They must have had these little riding toys somewhere else when we were there because I don't recall seeing them.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Special email from Taraz today
I was blessed this morning with an email from a Canadian couple who are currently in Taraz bonding with a little boy at Umit. I had asked them to keep an eye out for him if they were outside with their little boy. Not only was Christian kind enough to send us an email letting us know how our little guy is doing but he send pictures and a short video as well. He appears to be doing just fine in our absence. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. I guess we'll see the true effect when we return and see how he reacts to us. I'm just glad he is doing well and happy. Christian also had their translator tell him that we love him and will be back soon. How lucky we are to be in contact with a family that is currently there.
They must have had these little riding toys somewhere else when we were there because I don't recall seeing them.
They must have had these little riding toys somewhere else when we were there because I don't recall seeing them.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
First week back
We made it through our first week back at work. We were both exhausted after our first day back. It's amazing how exhausting an 8 hour day of work can be after you have spent an entire month not doing much of anything. As much as we miss seeing Lukas everyday it was nice to get back to friends and family. I think we were both glad that we have a 3 day weekend after our first full 40 hours back at work.
Saturday we went shopping with grandma and grandpa Robey for furniture for Lukas' room. We visited 3 stores and finally found something we all liked. There is some real cute stuff out there for toddler/preschoolers, however, being the practical minded people we are we went with something he can use now all the way up until his teen years and beyond. Now we just need to get the window treatments and bedding and his room will be complete. The furniture should arrive in about 6 weeks. We purchased a twin bed w/storage underneath, nightstand, chest of drawers and bookcase.
Saturday we went shopping with grandma and grandpa Robey for furniture for Lukas' room. We visited 3 stores and finally found something we all liked. There is some real cute stuff out there for toddler/preschoolers, however, being the practical minded people we are we went with something he can use now all the way up until his teen years and beyond. Now we just need to get the window treatments and bedding and his room will be complete. The furniture should arrive in about 6 weeks. We purchased a twin bed w/storage underneath, nightstand, chest of drawers and bookcase.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
We're Back
As promised here are the details of the rest of our process at the Almaty Airport. About 2 hours before boarding they had us go through a passport check prior to heading to the check-in counter. After checking the bags we went through customs. The Kaz Customs agents are always very serious. They took our white migration slips, stamped the passport and sent us on our way to the next step. One more time through security. I took out the laptop and TSA approved toiletry bag and headed through the metal detector. Some how I managed to set this one off and I didn’t have any metal on me except for my glasses and rings. Then the agent manning the x-ray machine questioned me about my 50 ml bottle of body wash. I guess the blue color threw him off. He let me keep it. I almost walked right by the customs agent who then checks your boarding pass before letting you in the boarding waiting area. After finding a seat I discovered that I didn’t even need to take the laptop and toiletry bag out to begin with.
Shortly after moving into the gate area they opened up the duty free shopping area. Keep in mind it is after midnight by this point. We browsed the shops since there was nothing else to do. Quentin had been looking for a Kaz t-shirt the entire time we had been in Taraz with no luck. He and Kara came back to the seats and informed us that they finally found a shop in the duty free section that had local Kaz items and souvenir t-shirts. So off we went to check it out. We came out with t-shirts for each of us, a key chain for Wayne and a vest/hat set just the right size for Lukas Anton.
They finally called for boarding and we headed to the gate. They have yet another customs agent at the gate that takes your boarding pass, exams it and then hands it to the Lufthansa agent. The plane was a little nicer than the one we flew over on. They had monitors in the seat backs of every seat. Still didn’t have much room between the seats.
Upon arriving in Frankfurt we were once again transport from the plane by bus. They pack you in like sardines. We had to wait until about 2 hours before our flight before they posted a gate number for our flight to Dulles. We cleared the security check point and headed to our gate to find that they won’t let you into the seating area until about an hour before hand. Yet again we were transported to the plane by bus. At least this time they had agents attempting to monitor the loading but they still packed everyone on until every seat was taken and the aisle way completely full. You didn’t have to worry about holding on because you couldn’t even move. Boarding the plane was utter chaos, they just unload and tell people to use either the front or back entrance to the plane. As a result you have people coming from the back trying to get up to the front and people coming on board at the front trying to get to the back. We were on United Star Alliance for this flight. Lufthansa and United are affiliated with each other. We actually had seats in Economy plus which was nice because we had an extra 6 inches or more between rows. The seats themselves weren’t quite as nice but the extra leg room and wider seats were nice. The service on Lufthansa is better though.
Clearing customs was pretty much a breeze. It took us about 35 minutes to go through immigration, pick up our bags and clear customs.
All and all, from the time we left Taraz to the time we landed in the US, were about 34-36 hours. I guess that is all for now until we hear when our court date is. We will keep everyone posted.
Shortly after moving into the gate area they opened up the duty free shopping area. Keep in mind it is after midnight by this point. We browsed the shops since there was nothing else to do. Quentin had been looking for a Kaz t-shirt the entire time we had been in Taraz with no luck. He and Kara came back to the seats and informed us that they finally found a shop in the duty free section that had local Kaz items and souvenir t-shirts. So off we went to check it out. We came out with t-shirts for each of us, a key chain for Wayne and a vest/hat set just the right size for Lukas Anton.
They finally called for boarding and we headed to the gate. They have yet another customs agent at the gate that takes your boarding pass, exams it and then hands it to the Lufthansa agent. The plane was a little nicer than the one we flew over on. They had monitors in the seat backs of every seat. Still didn’t have much room between the seats.
Upon arriving in Frankfurt we were once again transport from the plane by bus. They pack you in like sardines. We had to wait until about 2 hours before our flight before they posted a gate number for our flight to Dulles. We cleared the security check point and headed to our gate to find that they won’t let you into the seating area until about an hour before hand. Yet again we were transported to the plane by bus. At least this time they had agents attempting to monitor the loading but they still packed everyone on until every seat was taken and the aisle way completely full. You didn’t have to worry about holding on because you couldn’t even move. Boarding the plane was utter chaos, they just unload and tell people to use either the front or back entrance to the plane. As a result you have people coming from the back trying to get up to the front and people coming on board at the front trying to get to the back. We were on United Star Alliance for this flight. Lufthansa and United are affiliated with each other. We actually had seats in Economy plus which was nice because we had an extra 6 inches or more between rows. The seats themselves weren’t quite as nice but the extra leg room and wider seats were nice. The service on Lufthansa is better though.
Clearing customs was pretty much a breeze. It took us about 35 minutes to go through immigration, pick up our bags and clear customs.
All and all, from the time we left Taraz to the time we landed in the US, were about 34-36 hours. I guess that is all for now until we hear when our court date is. We will keep everyone posted.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Goodbye to Taraz…for now
13 May2009
Last Family Photo for trip 1
We headed to Umit on last time to visit with Lukas Anton. He came in the music room the same as always and didn’t seem to be affected by Sasha’s absence in his group. Poor Sasha on the other hand left Umit with a fever and swollen glands. He seemed a little better this morning when we saw him while waiting for our ride. Wayne showed him pictures of Lukas on the camera and he got all excited and finally smiled.
We learned on our way outside for the morning that apparently almost half of the children were sick with something. The Docter’s only got a 10 minute visit with Simbot as she was evidently one of the casualties of what ever was spreading. So far it appears Lukas has not gotten whatever it is.
Zema let us go with her to take Lukas back to his group at lunchtime and say goodbye. He had just come in for a potty break and was ready to go back outside so he wasn’t too happy about going upstairs. Papa carried him upstairs and he was whining because he wasn’t getting his way. Not exactly how we wanted to end things this trip. We gave the nanny his blanket, bear and photo album and Zema explained what was in the back and asked them to look at the book with him or let him look at it on his own. I left my Russian note that Zema at proofed for me with the bag as well. The doctor was there and I finally learned that Lukas arrived at Umit in Feb of 2008. Right when we signed with Adoption Ark and started the USCIS process for Kaz.
We ate lunch one last time at Medvet and headed back to the room to do one last check to be sure we had everything and checked out. Zema and Janette came to see us off and wish us safe travel. Zema brought each family a fridge magnet and a calendar to mark off the days until we return from court. Janette said we “might” be back as soon as 3 weeks for court. We aren’t holding our breath but it would be really nice. Typically it is around 5 weeks.
We loaded the luggage up into Kuralt and Ernur’s cars at 3pm and headed to Almaty. The road trip back was actually much better than the ride to Taraz. They had actually patched some of the potholes. It was also daylight and sunny so we could see the scenery. It reminded me of driving through Texas in the spring with the big open fields filled with wildflowers. Only difference was it was a sea of wild red poppies instead of bluebonnets. It was breathtaking with the mountains in the background.
The only real incident on this road trip was when we got closer to Almaty on the good road. Ernur discovered to late that there was a dead sheep in the road and ran over it. I thought we had hit a huge pot hole! We arrived at the airport to discover an unusual system. Right as you come in the main door you immediately go through security. All our bags were x-rayed and we went through the metal detector. They questioned Wayne’s multi tool in his toiletry kit but just tag the bag as screened after he explained. I thought they were asking about the 8 inch bread knife we brought back, nope the 1 ½ inch knife on his Leatherman. Go figure!
Once we cleared the entrance we went to wait in line to check-in. I’ll give details of that in a later post when I get home as I have limited power here in the Frankfurt airport. Our flight stopped in Astana to pick up supplies, fuel and some more passengers. We all pretty much slept the rest of the flight to Frankfurt. So here we sit for a 6 hour lay over before heading to DC.
Here's some photos to enjoy from our last visit...
Mama fills empty cup we found with water
Lukas checks it out
Then we dump it
Then we repeat...over and over and over!
Yuckie!!! Get it off Papa!
See you all soon,
Lynda and Wayne
Last Family Photo for trip 1
We headed to Umit on last time to visit with Lukas Anton. He came in the music room the same as always and didn’t seem to be affected by Sasha’s absence in his group. Poor Sasha on the other hand left Umit with a fever and swollen glands. He seemed a little better this morning when we saw him while waiting for our ride. Wayne showed him pictures of Lukas on the camera and he got all excited and finally smiled.
We learned on our way outside for the morning that apparently almost half of the children were sick with something. The Docter’s only got a 10 minute visit with Simbot as she was evidently one of the casualties of what ever was spreading. So far it appears Lukas has not gotten whatever it is.
Zema let us go with her to take Lukas back to his group at lunchtime and say goodbye. He had just come in for a potty break and was ready to go back outside so he wasn’t too happy about going upstairs. Papa carried him upstairs and he was whining because he wasn’t getting his way. Not exactly how we wanted to end things this trip. We gave the nanny his blanket, bear and photo album and Zema explained what was in the back and asked them to look at the book with him or let him look at it on his own. I left my Russian note that Zema at proofed for me with the bag as well. The doctor was there and I finally learned that Lukas arrived at Umit in Feb of 2008. Right when we signed with Adoption Ark and started the USCIS process for Kaz.
We ate lunch one last time at Medvet and headed back to the room to do one last check to be sure we had everything and checked out. Zema and Janette came to see us off and wish us safe travel. Zema brought each family a fridge magnet and a calendar to mark off the days until we return from court. Janette said we “might” be back as soon as 3 weeks for court. We aren’t holding our breath but it would be really nice. Typically it is around 5 weeks.
We loaded the luggage up into Kuralt and Ernur’s cars at 3pm and headed to Almaty. The road trip back was actually much better than the ride to Taraz. They had actually patched some of the potholes. It was also daylight and sunny so we could see the scenery. It reminded me of driving through Texas in the spring with the big open fields filled with wildflowers. Only difference was it was a sea of wild red poppies instead of bluebonnets. It was breathtaking with the mountains in the background.
The only real incident on this road trip was when we got closer to Almaty on the good road. Ernur discovered to late that there was a dead sheep in the road and ran over it. I thought we had hit a huge pot hole! We arrived at the airport to discover an unusual system. Right as you come in the main door you immediately go through security. All our bags were x-rayed and we went through the metal detector. They questioned Wayne’s multi tool in his toiletry kit but just tag the bag as screened after he explained. I thought they were asking about the 8 inch bread knife we brought back, nope the 1 ½ inch knife on his Leatherman. Go figure!
Once we cleared the entrance we went to wait in line to check-in. I’ll give details of that in a later post when I get home as I have limited power here in the Frankfurt airport. Our flight stopped in Astana to pick up supplies, fuel and some more passengers. We all pretty much slept the rest of the flight to Frankfurt. So here we sit for a 6 hour lay over before heading to DC.
Here's some photos to enjoy from our last visit...
Mama fills empty cup we found with water
Lukas checks it out
Then we dump it
Then we repeat...over and over and over!
Yuckie!!! Get it off Papa!
See you all soon,
Lynda and Wayne
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Guardianship Council Day...Da
12 May 2009
Part I: Morning Visit
Well today is the day we have our Guardianship Meeting. We went to visit Lukas Anton this morning. It was quite the outfit he had on. We thought he had picked out his own clothes but discovered later that his entire class seemed to be dressed the same way, shorts with tights underneath.
We showed him the new pictures we added to his album while he ate his snack. He was quite excited to see pictures of himself in the book. Hopefully the nannies will look through it with him or give it to him so he can look through it.
Speaking of the nannies, I think they will be glad to see us finally leave. Every time they come by with the children, especially the two older groups, the children get distracted with interacting with us. I’m sure they will appreciate getting back to their regular routine.
We were outside when Sasha’s parents arrived to get him and take him home. He was walking with Wayne and saw them. He went running around the corner towards his group yelling, “where’s Sasha, where’s Sasha?” When he couldn’t find him outside he took Wayne inside looking for him to let him know his mama and papa were here. From what Zema told us, Sasha got dressed and refused to go outside with his group. She thinks he was afraid his parents wouldn’t be able to find him if he went outside to play. However, it appears it was a different story when they got upstairs. We saw them outside before we left and Sasha seemed a bit unsure of what was going on. They had changed him into new clothes and left everyone and everything else he was familiar with behind. He wouldn’t smile or interact with any of us. He didn’t seem to worse for wear when they arrived back at the hotel.
We had a light lunch at Aral since we plan to head to Sakartvelo with the Docters for a celebratory dinner after our Guardianship meeting. We will just relax until time to leave for our appointment. It ends up that Zema will be going with us this afternoon. I’m glad about that.
Part II: Guardianship Council
The Guardianship Council hearing went very smoothly. There were 3 members present and a note taker. The questions that we were asked were pretty much what you would expect. Why Kazakhstan, Why Taraz, Why Anton, Could we take care of him, are our families in agreement
Etc,etc. All in all in took about 10 minutes, and we got a recommendation for approval from the council.
Tomorrow morning is our last visit with Lukas Anton. It will be bittersweet. It means we are one step closer to bringing him home but we will be without him for the next several weeks half way around the world. I am curious to see what kind of mood he is in after his first night without his amigo, Sasha. I don’t know if he will understand what has happened or if he will even care. I guess we’ll find out. Eva and Vincente will be here at least until early next week. I will see if they can give us a report on how Lukas Anton is adjusting to our not being there. I also have Zema’s email so if she or Janette visit Umit while we are away I will see if Zema will let me know how he is doing.
This will be our last blog from Taraz for now. We probably won’t have time to send anything tomorrow. We look forward to seeing everyone when we get home and telling you all about Lukas Anton.
We miss him already….
Paka,
Lynda and Wayne
Part I: Morning Visit
Well today is the day we have our Guardianship Meeting. We went to visit Lukas Anton this morning. It was quite the outfit he had on. We thought he had picked out his own clothes but discovered later that his entire class seemed to be dressed the same way, shorts with tights underneath.
We showed him the new pictures we added to his album while he ate his snack. He was quite excited to see pictures of himself in the book. Hopefully the nannies will look through it with him or give it to him so he can look through it.
Speaking of the nannies, I think they will be glad to see us finally leave. Every time they come by with the children, especially the two older groups, the children get distracted with interacting with us. I’m sure they will appreciate getting back to their regular routine.
We were outside when Sasha’s parents arrived to get him and take him home. He was walking with Wayne and saw them. He went running around the corner towards his group yelling, “where’s Sasha, where’s Sasha?” When he couldn’t find him outside he took Wayne inside looking for him to let him know his mama and papa were here. From what Zema told us, Sasha got dressed and refused to go outside with his group. She thinks he was afraid his parents wouldn’t be able to find him if he went outside to play. However, it appears it was a different story when they got upstairs. We saw them outside before we left and Sasha seemed a bit unsure of what was going on. They had changed him into new clothes and left everyone and everything else he was familiar with behind. He wouldn’t smile or interact with any of us. He didn’t seem to worse for wear when they arrived back at the hotel.
We had a light lunch at Aral since we plan to head to Sakartvelo with the Docters for a celebratory dinner after our Guardianship meeting. We will just relax until time to leave for our appointment. It ends up that Zema will be going with us this afternoon. I’m glad about that.
Part II: Guardianship Council
The Guardianship Council hearing went very smoothly. There were 3 members present and a note taker. The questions that we were asked were pretty much what you would expect. Why Kazakhstan, Why Taraz, Why Anton, Could we take care of him, are our families in agreement
Etc,etc. All in all in took about 10 minutes, and we got a recommendation for approval from the council.
Tomorrow morning is our last visit with Lukas Anton. It will be bittersweet. It means we are one step closer to bringing him home but we will be without him for the next several weeks half way around the world. I am curious to see what kind of mood he is in after his first night without his amigo, Sasha. I don’t know if he will understand what has happened or if he will even care. I guess we’ll find out. Eva and Vincente will be here at least until early next week. I will see if they can give us a report on how Lukas Anton is adjusting to our not being there. I also have Zema’s email so if she or Janette visit Umit while we are away I will see if Zema will let me know how he is doing.
This will be our last blog from Taraz for now. We probably won’t have time to send anything tomorrow. We look forward to seeing everyone when we get home and telling you all about Lukas Anton.
We miss him already….
Paka,
Lynda and Wayne
Monday, May 11, 2009
Paka Sasha
11 May 2009
loochshi drook = best friend
We went to Umit in the morning today and will continue to do so our last two days. We started out in the music room and Lukas Anton decided he was going to eat all his food at once. He had been outside with his group when we got there so maybe he worked up an appetite. After a piano serenade we headed outside to enjoy the sunshine.
Our little guy decided he was going to head over towards his class and managed to step into a little gully filled with water. It took him by surprise since it was ankle deep and he came up screaming. We took him over to the farthest gazebo and took off his shoes to try and dry them. He was unhappy that his socks were wet so we went to take them off and discovered he had on tights. We sent Zema in for new tights. While we were waiting Janette came by with another couple from Spain. It ends up they are Sasha’s parents. They arrived yesterday in Taraz and will take Sasha home tomorrow. Unfortunately they do not speak any English and it was difficult to converse but we made due. The other couple here from Spain filled in as translators when we all got back to the hotel. Maybe we will be able to keep track of Sasha through Eva and Vincente. I’m sure they will stay in touch with Sasha’s family.
I’m afraid this is going to be a tough week for our little guy with his buddy leaving to go to his new home and mama and papa leaving the next day for several weeks. When it was time to go back to their group for lunch Lukas Anton cried (more like screamed) and Sasha got pouty. It’s hard to believe we only have two more days with him for a while. We have been here to see the tulips in bloom and now the iris. The roses are beginning to finally bud but I don’t think I will see them bloom before we leave. The vine outside our dining room window has gone from being just a bare vine with a few shoots to almost completely covering the window. I think that is a sign we have been here too long.
After our visit we headed to the photo store with Zema and printed the required photos for guardianship, court and the baby house. We also printed some photos for the album we will leave with Lukas Anton. After lunch we met up with Zema again and headed to the store to get paper, glue sticks and folders with multiple sleeves so we could put together the 3 folio sets we need. We sat at our table with Kara and glued all the photos on sheets of white paper (2 per page), stuck them in the clear sleeves and voila, we were done. Hopefully it is what they want. We’ll find out tomorrow.
Here are some photos of Lukas and the irises around the baby house.
You see parent’s pushing their children around in these stroller/tricycle things all over town. The Docter family abandoned this one out front and Anton decided he wanted a ride. He could pedal it but preferred papa to push him real, real fast instead.
Thanks for the Mother's Day greeting Cheryl!
Paka,
Lynda and Wayne
loochshi drook = best friend
We went to Umit in the morning today and will continue to do so our last two days. We started out in the music room and Lukas Anton decided he was going to eat all his food at once. He had been outside with his group when we got there so maybe he worked up an appetite. After a piano serenade we headed outside to enjoy the sunshine.
Our little guy decided he was going to head over towards his class and managed to step into a little gully filled with water. It took him by surprise since it was ankle deep and he came up screaming. We took him over to the farthest gazebo and took off his shoes to try and dry them. He was unhappy that his socks were wet so we went to take them off and discovered he had on tights. We sent Zema in for new tights. While we were waiting Janette came by with another couple from Spain. It ends up they are Sasha’s parents. They arrived yesterday in Taraz and will take Sasha home tomorrow. Unfortunately they do not speak any English and it was difficult to converse but we made due. The other couple here from Spain filled in as translators when we all got back to the hotel. Maybe we will be able to keep track of Sasha through Eva and Vincente. I’m sure they will stay in touch with Sasha’s family.
I’m afraid this is going to be a tough week for our little guy with his buddy leaving to go to his new home and mama and papa leaving the next day for several weeks. When it was time to go back to their group for lunch Lukas Anton cried (more like screamed) and Sasha got pouty. It’s hard to believe we only have two more days with him for a while. We have been here to see the tulips in bloom and now the iris. The roses are beginning to finally bud but I don’t think I will see them bloom before we leave. The vine outside our dining room window has gone from being just a bare vine with a few shoots to almost completely covering the window. I think that is a sign we have been here too long.
After our visit we headed to the photo store with Zema and printed the required photos for guardianship, court and the baby house. We also printed some photos for the album we will leave with Lukas Anton. After lunch we met up with Zema again and headed to the store to get paper, glue sticks and folders with multiple sleeves so we could put together the 3 folio sets we need. We sat at our table with Kara and glued all the photos on sheets of white paper (2 per page), stuck them in the clear sleeves and voila, we were done. Hopefully it is what they want. We’ll find out tomorrow.
Here are some photos of Lukas and the irises around the baby house.
You see parent’s pushing their children around in these stroller/tricycle things all over town. The Docter family abandoned this one out front and Anton decided he wanted a ride. He could pedal it but preferred papa to push him real, real fast instead.
Thanks for the Mother's Day greeting Cheryl!
Paka,
Lynda and Wayne
Sunday, May 10, 2009
First Mother’s Day with my little boy
10 May 2009
Best Mother’s Day gift ever!
Sc-chastleevi Mat’s Dyen = Happy Mother’s Day
(this is most likely not grammatically correct but you get the idea)
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you mother’s who are reading this today. We hope you have a wonderful, blessed day.
Well, I’ve waited for this day for years and it has finally arrived. Granted, at this point he is not officially ours yet, but I get to spend Mother’s Day with my own little boy. It may only be for 2 hours or so, but I will take it just the same. With any luck we might be here with him for Father’s Day as well having our court date. We have been told that court should be around 5 weeks after our Guardianship Council. Since we are having that on May 12th it would put us at mid June or so for Court.
It’s hard to believe we only have 4 more visits with our little guy and then we will be half way around the world from each other. Hopefully with catching up with work, at home and getting his room ready the time will go by quickly.
Here is a glimpse of my first Mother’s Day with Lukas Anton…
Best Mother’s Day gift ever!
Sc-chastleevi Mat’s Dyen = Happy Mother’s Day
(this is most likely not grammatically correct but you get the idea)
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you mother’s who are reading this today. We hope you have a wonderful, blessed day.
Well, I’ve waited for this day for years and it has finally arrived. Granted, at this point he is not officially ours yet, but I get to spend Mother’s Day with my own little boy. It may only be for 2 hours or so, but I will take it just the same. With any luck we might be here with him for Father’s Day as well having our court date. We have been told that court should be around 5 weeks after our Guardianship Council. Since we are having that on May 12th it would put us at mid June or so for Court.
It’s hard to believe we only have 4 more visits with our little guy and then we will be half way around the world from each other. Hopefully with catching up with work, at home and getting his room ready the time will go by quickly.
Here is a glimpse of my first Mother’s Day with Lukas Anton…
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Victory Day
9 May 2009
neechyevo = all gone
First things first, a big happy birthday to Lynda Jeanne!! Hope you have a great day. We threw a parade in your honor today here in Taraz…unfortunately with all the chaos within the crowds this is all I could see to photograph for you to see.
The celebration last weekend was much better since most of the residents were in the parade you could get a good spot to see the festivities. We started out up on the square which is evidently where all the good action and the people part of the parade took place, however, long before the parade started we had been pushed from almost at the front to about 10 rows deep. The people just push you out of the way or walk around and walk up in front of you. The poor police and guard units were trying to keep people from cutting in front and crossing the parade route but it was a lost cause. The people just totally ignored anyone in uniform for the most part. We finally got a spot along the main road but once the motorcade went through (at about 30mph no less) the crowd ran into the street from both sides and started pushing towards the square as a mass. We gave up. I would have liked to have seen the folk dance I saw them rehearsing earlier in the week. I did get 1 photo of two dancers walking down the street.
We headed to Medvet for lunch and I actually managed to order a steak completely by chance. We had figured the menu out to know that meat was on one page, lamb on another, pork another, etc. I decided to branch out and try something new and just pointed to something. I had no idea what I was in for and was quite surprised to see a steak hiding under grilled vegetables. I convinced Quentin to do likewise and he ended up with a veal cutlet au gratin.
We had what I guess will be our regular afternoon visits from here on out. Aima was in town and went with us so we managed to get some information out of her. We will visit everyday until the day we leave to come. Our last visit will be Wednesday morning and then we hit the road for the long drive to the airport. Zema will be back with us tomorrow. Based on the extra fees for additional days of driver/translator Zema will be going with us everyday until we leave. We are scheduled for Guardianship Council on Tuesday at 4pm (that’s 8 am EST) along with the Docters, we don’t know who will go first. Aima said it is very easy and they just ask basic questions. I gather it is more of a formality before court, but just the same be praying for us then. Since Aima is coming to the USA the end of May to stay for 4 months she used the opportunity to ask us questions about the east coast and the states in general. Her brother who met Wayne and I at the airport is going to Seattle, WA with the same work abroad program so she was asking us questions about Seattle as well. My many trips to Seattle came in handy.
Now, what you have been waiting for, your daily fix of Lukas Anton photos…
Lukas Anton pointed out this old photo of him to me yesterday and we took a snapshot of it today…
He is the one in the stripped sweater holding the nannies hand. This was taken in the common play area in their wing.
Debbie, I have a project for you if you are up to it. There is a piece of artwork outside the music room that Lukas Anton is very fond of. Below are some pictures of it. It is made out of some sort of vinyl tape but I was wondering if you might be able to put your painting skills to work and recreate it in a smaller size so we could put it in his room so he would have something familiar around him.
Paka,
Lynda and Wayne
neechyevo = all gone
First things first, a big happy birthday to Lynda Jeanne!! Hope you have a great day. We threw a parade in your honor today here in Taraz…unfortunately with all the chaos within the crowds this is all I could see to photograph for you to see.
The celebration last weekend was much better since most of the residents were in the parade you could get a good spot to see the festivities. We started out up on the square which is evidently where all the good action and the people part of the parade took place, however, long before the parade started we had been pushed from almost at the front to about 10 rows deep. The people just push you out of the way or walk around and walk up in front of you. The poor police and guard units were trying to keep people from cutting in front and crossing the parade route but it was a lost cause. The people just totally ignored anyone in uniform for the most part. We finally got a spot along the main road but once the motorcade went through (at about 30mph no less) the crowd ran into the street from both sides and started pushing towards the square as a mass. We gave up. I would have liked to have seen the folk dance I saw them rehearsing earlier in the week. I did get 1 photo of two dancers walking down the street.
We headed to Medvet for lunch and I actually managed to order a steak completely by chance. We had figured the menu out to know that meat was on one page, lamb on another, pork another, etc. I decided to branch out and try something new and just pointed to something. I had no idea what I was in for and was quite surprised to see a steak hiding under grilled vegetables. I convinced Quentin to do likewise and he ended up with a veal cutlet au gratin.
We had what I guess will be our regular afternoon visits from here on out. Aima was in town and went with us so we managed to get some information out of her. We will visit everyday until the day we leave to come. Our last visit will be Wednesday morning and then we hit the road for the long drive to the airport. Zema will be back with us tomorrow. Based on the extra fees for additional days of driver/translator Zema will be going with us everyday until we leave. We are scheduled for Guardianship Council on Tuesday at 4pm (that’s 8 am EST) along with the Docters, we don’t know who will go first. Aima said it is very easy and they just ask basic questions. I gather it is more of a formality before court, but just the same be praying for us then. Since Aima is coming to the USA the end of May to stay for 4 months she used the opportunity to ask us questions about the east coast and the states in general. Her brother who met Wayne and I at the airport is going to Seattle, WA with the same work abroad program so she was asking us questions about Seattle as well. My many trips to Seattle came in handy.
Now, what you have been waiting for, your daily fix of Lukas Anton photos…
Lukas Anton pointed out this old photo of him to me yesterday and we took a snapshot of it today…
He is the one in the stripped sweater holding the nannies hand. This was taken in the common play area in their wing.
Debbie, I have a project for you if you are up to it. There is a piece of artwork outside the music room that Lukas Anton is very fond of. Below are some pictures of it. It is made out of some sort of vinyl tape but I was wondering if you might be able to put your painting skills to work and recreate it in a smaller size so we could put it in his room so he would have something familiar around him.
Paka,
Lynda and Wayne
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