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!