Were here!
We made it to Kazakhstan. It all started with the security measures at O’Hare. We went extra early to be sure to give us plenty of time (3 hours) and we flew through. From check in through security to the gate only took us twenty minutes. So we waited. We boarded our plane relatively on time and we were off to Frankfurt. We were lucky that the plane was not full, so we had the four middle seats all to ourselves. Deb was able to sprawl out and sleep and I did my best but was not very successful. We made it to Frankfurt in a little over eight hours.
After about a three hour layover we were off to Almaty. This time the flight was full and of course we got stuck sitting next to the smelly man(for six hours), who when we saw him waiting at the terminal all we could think is please not us. So, we made sure that we tried to sleep as much as possible, and Deb kept popping mints to try and mask the smell. We arrived in Almaty at about 12:00 midnight. Our driver, Oleg was there to greet us and off to Hotel Kazzhol. We were both amazed at how well the city was lit up. There were bright neon lights everywhere. They even had neon designed signs that hung across the streets. It was very pretty. By the time we got to the hotel and off to bed it was about 1:30am. We slept off and on until 7:00am. It will be awhile before our bodies get used to the 11 hour time difference.
In the morning we were lucky enough to meet up with Delores and her beautiful son Losha. Our adoption agency had referred us to Delores to get information about trip number one as she had just returned. They will soon be on their way back home from trip number two. We had breakfast and talked for about two hours. Delores became our tour guide and showed us around a small portion of Almaty. After our walk we decided to go back to our rooms for a short rest. The two kids were tired (Losha &myself). After a three hour nap, Deb and I met up with Delores and Losha one last time before our departure to Karaganda. Delores was a wonderful and helpful person. She told us so many things that would help us along the way. Especially, the cultural differences and rules of the baby house.
Meeting Losha, made us want to meet with our future child/ren. He is absolutely adorable. He is so well behaved. The best part about Losha is that he has a smile that can make your heart melt. (Can you tell who is really narrating the story?)
So we were off again. This time Oleg’s father Eugene picked us up at about 6:30pm to take us to the airport. He brought us in and made sure that we that we could find everything ok. Deb might want to stay in Kaz because women are treated like royalty. He would not let allow her to carry any of the luggage. After we checked in we had to pay off the security guard because our luggage was 13 kilos over weight. I did the old slip the money in the passport and hand it off trick. We came to the conclusion that we were on a small plane when we saw the very few people in the boarding line. It was a good thing that the flight was only about two hours because it was extremely loud and hot. I was sweating bullets.
When we landed, our translator Olga was waiting for us. She picked us out right away. I can’t understand how she knew. Do we stick out? The answer is yes! She told us that we did. Olga is the person that will be walking us through all of the adoption process here in Karaganda. She is very nice and helpful. We drove around for about twenty minutes looking for a store that was open so that we could buy some bottled water. It was really interesting. We found a store that was open and we had to ring the door and a woman answered us through a little window in the steel door. It was like a walk-up window for shopping. Oh, did we mention how smart Olga is? We had mentioned that Delores told us that she spoke many languages. Her modest reply was,” Only a few. I speak English, German, French, Russian, & Kazakh. I am currently learning Spanish and Chinese.”
We arrived at our apartment at about 11:30pm. It is a huge building. The outside is not so nice, but the inside is really pretty nice. By the time we unpacked, and went to bed it was around 1:00am. Wouldn’t you know it that we were up at 5:00am. So we watched Pirates of the Caribbean.
Today is going to be the most exciting and nerve wrenching day. We will be going to the baby house to meet our new child/ren. More to follow later.
After about a three hour layover we were off to Almaty. This time the flight was full and of course we got stuck sitting next to the smelly man(for six hours), who when we saw him waiting at the terminal all we could think is please not us. So, we made sure that we tried to sleep as much as possible, and Deb kept popping mints to try and mask the smell. We arrived in Almaty at about 12:00 midnight. Our driver, Oleg was there to greet us and off to Hotel Kazzhol. We were both amazed at how well the city was lit up. There were bright neon lights everywhere. They even had neon designed signs that hung across the streets. It was very pretty. By the time we got to the hotel and off to bed it was about 1:30am. We slept off and on until 7:00am. It will be awhile before our bodies get used to the 11 hour time difference.
In the morning we were lucky enough to meet up with Delores and her beautiful son Losha. Our adoption agency had referred us to Delores to get information about trip number one as she had just returned. They will soon be on their way back home from trip number two. We had breakfast and talked for about two hours. Delores became our tour guide and showed us around a small portion of Almaty. After our walk we decided to go back to our rooms for a short rest. The two kids were tired (Losha &myself). After a three hour nap, Deb and I met up with Delores and Losha one last time before our departure to Karaganda. Delores was a wonderful and helpful person. She told us so many things that would help us along the way. Especially, the cultural differences and rules of the baby house.
Meeting Losha, made us want to meet with our future child/ren. He is absolutely adorable. He is so well behaved. The best part about Losha is that he has a smile that can make your heart melt. (Can you tell who is really narrating the story?)
So we were off again. This time Oleg’s father Eugene picked us up at about 6:30pm to take us to the airport. He brought us in and made sure that we that we could find everything ok. Deb might want to stay in Kaz because women are treated like royalty. He would not let allow her to carry any of the luggage. After we checked in we had to pay off the security guard because our luggage was 13 kilos over weight. I did the old slip the money in the passport and hand it off trick. We came to the conclusion that we were on a small plane when we saw the very few people in the boarding line. It was a good thing that the flight was only about two hours because it was extremely loud and hot. I was sweating bullets.
When we landed, our translator Olga was waiting for us. She picked us out right away. I can’t understand how she knew. Do we stick out? The answer is yes! She told us that we did. Olga is the person that will be walking us through all of the adoption process here in Karaganda. She is very nice and helpful. We drove around for about twenty minutes looking for a store that was open so that we could buy some bottled water. It was really interesting. We found a store that was open and we had to ring the door and a woman answered us through a little window in the steel door. It was like a walk-up window for shopping. Oh, did we mention how smart Olga is? We had mentioned that Delores told us that she spoke many languages. Her modest reply was,” Only a few. I speak English, German, French, Russian, & Kazakh. I am currently learning Spanish and Chinese.”
We arrived at our apartment at about 11:30pm. It is a huge building. The outside is not so nice, but the inside is really pretty nice. By the time we unpacked, and went to bed it was around 1:00am. Wouldn’t you know it that we were up at 5:00am. So we watched Pirates of the Caribbean.
Today is going to be the most exciting and nerve wrenching day. We will be going to the baby house to meet our new child/ren. More to follow later.
posted by Jeremy & Debbie Groh | 8/15/2006
1 Comments:
Can't wait to read more! I'm hanging on every word! Blessings to you!
Sarah
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