(Maureen's Post)
Well, it is very apparent that we are in a new environment as James is having some trouble adjusting to being here. Yes, the sleepless nights are back. Tough - yes. Even tougher when you're so far from home. Poor James was up a lot last night. Despite that he still seems to be handling things like a trooper overall. It's hard for him, though, and I don't know if he'll ever really adjust to being here, as in a few days we get to turn his world upside down yet again with traveling home. Let's just hope Sean and I will at least get some sleep in the next couple of days before the long flights home. We're not looking forward to our flight time which is at 3 AM on Wednesday morning, meaning we have to be packed up and out of here before 1 AM.

Today Andrei picked us up and took us to the Green Market to find a stroller. It will be helpful with going out with James and definitely for the airport, especially for our layover in Frankfurt. We just got a simple umbrella stroller. Andrei was able to talk the lady down to 3000 Tenge (about $24 USD). Then we went to the Ramstore and had a snack with Bob and Jodi Mechem at the food court next to the ice skating rink. There's even a Baskin Robbins there, and we enjoyed some ice cream. Afterwards, we went to the grocery-type store in the Ramstore and did some shopping for food items we can use in the next few days before we leave.

We and the Mechems parted ways at mid-afternoon and made plans to meet with the Kurtz's at Mad Murphy's Irish Pub tonight for dinner. Mad Murphy's is owned by a British expatriate and serves pub-style food and even has menus in English - quite rare in these parts. It was nice to be close enough to walk to Mad Murphy's (four city blocks away) using the new stroller. Sean had a bacon double cheeseburger with fries that he really enjoyed, and I had chicken quesadillas which were also very good. They were also easier for me to eat with James in tow, as he was sitting on my lap. It was great just to be able to get everyone together at the same time - both parents and the kids. All three children were fairly well-behaved considering they're still adjusting. Of course, we had the loudest and wiggliest child of the bunch. It was very much a pub atmosphere; reminded me of The Black Lab back home in Houston. It was very busy, not only because it was a Saturday night, but also because there was a big soccer match being televised live between Liverpool and Manchester United - huge rivalry. Needless to say, there were a lot of Brits at Mad Murphy's tonight. After being away from home so long it was nice to hear other restaurant customers speaking English. They also have free Wi-fi access here if your laptop has the capability (ours doesn't). When dinner was over we ended up going back to the apartment and just called it a day.

I'll let Sean take over now to explain the Nursat I-Card for families traveling after us.

(Sean's Post)
Well, as you can tell, we are back on the Internet. We just kind-of muddled our way through the Nursat I-card (International card).

For those of you traveling here, here is what we learned: You'll need an I-card while in Almaty so make a point to have your driver help you get one the first day (Most cell phone stores have them). The modern stores will give you just a strip of paper with printed out info for your I-card, other vendors will give you an actual card. The printout version lists all of the contact numbers depending on what city you are in and your PIN. Unfortunately Kokshetau was not a listed city or else we would have used this to access internet while we were there. The card lists the numbers for Almaty only and you have to scratch off the back to reveal the PIN. Be careful, if you don't use the card for 90 days, it's gone so be a little conservative on how many units you'll need. The cost for long distance calling varies so just call home and give them your number so they can call you back. It's cheaper that way, anyhow. For Almaty and Astana, the Internet costs 1.4 units per hour most of the day. It only costs .35 units from 2 AM until 8 AM. If you're a night owl or if your baby wakes you up in the middle of the night, you can save some $ here. For other cities rates are cheaper. Here are the instructions:

To make an international call or to call any cell phone (like your driver's):
Dial 2-980-111 from any phone. It's often busy so keep trying. A voice will come on and prompt you in Russian and then in English. It first asks for your PIN. Then, you're asked for the destination number - cell number for your driver or dial 8-10-1-area code-phone number to call the U.S. The voice will then tell you how long you have on your card to talk with this number. It's all straightforward and easy.

To connect to the Internet:
This was more difficult as we didn't have any instructions in English. You'll make a new modem connection or change the one you've been using (like we had for Kokshetau). For the phone number put in 2-980-980. If that doesn't work you can also try 2-954-990. At least for internet there's two access numbers, but connecting to the first one has not been a problem for us. For BOTH the username and password put in "nursat". You can then connect. Once online, you can only go to one webpage. Type in "www.nursat.kz/support/" in your browser. Look for the "English" button in the upper right-hand corner and click on it. Click on "create a new account". You'll be prompted for the PIN off your card and asked to make up a username and password. Write these down. You will then disconnect the modem connection. Then, re-open the connection, but leaving the phone number the same, change the user name and password to the ones that you just created. Hit "connect" and you're done. You can go to the support page again and add units to your card if you need to. Some vendors can also add units for you if you go through them, and I also believe there are machines (like ATM machines) where you can add units, as well.

We ran into trouble trying to add the units online so we'll just purchase a new card once this one runs out and make a new username and password. It wouldn't recognize our PIN today. Oh well, just go with the flow (our mantra for this entire trip).

That concludes our post for today! Paka and love to all!