

Today we went to the 11:00 service at the Catholic church in Astana. Except it wasn't just a Catholic church. It turned out it was a cathedral, even though it was a tiny church that only held 100 people or so. The Bishop said Mass. Owen asked why he had a big hat and was carrying a stick. Two altar boys held his hat and staff, but they weren't allowed to touch them. They had to cover their hands with spotless white cloths before they touched the hat and staff.

Speaking of altar boys, they were all boys. No girls. I guess the “altar girl” revolution hasn't made it to Kazakhstan.

Mass in Russian was a hoot. Luckily, the priest who gave the sermon was visiting from another country and didn't speak very good Russian, so he spoke slowly and simply enough that Michael was able to understand lots of what he said.

We were also lucky that the Catholic Mass is so structured that we were able to speak along in English as everyone else spoke Russian. The Russian songs we didn't get to sing much of, but the Latin ones were easy. We all knew “Gloria in excelcis Deo” from Christmas time. At the end of Mass all the children came up to be blessed by the Bishop, then all the mothers. Owen was too scared to go up, but Eileen went up with the women.

At least we *hope* she got blessed by the Bishop. He could have been saying anything, really. We couldn't understand him.

(This entry was written by Michael).

The Ride Home

Chris asked for some pictures of Astana, so here's a few I snapped on the drive home today. Fifteen years ago, Astana was a sleepy provincial town. Suddenly, the president announced he was making it the capital. That means they needed lots of new buildings fast. Now Astana is famous for having construction everywhere.

There always seem to be cranes in the background.




Here are some workers creating the capital of tomorrow.



Here are some buildings going up near where we live.



And here we are headed down a street near our house.



Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

More Details of Our New Baby!

Last night when I was doing laundry, I broke the handle to the washer so Michael and Owen stayed home this morning to wait for the repairman. I couldn't believe it when he told me later that they showed up 30 minutes after our translator, Aizhan called and they were very professional. She was worried that they would over charge Michael because he's an American, but they didn't.

I had gone on to visit the baby and Michael and Owen joined me there later. We received the medical reports yesterday on the baby. He was just over 7 lbs at birth and is now 18 1/2 lbs. He was 19 1/2 in long at birth and is now 27 1/2 in. His birthday is August 3. They will ask us what we want to put down on the birth certificate - birthdate and place of birth. Appartantly we can change it if we want. What a hoot! We are still mulling over names. He has brown hair and brown eyes. He's feeling better today from his cold so he was a bit more active. He has three teeth, two on the bottom and one on top. He can crawl very well, turn over and pull himself to a standing position from the floor. His caregiver says he can walk while supporting himself but we haven't seen that yet. We'll be posting photos after the court date.

We have Internet access in our apartment. Yippee! First they said it would be about $2000 per month, then they said it was impossible. Then they said we could get an I-card, like a phone card so that's what we did. Just in time, too, because Michael has been working a lot and needed to do his timecard and upload his work. We were all surprised when it worked so well on the first try. It's much cheaper than the Internet cafe and not much slower. Now I can add more photos since before it was difficult to get my photos to the Internet cafe.

So, here are some from today. After the orphanage visit, we went to lunch at the mall. Here's the hallway, all glass booths which close and open whenever the owner chooses. Today we bought a frying pan, some sponges, paper and hand lotion. Michael's Russian is getting a workout, but he didn't know hand lotion. Thankfully Aizhan was near to help us out.In the basement of the mall, there's the food market. The produce stands are filled with terrific fruits and nuts. The shopkeepers there all shout at you trying to get you to buy their products. I had heard stories about the butchers here, that the meat is hanging from hooks, unrefrigerated so I was surprised to see some nice refrigerated cases full of delicious looking meat. But, I spoke too soon - as we turned down one hallway, we saw the meat hooks. They do a good business,but not from us.It was another day of doing errands for 3 hours after visiting the baby and Owen didn't complain at all. He and the driver, Dima are becoming good friends. At one stop, Dima motioned for Owen to get out of the car so they could play in the sprinkler.It's 8:30pm here and it's so bright outside. Our latitude is equal to Calgary, so we're pretty far north. Owen doesn't really understand why he has to go to bed when it's so light outside, but usually he's so tuckered out, he doesn't care.Good night, everyone.

Apartment Photos

Here are a few shots of our apartment. Michael's doing dishes (don't mind the pjs) in our small kitchen. It has a fun bench and table setup that we enjoy.Our one bathroom is huge (the other is just a toilet and sink - that's the kid's bathroom,
Owen says) and our washer is in it. Notice the nice new handle.

Our living room is also huge. There's the table where I work on the blog and you can see the
TV with cable that we don't watch. The landlords were very excited to tell us we had CNN and
Discovery in English. If we get desparate, Owen can watch some Russian cartoons. The door on
the right goes out to the porch which wraps around to the kitchen so we get some nice
breezes. The weather is just great, not too hot at all.

A word about comments. Perhaps some readers out there don't know you can post comments for us to read. We'd love to hear from you! At the end of the entry, you'll see "Comments" on the right side. Just click on that and you'll see a box to write something for us. If you want more details of anything, or certain photos, let us know.

Our Apartment

We have an apartment. Yesterday after the orphanage, we went to look at 3 places. Ayjan (our translator) thought it'd be best for Owen not to go along, so the driver, Dima said he'd wait with Owen in the van. Owen asked him if he spoke English and Dima said no but that didn't stop Owen from talking non-stop to Dima. Owen read two Mr. books from the Mr. Men series. Dima was very impressed that he could read them. Then they switched books and Dima read a Mr. book and Owen read a magazine in Russian. They got along very well.

We found a nice Western place but really liked the more Soviet looking apartment. It's huge with two bathrooms, one bedroom and two balconies. It's pretty dusty outside because of all the construction around town so the balconies are glassed in with a few windows that open. Still it adds a lot of light.

We have a phone number but of course I didn't right it down so I'll post it later, if anyone is feeling adventurous enough to call. We are hoping to get internet access soon so we can post from home. Now, I am using a flash drive from Jen.(the woman from PA who arrived the week before we did.)

Here's Owen and me in front of our hotel. It was a great location and a terrific room. We are now just down the street but we don't have the view anymore. In the hotel, we were facing the river. Here's a picture of our view out the window.

Now, our apartment is on the river, but we are in the back of the building. All our views are of other tall apartment buildings and a few construction sites.

We saw the same baby yesterday. He still has a cold and was wheezing a lot. He also had a lot of red dots on his face from an allergy to some medicine they gave him. They're saying he's allergic to citrus and a few other things so we'll have to get that info. We have taken photos, but I think we can't post them until after court. We are still checking on that. Today (Friday) will be Day 4 of 14 of the bonding period. After that, we will have our court day. Michael and Owen could be home by June 1. Then there's the 15 day waiting period before the baby and I can travel to Almaty to visit the US Embassy to get his passport and visa.

We are hoping to get into a routine now that we're in the apartment. Poor Owen has had to sit during meetings in Russian, wait in the van and do errands. Quite a switch for a boy whose whole life has been centered on kid-friendly activities. He's with Michael now, in the park across the street playing frisbee.

Hello from Astana!

Hello everyone. We arrived safely and it's been a busy couple of days. I'm at an Internet cafe now but only have a short time before we're off. I have two very nice detailed blogs on my laptop back at the hotel but haven't figured out how to get them uploaded here. Hopefully the apartment will have access so I can post from home and include photos.

We had a nice journey here, lots of sleeping on the planes. We arrived and were picked up at the airport and driven to the hotel. It's a great hotel and I'll be sorry to leave it but it'll be nice to have a kitchen. We're looking at apartments today.

Our hotel is next to the river and it's just beautiful. There are a few motorboats a day and you can rent paddleboats. Across the river is a huge park and an amusement park attached. It was open for the holiday Tuesday but I think it won't open again until summer. The weather is wonderful, we don't need jackets now and it's sunny. I'm hoping the apartment will be in the same area.

The first day we were here was a national holiday so all the government offices were closed. We went to a celebration (Kazakhstan's freedom from Germany after WWII) and saw a band and old tanks and trucks. We did a little shopping - I was told all the women wear only skirts but it's not the case at all. I had to buy another pair of pants and probably won't wear skirts much at all.

Yesterday (Wed) we went to the baby house - called orphange here and saw three babies. It looks like the one that will join our family is a boy, age 9 months. It's a long story and I'll give more details later, but we really liked another one and were all set when we learned there's a problem with his paperwork. So, after lunch we saw the 9 month old. He has a cold and a fever so he's not really active. He's 1/2 Russian and 1/2 Caucausion (can't remember exactly) but not Kazakh at all so he doesn 't have any Asian features. He's a cutie and hopefully when he's healthy we'll get more of an idea of his personality.

It was too late yesterday to look at apartments, so that's on tap for today.

Astana is a beautiful city, very clean and modern. The food is terrific although full of suprises. At the hotel , we get a free breakfast and Michael studied the menu before we went to translate it all for me. We were set to order but then they didn't ask us what we wanted but just brought us food. Owen loved it all - yohgurt, blinis (like crepes), kasha (like porridge) and tea. The second morning, Michael ordered but they brought different things - eggs and ham for Owen and Michael but for some reason I didn't get any. It's all a surprise and makes for a fun start to the morning.

It's so great being in a foreign country again. Although it's a mystery why, when I was in Japan, all my Spanish came out and here, all my Japanese comes out. I am remembering Japanese I haven't spoken for years. I'm working on reading the Cryllic alphabet (couldn't have started earlier, but who thought we'd actually be here??).

Owen is doing just great. He loved the babies and wanted to play with them. He's very excited to go to the babyhouse - he won't call it orphange, he says he doesn't want to say it in Russian. Haha.

I should go, but will be online soon since we now know where the Internet cafe is.

Love to all!
eileen

Travel Details

We got a request for travel details so here goes.

On Sunday, May 7th, Owen, Eileen, and Michael fly Luftansa from Los Angeles to Frankfurt (a 11-hour flight). We have a 3-hour layover, then fly from Frankfurt to Astana (a 6-hour flight).

After a few weeks, we'll have a court date, then Owen and Michael will fly home from Astana. A few weeks later, Eileen will travel to Almaty to get papers for the baby from the U.S. Embassy, then she'll fly from Almaty to Frankfurt (7 hours), and on to Los Angeles.

Michael's never been to Astana, but he lived in Almaty for a few months, so he's jealous that Eileen gets to go (but only briefly). Almaty is Kazakhstan's biggest city, nestled at the foot of the Tien Shan mountains, so you can hike around very dramatic mountains during the day, and get a good seat at the Kazakhstan national ballet for two dollars in the evening. (At least you could in 1995).

How to Handle Stress

So, how do two stressed out people handle it? By running around all week doing errands, filing paperwork, getting documents notarized, authenticated and apostilled (all for a million dollars) then...

...having a nice Cinco de Mayo dinner at a Mexican restaurant and going to see M:I:III. It was a hoot, and a nice distraction from all the hubub around here.

Owen has been talking about his little brother and sister for a few days - what he'll tell him and read to him, etc. But then today, out of the blue, he said he didn't want to be the big brother. A good lesson for us to remember that this is such a big change for him, we need to trend lightly and consider his feelings of uncertainty.

There's another couple, Jennifer and Rob who arrived in Astana last Monday and I've been in touch with them. (We have the same agency.) They have their son (a boy by request) and have found an apartment. They'll have cable internet access so that gives me hope that we'll be able to access our blog and email from our new home.

A Rose by Any Other

In a comment, Grandpa Michel asked if Matthew is still the favored name. Truth is, we've been so busy running around doing paperwork we haven't had any name discussions at all lately.

Any suggestions?

Owen used to favor "Jackie" for his baby brother's name, but I don't know what he likes these days.

Good to Go!

Well, our visas arrived in the mail today, and our FBI clearance. Put that together with the plane tickets that came yesterday (Paper tickets? That's so 1998...) and we're good to go on Sunday!

I'm a little sad that we're flying through Frankfurt to Astana. When we were going to adopt from Almaty, we were going to fly British Air to Almaty with an overnight in London. I was picturing us riding the red buses, walking around the Tower of London.

Anyone know a fun way to kill a few hours in Frankfurt (with a four-year-old)?

Getting closer

Well, we have plane tickets. And paper ones to boot! We leave Sunday, May 7 at 2:45pm from LAX. We fly direct to Frankfort, have a 3 hour layover then fly to Astana, arriving at 10:45pm. We'll be met at the airport and taken to a hotel. We'll stay at the hotel until we and the baby find each other then we'll move to an apartment. Hopefully we'll get to an internet cafe and will be able to post soon after arrival.

By the way, thanks to those who have posted comments. I think that will be so valuable when we are traveling! Thanks for the prayers and good wishes.