May 06, Part II PHOTOS ADDED

Rob’s Version of the news:
Baby #2 for us arrived today around 18:02 Astana local time. Yes, that’s right we have 2 babies!!! Our co-ordinator Baheet told Jen the news. She said “You have 2 babies, one little baby and one BEEG baby!” Ha ha ha. The big baby is me. I feel like snot.

Did I get you? Did I hook you in like a big Ishim River Sturgeon? Like a Warren oh no 6 MLB Cardinals were suspended for Steroids???? (Barry Bonds come clean we know you are very bad boy.) No, there will only be one little baby coming home with Jen in a few weeks. This BEEEG baby comes home sooner. Prolly around Memorial Day.

As for the little guy, I was pretty zonked today and the room was 90 million degrees so I played with him for a bit then Jen took over. He was good baby today and showed his “cruising” abilities where he was sorta standing and walking with assistance. I think he’s beginning to know that we love him and will care for him so we were able to play at a little bit of a distance. At the end he got tired and wanted to sleep by his nap period at 2pm.

For lunch today we had stuffed Chihuahua on a stick. They called it shish kebob but we didn’t realize it was a Chihuahua until later. Tasted like chicken but my tummy hurts and I will have to stick to a strict horseflesh diet.

So sleeeeepy sooooo tired but I have to get one more Su Doku puzzle solved before sleep. They are addicting and the people that gave them to me are very very bad people!!

Ha ha ha!!! No Chihuahua’s were harmed and no Accenture consultants were consulted in the making of this blog. Honest!!! Note: Horse meat is readily available on most menus.

Cable Modem not here until 10 May because of Dick and the We kicked Hitler’s ass 2 day celebration. Kazak’s know how to throw party!!! wOOF!!


Jen’s additions
I made it back from the internet safe and sound last night, Rob was starting to worry…..and at about 9pm our translator called to make sure I made it home ok. Good Golly, it was only about a mile walking in a straight line. I’m not sure what Rob will do when I am here alone. He may fit me for a tracking device.

On you walk home I did notice that Kazaks spit a lot in the street. And I don’t just mean little pah-tooey kind of spit. These folks wind up and hock a loogey from their toes. Now I understand why you take off your shoes upon entering an apartment or the orphanage. No need to track spit around. I also passed a play ground of kids. There was a group of kids around 5 years old playing basketball on a dirt court, shooting a basket underhand, which we called a ‘granny’ shot. Then there was the group of 10 year old boys, standing around in a circle trying to learn to do the Robot dance.

Tonight was also the big futbol match in the arena across from our apartment. Tickets were free for the big holiday celebrations (which we think celebrates Germany losing the 2nd World War—similar to VE Day…although we no longer celebrate it). We were not in the mood for soccer tonight, so we passed on this one figuring there’d be more in the coming weeks.

On my big shopping outing today I bought another pair of slippers. They are cushy and comfy, and cost $4. I never bought slippers at home, but I can not imagine I could get such comfort for $4.

While our Kazak posse was hanging in our crib waiting for the Cable Man to arrive to bling our TV, we showed Murat Rob’s So Duko book. He understands English pretty well, but the idea of So Duko, and why one would do it, was not easily understood. After we explained it, we could see the wheels turning and he gave it a shot. I think we can take credit for Su Duko sweeping the Republik of Kazakhstan in 2006. I also showed Baheet our iPod. She does not speak any English, but we try to communicate as best as possible. I showed her the videos on the iPod and she watched the movie for about 10 seconds and said “Shrek!”. Again, some things are universal. She asked if we had Madagascar. I showed her the Muppet Movie (don’t laugh! I like it, and it’ll be a long time here in Kazakhstan so I brought most of our movies….tell me you never sang the words to The Rainbow Connection!). Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy have not yet captured the hearts of the Kazaks, but again I will take credit for Fozzie Bear, and Pigs In Space to sweep the Republik of Kazakhstan.

Our washing machine here is awesome. It has about 10 buttons in Russian that we have no idea what they mean, but we randomly push them before starting a load of wash, and the different combinations change the amount of time the washer runs. After a couple of loads we realized that the dial that we thought was time (it had numbers like 30, 60, 90), was really temperature in Celsius. We think we found the button for Cotton, although I don’t think it really matters if you goof up the type of fabric. Even though it takes 2 – 3 hours for 1 small load, my white socks have never been cleaner. And my favorite shirt, which Rob refers to as “The shirt I hate”, has colors I have not seen since it was brand new. When the washer is approaching completion, it sounds like a 747 revving up for take off. When the laundry is done it makes an ear piercing sounds like a smoke alarm. The first load of laundry that finished I jumped off the sofa thinking the washing machine burst into flames during it’s final approach. And not putting clothes in the dryer, instead drying them on a drying rack does prevent a lot of shrinkage. I could get used to this! I think this trip to Kazakhstan just might be costing us a new washer when we get home!

Back of Cereal Box.....the angry futbol players made me laugh....and they had such intricate game plans for little players.

The toy from the cereal box, henceforth known as Chip McGipp

Robbie's gigunda beer from the restaurant...this was no deal at about $7 or $8....or about 25% of our daily food budget.

Another attempt at beer. Apparently Bud is crap in all countries.