Monday, June 26, 2006

After being treated to an unexpected and very loud fireworks display out our window last evening I had hoped that everyone would sleep a bit later today. No luck. The boys were up by five. They showered and then went back to sleep for a bit. The girls managed to entertain themselves in bed for a while and then cat nap until breakfast. The morning was spent playing games and washing hair in preparation for our clinic visit. We frequented our favorite hang out at the food court for lunch and then Svetlana picked us up and took us to the SOS clinic. I am sure the poor ladies at the food court can’t wait for us to leave! Between the group of deaf young men they have been serving and us they are earning their salary this week. Last night I was approached by a young man and asked in English if I was American. He then wanted to know if I was adopting the children. When I answered affirmatively he shared his story of being adopted from here when he was 16 and moving to Ohio. He is now 20 and he and his parents are here for some short-term project. He was moved to see other teenagers finding families. Plus he ordered dinner for us. The deaf men were not so lucky. They had to make do with writing notes on napkins when sign language was getting them nowhere. Svetlana declared that I needed no help at the clinic and dropped us off and away she went promising to return in one and a half hours. Everyone got a relatively clean bill of health. Much to the kid’s dismay, they had to get immunizations before being allowed in the US. Rinat and Zarina only had to get one each with my promise to get their titers checked upon arrival. Sholpan needed two shots and a promise to take her to a cardiologist. Svetlana did return for us and then we zoomed to the embassy to drop off the medical reports before 4pm. Everyone came home exhausted from the excitement and the extreme heat. Another hike to the mall for dinner and we are now ready to settle in for a movie and bedtime.

Sunday, June 25, 2006 (more photos)

Sunday, June 25, 2006

We have officially made it through a weekend together with no problems. At least none that I can understand. Zarina continues to talk to me as if I have a clue. The other two know better. This morning we had a translator for a couple of hours and none of the kids would talk to her. It seems they are shy around strangers. I am taking that as a good thing. They are doing great at staying with me and not straying when we go out. Crossing streets in this crazy-driver country still makes me nervous though. They hadn’t a clue what the traffic light was all about. Of course, the drivers don’t seem to know either! The escalator still amazes all three of them when we go to the mall to eat. It is funny to see me try to order food for all of us. I had hoped that they would tell the waitress what they wanted. Instead they try to tell me so I can tell her. At any rate they are eating whatever we get. Rinat may be a match for the other teenage eaters in our house. These girls will eat our others under the table at least in the vegetable department.
This morning we went to the zoo. It was interesting to see the collection of animals. There were some I had never seen before. Sholpan and Rinat rode on camels and had their photo made. Zarina wasn’t going to get close enough to even touch one! It was as close to crying as I have seen her. We all enjoyed getting out for a while. Life in a hotel leaves a little to be desired. Thankfully, the kids are not wild. The translator commented this morning how well behaved they were. She said she usually just works with babies, but the few older kids she has seen come out of the orphanages reminded her more of monkeys. We purchased Scooby Doo and Willie Wonka in Russian at the mall and spent the afternoon watching those. It is now time to head back out and see what kind of food we can discover. Tomorrow we will go to the SOS clinic for their visa checkups and finally to the embassy on Tuesday afternoon. If all goes well we will be on an early morning flight home on Wednesday.

Saturday, June 24, 2006 (later)

The girls played with Barbies and Rinat raced his new micro racer around under the furniture and under our feet. We walked to the mall for lunch and had some pizza. Luckily, the children followed and nobody ran over any of us! Sonia is busy today and has only called to check on us. We will not see her until Sunday morning. She is taking us to the zoo or something like that.

I am adding soup-eating photos from Friday

Saturday, June 24, 2006

It is Saturday morning and we all got a fairly decent rest overnight. Rinat and Matthew took one bedroom and Mom got the other. The girls slept, after lots of giggling, on the pullout sofa. They have really bonded to each other during this waiting period. Typical girls they are even going to the bathroom together! Matthew and I have no idea what all the whispering and giggling is about. At least no body is crying. We are waiting on Zarina and Sholpan to finish brushing their teeth and then are going to venture out in search of breakfast. No word from our translator on what the day has in store yet. The girls have on new outfits from home and Rinat is sporting some American jean shorts. When they arrived last night there was no sign of the clothes we had left here with them. The girls have now emerged and look lovely. Now we will see if I can get them to follow me to find food.

Friday, June 23, 2006

We arrived in Almaty early this morning after a very long day and a half of travel. The apartment was a bit far from things (like food and people that speak English) so we moved to a hotel. It has a couple of bedrooms and a nice sitting area. The kids arrived in the middle of a thunderstorm a couple of hours later than expected. Apparently there was a flat tire involved. Not real clear on those details! Svetlana dropped them off and ordered some soup for them and away she went. It seems to have been a long trip for her as well. All three of the kids got motion sick! Several times!! She says there is a story to tell but she does not have enough English words to tell it. Something about the orphanage has been shut down and we are missing paperwork, but not to worry. Yeah right! Our translator will explain it all tomorrow. Overall the children seem to be happy and exhausted. We just finished the soup and I am going to try to explain "brush your teeth and go to bed".

почистьте ваши зубы щеткой и пойдите спать

Epilogue, Thursday, June 1, 2006

We had our day in court Monday morning and everything went very smoothly. We picked Sholpan up at the hospital and Rinat joined us at the courthouse with the orphanage director. Everything about the court proceedings was quite positive and without controversy. Sholpan and Rinat had to speak to the court and tell the judge that they wanted to go and live with us in the USA. The judge seemed pleased with all their responses to his questions except when he asked them if they could speak Kazakh and then discovered that they could speak virtually none.

It was pouring rain when we left the courthouse so everyone rushed off to where they were heading without much in the way of goodbyes. We had time only to rush back to the hotel, pack our stuff, and get in our car for the 6-7 hour ride to Astana. We had long layovers in Almaty, Frankfurt, and DC. We ended up back home at 3am Wednesday, having traveled 48 hours, half of which we spent sitting around airports. The tiny seats on the trans-atlantic flight were completely filled with passengers. It was less than fun.

We have now begun to adjust to life in the eastern time zone knowing full well that Susan and Matthew will make this trip again in just 3 weeks. We hope to have everyone back home by the end of June. Keep in touch.

Sunday, May 28, 2006 (more photos)

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Final Entry. Great Day. We took Rinat and Zarina out to buy clothes then to a café for lunch then back to the hotel for movies, basketball, music, and warm baths with fabulous hair products. We then took them to the hospital to see Sholpan and to take her some more clothes including her dress for court. Sholpan is doing well and was happy to see her brother and sister. We all were required to purchase and wear protective shoe covers for the visit. The fact that they resembled Wal-Mart bags and said “Thank You and Have a Nice Day” on them raised no eyebrows from the infection control nurse.

So long for now…

Keep in touch. Much love from all of us.

Amen.

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Today was a pretty good day. We had breakfast then went shopping and bought some DVD Russian cartoons for the children to watch when we get them home. Sorry, no subtitles. We had lamb kebab and salmon for lunch at the Slovenian Restaurant and it was quite tasty. After lunch we went earlier than usual to Arkhangelskaya and hung out with Rinat and Zarina, playing Hearts, Yahtzee, and Leapster. We went early because when arranged to go see Sholpan in the hospital. She was very glad to see us and we were delighted to see her and to see that she is now much improved. She no longer has fever. She is sleeping better. She still has a cough but it is probably not as bad as the coughing we heard back at the village.

We may get to see Sholpan again tomorrow. We will send her some more clothes as well as her dress for court on Monday. We will get to see Rinat and Zarina for a longer period of time tomorrow as we have court at 10 am Monday and will not have much time to visit with them after court because we have a plane to catch in Astana. Tune in tomorrow for the final entry. We won’t be able to blog again after court until we are back in Virginia Tuesday night. Thanks again for all your prayers and encouragement over the past few weeks.

Friday, May 26, 2006

Dawn. Halfway between darkness and light, east and west, squalid and picturesque, past and future, full of hope not yet realized, the forecast depending on so many factors. Kazakhstan changes each time we visit, always wealthier in finance, industry and technology. But always down the street (or in it) are symbols of a land slow to change. Today’s throwback came in the form of a horse drawn cart common on the farmlands near the village of Arkhangelskaya.

We are also halfway through a process; nearing the end of a three week trip to Petropavlovsk, hopefully culminating in a legal adoption on Monday the 29th. A second trip is in the future, hopefully a 4-5 day jaunt around June 24th. We hope to have everyone home by July 1st.

We spent this afternoon with Rinat and Zarina as Sholpan is still hospitalized (but apparently improving). We built a quite challenging crossword puzzle and played some indoor games. We had a doughnut break that was very much to Rinat’s liking; Krispy Kreme will seem like paradise. We created a “care package” for Sholpan including snacks, juice, a book, and a brown teddy bear. Svetlana will deliver it this evening.

Not much else to report here. We while away the hours eating meals and talking to other Americans, wandering out to the local shops, and occasionally visiting cafes. Today we returned to the Arabica coffee shop for cappuccino and ice cream. We miss you all very much and look forward to being back in the US on Tuesday.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Graduation day. Expectations were high for fabulous fashions; the boys in dark suits, the girls in school uniforms (aka French maid outfits). Alas, many of them opted for simple dark dresses, likely in response to the prayers sung out over the megaphone of the new mosque.

We had mixed news about Sholpan today. The good news is she is feeling better and should be well for court on Monday. The bad news is they will not let us go visit her because we are not her parents and “the hospital is full of germs that Americans are not used to”. So, we visited Rinat and Zarina and sent Svetlana to see Sholpanka who was a bit teary-eyed when she heard we could not visit her but was relieved that we hadn’t just abandoned her completely. We sent her some snacks and some crafts and a jigsaw puzzle. She is apparently getting some rest, which is more than Zarina can say; she was up a lot last night coughing.

Rinat seems okay and always suppresses any desire to cough when the doctor is around. Rinat and Sholpan both wrote documents to the court today saying, in their own apparently humorous words, that they want to have us as their parents and to have their surname changed and to move to the US. Our court is scheduled for Monday morning. We hope to be back in Richmond Tuesday evening sometime.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Not such a great day. Sholpan was taken in the ambulance to the hospital and there she will remain. They think she may have pneumonia and are running some tests. Tomorrow we will be able to visit her. We need to get special permission since we at the moment have no parental rights. And we won’t have any until she is well enough to go to court. Sort of a vicious circle! Zarina was not herself today. Her cough is starting to bother her and she is now running fever. The doctor is keeping an eye on her and giving her pills of some sort. Most of the visit was spent sitting in Mama’s lap or working a puzzle with her head down on the table. Rinat and Papa went outside for a while until a thunderstorm blew in. Then they tried some computer games. Rinat is trying to get the hang of using the touchpad. From the looks of things he is going to love video games. The judge has decided to hear our case on Monday morning. If Sholpan is not well, Svetlana hopes we can check her out of the hospital, take her to court and then check her back in. Of course, there are no flights out of here on Mondays. If we can not change our tickets then we will be leaving straight from court and taking a six hour car ride to Astana to catch the last plane of the day to Almaty in order to catch our 3:10 am flight on Tuesday. Assuming that court does not take very long!

No one was in the mood for photos today. We promise French Maids for tomorrow!

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Our last official day of visitation! It has been a beautiful day, sunny and warm. We headed to the village armed with our outdoor toys and an arsenal of candy for the anticipated crowd. Upon arrival we discovered a very melancholy Sholpan who had just returned from bathing. Her caretaker informed us there would be no playing outdoors with wet hair! Plan B, do some artwork and have a snack. It became more and more obvious that Sholpan felt miserable. She curled up in a chair and tried to rest. When I felt her head and neck she was burning up. Again we questioned the caretaker if the doctor was aware that she was ill. It appears that the regular doctor has been away and a substitute has been giving her medicine. We had to stay late to talk with the director, which of course led to “tea”. When we finally headed back to town it was discovered that the director had neglected to send an important document with us. Back we went. Turns out she forgot to draft said document! Tomorrow morning she promises. Meanwhile, the doctor has returned and checked on Sholpan. He is sending her to the hospital. We will find out tomorrow morning if she will be returned to the orphanage or kept in the hospital. Svetlana will arrive in the morning to sort out the paperwork and take it to the judge and hopefully, get a court date. The visit was not without bright spots. We asked Zarina why it is that she always magically appears as soon as we arrive without having to be called for. She smiles and says “I can just feel it when you are near me”.

John, the flower lady and the squirrel nut vendor apparently retired shortly after your stay here. Actually, there are no more street vendors. You have to go into the markets for everything now. Rumor has it that the men in big hats put the brakes on street sales. Even the monkey photo man is no more. Valentina thinks that maybe this summer some of the activity may return. For now, no more evenings searching every street corner for the perfect ice cream bar. No more flowers for the hotel lady. Sometimes change is not a good thing!

Monday, May 22, 2006

Success! We found fresh doughnuts. The lady must have gotten tired of us pestering her everyday. Today when we asked she told us to stay put for a minute and she went to the kitchen and got a whole tray of them steaming hot. Rinat was a happy young man. Unfortunately, it is going to take more than a snack to happy up Sholpan. She is feverish and feels terrible. Rinat reports that she was up during the night and has been given medicine. He keeps up with those sisters! Zarina still has a terrible cough and has been to see the nurse. It doesn’t seem to be getting her down too much. We put our puzzle building skills to the test today. It makes it more of a challenge to work on a lumpy oriental carpet. Alas, we had to leave before the puzzle was complete. On the way back we stopped to get a cake for our friend Kim since she will be leaving tomorrow after having been here for six weeks. We will miss her. Tomorrow will be our last official day of bonding. On Wednesday our coordinator will apply for a court date. We are still hoping for Friday, but it will likely be at least Monday. Thursday is the last day of school here and big celebrations are being planned. Can’t wait to see all of those French Maids!

Sunday, May 21, 2006

We awoke early to the sounds of industrious neighborhood children banging rugs with sticks. Cleaning day. It is Sunday and our visit with the children was from 11:00 to 12:30 instead of the usual school schedule of 3:30 to 5:00 pm. After a tasty breakfast at the Skiff we were off to the lovely hamlet of Arkhangelskaya, enjoying the many potholes created by a particularly severe winter. The short spring and summer here seem to be the only time when road repair seems remotely feasible and the citizens of North Kazakhstan have their work cut out for them this year. We were simultaneously delighted to see the children and exit the car and we headed upstairs for an indoor visit, as it was still pretty chilly when we arrived.

We thought we would try something new today and I first reached into the backpack and brought out the video camera. We thought the kids would like to make a movie of themselves talking or singing or acting something out. We were wrong. They were quite teased by the idea and rampant shyness overwhelmed them when the tape was rolling. Instead they all took turns at cameraman while mom and dad did the singing. Susan had hoped the girls knew some rhyming songs with hand motions like Miss Mary Mack, but this seemed like a foreign concept. Sounds like a project for the Thompson girls to tackle when we get them stateside.

After the video bombed we returned to some familiar things (Leapster, card games, and banana break) and also tried one new game, Tangoes. You know, make a certain shape using several plastic pieces (triangles, a square, and a parallelogram). Rinat liked this very much but the puzzles were harder than they looked. Luckily the answers were on the back of the card, allowing Keith to keep from pulling out what little hair he has left. We took a few photos but Sholpan was not in the mood to have her picture made as she recently was given a haircut, the outcome of which was, clearly, personal dissatisfaction.

For lunch, we ate with Valentina and several others at the Slovenian Inn and then walked back to the Skiff through the park. The park was quite bustling this afternoon as everyone is off from work and school and the fun that comes from a ferris wheel, a moonwalk, go-cart tracks, and innumerable nausea-inducing metal structures swinging and spinning their occupants in all directions transcends culture.

Saturday, May 20, 2006

It is a very cold blustery day here. The locals are back in their fur hats and heavy jackets. We just have to endure being a bit chilly, as we have neither a fur hat nor a heavy jacket. This morning we had some photos developed for the baby house. Dr. Rimma wanted to use some prints from our trip two years ago to decorate for Children’s Day on the 1st of June. Then we went on a search for the elusive doughnut. No luck today. The children had to make do with crackers and a juice box. Of course, a juice box is amazing enough for them. We had Valentina explain to them that they will be going to court with us. They tried on the clothes we brought for them to wear for the occasion. Everything fit well enough, if not perfectly. They gasped in awe when the dresses came out of the bag. Rinat looked a bit panicked when I held up one of the dresses to him! He was glad to see a polo shirt was in the bottom of the bag. Uno was the game of choice for the first half of our visit and then we moved on to Yahtzee. It is not the easiest of games to try to explain in a foreign language! We took our snack break and then finished the day with a few rounds of Hearts. Mama and Sholpan ruled the game today. Zarina and Sholpan are developing coughs. We are hoping they do not get really sick. Valentina told them to go visit the doctor, but they insisted they are fine. The truth came out when they admitted that they can’t stand the cough medicine that they know they will get if they visit the doctor! I guess some things are universal.