April 30

Today when we got to Umit, we were told that they couldn’t find the key to the room we usually bonded with Alina in. We headed off to the Music room with the Robey’s… until we were told that there was a music teacher who had lessons in there today. So we all ended up outside. It’s a good thing that it was a beautiful day again today.

Alina was fairly quiet for most of the time today. She was more lively for a little bit, and she definitely likes to bounce up and down. It’s good because she needs to strengthen her legs. She also said a few syllables today: mama, baba, and tsss. She said mama a bunch of times. Of course, I would get the camera out to record it and she’d stop. As soon as I would stop recording, she would say it again. It’s like she knew I was recording and didn’t want there to be any evidence.

We found out more news today about our trip. May 1st is a national holiday, something about the celebration of nationalities in Kazakhstan. So the next three days are one big holiday celebration. While this is interesting, it also means that the baby house is closed and we can’t visit again until Monday. In addition, we also found out that the first Monday we were here, or the day we met Alina, doesn’t really count for bonding, so we’re one day further behind than we had originally thought. So as it is right now, we need to bond with her from Monday-Thursday next week to complete our 14 days. Then we need to go to Guardianship Council, which only meets on Monday. We’ve been told that we will do that on the 11th, which means we won’t fly back until the 13th.

The news hit me a bit hard today. I kind of expected that we would have to wait until the 13th anyway, but was holding out some hope that we could be done on the 4th and travel back on the 6th. The good news is that we get to spend more time with Alina. The bad news is that it pushes everything back a week, including our court date which is still TBD. It also means a week more of expenses here, which is a bit frustrating. In the grand scheme of things, a week really isn’t that big of a deal I suppose, so we’ll just have to deal with it. I guess this is another one of those times when you need to listen to the agency when they say that you need to be flexible and patient.

After the baby house we went to Aral again for lunch. It’s nice and cheap, and the food is pretty good. It was a beautiful day to sit outside and people watch. I had the manty for the first time. They are a lot like Chinese pot-stickers or gyoza; dumplings filled with some sort of meat mixture. We took a picture of them to put into the food blog, whenever I get around to writing it. :-)

We went for a stroll around the block after lunch, and came across a street of stores the next street over from the hotel (the street parallel to Tole Bi, in front of the hotel). There we found a bakery, more food stores (called Central Grocery), a few cafes, and more money changing places. We stopped for a few items and some ice cream and then wandered back to the hotel.

We’re hoping that the weather is nice tomorrow so we can head out and watch the celebration.

Pictures of Taraz

At Aral

Quentin sitting at the outdoor eating area of Aral

Dostyk Square

A park like walk behind the government buildings near our hotel

Finally Some Sun!

After having rain for the last three days, it was wonderful to see the sun this morning. Today was Day 10 for us. We met Alina Symbat at our regular time, and at first she was her usual reserved self. After warming up, she was a happy bundle of energy though. She definitely likes to be squirmy, especially when changing her diaper or clothes. She had a bit of a runny nose today, and we found out that she really doesn’t like to have her nose wiped.

Because it was so nice outside, we were able to take her out. It was probably about 65 or 70 degrees, but of course we bundled her in something that resembled a light snow suit and her hat. The poor kid must have been roasting, but we didn’t want to get in trouble with anyone. The Robeys were outside too, as was one of the groups of 3-4 year olds. They waved at us and said things to us we didn’t understand. One little boy in a blue hat repeatedly shot at us with his hands forming a gun. He made pretty good machine gun sounds for a little kid. When we walked around the building, the group of kids was watching attentively as a local farmer skinned a sheep he had hanging from a tree. We’re guessing the sheep was a gift to the orphanage, although we’re not so sure the material was appropriate for young kids. It didn’t seem to bother them though. At least we know they get fresh meat at the baby house.

After our visit we decided to walk down to Tsum. On the way we stopped at a restaurant we hadn’t been to before, called Medved, which was recommended on the Taraz board. It apparently means Bear in Russian. It was a nice place, and the food was really good. The menu was all in Russian, so we all played a guessing game. I found Russian word for dumpling and ordered that. What came out was not at all what I expected, but it was good. Kara asked for a vegetarian dish. The waitress pointed to three items. Kara ordered one, and the waitress said “soup.” Kara changed her mind and ordered another of the items the waitress pointed to. The waitress nodded and then started to explain the dish in Russian, and was pointing to her leg. We kind of figured it wasn’t going to be a vegetarian dish, unless perhaps Kara was getting the leg of a vegetarian. Sure enough, it was a leg. We think it was lamb. Kara said it was very tender and good, and there was a vegetable sauce with it.

#1 on the menu - dumplings. It came covered with a flatbread dome which was especially good dipped in the rich broth. There were meat-filled dumplings inside.

Vegetarian leg of lamb?

We made it to Tsum on a full stomach and walked around for a while. There are lots of different little stores inside the building. It’s kind of like an indoor mall. We found lots of very interesting items, including handicrafts and knick-knacks and souvenirs. We bought lots of stuff. I would say too much, but Kara was happy. We got Abbie and Lauren each something we think they’ll like. We got some items for Alina too.

On our walk back, we were interrupted by a group of Kazakh young women who asked us in English if we were tourists. Turns out they had spent 4 months in the US (MD, NJ, NY) on a work-abroad program. We talked to them for a bit; they were surprised that as tourists we could find enough to see to make us stay for 2 weeks. They asked if we were a family, and I pointed to Lynda and Wayne and said “mom and dad”. Everyone got a good laugh out of it, although I think Lynda and Wayne were the least amused of the group. I’m sure they’ll get me back somehow.

It’s been a great day in Taraz!

A note from Kara:

When were returning from our visit to Tsum, we noticed that there were flags in the distance in the Square. Since they have been practicing for Victory Day on May 9th ever since we got here, we thought this was another step in their practicing. Lynda, Wayne, and I walked down to the square while Quentin went up to our room. I got several good pictures and videos of the practice for the parade. The flags look really neat when their bearers merge into one group. We are not sure if we will be here for the May 9th celebrations or not, but if we are we will definitely attend. Every day we can hear them practicing from our rooms at the hotel as someone is announcing over a loud speaker. Probably directing the participants in what they are supposed to be doing.

It was a beautiful day today and I hope we have another nice one tomorrow!

Happy Baby

Self-portrait.

Tuesday was even colder and rainier than Monday. We could see our breath while waiting outside. Apparently this isn’t normal weather for Taraz in late April. Maybe we brought it with us.

Symbat was her usual hesitant self when she first came to the room today, but again she warmed up quickly. With an upcoming 5-week time period between bonding and court we’re a bit worried that she won’t recognize us when we get back. Today though she was a happy kid, crawling all around and giving lots of smiles. We got more laughs and sounds from her today as well. She still hasn’t said anything that sounds like a word to us yet, but then again she’s only 13 months old. She does anticipate being tickled though, and will start laughing even before you start to tickle her.

We were asked for the name we will give her in America today. So I guess we’re locked in. Alina Symbat Docter. Alina is a form of Helen; we wanted to give her a family name as our other girls all have family names. As a bonus, Alina means “beautiful” which is what Symbat means in Kazakh. We were having a hard time finding a name that worked, and when Kara found Alina on Sunday morning it just seemed to fit. We might nickname her Ali, but we’re not sure yet. Quentin likes the idea of calling her Alina better, whereas Kara loves nicknames so she’s more partial to Ali. We’ll see how that turns out.

For lunch today we walked through the rain to Bosfor, a restaurant we’ve not tried before. None of their menu was in English, so it was interesting. I looked up how to say, “I want meat,” and “What would you recommend?” in Russian. She pointed to something and I said, “I’ll have it.” Turned out to be bits of what I think is beef in a great sauce. Very tasty. At many restaurants they will ask you about a “garnish.” They say it as “garnit.” They’re basically asking you if you want a side dish. Most places offer rice, fried potatoes (French fries), mashed potatoes, some sort of vegetable, and a few others. It comes free with some meals, with others you’ll pay 100-200 tenge for it. If you say no garnit and they insist, it probably means your meal comes with it. Also, if you want a Coke don’t order “Coke” as to them it will sound like “sook” which means juice. Coca-Cola (or just cola) will do the trick.

We’ll probably stay in the hotel for the rest of the day. Tomorrow’s weather is supposed to be better, and we’re thinking we’ll walk to Tsum (department store/mall) to see what they have to offer.

Day 8

Mommy playing the "keep the thumb out of your mouth!" game.

Symbat won the game...

Monday here in Taraz has been another chilly and rainy day. Tole Bi Avenue is back to its usual bustling self. Over the weekend there was little traffic, except for the wedding caravans. The wedding court is just down the road across from Dostyk Square, and many wedding parties head this way from the court building. It’s tradition here for the procession of decorated cars to honk their horns loudly as they drive by. This is different than the normal honking you hear from drivers all the time. They like their car horns in Kazakhstan!

We visited Symbat at our normal time today. Zema had the day off today so Janet’s daughter who was back home on a college break translated for us. Symbat was a little late in getting to us today because she had been eating, and then she was pretty tired for our entire visit. We managed to keep the thumb out of her mouth and keep her awake, although there was definitely more snuggle time today than in past days.

Today we were able to get a picture with the baby house director, which was good. Before court, you need pictures with the director, doctor, social worker, and MOE official. We had the other three from previous visits, but we didn’t have the director. I would think she’s pretty busy. I can’t imagine the stress she must be under, with all of the government agencies that are always keeping tabs on the baby house.

We hope everyone is doing well! We were really glad to hear from our girls on Saturday. We do miss being at home and around everyone, but aside from the long travel this trip has been pretty fun so far.

Making phone calls

We asked the front desk how to call Kazakhstan from the US, and got an answer that we weren’t sure of. So we looked it up online. Here’s how to make calling back and forth work.

To call Kazakhstan from the US, you need to dial the international access code of 011, followed by the country code for Kazakhstan which is 7. Then comes the region area code followed by the 7-digit phone number. The area code for Taraz is 726.

So for the Hotel Zhambyl in Taraz, the number to dial is 011-7-726-245-59-53. Then after they answer, give them the room number. Calling a cell phone in Kazakhstan would be similar, except we were told our cell’s area code is 777.

To call the US from Kazakhstan, dial 8 and then pause for a new dial tone. Once you have the new tone, dial 10-1- then the area code and phone number. We haven’t verified the instructions for calling the US yet, but we know the instructions for calling from the US to Kazakhstan work.

Quiet Day

I like it!

Is this okay mommy?

Today was our seventh day of bonding, which means that we’re halfway through with the mandatory 14-day bonding period. It was a quiet day at the baby house. As it was Sunday, none of the administrative staff was there. We spent our bonding time in the small room today with just us and Symbat.

Symbat warmed up pretty quickly to us today. When Zema brought her into the room she gave Kara a smile, which was nice to see. It still amazes us looking at her that she started her life so small. She was very active again today, standing and crawling around, and she showed us that she can pull herself up onto furniture and surf without much of a problem. We’ll still need to work on her muscle development as she has bird legs, but the good news is that she’s using them.

It’s chilly and it rained last night, and the town is pretty quiet on a Sunday afternoon. The little store across the street is closed as are several restaurants we saw, so we walked down to the Turkish restaurant for lunch with the Robey’s. The food was good, but none of the menus are in English and none of their waitresses speak English, so it’s a bit more challenging to order. They do have pizza though, and it’s pretty easy to just point and get what you want. We’ll post a food blog later.

Not much else to say today. Just a quiet afternoon in Taraz.

Day 6

Mischievious look

Daddy and Symbat

New outfit and hat

Today has been a slow day. We woke up tired, but got ready to go to the baby house at our usual time of about 9:45. I think Symbat was tired today too. Yesterday she warmed up really fast, but it took a while again today. I changed her into the outfit I bought yesterday at the Bazaar (but I left a few layers on underneath so we wouldn’t get in trouble again=) ). It fits pretty good! It is about the perfect size for right now, but when she grows a bit it will be too small. I will take the outfit home with me to compare to the clothes I can find in the USA so that I can find some more clothing for the next trip. I believe she is about a size 6-9 months right now. A bigger shirt would fit, but her little legs are just too small for bigger sizes. I got some size 4 diapers here and they are a bit too big as well. Better too big than too small though!

Symbat fell asleep when we had only about 10 minutes left. She puts her thumb into her mouth and just kind of melts into sleep. I tried to keep her awake but she was determined. She wouldn’t wake even when I handed her to Zema. Zema said the nannies put her right into her crib when she got to her room. We are evidently not allowed into the children’s area. Zema brings Symbat to us and returns her to her room. We go straight to the music room or a smaller room when we visit. We can also go outside, but since Symbat likes to move around we have been staying inside. We would have to hold her if we went outside.

After our visit, Quentin and I went to the Aral restaurant across the street for lunch. They are pretty good and cheap. We had large lunches since we decided not to go out for dinner tonight. We are going to relax and nap today. Hopefully we are able to get a call from our girls tonight! We really want to hear from them, so we are hoping the call goes through. I am having withdrawals from not being near my girls. I miss them and hope we return soon. But then of course I will miss Symbat. We are fast getting attached to this little girl! I can’t win either way I guess. I am just hoping that the rest of the process goes smoothly and quickly.

Bazaar: Quentin's perspective

I knew this was a bad idea.

We were sitting at lunch, enjoying the nice spring day and the sunshine, but I knew what was coming. We were going to the bazaar. I knew that I didn’t have any choice in the matter, so my options were to go kicking and screaming or to go silently. I chose the latter.

We walked up Tole Bi Avenue until we got to the area we thought was it. It’s basically a series of small alleys going off of the main road, back to the right side of the street. We had been warned of the usual stuff like pickpockets, so I was on the lookout for anyone suspicious. We walked past several alleys until we got near what looked like the end, and ventured in.

It didn’t take long. I was no more than ten steps into the alley when I lost my wife. She was right behind me, where did she… oh. At the first shop. Looking at knitted baby items that she could not possibly do without. I knew I was in trouble. You see, in places like these, my wife turns into a flea-market loving, deal-obsessed, bargain-hunter extraordinaire.

Our Russian is poor. That’s a nice way of saying “non-existent.” So we used pen and paper to have them write down how much an item is, and then we decided if that was a decent price or not. The idea in a bazaar such as this is that you can barter with them. I like bartering, because I know I can walk away if the price isn’t right. My wife on the other hand, looks at the first price and says, “we’ll take two”! From the first stand, we ended up with a crocheted little hat. Admittedly it’s cute, and it was only 400 tenge. I still think we could have talked her down to 300.

We kept moving. The maze of narrow aisles isn’t for the claustrophobic. I felt like a rat in a maze, looking for the piece of cheese. I kept expecting to see David Bowie from “Labyrinth” pop out from behind a screen. It never happened.

Kara found a baby outfit that she needed to get. We looked up “12 months” in our phrase book, and wrote it down. Apparently they don’t have sizes in Kazakhstan. Kara got out her tape measure, and measured the outfit. It seemed to be the right size. They wanted 1400 tenge for it but after limited bartering (at my prodding) we only paid 1300. I still think they would have taken 1200 for it.

We found some books, and bought an alphabet book, a fairy tale book, and a map of Taraz. Again, pretty reasonably priced for what we got. We didn’t try to barter here; I was already defeated.

Walking around some more, we entered into Kara’s personal Nirvana: the fabric area. Aisles upon aisles of fabrics of all colors and textures. I knew that Kara could spend hours if not days in there. Somehow, we managed to escape with wallets intact. I’m not sure how that happened. I think I blacked out due to trauma during that time.

Somehow we made it to the end, and weaved our way back to the street. While I didn’t think I had been hit by a pickpocket, I was definitely shorter on money coming out than I was going in.

All in all, it’s an interesting experience. Definitely keep an eye out and take the usual precautions to avoid the unsavory types. Also don’t be afraid to barter. From what Zema told us, if clothing is 2000 tenge you might be able to talk them down to 1700 or 1800. For items such as food you will probably pay the asking price.

Kara says we’re going back, but I don’t know how much more of that kind of fun I can take.

Bazaar: Kara's perspective

We had a beautiful sunny afternoon today and decided to spend it at the Bazaar. So Linda, Wayne, Quentin and I walked down Tole Bi Road to find the Bazaar. It was definitely my kind of place! Think one gigantic flea market or yard sale. Some of the stuff was obviously used, but they had new clothing, books, scarves, handmade items, fabric, electronics, coats, music, baby items, etc. The Bazaar is set up in lanes. You enter a lane and head toward the back, and you go back, and back, and back. The lanes branch in either direction several times.

We headed straight back one of the lanes - after a brief stop for me to buy a hand crocheted baby hat - and turned left. There we found books, shoes, music, and all kinds of goodies. We stopped at the book stand and bought a children’s alphabet book, a fairy tale book, and a map of Taraz. Now we know very little Russian. I know how to ask “skolka” (how much) and then I hand them a notebook and pen so that they can write it down. Then I write down how much I want to pay. Then they either look at me and shake their head or write down a compromise. That is the extent of my bargaining skills.

After the book stand we headed further back into the Bazaar. I am not sure how many turns we took, but I found some baby clothing that looked like it would fit Symbat. I had Quentin dig out the phrase book to ask what size an outfit was and I think she told me there was no size. Not sure how there can’t be a size, but the outfit didn’t have a size marked. I was eyeing it trying to see if I thought it would fit when I remembered my fabric tape measure in my backpack. I just learned today that Symbat is 74cm long. So I took my tape measure out and measured the outfit. I bought it (after a very brief bargaining session). I hope it fits=)

We headed further back then and eventually found some fabric stands. Linda wanted to look over the fabric. She is planning on making a blanket to hang on their little boy’s wall. I was looking too, but decided to wait on that. We wandered some more until I found some scarves. I found one in particular I liked as well as a flashy pink sparkly one I knew my daughter Lauren would like. So we asked about them. I ended up with the scarf I liked, but didn’t get the pink one (sorry Lauren). They wanted 3000Tenge for it and I figured we could do without it=) The shop keeper did try to sell me all sorts of interesting scarves though, but I really didn’t need any zebra prints.

We called it quits soon after that and wound our way back to Tole Bi. We only saw a small portion of the Bazaar. It was huge and a bit confusing. I really wanted to find some ethnic Kazakh items, but either we didn’t get to that part of the Bazaar or there weren’t any. We are definitely going back!

Breakthroughs

Goodbye!

Wow! Mommy has buttons!

Don't get in my way!

Many of the adoption blogs you read will talk about how the first few days, the kids are a bit more reserved and eventually, they come out of their shell. Day 5 was that day for us. Symbat taught us a lot about herself today.

We first noticed that she warmed up faster today than in previous days. Then she showed us that she can crawl, and pretty well too. She was a lot more active, crawling around, playing and throwing her toys, bouncing, and making all sorts of different faces. A few times she climbed up on Kara’s lap for hugs or had a huge smile as she walked toward daddy. The past few times when we’ve visited, it seemed as though she was pretty tired by the end. Today it was our turn to be worn out by the time our visit was over.

Today we also got to meet with the baby house psychologist and the doctor. We were able to ask questions about her history and find out about her medical state. The biggest surprise to us was that when she was born (a bit premature), she was only 1 kilogram, which is about 2.2 pounds. Now she’s 13 months old and weighs about 17 pounds. She sure has made a lot of progress in the last year! She will need to continue to develop walking skills, but the doctor says she surfs furniture such as her playpen, so we think she’s on track to walk soon.

We bought some size 4 Pampers from the Gros store here, and while they’re a bit big, they do fit. We also changed her into an outfit today which was a bit big. She’s in about size 9 months clothing. Kara got chewed out by the psychologist for having her in too little of clothing, even though the kid was practically sweating. They like to keep the kids layered up. They had her in 4 layers today, and 5 yesterday. Recommendation: it probably isn’t the best idea to buy diapers before you get to the country, as it’s practically impossible to determine what size your child will need if they’re under 18 months. Gros and other stores carry diapers so you can pick them up after you get here.

Walking with mama

Bonding Day 4

Ticklish feet.

What's that?

I love walking!

Smiles.

More smiles.

We went to the baby house in the morning again today. Things went pretty much as we figured they would. We were in the music room again today with the Robey’s and their son Anton. It seems that when the kids are in the same room with each other they’re far more interested in seeing what the other one is doing than getting to know their parents.

Symbat walked around (with us holding her hands) a lot today. She really seems to like that and we figure it will be no time at all before she’s running after her sisters at home.

We’re still working on a name! We will keep Symbat as her middle name but want to find a more English-friendly first name for her. We’re struggling to find the right name though. For some reason it seemed easier with the other girls, but a lot of it could be that we’re trying to find a name that fits with the wonderful little girl we’ve gotten to know at the baby house.

After bonding today we went to lunch at Aral with the Robey’s and then went to the notary to sign some papers. At first they had Wayne and Kara as being married and adopting a boy. Oops… so they got that all corrected and then everyone signed.

Kara and I walked to Gros today to pick up some diapers. Of course we got Pampers, but they only had the Mega pack so we ended up paying about $25 for about four times more diapers than we’ll ever need while in country. Oh well. I am sure the baby house will put them to good use.

We miss Abbie, Lauren, and Reina a lot. They’re good kids and we love them lots. We heard from Grandma though and she says the girls are doing well and having fun in Idaho. Hopefully we’ll get to talk to them on Saturday.

Bonus post

Hi everyone! It's 8AM here, and we're a few hours from our daily visit. This is a good time to check email, and we figured we'd make a bonus post with some more pictures too.

"Hey, look! I have my daddy's hair!"

Cute smile!

All worn out after playing.

One of the first smiles we got!

The room and stuff

The living room... carpeted walls and all.

The bedroom, complete with two twin-sized concrete slabs.

Room and Stuff

When we arrived we were shown 2 rooms across the hall from each other. The first room was actually a suite of rooms. You are thinking “nice” right? Not really. We were told that it smells like the food being cooked in the kitchen below. We then went across the hall to another room. This one was slightly more outdated (like 1960) but it had a fridge. So we opted for the one with the fridge. Our room actually has 3 rooms and an entryway. When you enter there is the bathroom (toilet room) on the right. Ahead is the living room with a TV, couch, and coffee table. To the right of the living room is an extra room. It has a couch and a love seat but not much else. We have just closed the door to this room to keep it a bit warmer inside. We think it is supposed to be a dining room, but no table. To the left of the living area is the bedroom. When we first arrived the beds were arranged as twin beds. It reminded us of Leave it to Beaver. The housekeeping put the beds together for us so now we have a king. The first night the bed felt great because we were so tired. Last night we noticed that they are really hard, like rock hard. We also have a small wardrobe in the room. Off the bedroom is our shower room. We have a separate shower and bath, but I don’t think I really want to use that bathtub. It has definitely seen better days, like in 1960.
The hotel has a dining room where you can get a breakfast buffet for around $10 each. We have chosen to buy our breakfast items at a little store across the street. It is a lot cheaper that way. The restaurant also has dinner which is pretty reasonably priced and has been good so far. There is also a business center with free high speed internet. There is a computer guy named Illya (sp?) who speaks very good English and can help you get hooked up.
We haven’t ventured to any restaurants outside of the hotel except a small one across the street called Aral. We went there for lunch today. Quentin had shashlik and fried sausage with potatoes. I had a dish called Chinese Lagman. It looked like homemade noodles with meat and sauce. I think it was beef but I am not sure. It was pretty good though. Quentin really wanted to try the shashlik and said it was good. The fried sausages were basically hotdogs. And he got mashed potatoes with them. We shared a liter of Coke. All of this cost us about $9. They have an English menu and as soon as we walked in the door, the waitress took one look at us and went to find it. Apparently we look like we don’t speak Russian.

We have to mention that driving around (or walking around) Kazakhstan is rather interesting. There doesn’t appear to be any lines to indicate lanes. Drivers pretty much make up their own lanes. What would be 2 lanes of traffic at home becomes 3-4 lanes here. They will use their horns a lot. At first it is a friendly “beep-beep”, then if you don’t move fast enough they lay it on. You get the feeling that if you don’t move they will hit you. We haven’t seen anyone get hit, they’ve seemed smart enough to get out of the way. We should have witnessed or been in several accidents by now, but everyone seems to be used to the crazy driving.

We went to the Gros yesterday to buy a hairdryer since I blew mine up. Gros has groceries on the main floor and upstairs is the “Technodome.” We headed upstairs for the hairdryer. Lynda and Wayne had mentioned that buying something there was a several step process. First you flag down a worker in an orange shirt. They write up a ticket and walk you over to a table where they “prove” that the item works. Then they write up a guarantee. Then you go to the cashier to buy the item. Then you take your receipt to a table next to the stairs and they bag your product. We forgot the last step and set off the alarm. It is a little uncomfortable setting off an alarm in a former Soviet country. The bagger/security guy just took the blowdryer, marked our receipt and bagged it for us. Then we tried to shop for groceries. We were stopped before we could get past the registers and shown that we had to lock up our bags in a locker. Apparently they have a shoplifting problem. Quentin and I then wandered the aisles looking for stuff we could take back to our hotel to snack on. After a bit we noticed we were being followed by security. There were probably at least 5 security guys there. The store was pretty small. So every aisle or so we would run into one. Then when we went to pay I had to go get our money out of our bag in the locker. They still would not let me take the bag to the checkout counter, so I took our money out and locked up the bag again. We were able to pay by credit card upstairs, but apparently the credit card machine downstairs wasn’t working. They also have an ATM in Gros. We have seen several ATMs and banks along the street our hotel is on. On the basement level of Gros you can find clothing. We did not go down there this trip, but will check it out next time.

One interesting thing about the security guards is that if you make eye contact they will stare you down. They are being very clear that they are watching you. It can be a bit intimidating. But I am guessing that is what their goal is.

Discovery

Snuggling with Mommy

Look at me! I can walk! Sort of...

Discovery

Today was our third day meeting with our little one. When we got to the music room in the baby house, she was there sitting with Lynda. We spent the bonding time in the same room as the Robey’s. Their Anton is a cute kid and pretty typical curious 3 year old. It was kinda funny because he seemed more interested in us than in his parents, and Symbat seemed more interested in them than she did in us.

When we got there today she was a bit tense as usual, but she warmed up pretty quickly. We finally had our toys from home today, as Kara got her suitcase yesterday afternoon. At first she wasn’t quite sure what to think of them, but then she started playing. She did typical baby stuff like shake things that made noise and smack plastic cups together to make more noise.

She taught us quite a bit about herself today. Yesterday we weren’t sure she could crawl, and today we learned that she might not be able to crawl across the room in the typical sense, but she can get around if she needs to. She also sat up by herself from a lying position. We tried to get her to roll over, but she was having a hard time of it, maybe because she had several layers of bulky clothes on.
She’s definitely still using her mouth to explore the world. All of the new toys we gave her went to the mouth. She sucked on some, like the plastic keys, but others she just licked. We also found out that she likes to walk when supported by someone. She walks a lot on her tiptoes, but she likes to move around that way. Maybe the tiptoe thing is a sign she wants to be a ballerina. We know an awesome ballet coach… maybe we’ll get her some lessons. Here are a few more pictures too… we hope you like seeing them!

Pictures!

First day along with the official from MOE

Day 1 - after zooming!

Day 2 - "you want me to do what?"

Day 2 - Warming up

Laughter

Laughter

It’s a cool and rainy day in Taraz. We were picked up around 10:00 to go to the baby house, and were greeted by Zema holding Symbat. Quickly we took her inside to the same play room we were in yesterday. It doesn’t have a lot of toys for little ones other than a rattle, so we’re really looking forward to getting our suitcase!

We found out that her birthday is March 18, so she’s 13 months old right now. Developmentally she is probably more like 7 or 8 months in some respects, but we figure she’ll catch up pretty quickly once we get her home.

At first the little one was a bit unsure of us again today. She stiffens up and clenches her fists when she’s not sure of things. It only took a few minutes today for her to warm up though. I think a lot of it has to do with Kara, as she just has a way with kids.

We played and took some more pictures. Our goal today was to get her to make a sound, as yesterday she was totally quiet. Kara started zooming her again and after a few times she started laughing. Her laugh almost sounds like a cry - it’s a little different but it’s cute. The first time she laughed though Kara stopped to check that she wasn’t crying, but it was definitely a smile on her face. She is also a pretty curious child and really likes to be touched and held. She played with the hood strings on Kara’s coat for quite a bit. She also snuggled up to Kara and fell asleep. It seems like she can fall asleep at the drop of a hat. One of her comfort poses is to suck her left thumb, and her right hand goes up just behind her ear and she rubs her fingers back and forth holding her hair.

Other observations… she sits by herself without any problems, and she seems to have a fairly strong upper body and balance. Kara had Symbat on her lap for a while and was rocking back and forth and the little one was fine with it. We put her on her tummy to see if she would crawl. While she got up on her knees, she was pretty stiff and didn’t move, so we’ll work on that a bit too.

This little one is a cute kid, and I think she’s a keeper! We’re still thinking of names. While her name does mean beautiful in Kazakh, it might not be so readily understood in the States. We have a list and just need to figure out what seems to fit her best.

Baby House Part 2

The Baby House - Part 2

Back to the baby house. We went in and waited some more. Finally we went back in to the director’s office and sat down. For most of the time it was the director (on the phone), the MOE official, and us. We waited.

A little girl about 2 1/2 wandered in. She came right over to me. She seemed to have a thing for me and wanted to just stand by me. After a few minutes the director called to her and then gave her a candy bar. She came back over to me to open it for her. I did and she loved it.

By that time the social worker was back as was Zema (our translator). The director asked us if we felt a connection to the girl that was just in the room with us. (After we left, Kara and I talked about it and both of us had a feeling at the time that it was a test of some sort.) Kara replied that we did, a little. We were then asked if we wanted to continue to build a connection with her. Kara replied that no, we were looking for a child who was a bit younger. The director then told us that people who had kids in the home should adopt a child with special needs. Kara again said that we were hoping for a bit younger of a child. This apparently didn’t make the director very happy, but nobody said anything to us about it.

Within a minute they brought in a younger girl. Poor thing looked scared to death. The nurse handed her to Kara, and I could tell that she was more of the age we were looking for. We sat and talked to her for a while. She was definitely scared and looking around trying to figure out what was going on. During that time, they brought another girl in. The third girl was obviously quite a bit older (4.5 we found out), and had a cleft lip and a slight facial deformity. She went right over to Kara and held her hand. She seemed like a sweet little girl who just needed some medical help. It broke our hearts, but she was just too old to fit into our family structure like we wanted.

So we sat and talked to the second little girl a bit more. After a few more minutes, we were asked if we wanted to make more of a connection with her. We said yes, so we got to go to a small room with a few chairs and some toys.

She was still pretty scared - she has a pretty cute scared look - but we just kept talking to her. Kara has a way with babies (one of my co-workers calls her “the baby whisperer”), and the little one started to relax a bit. She had a rattle she was holding on to (all of the toys we brought are still in a suitcase somewhere over the Atlantic) and Kara got her to shake it a bit.

Kara was playing with her and got her to warm up a bit more. Finally, Kara took her and lifted her up into the air with a “zoom.” She kinda seemed to like it, and gave kind of a nervous smile. So Kara did it again. And again, and… well, the little one loves to Zoom. I even got to zoom her a few times, and did find out that she is somewhat ticklish too. We have pictures showing her reaction to the zoom… you can see that she likes it.

After having about 30 minutes alone with her, they told us it was time to go. Zema took her to take her back to her room. She gave us that scared look again, wondering what was going on. We’re looking forward to seeing her again!

This whole process has been a bit intimidating. Of course we were tired so that didn’t help, but sitting there and having them bring in kids like that and then feeling some pressure to take the first one, it was tough. But we feel (so far!) like we made the right decision and will continue to see the second girl that we were introduced to.

All we know right now is that she is about 1 year old, and that her name is Symbat. In Kazakh it means “beautiful.” We’ll find out more on Tuesday, when we’re told we’ll get to meet the doctor and ask questions.

Baby House Part 1

The Baby House - Part 1

After showering up, we went down to the lobby at about 10:15 to wait for our 10:40 pickup. As we were sitting there another family that we knew was here (the Robey’s) walked by. We got to meet them and chat for a minute which was great.

We got into the car with a different driver this time. Techno seems to be pretty popular here, as does rap and it’s all in English. Makes me wonder a bit as to how much of Lil Wayne they understand. Anyway, we went to the baby house and were told to wait outside.

We waited for about half an hour and then went inside and waited some more. We were told that the director was not there so we had to wait. Finally we were ushered into her office and sat on a small couch. If you’ve never been in an orphanage before, the experience is a bit overwhelming. Sitting there and waiting gave us a chance to think about a lot, and it was pretty tough. You can see though how much the workers care for the kids there.

In the director’s office, there was us, the director, our coordinator and translator, and two women we didn’t know. (Later, we found out one was from the Ministry of Education and the other was a social worker, whom they call a sociologist.) They talked a lot in Russian and kept looking at us, and talking some more. They were especially interested in looking at Kara for some reason. They asked us how many kids we had at home, so we told them. This set of another round of conversation for them, and more looking at Kara. Then they asked about our jobs. They seemed to like the fact that I work for P&G, as it’s a pretty popular and well-respected company here.

After more internal conversation, they told us that the kids were sleeping (it was about 12:15) and that we needed to come back later. We went outside and waited some more, and then were finally told to come back at 4:00.

We went back to the hotel and met up with the Robey’s again. They told us where the ATM was and that there was a little grocery store across the street from the hotel. We got some cash and walked around. It was a beautiful day so it was good to be outside and not in an airplane/airport/car. We went and bought some groceries, and then came back to the hotel and waited.

The Obstacle Course

After hanging out in the Frankfurt airport for 6 hours, we got on the plane and literally fell asleep right away. I vaguely remember the plane taking off. I also vaguely remember Kara telling me I could lay my seat back, but I was out. Kara and I each got about 4 hours of sleep on the plane, which was much needed. We got in to the Almaty airport just after midnight Monday.

Of course, no international travel goes without a hitch, and Kara’s suitcase was lost. Never made it out of Chicago. How 2 hours in Chicago isn’t enough, I don’t know, but that is beside the point. It was on its way. I went outside to meet our driver while Kara worked on getting her suitcase to Taraz. Our driver was holding a sign with our names on it. It became pretty clear to me right away that he didn’t speak any English. I told him “Kara nyet bagaj” which he seemed to understand. We waited for a bit and then Kara made it out. We got to the car about 1:00 AM. There the driver had a piece of paper with some handy sayings in Russian and English we could use if we needed him to stop for anything.

After reading many other blogs, I expected our driver to do his best Jeff Gordon impersonation. Didn’t turn out that way. The first four hours of the drive to Taraz were actually pretty smooth. We stopped once for gas and I used the outhouse. It was rustic, even for an outhouse. Made me glad to be male… I can’t imagine how a female would use that thing. We only hit one bone-rattling pothole but that was about it. I had expected worse. We stopped again at a small station to use the restroom (a real one!). The driver pointed to the left and said “Kryzygstan,” and to the right and said “Kazakhstan,” and straight ahead and said “Taraz.” We went straight. That’s when the road got interesting.

I guess it’s just easier to put up a sign that says there are bumps and maximum speed is 20 km/h than it is to fix the road. It was bad. Very bad. There were potholes that could have easily swallowed a Yugo. The going was very slow. Even on the good parts, the speed limit was often posted at 50 km/h. Imagine trying to drive through Wyoming at about 32 mph with huge potholes. It was a long trip. Once we got closer to Taraz, the roads got a bit better. I found out that the car could go about 150 km/h before rattling too violently.

It was dark until about 6AM, so we didn’t see much. I could tell we were going through some mountainous areas and then we leveled out, but it was hard to know for sure. Once it got light, there was an endless expanse of steppe to our right with an occasional hut. One hut, which didn’t look to be bigger than a 4-person dome tent, had a John Deere tractor parked next to it. We went through a few towns and they seemed to be pretty poor. Livestock were grazing everywhere, but their favorite place seemed to be right next to the road. Cattle, sheep, horses, and donkeys were everywhere, and we saw herders keeping a watchful eye.

We got to Taraz about 9 AM. We figured that by that time, we had been traveling for 40 hours straight. We went to the Hotel Zhambyl, where we met the coordinator Janet and our translator Zema. We were shown two rooms in the hotel and chose one, and then were told to be ready at 10:40 to go to the baby house. Excitedly, we ran to our room to shower up and get ready. We were so excited that Kara wasn’t even too upset when she blew up her 110-watt hairdryer.

Quick advice section for this post. One, if you want to drink at all during your drive to Taraz, get something at the little concession stand or machine at the airport before you go. And go to the bathroom, whether you really have to go or not. Much better than the alternatives. Two, if you need to sleep on the drive, do your best to get it in on the first half of the trip. It won’t happen on the second half. Three, make sure your hairdryer (and other electronics) can handle input in the 220-240V range. Kara’s hairdryer was 110 only. We plugged it into the Magellan EuroSurge and it still blew. Some converters might have a switch that converts the output, but this one does not. The converter does work great though to charge the laptop and use other devices that can handle the higher voltage input.

The Amazing Race

Anyone who has been through the International Adoption process knows that agencies tell their clients all the time, “This process is unpredictable and there could be ups and downs.” We definitely got the unpredictable part down. We’ve been delayed a few times now due to paperwork issues in-country, but yesterday we got the call to go! ASAP! We needed to get to Almaty by early Monday morning, so we called our travel agent and he worked wonders to get us both on flights within 12 hours. (Thanks Eldo!) We left very early Saturday morning and are currently writing from the Frankfurt airport 17 hours later. We feel as though we are running our own little version of the Amazing Race. Since realizing that we needed to leave NOW, we have been constantly on the move. And it isn’t over yet! We still have another 18 hours to go with our layover in Frankfurt, our flight to Almaty, and our drive to Taraz.

It’s kind of amusing in a way, that after all of this planning we realize that we don’t speak ANY German until after we land in Frankfurt. (“Achtung Baby”, “Du Hast”, and “Der Commindar” don’t count.) Oh well. The good news is everyone we have run into has spoken English. Quentin’s eager to break out his Spanish but that may not be such a good idea on limited sleep. All of the Russian study? Not so useful in Germany.

So far, there are a couple of things we won’t miss. Number one, spring snowstorms in Denver. Nothing like getting several feet of snow in the middle of April. Because of our hurried travel plans Kara had to go from Boise to Denver to Chicago, and fortunately made it through with only a half-hour delay. It could have been much worse. Two, long layovers. Six hours in O’Hare is… well, self-explanatory. Now we are sitting in Frankfurt for six more. Yay.

Number two. Sitting in Steerage class on Lufthansa. Their service is good, don’t get me wrong. Any airline that gives complimentary alcoholic beverages is okay in my book. But Steerage was eerily reminiscent of the Titanic movie. A crowded mass of humanity with no leg room. Plus, why when they dim the cabin lights do they insist on leaving the 1-million-lumen TVs going, flashing neon blue updates of how much time is left in your trip? You might as well be on the Vegas Strip trying to catch a wink. Sitting up. With no leg room.

Number three. “Verbleibende Flugzeit 7:35”, and “Aussentemperatur -60 C”. Enough said.

Our favorite activity on the flight was to try to figure out the plot of the B-run movies without listening to them. I think Brendan Frazier has it written into his contract that he won’t do a movie unless it involves a sweet old-school car and he gets to carry a cool leather bag. Prove me wrong!

Perhaps some of these things we won’t miss are due to our collective lack of sleep. Friday night we got a combined 5.5 hours of sleep (Kara won with 3), and the prospects for a good night’s rest aren’t looking good until Monday night. Even after all of that, we’re still really excited and happy to be on our Amazing Race. We’re so excited that we’re only about 20 hours or so away from meeting our newest daughter and getting to learn more about her!

We probably won’t update until Tuesday night Taraz time, but by then hopefully we will have met our little girl once or twice and will have some pictures to post. Take care!

Easter

The date stamp is wrong on these pictures. I think some little fingers pushed some buttons on my camera=)

Happy Easter! Our girls are having a wonderful time with Grandma in Idaho. We went to the Boise Zoo to hunt Easter Eggs last weekend, and the girls woke up to eggs all around the house this morning. They have rehidden and hunted them at least 4 times already=)

In adoption news we will leave for Kazakhstan on April 28th now. Hopefully no more delays!