Today was another sunny, beautiful day in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Today's high temperature was about 80 degrees (F). This is a holiday weekend (not just in the U.S., but here, also, which I will explain in a bit), so it brings to mind of the 4th of July celebrations going on at home during the long weekend with cookouts, swimming, fireworks, and family and friends. Actually, this is something that Sean and a couple of the other dads (Tony and Jeremy) were discussing when they took the babies outside during the afternoon visit today - we've found that the first week or so away from home, everything is new and fresh, but going into the third week a little bit of the homesickness starts to kick in. I think what has added to this for us is the fact that we've also been ill over the past couple of weeks. When you're feeling sick usually there's no place you'd rather be sick than at home in your own bed. I will say, however, despite the little bit of homesickness that we are feeling we are very happy to be here now, bonding with Michael here in his home country and are especially glad that James is with us to share in this. There is no way we would get this opportunity to bond with Michael back at home with undivided attention and without the distractions of everyday life. That is probably one of the biggest things we will miss once we leave Kazakhstan.
As I mentioned before, it is a long weekend here, too. Tuesday, July 6th, is a national holiday here (The Day of the Capital - the day commemorating when Astana became the capital city of Kazakhstan back in 1994; it also happens to be the date of President Nazarbayev's 70th birthday this year). What's interesting is that this year the government has decided to make Monday, July 5th, a holiday, too. It's not for anything in particular from what I can tell. It's just to bridge the holiday to the preceeding weekend to make it a long holiday weekend - must be nice! There was definitely a "long weekend" feel in the air last night. We kept our windows open last night to let some cool breezes in while Sean and I watched "24" DVDs, and we could hear a group of young people hanging out downstairs (there is also the park directly behind our apartment building that we face - beautiful view of the trees) having a grand old time, talking and laughing. Actually, there were a couple of girls who had really loud laughs that would crack each other up (of course, we couldn't understand them because they were speaking Russian), but Sean said that they sounded like when my sister, Marilyn, and I get together because we start cackling away. I wasn't sure whether or not to be offended by that - ha! Anyway, the two days of holidays will delay us a bit in our process here. Tomorrow will make our last official day of the 14-day bonding period, after which we can apply for a court hearing. However, because of the holidays on Monday and Tuesday the government offices will be closed and won't reopen until Wednesday, July 7th, which is the earliest date we can file. So, for now, everything stays the same and we continue to visit Michael as usual.
The visits with Michael continue to go well. He continues to try to pull up on just about everything, and his stabilization is getting better. Our morning visit was cut short, as the Baby House was supposedly going to have an inspection and we were asked to leave; we didn't ask any questions - we just left for lunch earlier than usual. The Belgian parents for the twins, Sasha and Olya, arrived this morning, and we got to meet them. During the afternoon visit while Sean was there they came back and finally took custody of their babies! We are very happy for them, and the new family of four will be heading for Almaty on Monday to meet with the sisters and finish up paperwork before going home to Belgium.
An interesting tidbit that I mentioned a few years ago when we were here last time is that although the current language of business and government is Russian, there is more of a push for government workers to use the Kazakh language. An example of this is that the name of Michael's Baby House was changed from Nezabudka, the Russian name for the flower, Forget-me-not, to a Kazakh name a couple of years ago. Juliya, our interpreter, told us that even the Baby House workers have to take classes on the Kazakh language and take an examination twice a year. The reality, though, is that most people have been speaking Russian for so long that it is still the primary language for many, even those of Kazakh descent. So, this is probably going to be a very gradual transition unless a government-instituted mandate comes out.
Last but not least, we were able to have lunch at a different restaurant today. We returned to Assorti, the restaurant on the third floor of City Mall. We sat at our favorite table next to the windows with a great view of the street below. I've been wanting pizza for a few days now, and they have pretty good pizza there, about as close as you can get to pizza at home. We've already staked out our favorite table next to the window at the restaurant where James can see the street and passers-by below.
So, now we leave this posting to watch Germany and Argentina play their match for the World Cup, but we will at least leave you with today's pictures - enjoy!
That's it for today! Thanks for stopping by and love to all!
