Hard to believe, but by the end of this week we'll have been away from home for a whole month. Even though we had been to Kazakhstan before and should know what to expect, we still couldn't help but go a little bit into culture shock when we arrived. However, by the end of this week we'll have been away from home for a month, already. We definitely have our daily routine while living here in Kazakhstan during this time. I'm sure it will be quite a culture shock to us just coming back to the U.S.! I will say that one thing about Karaganda is that it is bigger than Kokshetau, and it is more cosmopolitan here than I expected. Bringing James here has also been a good experience, as it is pretty kid-friendly in terms of things for families to do (the park, play area in City Mall, etc.), not to mention that the Baby House Director was open to us bringing James to our visits with Michael. This is not always the case in other regions, so we are very fortunate.
Well, our court date is finally set! It is now scheduled for Friday, July 23, which is a few days later than what we originally expected. We're not exactly thrilled that our original court date got pushed back (we were secretly hoping that we would get an earlier), but it is what it is. This means we won't be coming home when we originally expected and will be flying home later. So, now we're working on rescheduling our flights home. That will be interesting because we're supposed to fly out of Astana, and Lufthansa does not fly out daily from Astana. So, we will see how that goes!
It's been great to see the changes in Michael and see how he's progressing. He's so much more vocal, and the smiles come more easily. He especially becomes more vocal when he's physically active - when crawling, pulling up on something/someone, or even when trying to climb - yes, it appears he is trying to do that now. He really does remind me even more now of James as a baby! I think we're going to have our hands full with James and Michael.
Yesterday we went back to City Mall to have lunch at Sharlotka again, the "open air" cafe on the second floor. The burgers on the menu looked appetizing, so we decided to have that for lunch. Our experience has been that at any place we've gotten hamburgers here in Kazakhstan, the meat was usually chopped and mixed with onions and spices then formed into a thin meat patty. Sean assumed this was going to be the case here, so he ordered the double cheeseburger. Imagine his surprise when a huge double cheeseburger showed up with half a plateful of french fries! The patties were still chopped beef with onion and seasonings, but they were big. He definitely did not leave hungry!
Later in the afternoon we returned to the park to meet Tony and Jadyn Kaplan so the kids could go jump in the giant bounce house. While at the park, we ran into Jeremy and Deb, the Canadian couple who is also in Group 4 with us (Lucas' parents). James and Jadyn had a fun time at the bounce house, as usual. James decided to climb the giant tower in the middle of the bounce house, almost giving me a heart attack, especially when he lost his footing near the top and was just hanging on. He made it, though! His reward was an ice cream and some orange Fanta, which has quickly become his favorite drink here (especially since we don't let James drink soda at home). Afterwards, we all walked over to the Kaplans' apartment where the Chinns were already there with Cindy Kaplan, helping prepare dinner (we brought some beverages). It was nice to have a home-cooked meal and just hang out.
This will conclude our post for today. Sorry no baby pics today, but we hope you all still enjoy the pictures!
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