May 10, Part Jen

May 10, Part Jen

Did I mention my way cool slippers I got for about $4? They may not look like lookers, but they are soft and comfy….and allow me not to slip all over the wood laminate floor in the apartment.

The other day we were at a Kazak Home Depot, and I needed some detergent. And this kitty cat detergent caught my fancy. We also bought a light bulb for about 15 cents to light up the little crypt between doors #1 and #2 at our Fort Knox entrance. Now when we whip out the skeleton keys, which require a little jiggling and a rain dance to open the doors, we can see what the heck we are doing.
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A couple nights ago we had the munchies and discovered a Russian 7-Eleven across the street. As in America, a bag of Peanut M&Ms still costs about $3. We are not sure what Red and Yellow are doing in the picture, but we are sure they are up to international high jinx involving lamp shades, getting stuck in a television and road tripping on an airplane. For all we know, we have won a million Tenge in the contest on the bag.
























While we were apartment shopping last week, our Kazak Posse was standing in the vestibule waiting to be ‘buzzed in’ by the owner (BTW, try to explain BUZZ IN to a group of Russian speaking people—they think the Killer Bees are coming) and with nothing to look at but the mail boxes stuffed with junk mail. I swear I saw Ed McMahon’s face on some junk mail and said “You may already be a winner”. I was met with empty stares, including Rob, so I am guessing the mayhem of Publisher’s Clearing House has not yet swept the far reaching suburbs of Southern Siberia. But if the catch phrase, You May Already Be a Winner, is sweeping Kazakhstan later this year, you know what bad influence started it.

Earlier this week we went out for our first solo journey without an interpreter in search of an Internet Café open on a holiday. Through our travels we cut through a couple parks, they have really cool fountains here. We walked past a car packed with people and the very collegiate aroma wafting from the barely cracked windows of a foggy parked car. Then further on our walk we came across a group of very well mannered teenagers with scantily clad young girls sitting on teenage boy’s laps on a park bench, drinking beer and smoking what looked to be homemade cigarettes. Ahhh, the joys of the teenage years we have to look forward to. The only difference is that these kids were not causing any problems, just being quiet and giggly. That seems to be the major difference between home and here, crowds don’t get noisy, just the sound of shuffling feet and whispers. This makes it easy to identify Americans in the crowd; they feel the need to talk as if you are 100 feet away and walking on a tin can and string.

Last weekend we went for a walk along the River Walk outside our apartment and found a foot bridge across the river. Lo and behold on the other side was an amusement park including a beach and water park. I’m not sure if I’m game enough for a spin on the Pre-Soviet Style Swing ride for fear my American mass would become a wild trajectory. As always, we forgot our camera.

This Friday we should know when our court date will be….probably the last week of May. Rob will be leaving the Monday or Thursday after court (Lufthansa flights to Frankfurt leave only 2x a week), and I’ll stay another 3 or 4 weeks waiting out the 15-day waiting period and doing a bunch of paperwork. I plan to be home the 3rd of 4th week of June, in time for Junior’s first birthday on July 4th.

Rob was still a little germy, so we made him stay home to avoid the embarrassment of coughing in the orphanage and getting kicked out. Today was the first time we could take junior outside….and I think it’s the first time being outside since arriving at the orphanage late last summer. He was a little bewildered with the sunshine and all the stuff on the playground. I had an uber-yuppie moment and used the Baby Bjorn thingee to carry him around. We went for 3 or four laps around the building and he was out in 5 minutes. I do not know how he could sleep with all of the clothes he had one: 2 pairs of flannel pants with footies, a pair of boots, a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, a winter coat, winter pants, a hat, a sweatshirt hood, and the winter jacket hood. But I guess compared to the 100 degree temperature, the 70 degree temperature was refreshment. After he was out cold for half an hour, we decide to go back inside so he would not be fully rested in time to give him back to the care givers for his nap time.

When we got inside, and peeled away the clothes, he instantly woke up and started crawling all over the floor. I plopped him high a top this gigantic medicine ball and he was happy. Then I started rolling the ball so he slid off a little. He seemed to like the daredevil activity. So much that he forgot to cry all day!

We gave up on getting internet access in the apartment. We thought it would be about $20, but as it turns out, for unlimited internet access at a speed of 512, it would be a mere $2,000. So we will be lo-tech and use the internet café. Had we ensured the modem on the laptop worked before we left home, we would have done dial-up from the apartment…….but someone scoffed their PC SetUp pre-travel duty.


Rob was home sick all day, so he did not have a chance to think up a name for today.