Were Back For Now
Our internet and phones have been down at the hotel. We have still been writing down our daily events and they are in order. We are at the Internet Cafe right now posting but it will not download the pictures for some reason. As soon as we get hooked up again we will be posting more pictures.
DAY 24
We e-mailed our travel agent 3 days ago to inform him that we would not be able to return on Sept.8. When we did not hear back from him we decided to try and call him. We jotted down his phone number from off of our itinerary and tried to call him last night. The first time that we tried to call, they were closed. We tried back again in about ½ hour and there was terrible static on the line. We phoned the front desk and they tried to figure things out but had no success. When we got up this morning the phone line was down. So now we have no way to contact our agent to inform him that we will need to cancel the flight back home that leaves in 18 hours. We decided to go check e-mail to see if our agent finally responded to our e-mail. Would you believe us if we told you that our internet in the hotel is down to. Apparently this section of the city station is down.
We thought that we would be able to use Mary Ann’s Blackberry and that also was not working for us. So while Deb stayed with Sean at the visitation, Jay and Olga toured the town trying to get in touch with someone, somehow. He was able to get Lufthansa’s number and was able to call and cancel our flight. He tried to reschedule for the following Friday, but the best that they could do was put us on standby. Olga later received a call from them informing that the next available flight would be on Sept.26. So folks, we are stranded in Kazakhstan. We are hoping that when we finally get in touch with our travel agent he will be able to arrange something sooner. We could think of a thousand places that we would not mind being stranded but Kazakhstan is not one of them.
Plan B: If we can not get a flight out until Sept. 26 we would wait until we can officially take Sean home. At that point it would not make any sense for us to fly home only to turn around and fly back. We would also return to our apartment because after our court date the doctor would let us take Sean but only if we were in an apartment. Stay tuned for Deb & Jay’s next episode in the “Bored & Frustrated.”
Back to Sean. He is just wonderful and we are glad that we love him so much so that it makes everything worthwhile. He really looks forward to us coming to see him and smiles from ear to ear when he sees us coming. He apparently has grown because one of the outfits that we bought him here when we first met him, no longer fits him. Papa amazingly made absolutely no mess when feeding the little rugrat this morning. Mama did pretty good also. He even ate the food without adding porridge this afternoon. When we took him outside this afternoon he was so inquisitive. His eyes and head are roaming all over the place. We are really having so much fun with him.
If anyone has a private jet and would like to come and get us, please feel free. Or if anyone would like to come and visit us in Kaz, that would be great also. You might be able to find us at the bar tonight.
DAY 25
We still did not have access to the internet through the hotel so we went to an Internet Café during lunch. The connection was so slow that it took us forty minutes to check four e-mail messages and respond. It should have only taken five minutes. We asked to use a different computer and they said that they would boost the connection. Well, that didn’t work and we paid extra for it. We were able to check a new itinerary of our departure. We fly out of Astana on September 18. Of course this depends on whether we have our court date before then.
It was again another frustrating day until we made it back for our second visit. Sean was waiting for us and he was in such a good mood. He made his Mama cry with joy again. We have him on video saying his very first word, Mama. We were both so excited and now we are working on teaching him Dada. Every day we fall more in love with him and we can’t wait until we can bring him home.
DAY 26
We woke up early this morning and went to go workout only to figure out that it is Saturday and the fitness center doesn’t open until 9:00. Duh! We were so happy when we checked the phone line and it was working. We quick got ready and went down to the business center and found out that the internet is not up and running. It never seems to play out the way we intend it to.
Sean is really becoming funny at feeding time. He tries to grab the spoon from us and feed himself. If you do not let him grab the spoon, he will grab your arm and hold on to it like a vice grip. You can imagine that things got a little messy. It seems like everyday that we see him he is a little bigger, moving around better, and a much happier baby.
Jay is really beginning to play the role of a man even at the Baby House. The caregivers asked for his assistance twice today. Once to roll up a rug and bring it outside so that they can clean it and the second time to cut a toy off of a baby’s finger because it got stuck. We are starting to feel like we are part of their family.
Our afternoon visit was very eventful. We were able to take nine out of the eleven babies out for a walk. The other two had fevers so that had to stay inside. It was nice because the babies love being out, and the caregivers can use a break. We stopped in the playground area to give the adults a little opportunity to play. Both translators were on the monkey bars, balance beam and see-saw. Mary Ann and Jay were on the monkey bars. Jay then began to walk on these stumps that were different sizes and formed in a circle. He made it around successfully going forward but when he became cocky and went backwards; well let’s just say that he biffed it. He was not the first and only one to fall. That is all of the information that I will give you.
We had a fun day despite still not having a court date. We hope that there are more to come and hopefully good news in the future.
DAY 27
We had our morning visit with Sean and it was wonderful as always. He was weighed this morning and gained a little weight. He now weighs 7.03kilos. That is 15.5 pounds. He just keeps getting bigger & bigger. He is still saying "Mama" every now and then, but now we have to work on Papa.
We are out in the town this afternoon. We have to do some shopping, and get some pictures developed for whenever we may have a court date. Then it will be back to the hotel to work out and whatever else we plan on doing. We are hoping that the internet will be working soon so we can start posting on a regular basis again.
DAY 24
We e-mailed our travel agent 3 days ago to inform him that we would not be able to return on Sept.8. When we did not hear back from him we decided to try and call him. We jotted down his phone number from off of our itinerary and tried to call him last night. The first time that we tried to call, they were closed. We tried back again in about ½ hour and there was terrible static on the line. We phoned the front desk and they tried to figure things out but had no success. When we got up this morning the phone line was down. So now we have no way to contact our agent to inform him that we will need to cancel the flight back home that leaves in 18 hours. We decided to go check e-mail to see if our agent finally responded to our e-mail. Would you believe us if we told you that our internet in the hotel is down to. Apparently this section of the city station is down.
We thought that we would be able to use Mary Ann’s Blackberry and that also was not working for us. So while Deb stayed with Sean at the visitation, Jay and Olga toured the town trying to get in touch with someone, somehow. He was able to get Lufthansa’s number and was able to call and cancel our flight. He tried to reschedule for the following Friday, but the best that they could do was put us on standby. Olga later received a call from them informing that the next available flight would be on Sept.26. So folks, we are stranded in Kazakhstan. We are hoping that when we finally get in touch with our travel agent he will be able to arrange something sooner. We could think of a thousand places that we would not mind being stranded but Kazakhstan is not one of them.
Plan B: If we can not get a flight out until Sept. 26 we would wait until we can officially take Sean home. At that point it would not make any sense for us to fly home only to turn around and fly back. We would also return to our apartment because after our court date the doctor would let us take Sean but only if we were in an apartment. Stay tuned for Deb & Jay’s next episode in the “Bored & Frustrated.”
Back to Sean. He is just wonderful and we are glad that we love him so much so that it makes everything worthwhile. He really looks forward to us coming to see him and smiles from ear to ear when he sees us coming. He apparently has grown because one of the outfits that we bought him here when we first met him, no longer fits him. Papa amazingly made absolutely no mess when feeding the little rugrat this morning. Mama did pretty good also. He even ate the food without adding porridge this afternoon. When we took him outside this afternoon he was so inquisitive. His eyes and head are roaming all over the place. We are really having so much fun with him.
If anyone has a private jet and would like to come and get us, please feel free. Or if anyone would like to come and visit us in Kaz, that would be great also. You might be able to find us at the bar tonight.
DAY 25
We still did not have access to the internet through the hotel so we went to an Internet Café during lunch. The connection was so slow that it took us forty minutes to check four e-mail messages and respond. It should have only taken five minutes. We asked to use a different computer and they said that they would boost the connection. Well, that didn’t work and we paid extra for it. We were able to check a new itinerary of our departure. We fly out of Astana on September 18. Of course this depends on whether we have our court date before then.
It was again another frustrating day until we made it back for our second visit. Sean was waiting for us and he was in such a good mood. He made his Mama cry with joy again. We have him on video saying his very first word, Mama. We were both so excited and now we are working on teaching him Dada. Every day we fall more in love with him and we can’t wait until we can bring him home.
DAY 26
We woke up early this morning and went to go workout only to figure out that it is Saturday and the fitness center doesn’t open until 9:00. Duh! We were so happy when we checked the phone line and it was working. We quick got ready and went down to the business center and found out that the internet is not up and running. It never seems to play out the way we intend it to.
Sean is really becoming funny at feeding time. He tries to grab the spoon from us and feed himself. If you do not let him grab the spoon, he will grab your arm and hold on to it like a vice grip. You can imagine that things got a little messy. It seems like everyday that we see him he is a little bigger, moving around better, and a much happier baby.
Jay is really beginning to play the role of a man even at the Baby House. The caregivers asked for his assistance twice today. Once to roll up a rug and bring it outside so that they can clean it and the second time to cut a toy off of a baby’s finger because it got stuck. We are starting to feel like we are part of their family.
Our afternoon visit was very eventful. We were able to take nine out of the eleven babies out for a walk. The other two had fevers so that had to stay inside. It was nice because the babies love being out, and the caregivers can use a break. We stopped in the playground area to give the adults a little opportunity to play. Both translators were on the monkey bars, balance beam and see-saw. Mary Ann and Jay were on the monkey bars. Jay then began to walk on these stumps that were different sizes and formed in a circle. He made it around successfully going forward but when he became cocky and went backwards; well let’s just say that he biffed it. He was not the first and only one to fall. That is all of the information that I will give you.
We had a fun day despite still not having a court date. We hope that there are more to come and hopefully good news in the future.
DAY 27
We had our morning visit with Sean and it was wonderful as always. He was weighed this morning and gained a little weight. He now weighs 7.03kilos. That is 15.5 pounds. He just keeps getting bigger & bigger. He is still saying "Mama" every now and then, but now we have to work on Papa.
We are out in the town this afternoon. We have to do some shopping, and get some pictures developed for whenever we may have a court date. Then it will be back to the hotel to work out and whatever else we plan on doing. We are hoping that the internet will be working soon so we can start posting on a regular basis again.
posted by Jeremy & Debbie Groh | 9/10/2006
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