(Sean's Post)
Well, today started out with a big milestone: pre-court. Now, don't let the name fool you. The pre-court hearing is very important. You gather all of your documents and go to the court building. You meet with the head judge for the region. He reviews your paperwork and asks you questions. It is a very serious event. So, I had to work very hard not to roll over laughing when the first question out of the judge's mouth was directed to Maureen: "Are you Kazakh?" and Maureen's answer, "no, I'm Filipino." That's really getting to be the running joke of the trip here (It's kind of like Rennie and his eyes; some of you will know what I mean). Maureen gets mistaken for a local sometimes. Gulzhan, one of the Sisters in Almaty, even told Maureen at the beginning of the trip that some people may come up to her and start speaking Kazakh to her. Anyway, that first question was followed up by, "who is the head of the house?" Then he made a comment to the effect that after 12 years of marriage he would expect that the wife would be the head of the house and not the husband, haha. Anyway, it did break the ice. He looked over our stuff and James' medical data and asked us just a couple of questions. He was very nice and seemed truly concerned for James' well-being. We mentioned living near the Texas Medical Center in Houston and ensured him that we would make sure James would have excellent medical care. He ended up impressing us as he told us he was already aware of the Texas Medical Center in Houston and how well-renowned it was, especially in cardiology. Then, he approved us to proceed to court. Hooray, we made it through! We were in and out in 10 minutes, tops. Maybe we caught him in a good mood today?
Well, today started out with a big milestone: pre-court. Now, don't let the name fool you. The pre-court hearing is very important. You gather all of your documents and go to the court building. You meet with the head judge for the region. He reviews your paperwork and asks you questions. It is a very serious event. So, I had to work very hard not to roll over laughing when the first question out of the judge's mouth was directed to Maureen: "Are you Kazakh?" and Maureen's answer, "no, I'm Filipino." That's really getting to be the running joke of the trip here (It's kind of like Rennie and his eyes; some of you will know what I mean). Maureen gets mistaken for a local sometimes. Gulzhan, one of the Sisters in Almaty, even told Maureen at the beginning of the trip that some people may come up to her and start speaking Kazakh to her. Anyway, that first question was followed up by, "who is the head of the house?" Then he made a comment to the effect that after 12 years of marriage he would expect that the wife would be the head of the house and not the husband, haha. Anyway, it did break the ice. He looked over our stuff and James' medical data and asked us just a couple of questions. He was very nice and seemed truly concerned for James' well-being. We mentioned living near the Texas Medical Center in Houston and ensured him that we would make sure James would have excellent medical care. He ended up impressing us as he told us he was already aware of the Texas Medical Center in Houston and how well-renowned it was, especially in cardiology. Then, he approved us to proceed to court. Hooray, we made it through! We were in and out in 10 minutes, tops. Maybe we caught him in a good mood today?
After that, we went straight to the hospital to see James. I took off my button-down shirt during the visit. I have to keep it fresh for court next week. It felt weird not wearing jeans, either, but James didn't even notice any difference. We played some music and did the exercises again. He's really such a fun little baby. He's getting stronger every day. I must have wore him out because he actually fell asleep in Maureen's arms today. Normally he just fusses and fights sleep because she's too much fun. We played some different music at the end of the visit. Turns out that in addition to Baby Einstein, James likes Elvis and the Beatles (which we played the other day) and U2 (which we played today), but who doesn't, right? He fell asleep to Baby Einstein's Baby Bach, though.
Tonight was a celebration night. We all gathered at the Mechem's apartment to toast theirs, the Kurtz's, and our approvals to the next stage. They ordered the kabobs, which are like a little piece of heaven in every bite. Of course, the beer and vodka weren't bad either. I left a little early (about 9:30PM) since Maureen was feeling sick again and had stayed at home to sleep.
That's all for today! Paka and love to all!
