(Suzanne) Friday March 28 at 7:00 am, Dave dropped me off at the airport on his way to work. I flew to Washington D.C. for Yulia’s arrival at 5pm. I arrived in D.C. at 1pm, so I went to the hotel and waited. I received a call from our coordinator, Lana, who told me the flight had been delayed until 7:30 pm. This sent my mind into spin mode…”is this REALLY going to happen?” Maybe the escort, Elina, wouldn’t be able to get to the correct gate in Frankfurt, after all, she doesn’t speak English. Maybe she would have the wrong baby even if she DID arrive. How was she going to go to the bathroom traveling alone with a baby? Would she hand Yulia to a stranger who would run off with her because she is so cute? I just KNEW something was going to go wrong. I ordered room service for dinner and watched TV. Strangely, the HBO movie was Stuart Little, about a mouse adopted by a human family. I nervously paced the hotel room until around 6pm when I caught the shuttle back to the airport. A very kind Ethiopian valet spoke with me while I was waiting on the airport shuttle. He noticed my anxiety and asked me if I was OK. I told him my story. He told me he had adopted his Ethiopian niece several years ago and recalled how nervous he was waiting on her to arrive at the Dulles airport, just like me.
I arrived at the airport at 6:20 and started pacing up and down the corridors.
I met our coordinator Lana around 7:30 pm. The flight had not arrived, so we waited. Meanwhile, Nikolai or Dave called me every 10 minutes asking “Is she there yet?” Around 9pm we saw a pretty young blonde carrying a baby and looking around like she was lost. That’s her! I yelled, calling attention to the gathering crowd. Lana and I rushed to her. I expected Yulia not to recognize me or have any clue who I was, after all, our time with her in Kazakhstan was limited due to her hospitalization. It also had been 5 weeks since we last saw her. I actually expected Yulia to be attached to Elina and cry when she was handed over to me. Elina had cared for Yulia for a whole week while completing paperwork in Almaty. This would be the first time Yulia had a consistent caregiver, so it would be understandable if she didn’t want to leave Elina’s arms. I approached Yulia slowly and spoke to her softly, although it was difficult not to squeal in delight and grab her. Yulia looked right into my eyes and smiled, as if to say “Hi Mommy!”.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Counting down
(Suzanne) We have been home for two weeks and waiting to hear if an escort's visa has been approved so she can bring Yulia home. It has been a very long two weeks. We all miss her so much. Luckily, we have made friends who are there now and adopting other babies. We get updates from them on how she's doing. Today we found out the escort's visa was approved and Yulia will be home 3/28. I was so dissapointed because I had her first Easter dress all ready. Of all years, why was it this year that Easter came so early? Just as I was getting upset, I noticed am e-mail from Petro. When I opened it, there was a picture of Yulia taken today (above). Our new friend Susan from Texas took it for us. She says Yulia looks great,healthy, and smiling. Susan says she picked her up, gave her a kiss, and told her she would see Mommy and Daddy soon. Well, I guess you could imagine how appreciative that made me, so we'll just dress her up for Easter a week late and thank God when she finally gets safely home.
Friday, March 7, 2008
The rest of the Journey
Wow, it's been over a week since we arrived home. We weren't able to post for a couple of days around our court date on Feb 25th because the internet at the hotel wasn't working. Here's the rest of the journey to catch you up to date.
We went to court on Monday, February 25th, and all went well. Our petition to adopt Yulia was granted. After court, there is a 15 day waiting period before she can legally leave the Baby Home. That date will be Feb 11th. We have chosen to have her escorted to the US versus a return trip back to Kazakhstan for a week. So, that said, we are hoping she will be home in Alabama with us before the 21st, Good Friday. Suzanne plans to fly to Washington, DC at some point to get Yulia and return home.
Flight to Almaty:
Now for the rest of the travel story.... We left Petropavlovsk on Wed morning, the 27th, flying to Almaty, the former capital on the opposite southern border of Kazakhstan, over 900 miles away.
It had snowed on Tuesday and the winds blew the night before we left creating drifts on the roads. Oleg's car was fully loaded with luggage, Svetlana, Suzanne, Nikolia, and me. He would get a running start heading into some of the drifts where the snow was real deep and chosing his spot so we would almost go airborne when hitting them! There was a couple of times I wasn't sure we'd make it to the airport. The winds had to be blowing at 50-60 mph! After getting our tickets and checking the luggage, we waited in the terminal for the flight time. The airport terminal was NOT heated!! After an hour or so, we had to walk outside about 75 yds or so to the plane, a YAK-40, whatever that is! The wind was blowing so hard, you had to turn your face away from the wind, plus just behind the plane there was a V-shaped drift about 10 inches deep created by the winds as it whipped around the plane. We sat in the cold plane on the runway motionless for an hour and a half! They never even started the engines. (It wasn't a jet!) The little plane shook from the wind and looking out the window, the visibililty outside was down to maybe 100 yds from the 'white-out' conditions created by the winds. I saw the fuel truck go by once, pulling another truck with a plow behind it. I guess they were plowing the runway and one of the trucks had broken down!! Are you nervous yet? I just kept telling myself these pilots fly in this stuff all the time! Sure enough, we did take off and make it to Almaty around 1 to 2pm that afternoon.
Visit to the U.S. Embassy: We went directly to the Embassy in Almaty to do some paperwork to enable an escort to take Yulia to the United States in a few weeks. They had also questioned our I-797 form. The embassy had not received the updated copy showing our fingerprints had been updated. Hopefully, it will all be taken care of in advance to Yulia's arrival in a few weeks at the embassy.
The Grand Eurasia Hotel: Peeeee UUUU!
Since our flight out of Almaty to begin our trip home didn't leave until 2:45am, we checked into a hotel across the street from the embassy, The Grand Eurasia Hotel. So from 5pm until 12 midnight, we had a place to nap, shower, and get a bite of supper before the 30+ hours trip home. Try 29,000 Tenge for 7 hours!! That's like $ 246 USD!! Ouch! The lobby was very nice and modern. A bellman took our bags up to the room for us. The room was nice by western standards with a king-size bed. They called it a French bed? Huh? Whatever it was, when I sat on it, I almost broke my tailbone!! I swear this bed was nothing more than a plywood box with a quilt on top of it!! I tried to take a nap. NOT!! Showers and a fresh change of clothes were in the plans for sure. Weeellllll, that bathroom stunk to high heaven! Peeewww! Suzanne braved the shower first. It leaked all over the floor. Then, the shower head fell off the hook at the top and hit her in the head!! They hook thing was broken!! I wonder what a Kazakh personal injury lawyer would cost!! Ha!
But wait! There's more! You gotta read this!!
It was my turn for a shower now and Suzanne and Nikolai were leaving the room for something. I was about to start the water when I heard the key in the lock and them coming back. We had some trouble with the key earlier and it sounding like it wasn't opening, so with nothing more that a tee shirt and my underwear on, I opened the bathroom door which was by the main entrance to open it for them. As I opened the bathroom door, I was met by a young Kazak maid with a roll of toilet paper in her hand. She was opening the bathroom door at the same time I was and we met literally face to face! I don't know which one of us was more shocked!! It's comical now. Well, my jaw dropped, she shrieked and shoved the toilet paper into my chest, looked down to check "the" package, threw her hands over her mouth and ran past Suzanne and Nikolai down the hall laughing and jabbering in Kazak or Russian!! Suzanne and Nikolai were just standing there laughing too and all I could do is shout, "What the hell is going on?" After my injury or insult had subsided, we all laughed. Turns out Suzanne was trying to tell the maid that we were out of toilet paper. Eager to please, the young lady upon realizing what Suzanne was talking about, ran down the hall with the toilet paper and key in her hand with Suzanne and Nikolai running after her trying to stop her!! I can imagine her surprise when she saw me standing there! I'm just thankful I had some clothes on!! She might have died from laughter if that was the case!!
The power's out now!! (Later that evening at the Grand Eurasia....)
After an underwelming evening at the Grand Eurasia, I'm laying on the 'French' bed trying to catch a nap and Suzanne was packing something. The TV was on with something in English (BBC World). Suddenly the power went out!! Lights, TV, everthing!! It was real dark. At first we thought Nikolai had turned out the lights, since he was standing by the entrance door and near light switch. Suzanne said, "Nikolai, turn on the lights, please." No response.... silence.
Again, "Nikolai, turn on the lights!" Another long pause with no response from Nikolai. "Nikolai, get over here!" Then, a response, "I didn't do it." in a faint voice. Suzanne realized the TV wasn't on either and said she thought the power was out. I muttered, "Oh no, don't tell me the power is out now. What else can go wrong in this hotel!?" I opened the curtains to get a little light in the room. Here's what happened.... There was a slot over by the door for those card type keys that are used for hotel doors nowadays. This slot had a note above it stating that the card must be inserted to activate the power for the room. I suppose it's an energy saving devise, who knows? They had stuffed a piece of cardboard into the slot to keep the power to the room on at all times without using the key. Guess WHO was curious enough to pull it out of the slot?
You guessed it.... Mr., "I didn't do it", Nikolai.
Oh yea, true to form, Nikolai fell asleep (finally) just before we had to leave the hotel and had to be carried all the way to the terminal and woke up as we were boarding the plane.
Needless to say our seven hours at the Grand Eurasia were very eventful before the long trip home. We left at 12 midnight for the airport and our flight on Lufthansa leaving at 2:45am.
Frankfurt, Germany and home sweet home:
We were on that plane from Almaty, to Astana, to Frankfurt, Germany for something like 8 or 9 hours!! It stopped in Astana and we must have sat there for well over an hour. Going west and through 5 time zones, we were chasing the night and the sun kept trying to catch us. That darn Lufthansa flight didn't have any video or movies!! It didn't matter much because it was night time and most people were asleep. We spent a few more hours with Tom and Kristen from Cape Cod at the McDonald's at the Frankfurt Airport. They boarded our plane in Astana, KZ.
Next stop, the good ol' USA!! This time our United Airlines flight had video screens in the headrest of the seats in front of each seat, so we watched 3 movies on the 7.5 hr flight to Washington -Dulles. It makes the flight seem a lot shorter!! Oh yea, another 7 time zones.... I think?
Welcome to the USA:
Everything went like clockwork so far on the trip back. So far that is.... until we got back to the good ol' USA!! There are two Customs areas for entry. One for people ending their trip in Washington and one for those transferring on to other flights in the US through the airport. Since we were transferring on to Birmingham in a couple of hours, we went through that Customs area. There was an area for our luggage to be claimed & rechecked right there in Customs, which was a tremendous convenience. Thus, we'd not have to bother with the main security lines again and just stay within the airport area for our connecting flight.
We went through Customs fine, got the baggage claim and NO BAGS!! After traveling for 24 hours straight, I was in no mood for this. Our bags were 'short checked', meaning checked only to Washington. We had to go to a different floor and through customs again and then take a shuttle to the main terminal to claim our bags there. Problem was, we had to take all our bags and recheck them in the main terminal and had a little over an hour until our final leg for Birmingham was to leave. We had to take a shuttle from Customs to the baggage claim area and waited for close to 15 minutes because there weren't enough people on it and they were waiting on the next incoming flight! We walk out of baggage claim and the United baggage re-check and ticketing desk is literally on the opposite end of Washington Dulles Airport!! I ran with a push cart from one end of the terminal to the other. It looked like a mile long, but was probably only a half a mile. Poor Nikolai and Suzanne were trying to catch up with me and we were all huffing and puffing when we go there. There were a couple of dozen lines and all of them were packed!! We got our bags checked with 45 minutes to go until our plane left. Ah, we might make it! NOT! We walked around the corner to go through security. There were four lines and we couldn't even see where they went or the familiar check points with metal detectors. I walked ahead while Suzanne and Nikolai waited in line. I walked... and walked. Then I saw where we were going. There were four or five more lines coming in from the opposite end also!! Each end met in the middle of the terminal to enter and must have been more than 100 ft long each!! Remember folks, this is WASHINGTON, DC!! The nations capital. Talk about security. I just knew at that point, we'd be spending the night in Washington and not get home. We made it through security with 15 minutes to go. We might just make it! There's a chance!! Home, sweet, home at last! I can hear Lynrd Skynrd playing, 'Sweet Home, Alabama'!! Dang, we have to take one of those shuttle things to Terminal A. It takes for-ev-errrrr! We get to Terminal A.... 5 minutes to flight departure! I take off to hold the plane doing my best O.J. Simpson impression in an airport. No, I didn't have a white Bronco! That's for all you old folks that remember Simpson's commericals for AVIS. I made it!!! I made it!!! Two minutes to spare!! "Hold the plane", I yelled!! "What flight are you on, sir?", the lady taking tickets asked. "Birmingham." "This flight is boarding for Charleston", she said. My mouth hung in shock. Where is MY plane? It's late and now scheduled for an hour later!! To make an already long story longer, we waited another 3 hours for take off to Birmingham and arrived so late in Birmingham that when Suzanne's mother, Norma and brother, Keith came to pick us up our flight wasn't even on the Birmingham Airport 'arrivals' board!! Finally, after somewhere around 33 hours, we're home!! It's 9:30 pm on Thursday night, 2/28. Ahhhh, I love my bed.....
We went to court on Monday, February 25th, and all went well. Our petition to adopt Yulia was granted. After court, there is a 15 day waiting period before she can legally leave the Baby Home. That date will be Feb 11th. We have chosen to have her escorted to the US versus a return trip back to Kazakhstan for a week. So, that said, we are hoping she will be home in Alabama with us before the 21st, Good Friday. Suzanne plans to fly to Washington, DC at some point to get Yulia and return home.
Flight to Almaty:
Now for the rest of the travel story.... We left Petropavlovsk on Wed morning, the 27th, flying to Almaty, the former capital on the opposite southern border of Kazakhstan, over 900 miles away.
It had snowed on Tuesday and the winds blew the night before we left creating drifts on the roads. Oleg's car was fully loaded with luggage, Svetlana, Suzanne, Nikolia, and me. He would get a running start heading into some of the drifts where the snow was real deep and chosing his spot so we would almost go airborne when hitting them! There was a couple of times I wasn't sure we'd make it to the airport. The winds had to be blowing at 50-60 mph! After getting our tickets and checking the luggage, we waited in the terminal for the flight time. The airport terminal was NOT heated!! After an hour or so, we had to walk outside about 75 yds or so to the plane, a YAK-40, whatever that is! The wind was blowing so hard, you had to turn your face away from the wind, plus just behind the plane there was a V-shaped drift about 10 inches deep created by the winds as it whipped around the plane. We sat in the cold plane on the runway motionless for an hour and a half! They never even started the engines. (It wasn't a jet!) The little plane shook from the wind and looking out the window, the visibililty outside was down to maybe 100 yds from the 'white-out' conditions created by the winds. I saw the fuel truck go by once, pulling another truck with a plow behind it. I guess they were plowing the runway and one of the trucks had broken down!! Are you nervous yet? I just kept telling myself these pilots fly in this stuff all the time! Sure enough, we did take off and make it to Almaty around 1 to 2pm that afternoon.
Visit to the U.S. Embassy: We went directly to the Embassy in Almaty to do some paperwork to enable an escort to take Yulia to the United States in a few weeks. They had also questioned our I-797 form. The embassy had not received the updated copy showing our fingerprints had been updated. Hopefully, it will all be taken care of in advance to Yulia's arrival in a few weeks at the embassy.
The Grand Eurasia Hotel: Peeeee UUUU!
Since our flight out of Almaty to begin our trip home didn't leave until 2:45am, we checked into a hotel across the street from the embassy, The Grand Eurasia Hotel. So from 5pm until 12 midnight, we had a place to nap, shower, and get a bite of supper before the 30+ hours trip home. Try 29,000 Tenge for 7 hours!! That's like $ 246 USD!! Ouch! The lobby was very nice and modern. A bellman took our bags up to the room for us. The room was nice by western standards with a king-size bed. They called it a French bed? Huh? Whatever it was, when I sat on it, I almost broke my tailbone!! I swear this bed was nothing more than a plywood box with a quilt on top of it!! I tried to take a nap. NOT!! Showers and a fresh change of clothes were in the plans for sure. Weeellllll, that bathroom stunk to high heaven! Peeewww! Suzanne braved the shower first. It leaked all over the floor. Then, the shower head fell off the hook at the top and hit her in the head!! They hook thing was broken!! I wonder what a Kazakh personal injury lawyer would cost!! Ha!
But wait! There's more! You gotta read this!!
It was my turn for a shower now and Suzanne and Nikolai were leaving the room for something. I was about to start the water when I heard the key in the lock and them coming back. We had some trouble with the key earlier and it sounding like it wasn't opening, so with nothing more that a tee shirt and my underwear on, I opened the bathroom door which was by the main entrance to open it for them. As I opened the bathroom door, I was met by a young Kazak maid with a roll of toilet paper in her hand. She was opening the bathroom door at the same time I was and we met literally face to face! I don't know which one of us was more shocked!! It's comical now. Well, my jaw dropped, she shrieked and shoved the toilet paper into my chest, looked down to check "the" package, threw her hands over her mouth and ran past Suzanne and Nikolai down the hall laughing and jabbering in Kazak or Russian!! Suzanne and Nikolai were just standing there laughing too and all I could do is shout, "What the hell is going on?" After my injury or insult had subsided, we all laughed. Turns out Suzanne was trying to tell the maid that we were out of toilet paper. Eager to please, the young lady upon realizing what Suzanne was talking about, ran down the hall with the toilet paper and key in her hand with Suzanne and Nikolai running after her trying to stop her!! I can imagine her surprise when she saw me standing there! I'm just thankful I had some clothes on!! She might have died from laughter if that was the case!!
The power's out now!! (Later that evening at the Grand Eurasia....)
After an underwelming evening at the Grand Eurasia, I'm laying on the 'French' bed trying to catch a nap and Suzanne was packing something. The TV was on with something in English (BBC World). Suddenly the power went out!! Lights, TV, everthing!! It was real dark. At first we thought Nikolai had turned out the lights, since he was standing by the entrance door and near light switch. Suzanne said, "Nikolai, turn on the lights, please." No response.... silence.
Again, "Nikolai, turn on the lights!" Another long pause with no response from Nikolai. "Nikolai, get over here!" Then, a response, "I didn't do it." in a faint voice. Suzanne realized the TV wasn't on either and said she thought the power was out. I muttered, "Oh no, don't tell me the power is out now. What else can go wrong in this hotel!?" I opened the curtains to get a little light in the room. Here's what happened.... There was a slot over by the door for those card type keys that are used for hotel doors nowadays. This slot had a note above it stating that the card must be inserted to activate the power for the room. I suppose it's an energy saving devise, who knows? They had stuffed a piece of cardboard into the slot to keep the power to the room on at all times without using the key. Guess WHO was curious enough to pull it out of the slot?
You guessed it.... Mr., "I didn't do it", Nikolai.
Oh yea, true to form, Nikolai fell asleep (finally) just before we had to leave the hotel and had to be carried all the way to the terminal and woke up as we were boarding the plane.
Needless to say our seven hours at the Grand Eurasia were very eventful before the long trip home. We left at 12 midnight for the airport and our flight on Lufthansa leaving at 2:45am.
Frankfurt, Germany and home sweet home:
We were on that plane from Almaty, to Astana, to Frankfurt, Germany for something like 8 or 9 hours!! It stopped in Astana and we must have sat there for well over an hour. Going west and through 5 time zones, we were chasing the night and the sun kept trying to catch us. That darn Lufthansa flight didn't have any video or movies!! It didn't matter much because it was night time and most people were asleep. We spent a few more hours with Tom and Kristen from Cape Cod at the McDonald's at the Frankfurt Airport. They boarded our plane in Astana, KZ.
Next stop, the good ol' USA!! This time our United Airlines flight had video screens in the headrest of the seats in front of each seat, so we watched 3 movies on the 7.5 hr flight to Washington -Dulles. It makes the flight seem a lot shorter!! Oh yea, another 7 time zones.... I think?
Welcome to the USA:
Everything went like clockwork so far on the trip back. So far that is.... until we got back to the good ol' USA!! There are two Customs areas for entry. One for people ending their trip in Washington and one for those transferring on to other flights in the US through the airport. Since we were transferring on to Birmingham in a couple of hours, we went through that Customs area. There was an area for our luggage to be claimed & rechecked right there in Customs, which was a tremendous convenience. Thus, we'd not have to bother with the main security lines again and just stay within the airport area for our connecting flight.
We went through Customs fine, got the baggage claim and NO BAGS!! After traveling for 24 hours straight, I was in no mood for this. Our bags were 'short checked', meaning checked only to Washington. We had to go to a different floor and through customs again and then take a shuttle to the main terminal to claim our bags there. Problem was, we had to take all our bags and recheck them in the main terminal and had a little over an hour until our final leg for Birmingham was to leave. We had to take a shuttle from Customs to the baggage claim area and waited for close to 15 minutes because there weren't enough people on it and they were waiting on the next incoming flight! We walk out of baggage claim and the United baggage re-check and ticketing desk is literally on the opposite end of Washington Dulles Airport!! I ran with a push cart from one end of the terminal to the other. It looked like a mile long, but was probably only a half a mile. Poor Nikolai and Suzanne were trying to catch up with me and we were all huffing and puffing when we go there. There were a couple of dozen lines and all of them were packed!! We got our bags checked with 45 minutes to go until our plane left. Ah, we might make it! NOT! We walked around the corner to go through security. There were four lines and we couldn't even see where they went or the familiar check points with metal detectors. I walked ahead while Suzanne and Nikolai waited in line. I walked... and walked. Then I saw where we were going. There were four or five more lines coming in from the opposite end also!! Each end met in the middle of the terminal to enter and must have been more than 100 ft long each!! Remember folks, this is WASHINGTON, DC!! The nations capital. Talk about security. I just knew at that point, we'd be spending the night in Washington and not get home. We made it through security with 15 minutes to go. We might just make it! There's a chance!! Home, sweet, home at last! I can hear Lynrd Skynrd playing, 'Sweet Home, Alabama'!! Dang, we have to take one of those shuttle things to Terminal A. It takes for-ev-errrrr! We get to Terminal A.... 5 minutes to flight departure! I take off to hold the plane doing my best O.J. Simpson impression in an airport. No, I didn't have a white Bronco! That's for all you old folks that remember Simpson's commericals for AVIS. I made it!!! I made it!!! Two minutes to spare!! "Hold the plane", I yelled!! "What flight are you on, sir?", the lady taking tickets asked. "Birmingham." "This flight is boarding for Charleston", she said. My mouth hung in shock. Where is MY plane? It's late and now scheduled for an hour later!! To make an already long story longer, we waited another 3 hours for take off to Birmingham and arrived so late in Birmingham that when Suzanne's mother, Norma and brother, Keith came to pick us up our flight wasn't even on the Birmingham Airport 'arrivals' board!! Finally, after somewhere around 33 hours, we're home!! It's 9:30 pm on Thursday night, 2/28. Ahhhh, I love my bed.....
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
She's ours!!!!!
The internet has not been working the past 3 days. Court went great! She's ours!!! Internet is cutting in and out, so we'll post later. Leaving for home 2;45 AM on Friday
Saturday, February 23, 2008
A Kazakh,Spaniard, and American enter a bar.......
(Suzanne) Today our Spanish friends went to court and were granted custody of their daughter. They will go home tomorrow and return in 3 weeks to take her home (There is a mandatory waiting period following court. )
Later this evening as we were eating dinner, we met a Kazakh man who was here for business. Turns out he works for Proctor an Gamble distributing Mars candy bars in Kakakhstan (did you read that, Eric?) He knew only a few words of English and, like a lot of people around here, was very interested in talking to Americans. He, Dave and Nikolai went to another table to talk so I could do some work on our borrowed laptop. After a few minutes, Jaime came in and sat down with Dave, Nikolai, and our new Kazakh friend “Bek”. The scene that ensued was hilarious. One of the things I love most about Dave is his talent in communicating and making ANYBODY laugh, regardless of age, culture, or language barrier. Well, the next two hours confirmed my observations. I sat back and watched as 3 1/2 men (a Kazakh, a Spaniard, an American, and a 6 year old Russian) pantomimed, spoke in one word sentences, laughed loudly, and enjoyed each other's company for the next 2 hours. They acted as if they were long lost friends who didnt want the night to end. The night concluded when Jaime insisted we all had a shot of vodka to celebrate friendship. We all participated, even Nikolai with his apple juice. It was a night I know we'll talk about for a long time. Anna, Jaime's wife, came down to say goodbye. I always thought it was sweet how Europeans hug and then do the kiss on each side of the cheek. I hated to see them leave, especially since we were stuck here another week. I felt my eyes well up with tears . I was surprised to see Jaime and Anna well up with tears too, after all, they were going home, and I knew they were as homesick as we were! It made me realize that even with my whining about being homesick, I actually will MISS Kazakhstan. I thought about our debacle in Vienna, our daily pantomine antics, and the reason we all were here. I realized how much I have learned on this trip....that despite our different languages, kooky cultural customs, and different weird things we eat, some things are universal....kindness, laughter,a great love for our children, and friendship.
Later this evening as we were eating dinner, we met a Kazakh man who was here for business. Turns out he works for Proctor an Gamble distributing Mars candy bars in Kakakhstan (did you read that, Eric?) He knew only a few words of English and, like a lot of people around here, was very interested in talking to Americans. He, Dave and Nikolai went to another table to talk so I could do some work on our borrowed laptop. After a few minutes, Jaime came in and sat down with Dave, Nikolai, and our new Kazakh friend “Bek”. The scene that ensued was hilarious. One of the things I love most about Dave is his talent in communicating and making ANYBODY laugh, regardless of age, culture, or language barrier. Well, the next two hours confirmed my observations. I sat back and watched as 3 1/2 men (a Kazakh, a Spaniard, an American, and a 6 year old Russian) pantomimed, spoke in one word sentences, laughed loudly, and enjoyed each other's company for the next 2 hours. They acted as if they were long lost friends who didnt want the night to end. The night concluded when Jaime insisted we all had a shot of vodka to celebrate friendship. We all participated, even Nikolai with his apple juice. It was a night I know we'll talk about for a long time. Anna, Jaime's wife, came down to say goodbye. I always thought it was sweet how Europeans hug and then do the kiss on each side of the cheek. I hated to see them leave, especially since we were stuck here another week. I felt my eyes well up with tears . I was surprised to see Jaime and Anna well up with tears too, after all, they were going home, and I knew they were as homesick as we were! It made me realize that even with my whining about being homesick, I actually will MISS Kazakhstan. I thought about our debacle in Vienna, our daily pantomine antics, and the reason we all were here. I realized how much I have learned on this trip....that despite our different languages, kooky cultural customs, and different weird things we eat, some things are universal....kindness, laughter,a great love for our children, and friendship.
A day in the life...
(Suzanne) We thought we would let you in on our typical day. We wake up and go downstairs where we order breakfast. Most of the waitresses don’t speak English, so this is always an adventure. We have learned enough Russian to order food. Nikolai is terrific at learning Russian. We ask our translator how to say things, but then Dave and I usually forget how to say it by the time we need it. Not Nikolai, he can hear how to say something once, then he remembers how to use the word 4 days later. I’m not sure it’s because of his amazing memory or if he actually remembers Russian for the first 14 months of his life.
After breakfast, one of us goes to the baby home for the morning while the other stays with Nikolai for “school”. Nikolai has terrific first grade teachers at his private school, Palmerdale United Methodist church, who have put together lesson plans (Thanks Laura and Jill!). I have always thought they did an amazing job, but now I respect them more than ever! Nikolai has been a great student despite his two substitute teachers this month. Nikolai is really missing school. His teachers and classmates gave him special notes to read every day while we’re gone. I cry every time we read one of them. Our room is decorated with ALL of them! It has really helped with the homesickness which seems to grow worse the longer we are here. We love Nikolai’s school and are so lucky to have all the wonderful people who work and go to school there. We love all of you.
The short ride to the baby home is a lot of fun. We ride with a driver who only speaks Russian, a wonderful couple from Spain named Jaime (pronounced HI-MEE) and Anna who only speak Spanish, and a translator named Irena who speaks Russian, Spanish and some English. We have really enjoyed our time with Jaime and Anna. Somehow, I can’t say how, we understand each other and seem to have the same silly sense of humor. When we visit our baby, we share a playroom with them when they visit their 4 year old daughter. I never expected to learn Spanish while in Kazakhstan, but I have learned a good deal! We are always laughing with Jaime and Anna. One afternoon Nikolai went to a railroad museum with them-an afternoon with no English !
Around lunchtime we usually go out to eat somewhere and run errands like going to the grocery store, buying baby clothes, etc. or we’ll go for walks. We share our primary translator Valentina with a couple from Cape Cod, named Tom and Kristin. Tom and Kristin are adopting boy and girl bio siblings age 2 and 4.
We eat always eat supper at our hotel. The Russian food is VERY good .Then we check e-mails, play UNO with others, and find some way to pass the time. After getting the hotel bill for laundry, we decided we could wash our own clothes in the sink and hang them on the heat registers.
While most people here don’t speak English, they appreciate it and help us along when we attempt to speak Russian. Nikolai has become the mascot for the hotel, and the pretty young women who work here are always bringing him gifts. He may have trouble getting back into the real world when we get home!
After breakfast, one of us goes to the baby home for the morning while the other stays with Nikolai for “school”. Nikolai has terrific first grade teachers at his private school, Palmerdale United Methodist church, who have put together lesson plans (Thanks Laura and Jill!). I have always thought they did an amazing job, but now I respect them more than ever! Nikolai has been a great student despite his two substitute teachers this month. Nikolai is really missing school. His teachers and classmates gave him special notes to read every day while we’re gone. I cry every time we read one of them. Our room is decorated with ALL of them! It has really helped with the homesickness which seems to grow worse the longer we are here. We love Nikolai’s school and are so lucky to have all the wonderful people who work and go to school there. We love all of you.
The short ride to the baby home is a lot of fun. We ride with a driver who only speaks Russian, a wonderful couple from Spain named Jaime (pronounced HI-MEE) and Anna who only speak Spanish, and a translator named Irena who speaks Russian, Spanish and some English. We have really enjoyed our time with Jaime and Anna. Somehow, I can’t say how, we understand each other and seem to have the same silly sense of humor. When we visit our baby, we share a playroom with them when they visit their 4 year old daughter. I never expected to learn Spanish while in Kazakhstan, but I have learned a good deal! We are always laughing with Jaime and Anna. One afternoon Nikolai went to a railroad museum with them-an afternoon with no English !
Around lunchtime we usually go out to eat somewhere and run errands like going to the grocery store, buying baby clothes, etc. or we’ll go for walks. We share our primary translator Valentina with a couple from Cape Cod, named Tom and Kristin. Tom and Kristin are adopting boy and girl bio siblings age 2 and 4.
We eat always eat supper at our hotel. The Russian food is VERY good .Then we check e-mails, play UNO with others, and find some way to pass the time. After getting the hotel bill for laundry, we decided we could wash our own clothes in the sink and hang them on the heat registers.
While most people here don’t speak English, they appreciate it and help us along when we attempt to speak Russian. Nikolai has become the mascot for the hotel, and the pretty young women who work here are always bringing him gifts. He may have trouble getting back into the real world when we get home!
(Nikolai) i have 5 rubels (Russian money !!!!!) and 250 TENGE (Kazakh money)
(Suzanne) Nikolai earned 250 tenge from helping me with the laundry (thats about 2 dollars). He received the 5 rubles (about 15 cents) as a gift from the lady at the front desk.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Visit to the hospital
Today we were allowed to visit our baby at the hospital. They took us to an office and brought her in. We didnt get to go to her room. I could tell she hadn't been feeling well because she wasnt her usual playful self. She still had a cough, but it sounded loose. If she were in the states, she wouldnt be in the hospital. I think they are keeping her primarily to keep her away from the other sick babies. I dont' think she knew who we were, as it has been over a week since we've seen her. She will stay in the hospital until at least next Tuesday, so we may not get to see her before we leave. That's sad for us, but even worse for her. She'll have a stranger bring her all the way around the world to her new parents who are strangers to her and who talk funny!
When we went into the hospital, we had to check in our coats. When we returned for our coats, we noticed there were 4-5 women peeking through the window at us. Our interpreter said it was, again, because they had never seen an American. Its funny to us, because with the exception of some of the Kazakh people who are Asian, we look just like the Russians who live here! We just waved, said "Dasveedanya", and went on our way!
That evening, we heard the wind howling all night. When we woke up we had TEN new inches of snow! This morning the roads are closed (although there was no visible rush to the grocery store to buy milk and bread).
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
some good news and some bad news
We didnt hear anything about our baby today, other than she was improving. On a good note, our court date is 2/25 and then we can come home. The bad news is that we'll have to wait until 2/28 before we can leave, because there are flights out of here only on Wednesdays. The good news that we signed power of attorney paperwork so that an escort can bring the baby to us, so I wont have to come all the way back here to pick her up! She'll be home around 3/21, so she should be here by Easter! There was nothing to take a picture of today, so I'm just posting a cute one from a few weeks ago. I like how she's checking out Nikolai.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Not a good day
(Suzanne) Today I went to visit our baby. When I didnt see her in her room, I noticed our translator had a shocked look on her face. My heart sank to my knees and I felt sick. The translator told me she had been taken to the hospital because she couldnt breathe well and had a high fever. I started asking a lot of questions, none of which anyone knew the answer. They gave me a phone number and told me to go back to the hotel and have our other translator call the Dr. and find out what was going on. I went back to the hotel and had to tell Dave and Nikolai the news. We didnt have our translator's phone number and somehow asked the front desk to call her (Dave has a talent for communicating English to persons who dont speak it! ) Our translator told me she would call and find out some info for me. We didnt hear anything for 6 hours until we were picked up to go and talk to the baby home Dr. In that 6 hours I was going crazy. My mind was spinning and coming up with every conceivable serious or critical illness that could be wrong. When we finally met with the baby home Dr., we found our baby was improving and never even needed oxygen. They took her to the hospital as a precaution since she would soon be going on a long plane trip. We were so relieved! They are trying to get permission for us to visit her in the hospital, but we havent heard anything yet.
Whenever I have some difficulty, I try and think about what I can learn from it. Immediately I thought of those hispanic famiies back at Children's hospital at home. We get in a hurry and get aggravated when we have to wait on an interpreter before we speak to the family. It slows down our work. Today, I was in the same shoes they are in every day: feeling scared, vulnerable, and helpless with my precious child and not knowing anything about their illness . I will rember this experience next time I work with a family who doesnt speak English. It has been quite a lesson
So I can end the post on humorous note, I'm posting a picture of our new friend Tom. It was taken the day he ordered horse meat out of curiosity. Nikolai gobbled it down and asks for it every day! Posted is a picture of what it looks like.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Stir Crazy
(Suzanne) On Sundays we don’t have a driver our translator so we’re on our own. We decided to be Catholic for a month since it is the only church within walking distance. We don’t understand a word they say (except maybe “Christo”), so we just stand when every one else does and kneel when everyone else does. Sounds goofy, we just like being there, and no one seems to mind.
Other than that, we stayed inside all day. We were sort of tired after being kept awake all night by a lot of Russian men with big hats and cigars who had a wee bit too much vodka. We met some of them in the restaurant earlier, and they were VERY friendly (a little TOO friendly!)
We are really getting bored and stir crazy. I have read all but one of my books (and I want to save that one for the long plane ride home!), and watched almost all our DVD’s (I’m trying to ration them). We went down to the restaurant (the Russian men are either gone now or too hungover to come out of their rooms) and played UNO all afternoon with our new friends from Cape Cod. We were later joined by the other American couple here from Park City Utah. It’s really nice to be around people from home. We didnt take any pictures today, so I am posting a picture the couple from Utah gave us. It is of their baby and ours (ours is in the pink).
Other than that, we stayed inside all day. We were sort of tired after being kept awake all night by a lot of Russian men with big hats and cigars who had a wee bit too much vodka. We met some of them in the restaurant earlier, and they were VERY friendly (a little TOO friendly!)
We are really getting bored and stir crazy. I have read all but one of my books (and I want to save that one for the long plane ride home!), and watched almost all our DVD’s (I’m trying to ration them). We went down to the restaurant (the Russian men are either gone now or too hungover to come out of their rooms) and played UNO all afternoon with our new friends from Cape Cod. We were later joined by the other American couple here from Park City Utah. It’s really nice to be around people from home. We didnt take any pictures today, so I am posting a picture the couple from Utah gave us. It is of their baby and ours (ours is in the pink).
You cant take the southern out of the boy
We didn’t get to visit our baby today (Saturday 2/16). She has an upper respiratory infection and fever, so the director says she needed to rest and be away from germs the “foreigners” bring in. The baby home doesn’t receive visitors on Sunday, so we’ll have to wait till Monday until we can see her. Today we went to lunch at a pizza place, then visited a Russian Orthodox Church that dates back to the 17th century, according to our translator. It was very beautiful and ornate. The women had to cover their head to enter, and the men had to take off their hats. Their tradition is to light a candle for someone you are praying for, then the priest and church pray for all the people represented by the candles. We lit a candle for our baby and Nikolai said a prayer for her to get well and for us to all have a safe trip home. I wandered around the church for a long time admiring the artwork of the saints. Our interpreter asked me “where’s David? I looked around and couldn’t find him or Nikolai, so we opened the door to go outside. As soon as we did, we heard a loud “wooo-hooo!”. It was Dave sliding down a large snow/ice hill built by the neighborhood children. Dave said he was helping Nikolai up the slippery ice stairs, then once at the top was too scared to go back down the stairs, so he was “forced” to go down the slide!
Around the church are some brightly painted houses. They have also been there since the 17th century. They have no central heat or running water. We saw people carrying large jugs on sleds. They went to the well, filled their jugs, and took them back to their houses. I can’t imagine how cold that water must have been!
Around the church are some brightly painted houses. They have also been there since the 17th century. They have no central heat or running water. We saw people carrying large jugs on sleds. They went to the well, filled their jugs, and took them back to their houses. I can’t imagine how cold that water must have been!
Baby Home Tour
(Suzanne) February 15th, we were invited to a tour of the baby home by the Director.When we toured the Kazakh museum last week, we noticed she received a presidential award for her work in the baby home. At the baby home, I was amazed at what services they are able to provide with such limited resources. The walls of the very old building are brightly colored with hand painted animals and cartoon characters. The director states the workers spent their off days painting, and individuals in the community paid for the paint. When foreigners come to adopt from the baby home, their donations go directly to the baby home. The money collected from the 3 couples here now paid for carpeting of a new playroom. The director states "most children will grow up here and never be adopted, so we want to make it nice". She states improvements from donating adoptive families continued for years until they finally received government assistance. When they received the government assistance, they built a sauna and indoor swimming pool for the children. The children get to swim, go in the sauna, and get massages three times weekly. Every child, including the infants, receives individual speech therapy from a licensed therapist at least once weekly. They also go to group music lessons weekly. The children receive all vaccinations at the baby home and are treated for minor illnesses there. I expected a dreary place and was pleasantly surprised.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Amerikanskiy! Amerikanskiy!
(Dave) Thursday afternoon, 2/14, we took a sightseeing trip to the Petropavlovsk Botanical Gardens. Being winter, our tour was restricted to the greenhouses. The grounds outside appeared to be much larger, but covered with snow, most of the flowers and other plants they probably have in the summer were long gone and out of sight under a foot or so of snow! We'd gone about halfway through the first greenhouse when one of the ladies working there said to me in a strong accent, "Espanya"? (Spain) I said, "USA". She got very excited yelling, Amerikanskiy! Amerikanskiy! She told our interpreter she had never seen an American before. She was very excited to meet us. She informed us they had the American national symbol there! We were pointed to a really large Palmetto Palm tree and told it was the symbol of Amerika. Another lady explained that once in the past some Peace Corps workers had visited and all gathered under the palm and sung the National Anthem!! She asked if we wanted to sing too and I just started singing, "Sweet Home, Alabama". We didn't have the heart to tell them the palm tree wasn't the national symbol. Well, who knows? It could be, I really don't know! She asked us if it was any different in Petropavlovsk from America. Suzanne told her the food here was better! Anyway, we all had a good time. Some pictures are attached.
This morning (Friday, 2/15), I want to the baby home to visit Yulia. She has gotten really congested and was running a fever, so I didn't get to visit with her too much 'cause the doctor wanted to examine her. She was congested when we first got here two (or is it three now) weeks ago, then got better, now has it again. It seems to be going around the baby home. There is a new American couple here now from Utah, Linda and Phil and their daughter is Katya (Katherine), who is 6 months old. They are staying at the Lina and visit the baby home at the same time we do. Katya is in the same group with Yulia.
COURT DATE: We found out our court date will be on Monday, February 25th. We also found out that we will need to return via Almaty and the next available flight out of Petropavlovsk to Almaty will be on that Wednesday, the 27th. Once in Almaty, we will have to go by the American Embassy to sign some papers. The reason being that we could have Yulia escorted to the U.S. where we would meet them in Washington or somewhere else. Either way, the American Embassy requires at least one of us to be there in person. Then, we could all fly back on Thursday, 2/28, direct from Almaty. I suppose we'd arrive back in Birmingham sometime around the evening of the 28th. Of course, none of this is written in stone and could all change at any time!! If we can get back any sooner we'll try. We sure do miss home!!
This morning (Friday, 2/15), I want to the baby home to visit Yulia. She has gotten really congested and was running a fever, so I didn't get to visit with her too much 'cause the doctor wanted to examine her. She was congested when we first got here two (or is it three now) weeks ago, then got better, now has it again. It seems to be going around the baby home. There is a new American couple here now from Utah, Linda and Phil and their daughter is Katya (Katherine), who is 6 months old. They are staying at the Lina and visit the baby home at the same time we do. Katya is in the same group with Yulia.
COURT DATE: We found out our court date will be on Monday, February 25th. We also found out that we will need to return via Almaty and the next available flight out of Petropavlovsk to Almaty will be on that Wednesday, the 27th. Once in Almaty, we will have to go by the American Embassy to sign some papers. The reason being that we could have Yulia escorted to the U.S. where we would meet them in Washington or somewhere else. Either way, the American Embassy requires at least one of us to be there in person. Then, we could all fly back on Thursday, 2/28, direct from Almaty. I suppose we'd arrive back in Birmingham sometime around the evening of the 28th. Of course, none of this is written in stone and could all change at any time!! If we can get back any sooner we'll try. We sure do miss home!!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Mamma's got a brand new...hat
(Suzanne)All the women here have beautiful coats and fur hats. The Wal Mart coat wasnt exactly made for sub zero weather, and I didnt have a hat, so I decided I would like to go shopping. After spending 30 minutes layering up , we set out on the town. We had a wonderful walk. When we got cold, we went into cafe's and had hot tea. People were very friendly. A lot of them would say "USA?", we would say "Da" and converse somehow in our broken Russian and their broken English.
When we walk around , there is a lot of ice. Since we are not used to it. we walk like little old ladies while the women fly around us in beautiful 6 inch heeled boots. The steps up to the stores and shopping malls are MARBLE! Can you imagine trying to walk on marble steps that are covered with ice?
We made it to a shopping mall where I bought a pretty green coat with fur. Then I went to another store for a fur hat. There must have been 200 different hats to chose from. Nikolai, Dave, and I had fun trying them on. We had about 3 people helping us who were patient with us and we were all laughing . Let me say thiss...a traditional Russian hat is not at all flattering on a round faced person! I finally settled on a beret style fur hat. It was a fun adventure!
By the time we got back to our hotel, it was snowing hard. We noticed we could see individual snowflakes. They looked just like the ones we cut out of paper when we were kids. They were so pretty!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Saturday, February 9, 2008
(Dave, Sunday morning 11:15am)
It's a 12 hour time change from US central time, so it's still Saturday night there. Suzanne still hasn't fully adjusted to the time change yet. Nikolai and I have adjusted ok though. Friday was Suzanne's day to visit Yulia and I went on Saturday. Yulia is doing great. She was real congested last week, but it has cleared up now. She's ready to start crawling, but just gets up on her knees and hands and rocks. She'll figure out the mobile part soon though. Friday afternoon, we went shopping for a few gifts and out to lunch at the 'Doner Cafe'. It has an indoor play area for kids and Nikolai loves it there. Friday, there were lots of other kids and he didn't let a little thing like a language barrier get in his way of playing with them. He liked just being around other kids for a while. I know it was hard on him though not talking! Saturday afternoon we ate at a new Italian Restaurant and went to the History Museum in Petropavlovsk. I wish I could have read what most of the stuff was though. There is a tremendous history in this part of the world that we tend to overlook in our history books in America. Kazakhstan sits in the middle of three different kinds of peoples. The Kazaks are asian in appearence, of course the Russians settled here in the 18th century are european and to the west and south is the Turkish and Arab influence. Petropavlovsk is an incredible city. It amazes me how much the people are out walking around every day in temps in the single digits (fehrenheit)! I get tired of staying inside, so I understand. It's something they are just more accustomed to than me! We're hoping our court date will be the 21st or 22nd, so we can leave for home around the 23rd. If court isn't until the next week on the 25th, we'll just get home a few days later. Here are some new pictures of Yulia, Nikolai, and Petro.
It's a 12 hour time change from US central time, so it's still Saturday night there. Suzanne still hasn't fully adjusted to the time change yet. Nikolai and I have adjusted ok though. Friday was Suzanne's day to visit Yulia and I went on Saturday. Yulia is doing great. She was real congested last week, but it has cleared up now. She's ready to start crawling, but just gets up on her knees and hands and rocks. She'll figure out the mobile part soon though. Friday afternoon, we went shopping for a few gifts and out to lunch at the 'Doner Cafe'. It has an indoor play area for kids and Nikolai loves it there. Friday, there were lots of other kids and he didn't let a little thing like a language barrier get in his way of playing with them. He liked just being around other kids for a while. I know it was hard on him though not talking! Saturday afternoon we ate at a new Italian Restaurant and went to the History Museum in Petropavlovsk. I wish I could have read what most of the stuff was though. There is a tremendous history in this part of the world that we tend to overlook in our history books in America. Kazakhstan sits in the middle of three different kinds of peoples. The Kazaks are asian in appearence, of course the Russians settled here in the 18th century are european and to the west and south is the Turkish and Arab influence. Petropavlovsk is an incredible city. It amazes me how much the people are out walking around every day in temps in the single digits (fehrenheit)! I get tired of staying inside, so I understand. It's something they are just more accustomed to than me! We're hoping our court date will be the 21st or 22nd, so we can leave for home around the 23rd. If court isn't until the next week on the 25th, we'll just get home a few days later. Here are some new pictures of Yulia, Nikolai, and Petro.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
(Dave)
Today, Thursday, 2/7, I got an early start. At least it seems that way since the sun doesn't come up here during winter until something like 9am. The sun never really gets high in the sky either. At noon, the sun looks like 4pm in Alabama. It seems like it one big long morning, then a big long afternoon! On the way to the baby home, it was snowing this morning. The first time I've seen the big snowflakes here. It's snow before, but a real fine, small and light snow. We only got another inch or so of fresh snow. I got to feed Yulia today and took some good video of it for us to all enjoy later on when she's older. She is such a pleasant and happy baby. She usually gets a little sleepy around 11am or so. On Tuesday she went to sleep on my shoulder for about 20 minutes and it was nice. She's teething now too, so she does have fussy moments when she's tired. She already has two bottom teeth and likes chewing on her finger. She doesn't seem to know what to do with the plastic teething, noise making toys yet. Other than her finger, she prefers to chew on a tie string or label. It sure is going to be hard to leave here in a couple of weeks and not take her with us! We'll have to wait another couple of weeks after the court date before she'll be ok'd for travel. We're hoping the court date will be around the 21st. If prediction holds true, maybe she'll be in Sweet Home Alabama by the middle or March or at least before Easter this year. This afternoon I spend about 2 hours at the National Bank (Kazak) trying to cash some American Express Travelers checks!! They have those little signs everywhere saying they accept them. Yea, they do ..... sorta! Only after they call all around the world to check the serial numbers to make sure they're real and not stolen. If I had chosen to use a credit card for a cash advance though, I bet there would have been no questions asked and they wouldn't have cared if it was a stolen credit card! Yea, go figure! Tomorrow is Suzanne's day. More later.
Today, Thursday, 2/7, I got an early start. At least it seems that way since the sun doesn't come up here during winter until something like 9am. The sun never really gets high in the sky either. At noon, the sun looks like 4pm in Alabama. It seems like it one big long morning, then a big long afternoon! On the way to the baby home, it was snowing this morning. The first time I've seen the big snowflakes here. It's snow before, but a real fine, small and light snow. We only got another inch or so of fresh snow. I got to feed Yulia today and took some good video of it for us to all enjoy later on when she's older. She is such a pleasant and happy baby. She usually gets a little sleepy around 11am or so. On Tuesday she went to sleep on my shoulder for about 20 minutes and it was nice. She's teething now too, so she does have fussy moments when she's tired. She already has two bottom teeth and likes chewing on her finger. She doesn't seem to know what to do with the plastic teething, noise making toys yet. Other than her finger, she prefers to chew on a tie string or label. It sure is going to be hard to leave here in a couple of weeks and not take her with us! We'll have to wait another couple of weeks after the court date before she'll be ok'd for travel. We're hoping the court date will be around the 21st. If prediction holds true, maybe she'll be in Sweet Home Alabama by the middle or March or at least before Easter this year. This afternoon I spend about 2 hours at the National Bank (Kazak) trying to cash some American Express Travelers checks!! They have those little signs everywhere saying they accept them. Yea, they do ..... sorta! Only after they call all around the world to check the serial numbers to make sure they're real and not stolen. If I had chosen to use a credit card for a cash advance though, I bet there would have been no questions asked and they wouldn't have cared if it was a stolen credit card! Yea, go figure! Tomorrow is Suzanne's day. More later.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
when I was a kid I walked a mile in the snow......
(Suzanne) How many times have you heard this from a parent or grandparent? Well.....now I can say I walked a mile in the snow to a grocery store (except I wasnt barefoot!)
After eating at a Uzbekistan restaurant (it was very pretty...looked like Aladdin should be eating there), we decided to walk to the grocery store. After spending 30 minutes layering with long johns and 18 sweaters and a coat and hat and scarf and snowboots, we set out. Nikolai looked like Randy in The Christmas Story (...."I cant put my arms down!!!!!!). It was a great long walk through a pretty little forest.
Today we had to give the coordinator the name we chose for our baby. You may have noticed we havent referred to her as anything yet )
We have beautiful and sweet waitress at our hotel restaurant. She goes out on her own and buys Nikolai food she thinks he will like. She speaks impressive English and is so very kind. Her name is Yulia (sounds like "Julia " with a "Y"). My grandmother's name was Eula Allison, and she was about the most wonderful person I have ever known, or will ever know. "Eula " is derrived from "Yulia". So our daughter's name will be "Yulia Allison Cantley" after my grandmother.
After eating at a Uzbekistan restaurant (it was very pretty...looked like Aladdin should be eating there), we decided to walk to the grocery store. After spending 30 minutes layering with long johns and 18 sweaters and a coat and hat and scarf and snowboots, we set out. Nikolai looked like Randy in The Christmas Story (...."I cant put my arms down!!!!!!). It was a great long walk through a pretty little forest.
Today we had to give the coordinator the name we chose for our baby. You may have noticed we havent referred to her as anything yet )
We have beautiful and sweet waitress at our hotel restaurant. She goes out on her own and buys Nikolai food she thinks he will like. She speaks impressive English and is so very kind. Her name is Yulia (sounds like "Julia " with a "Y"). My grandmother's name was Eula Allison, and she was about the most wonderful person I have ever known, or will ever know. "Eula " is derrived from "Yulia". So our daughter's name will be "Yulia Allison Cantley" after my grandmother.
Monday, February 4, 2008
attention family and friends!!!!
Our home e-mail is not working (of all times for it to malfunction)
please e-mail us at Suzanne's work e-mail
suzanne.cantley@chsys.org
please e-mail us at Suzanne's work e-mail
suzanne.cantley@chsys.org
Day 5
(Suzanne) The baby home doesnt allow visits on Sunday, so we didnt do much but play uno and eat. It was surprising how much we all missed her.
Today was my turn to visit her. The caregivers had put a tiny pink bow in her hair. I was allowed to feed her. The baby home makes their own baby food. They brought out what smelled like pureed apples, yougurt, and juice from a coffee cup. In all my years babysitting in high school, working with babies at a daycare in college, and working as a pediatric nurse for I wont say how long, I had an experience I have never had. I gave juice to a 7 month old in a coffee cup-no bottle. It scared me to death! I just knew I would cause her to aspirate, but she took it like she had been drinking from a cup since birth. After a lunch at the hotel, Valentina and Oleg (our intepreter and driver) took us to a Kazakh and a Russian craft shop. We went to the grocery store and ate ramen noodles for supper (the hotel food is terrific, but its getting pricey!) Tomorrow will be Dave's turn to visit.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Nikolai meets baby sister
(Nikolai) i ate horse meat for lunch today. we went to see baby sister and she was cute . we went to a birch forrest. we played in the snow
(Suzanne) When she first saw Nikolai, she grinned ear to ear, as if to say "Im glad youre finally here". She watched and studied everything he did and her eyes followed him everywhere!
.......and yes, Nikolai DID eat horsemeat. It is a common Kazakh dish. We had lunch with a wonderful American couple ,Tom and Kristen. Tom just had to try it. We all had a tiny taste but just couldnt get past what it was. Nikolai gobbled up almost the whole platter while we all were gagging! I told Nikolai not to tell his aunt Lauren about his lunch, since she lives in Louisville where horses are sacred.
Friday, February 1, 2008
our second visit
(Suzanne)We are now on day two of the required 14 day bonding period. Nikolai is only allowed to go to the baby home on Saturdays because it is flu season, so he hasn't been able to meet his sister yet. On most days, Dave and I will have to take turns visiting the baby home while the other stays with Nikolai to do schoolwork.I went to see her today and was able toplay with her for 1 1/2 hours. There was a nice couple from Spain who are adopting a 3 year old girl. We played with our children in the same room. The playroom is amazing. It is brightly colored with lots of physical therapy mats, a large wall mirror and equipment She has a very pleasant and sweet personality and smiles often and laughs out loud. She is very tiny-only 6kg (about 13 pounds). She can get into a crawling position from her tummy all by herself and rocks back and forth like she's ready to crawl.
We have been eating at the hotel restaurant where the food is terrific. I think I have eaten borscht (beets and vegetable soup)about every meal! The people at the hotel are very accomodating and nice. Most dont know English, but we get by. We get free wireless internet in the restaurant and I finally learned how to set it up. That was an adventure. One waitress knew how to get it set up, but didnt speak English. The waitress that spoke English didnt know how to set it it up. The man from Spain , who only spoke Spanish, also offered help. Between 3 languages, lots of translation and laughs, I finally got it tot work!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
We finally meet our daughter!
(Dave)Wednesday morning, 1/30, on the plane from Astana to Petropavlovsk, it finally hit me that we would be seeing a new member of our family within hours and our lives would forever be linked and changed. The plane was a twin-prop plane full of maybe 35 to 40 people. I guess you think about things like that when you are wondering if you'll survive the trip! The plane looked like it was about 40 or 50 years old!! My seat was stuck in the reclining position. Two rows in front of me a guy tried to recline his seat and it gave way landing in the lap of the guy behind him! And, when the stewardess opened the door to the pilot's compartment, you could see them smoking in a cockpit full of cigarette smoke! I hope it was cigarettes!! We DID land though into a land of whiteness with snow everywhere. Then the COLD hit us on that long walk (pulling all thoses bags) of 100 yds or so to the 'terminal' (haha)
That's all I have to say about that.... (aka F. Gump)
After a long wait at the Minister of Education in Petro, we got permission to go to the Baby House. The longer the waiting, the more nervous Suzanne & I got! Was this thing really going to happen? Doubt and fear start creeping in. After an hour in a hallway, we finally were invited into Dr. Rimma's office. Were they going to tell us there was no child for us? After a few questions (like "how old are you?), Valentina, our translater, left to get our baby. When she entered the room with her, she was tiny with big brown eyes. Valentina gave her to Suzanne and she looked right into Suzanne's face and smiled! It was like she was saying, "so, you're finally here for me". We were told her name was Veronika (pronounced veer-o-NEE-ka with a rol in the "R") and she was born on June 1st, 2007. She looked really good and has a sweet disposition. Her skin color is good also and she appears to be well cared for and fed well. She is small and if I had to guess, may not weigh over 10 or 12 lbs. I can't wait to get her home!! She just needs love and attention and she WILL get lots of it!! I hope she knows what's she's in for!! :)~
Dave's fun in Vienna, part II
(Dave)
What a trip! Planes, trains, and automobiles! It's Thursday, 1/31, and I finally get a moment to contribute to the blog. We've been able to overcome the language barrier relatively well getting here. In Vienna, almost everyone speaks english, so that part of it was easy. Bad idea of mine to ride the train from the Vienna airport to our hotel with all of our many bags! We were all exhausted by the time we reached our hotel. Vienna has a wonderful public transportation system, but the facilities are NOT luggage or handicapped friendly. Some stations had elevators, other didn't and the S-Train to the city center from the airport had steps to scale. You should have seen me trying to get all the luggage on the train hoping it wouldn't take off without us or any part of us! That really did happen to us once along the way though! We had made it to our last station where it would be a short walk to the hotel (2 blocks). Suzanne got off first with a couple of bags, then Nikolai hesitated to let another person off (gentleman that he is), then they waited for him and when nobody went, the doors closed with Suzanne outside and Nikolai, me, and about 5 bags still on the train!!! Nikolai and I rode to the next station, got off somehow, up, then down elevators and onto a return car back to Suzanne. Kinda scary getting separted in a strange foreign city! Overall, Vienna was amazing though. Everything else went smooth the rest of the way and we took an expensive taxi ride (45 Euros/$70) back to the airport. It was worth it!
What a trip! Planes, trains, and automobiles! It's Thursday, 1/31, and I finally get a moment to contribute to the blog. We've been able to overcome the language barrier relatively well getting here. In Vienna, almost everyone speaks english, so that part of it was easy. Bad idea of mine to ride the train from the Vienna airport to our hotel with all of our many bags! We were all exhausted by the time we reached our hotel. Vienna has a wonderful public transportation system, but the facilities are NOT luggage or handicapped friendly. Some stations had elevators, other didn't and the S-Train to the city center from the airport had steps to scale. You should have seen me trying to get all the luggage on the train hoping it wouldn't take off without us or any part of us! That really did happen to us once along the way though! We had made it to our last station where it would be a short walk to the hotel (2 blocks). Suzanne got off first with a couple of bags, then Nikolai hesitated to let another person off (gentleman that he is), then they waited for him and when nobody went, the doors closed with Suzanne outside and Nikolai, me, and about 5 bags still on the train!!! Nikolai and I rode to the next station, got off somehow, up, then down elevators and onto a return car back to Suzanne. Kinda scary getting separted in a strange foreign city! Overall, Vienna was amazing though. Everything else went smooth the rest of the way and we took an expensive taxi ride (45 Euros/$70) back to the airport. It was worth it!
Fun in Vienna
(Suzanne) After a 9 hour flight, we arrived in Vienna around 8:00 am. Someone had the brilliant idea (I won’t say who) that it would be a great idea to drag our luggage around Vienna to a hotel downtown rather than stay at the airport hotel. Let me just say this…..Vienna’s public transportation is not meant for transporting 4 weeks worth of luggage! I cant decide if we looked more like the Clampetts or the Griswolds. At one point when I was trying to balance the luggage with the subway moving and trying to grab Nikolai, the luggage and me fell like dominoes, skinning up my shin….ouch! The people in Vienna were so kind. Strangers helped us everywhere we went. They would either help us carry luggage or offer to help us with directions when they saw us looking at a map. They were absolutely wonderful. We received the best directions from a man who didn’t even speak English (I don’t even know how…it just worked.) We drug our luggage all over town until we finally found our hotel 2 hours later. We decided to take a two hour nap in the afternoon (which would have been 6am at home), then head out in search of dinner.
We had dinner at a cozy Austrian restaurant/pub. We had delicious soup and different kinds of sausages dishes we couldn’t pronounce. It was terrific. Nikolai tried a little of everything, which is unusual for a 6 year old. We had some Austrian wheat beer which was terrific.We went back to the hotel and slept from 8:30 pm to 8:30 am. We then headed out to explore the city, this time without the luggage. We went to an art museum which was amazing. The architecture was breathtaking as was the artwork. They had original Rembrandts and many, many other works dating back as far as the 1400’s. We could have spent hours and hours there, but we moved on. We walked all over the city, friendly people helping us along the way. We visited a Catholic church that dated back to the 1700’s. The interior was amazing. They had Mozarts actual death mask displayed. We walked…..and walked….and walked. Nikolai was such a trooper. He’s the coolest kid ever. Not even a whine. He talked to everyone we met (no surprise to those of you who know him) and flirted with the pretty girls (there are many). We sadly had to come back to the hotel , as a driver was picking us up for the airport at 5:30.
When we arrived in Vienna, I expected snow capped mountains and Julie Andrews. I was at first disappointed because there were no mountains or snow to be seen. After walking around the city, however, I was not disappointed , I was surprised at what a beautiful, historical, friendly city it is. By the way, The Sound of Music was filmed in Strassberg, about 150 miles away. I did hear they had Sound of Music sing along tours. We hope to return for that one day.
Observations about Vienna :
They eat sausage and bacon every meal, bread and butter every meal, they smoke like chimneys , and they drink beer by the gallons. Yet we saw very few people who were overweight. And why is their heart disease rate so much lower than ours? Its simple. They have 3 TV stations and people walk to their entertainment.
One more thing about the beer. I have solved the southern states obesity problem. All we have to do is import Austrian beer to Alabama. Then all the Bubbas would drink one daily beer instead of 12……believe me! Nascar would never be the same!
(Nikolai)the church was the coolest and I love you i hope you take care I miss you are hotel was cool we wiil take care if you want to now just call us or e mail us
Ready to go
We’re ready to travel!
Our visas arrived today 1/25/08 and we will leave for Kazakhstan 1/27/08. Since it will be a 24 hour trip, we decided to stay in Vienna Austria overnight on the way over. I have always wanted to visit Austria since I saw “Sound of Music” as a kid. I want to go to a mountaintop and sing “The hills are alive……”.
Our visas arrived today 1/25/08 and we will leave for Kazakhstan 1/27/08. Since it will be a 24 hour trip, we decided to stay in Vienna Austria overnight on the way over. I have always wanted to visit Austria since I saw “Sound of Music” as a kid. I want to go to a mountaintop and sing “The hills are alive……”.
Sweet send off
1/23/08
(Suzanne)We are leaving in 4 days. At Wednesday night church activivites, we were surprised when our minister called us all in to the sanctuary. He asked Me, Dave, and Nikolai to the altar. We knelt while every member there came to the altar with us and our minister prayed for our safety. I was very touched and very emotional. I’m not sure why, but I cried and cried as my church family hugged us. My dear friend Bobbie said it was because I was pregnant! I agreed. To Pinson United Methodist church family: you are my rock. I am so blessed to have you and I thank God for you all every day. I cant imagine a month without you, especially a month without choir practice! I love you all more than you will ever know.
(Suzanne)We are leaving in 4 days. At Wednesday night church activivites, we were surprised when our minister called us all in to the sanctuary. He asked Me, Dave, and Nikolai to the altar. We knelt while every member there came to the altar with us and our minister prayed for our safety. I was very touched and very emotional. I’m not sure why, but I cried and cried as my church family hugged us. My dear friend Bobbie said it was because I was pregnant! I agreed. To Pinson United Methodist church family: you are my rock. I am so blessed to have you and I thank God for you all every day. I cant imagine a month without you, especially a month without choir practice! I love you all more than you will ever know.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Crazy Coincidences
We submitted our dossier to Russia in January , 2004. Just as we sent it, adoptions halted so the Russian government could rearrange the adoption process. We waited for adoptions to resume until October 2005 when we gave up hope that we would be able to adopt from Russia again. We were devastated.
We started the process all over. We decided to adopt from China. We submitted our dossier to China and received a "log in date" of January 5, 2006. The wait for a baby at that time was 7 months. Shortly after we cancelled our Russian dossier, Russia resumed adoptions.
The wait for a baby in China suddenly increased. By the time our dossier was finally reviewed, our INS approval had expired. We were put farther back in the line, receiving a new log in date of May, 2005. We were told this was not the usual practice. Parents rarely lose their place in line due to expiring INS approvals, they just need to have them current by the time they travel to China. Our bad luck continued. Our additional wait extended at least another 2 years.
We decided to try another route. Nikolai was now 5 years old, so the potential age difference grew and grew. We submitted yet another dossier..........to Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan? We had never even considered that country because the in country stay was sooooo long. However, the processs progressed quite smoothly and our dossier was sent August 2007. Suddenly, for the forst time since Jan 2004, we truly felt at peace. This must have been the plan all along. We are now waiting for our invitation to travel to meet our daughter.
We started the process all over. We decided to adopt from China. We submitted our dossier to China and received a "log in date" of January 5, 2006. The wait for a baby at that time was 7 months. Shortly after we cancelled our Russian dossier, Russia resumed adoptions.
The wait for a baby in China suddenly increased. By the time our dossier was finally reviewed, our INS approval had expired. We were put farther back in the line, receiving a new log in date of May, 2005. We were told this was not the usual practice. Parents rarely lose their place in line due to expiring INS approvals, they just need to have them current by the time they travel to China. Our bad luck continued. Our additional wait extended at least another 2 years.
We decided to try another route. Nikolai was now 5 years old, so the potential age difference grew and grew. We submitted yet another dossier..........to Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan? We had never even considered that country because the in country stay was sooooo long. However, the processs progressed quite smoothly and our dossier was sent August 2007. Suddenly, for the forst time since Jan 2004, we truly felt at peace. This must have been the plan all along. We are now waiting for our invitation to travel to meet our daughter.
How we got started
Around June of 2001, my wonderful aunt shared stories of her mission trips to orphanages in Eastern Europe. I looked at the pictures of her trip, including the ones of the beautiful children who so desperately needed a family. I thought "oh...how sad", and didn’t much more about it.
We began fertility treatments later that year. On the way to one of many ultrasounds, a thought came to me that I couldn't stop thinking about. I said to my husband "please promise me that if this doesn’t work, we can adopt a baby from Russia". He didn’t even flinch about this crazy idea that came out of the blue. We had never even discussed this option. His response..."OK, that sounds like a good idea".
Later that week, on the way to yet another fertility appointment, my plea changed to "PLEASE promise me we will adopt a baby from Russia even if this DOES work". Again, his reassurances continued.
After discovering our first attempt of infertility treatments was unsuccessful, I simply told the Nurse Practitioner "That’s ok....MY baby is in Russia". The Nurse Practitioner was quite surprised of my response, stating in 20 years of work in an infertility clinic, she had never seen anyone respond to "bad news" like I did. We went to an adoption agency the following week.
9 months later we were traveling to adopt our son Nikolai, who was 14 months old at the time. Interestingly, when our foreign fee was due, 2 checks unexpectedly appeared in our mailbox. They were both from the infertility clinic. The checks simply read "refund". The amount was within $10 of the amount of the foreign fee that was due later that same week.
Before we left on our trip to Russia, our plan was to try infertility treatments again. After seeing all the babies living in Nikolai's baby home, that plan seemed ridiculous. We realized God chose a different kind of creation of a family for us. Early in 2004, we sent our dossier to Russia to adopt a second child.
We began fertility treatments later that year. On the way to one of many ultrasounds, a thought came to me that I couldn't stop thinking about. I said to my husband "please promise me that if this doesn’t work, we can adopt a baby from Russia". He didn’t even flinch about this crazy idea that came out of the blue. We had never even discussed this option. His response..."OK, that sounds like a good idea".
Later that week, on the way to yet another fertility appointment, my plea changed to "PLEASE promise me we will adopt a baby from Russia even if this DOES work". Again, his reassurances continued.
After discovering our first attempt of infertility treatments was unsuccessful, I simply told the Nurse Practitioner "That’s ok....MY baby is in Russia". The Nurse Practitioner was quite surprised of my response, stating in 20 years of work in an infertility clinic, she had never seen anyone respond to "bad news" like I did. We went to an adoption agency the following week.
9 months later we were traveling to adopt our son Nikolai, who was 14 months old at the time. Interestingly, when our foreign fee was due, 2 checks unexpectedly appeared in our mailbox. They were both from the infertility clinic. The checks simply read "refund". The amount was within $10 of the amount of the foreign fee that was due later that same week.
Before we left on our trip to Russia, our plan was to try infertility treatments again. After seeing all the babies living in Nikolai's baby home, that plan seemed ridiculous. We realized God chose a different kind of creation of a family for us. Early in 2004, we sent our dossier to Russia to adopt a second child.
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