Goodbye Astana, Hello Almaty

First BIG sorry, sorry, sorry!! Kurt finally made it to Astana on Monday afternoon - 36 hours later than expected - but he made it. I was looking forward to getting on the internet with our DSL that night but turns out we didn't have it nor did the slow standby dial-up work so....it's taken until now to get to you.

Monday night we celebrated the Eid al-Adha, one of the most important Muslim holidays, with Uncle Shamrat's family. They had about 30 of their friends over to eat a sheep that had been sacrificied that morning. Apparently the holiday is all about giving to those that don't have and sacrificing the sheep in hopes of help for your family. It was croweded and hot and we were of definite interest to all there. Of course I brought my camera and then realized that the battery was still in the charger in the apt. Gaha (Shamrat's granddaughter) took pictures and says that she will e-mail them to me. A few interesting tidbits: men sat and one table and the women were spread over two tables. We all sat on the floor on mats and everyone (minus us) ate with their hands. Kurt had the pleasure of watching one of the men eat a sheep eyeball. Hmmm glad I missed that one. There were many prayers said and half of the sheep was donated to those who had no food. As we were leaving Shamrat gave Kurt a traditional Kazakh male 'costume' and Serik a muslim cap to wear at a mosque. There were hugs and tears and promises to see each other again.

Tuesday we ran around: First Sasha and I went to get the papers started for her Kazakh passport. A quick lunch and nap was followed by our farewell visit to the baby house. We first stopped by Dr. Alma's office to give her our gifts and donations, then it was up to the caregivers for their gifts and donation of a baby swing. Then down to thank the doctors and Sasha's specific caregiver who also happened to be Serik's and our favorite. One more thank you to Dr. Alma and the tears started flowing. I was trying to get out the words, ' thank you for giving us our family' but had a hard time. Finally did though and she absolutely understood.

Then it was home to pack for our flight on Wednesday to Almaty. We figured that we would leave Astana as soon as we were able to for a couple of reasons: 1. It's warmer here on the southern edge of the country (near Kyrgystan) , 2. Change of scenary, 3. Irina was coming down to be with Baha and his parents.

Wednesday morning Murat drove me to buy a few souvenirs for the kids. Then it was back for last minute packing. Murat and Saule came to pick us up and they had the landlady with them to check out to make sure the apartment was in good condition. Saule had our friend's the Lloyds interpreter with them - they had run into each other outside and so she came up to say 'hi'. She told me to say 'hi to Jaimie and Gena' (so there you go guys).

As we were leaving the city Serik started saying good-bye to Astana and mommy's tears started to flow as this cute little voice said, 'good-bye buildings, good-bye cars, etc'. At the airport Gaha and her mother Guldana met us. Guldana had knitted Sasha a little sweater and skirt and was finishing the skirt as we were checking in. More tears all around again and this time Saule and Murat even got teary. We have everyone's contact information so we'll be in touch.

The flight to Almaty was relatively uneventful. Serik fell asleep right away and Sasha waited until the last 20 minutes to sleep. Vitalli picked us up and we spent the better part of the next hour and a half in traffic.

We got to the sisiter's office to get the keys for the apt. This apt was supposed to be good - 2 bedrooms near their office and the Ramstore. We get there and ' Oh my...' was all I could say (granted this picture was taken this a.m. and if I hadn't seen this in the dark well...).The building was falling apart. The elevator was all rickety and rundown and you know how much I love elevators in general so you can imagine how thrilled this made me.

When we got off of the elevator there were no lights - none - pitch black. Our apartment - yeah, not so stellar. I unloaded my husband and kids and went with Vitalli to the Ramstore for a few quick supplies. While there I decided, executive decision you know, that I was going to call Janar and tell her we needed a new apt in the morning. Which I did.

No offense to our Russian and Kazakh friends but - boy - not good in terms of anything. Guess it was our equalization for being in a brand new apartment in Astana.

When I got back to the apartment I filled Kurt in and he agreed with me. Needless to say sleep was hard to come by and it was all very uncomfortable. This morning I called Janar and said we would be at the office at 10 a.m. and our luggage would be set to go. She said she needed time - that one apartment might be available in a day or two -ugh. She called back soon after and said there was another she had forgotten about and that Vitalli would meet me at the office to go look at it. I walked in the door of this apartment and said 'yes' immediately and was singing the Hallelujah chorus in my head. I actually had to restrain myself from kissing the owners - who turned out to be an old driver for the sisters, Andrei and his wife. It's their pad and they are staying somewhere else while we are here - hey it's quck $$ for them and it feels like the Ritz to us - we even have unlimited internet here - ahhh serious Shangrai-La. See for yourself. Kids have their own bedroom and it doubles as a workout area so Serik is having a blast hanging from the boxing ball.Tomorrow we head up to Koktube (cable car with a small zoo and restaurant up top) and then to the mountains with Irina, Baha, Zaure and Uncle Serik.Hi to the Brabsons - this trip isn't the same without you. On the plus side - no snow in Almaty!