We're Here!

This is going to be a pretty long post....so tuck in for the read. After our interminable wait in Amsterdam we finally took off around 10:30 pm - that's a lovely 12 hour wait that we killed in the airport because the weather wasn't good for sight seeing. We landed in Almaty at about 9:45 am Wed the 29th and were met by our driver Vitalli who told us that we had to go right to the sisters office, have lunch and come back to the airport to leave for Astana. Huh?! We thought that we would have that day to relax and then we'd meet with the sisters and head to Astana on Thu. Ok then. We met with Gulbanu and Aizhan and everyone in the office was absolutely charmed with Serik. He was shy at first but by the end was running around and playing hide and seek with them (yes even Aizhan) and giving them all big hugs goodbye.

We then ran to the Ramstore to get a quick bite. Serik took advantage of that time to climb on some little rides and flirt with an Iranian girl. First interesting anecdote: the girls mother asked where we were from and when I said that we were from America she promptly said 'aahh', ' is that your son?' I said 'yes'. She said, 'but he doesn't look like you or his father...." got to love it. At three we were off to the airport again and had another fun conversation: from the security woman looking at Serik who was cashed out in his stroller - "Is he a Kazakh boy?', 'Yes', ;'How much did you have to pay for him?" - seriously! I said, 'we didn't pay anything just government fees'. Ugh. She then asked if we were going to Astana to live - I said 'no to visit friends.' Thought it was best to just leave it as quickly as possible.

Uneventful flight to Astana and we were met by Irina, Saule and Murat at the airport. Hugs and big smiles all around. They couldn't believe how big Serik had gotten. They brought us to our apartment on the Left Bank of the city. Last time we were on the Right Bank and I was kind of hoping that we would be there again since we knew the area and there's a lot to walk to. The plus of the left bank is that we have a brand new apartment and are hoping to get DSL shortly. We can see the top of the Baytarek out the apartment window (it's the big ball symbol of the city) and the President's HQ (like the White House) is right around the corner. One other downfall is that it only has one bedroom - so we have a lot of cozy family time at night. Thursday, the 30th, we were getting picked up to go to the Ministry of Education and then to the Baby House (we thought). We thought we were just picking up a ministry official and heading over but we actually had to do an interview with the director of social work. We had to wait awhile for her to see us and Serik occupied everyone in the hallway by running around and playing hide and seek, also by taking off one of my boots and wearing it over his shoe and walking around. When we finally got in it went very well and she was so pleased to see how well Serik has turned out - phew. She gave us permission to visit the baby house but found out that it would be on Friday. So the rest of the day we went to the Mega Mall and got some grocery shopping done at the new Ramstore and had lunch with Irina. We got back to the apartment and promptly fell asleep at 2pm. I woke up at 5 and asked Kurt if we should wake up Serik. We didn't and he woke up at 11 pm - so we were up until about 2 am and got him back to sleep until about 5am.

Friday, October 31st We were picked up at 9:45 to head to the baby house to select our baby. They were looking out the windows at us/Serik and smiling at him and waving. When we got in the doctors all came out to ooh and aah at him. Serik hid behind my butt for a bit but then warmed up and let people shake his hand and pat him. All the while cooing about how pretty, smart and happy he was. We showed pics to them of Serik as a baby at the Baby House and also of Katerina Brabson and Berik Lloyd (two other Astana babies adopted while we were there - hi guys!) They were so excited to see how everyone was doing. Dr. Alma came out and gave me a big hug and again Serik hid. She was so thrilled to see him and the pics that we had brought. She then had us come to her office where Serik could play with toys while we waited to pick our baby. Serik really opened up while we were in there and counted to 10 in Russian for everyone. Next thing we knew they were bringing in our baby. The first thing I noticed was that they had scalped her. She has a total buzz cut and looked like a little bruiser. As soon as I picked her up she gave me the biggest grin and giggle. Serik wanted to hug and touch her and soon they were shooing us up to the playroom to spend time with her. Serik was in heaven because there are so many great toys and ball pits to play in. We left her at noon and they said we would come back at 2 for our first official visitation. We came back to the apartment had a a quick bite and put Serik down for a nap. I finally ran to get an I-card so that we could get on the internet after our attempts at DSL failed - that's why you haven't heard from us. Interesting thoughts about going through this the second time. No nerves or sweating as we were waiting for her to arrive. Maybe because we had Serik occupying us, maybe because we had already gone through it once before. Either way it was all very relaxed. We went back to the baby house that afternoon for our first official visit and her caregiver said that she was already changing. Wanting to be picked up more and cuddled and looking for us. She was a love bug in the afternoon and just wanted to snuggle and giggle. We were excited to find out that yesterday should count as day number one for bonding - as we were thinking that wouldn't happen until Monday. That night Irina (our interpreter) and Baha her boyfriend (whom we introduced her to 2 years ago) came by and we went to Samovar for dinner. I was excited to have a Nikolashka shot (vodka with lemon slice/with sugar & coffee) but they don't have it any more - what?! Seriously the only time i ever have drunk vodka and actually liked it- hmmm. Saturday, Nov. 1, we were picked up this am for a 10-12 visit with Sasha. When we got to the baby house someone there thought we had taken one of the kids out of the baby house. Irina had to explain that Serik was our son....this might get old. Sasha was getting a bottle when we got there and they told me to jump in and feed her. She was more interested in checking me out then drinking her bottled and was soon finished (btw the bottle looks like the kind they feed calfs with ont he farm). She was a tired pumpkin and spent a lot of time watching her big brother run around. She finally fell asleep around 11:30 so we tucked her in and headed out. We got home, put Serik down for a nap and I ran some errands - went to try to find a gym and checked out the two hotels that are near by. One didn't have a gym yet and the other was about $600/ mth for 2 people - ha. Not happening. After Serik woke up we walked around and checked out some of the sights in the neighborhood. It really is like Minority Report very modern. Will try to put some pics in for that soon. Tomorrow we've been invited to Zaure and Serik's house and will also see Gulia, Uncle Shamrat and Saule and Babushka plus Baha and Irina. Should be fun. Enjoy the pics!