Thursday - 23rd November 2006
Our last day and night in Ust-Kamenogorsk!!
At one stage during our trip we thought we would never get to this stage and longed for it but now as the time to leave draws near I must admit to feeling a bit strange about leaving – about leaving Alex behind, about leaving while the rest of our group continue bonding, about leaving the routine of the last 3 plus weeks, about leaving Ust-Kamenogorsk which I have grown fond of, when at one stage I did think this is never going to measure up to Taraz but it has in its own way and therefore it feels very unfinished – mainly because it is and we know that we must do the long journey again in order to complete our journey and to bring Alex home to his family…. I feel now that yes, we possibly could have stayed for the entire trip, if we did not have everyone else to consider!!
On the other hand it feels so good to think that we are so close to seeing Darrelle & Elena and everyone else so I guess that is all natural when you have children in two different continents!!!! Of course that is anything but natural and usual when they are only 10. 4 and 1!!!!!!
Sasha's locker with his Russian name which I asked for and got this afternoon...
Babies Schedule in Russian and Kazakh!!
We met with our new coordinator briefly this morning. He is a young Kazakh guy, who had his girlfriend Giulya with him to translate and we all liked him immediately. He genuinely wanted to do whatever he could to make the rest of our trip run smoothly and his manner inspired confidence while at the same time we all found him very approachable and friendly. He arranged to meet with us at lunchtime in the hotel but first we had to go and sign powers of attorneys again as we had to transfer a power of attorney from Elena, our original coordinator to Baurzhan who will help us to complete our adoption. Also, there was a mistake on the papers that we signed yesterday and luckily Alfiya noticed it – they had Alex’s name down incorrectly, instead of Alex Declan they had Alex John Declan or something like that!! It would have caused problems so luckily we had not left immediately after court or there would have been more delays!
After our lunchtime meeting we did not have much time to do anything important like eat! as we needed to get our donation ready for the Baby Home, buy Pampers etc. It felt good in the afternoon to be clearing a little more space in the suitcases by bringing in all the Baby Clothes and Pampers. The carers were genuinely delighted with both the Pampers and all the clothes.
We had to say our last goodbyes to little Alex, and maybe he knew we were going today as we had a very good day with him. He was in very good humour – I wonder will he notice the change in his routine when no strange!! people turn up to play with him tomorrow. We will try to stay in Ust for a few days when we come back in order to visit him in his surroundings and allow him to get to know us again.
Tonight we had planned to go out but before we did we had to pack. I decided to leave as much clothes as I could so that we won’t have to carry back as much when we return. We also left all Alex’s toys and clothes!!
Dinner was very enjoyable – the five of us took off in the snow to our favourite Chinese. At this stage we know what to order and how much to order although a very nice waitress tried to stop us making the mistake of over ordering by telling us that all the dishes were very ‘bolshoi’ (big) and basically we were suffering from ‘Our eyes are bigger than our stomachs’ syndrome’!! However we insisted that we knew what we were doing and vowed to clear every plate even if it killed us!! We did justice to it all and shared two very nice bottles of Alazani wine. – Don’t know what country it hails from but it is a really nice wine. It was a good way to end our time in Ust-K and we had promised to help the Americans celebrate Thanksgiving tonight but however, all but Joanie and her mother have left and are back in the States by now so we still celebrated in their absence!!
Back in the hotel we said goodbye to our bonding buddies and promised to be in touch as soon as we get home…. Snow is still falling prettily and while the temperature is -12 or -13 celius it does not feel too cold..
Our last day and night in Ust-Kamenogorsk!!
At one stage during our trip we thought we would never get to this stage and longed for it but now as the time to leave draws near I must admit to feeling a bit strange about leaving – about leaving Alex behind, about leaving while the rest of our group continue bonding, about leaving the routine of the last 3 plus weeks, about leaving Ust-Kamenogorsk which I have grown fond of, when at one stage I did think this is never going to measure up to Taraz but it has in its own way and therefore it feels very unfinished – mainly because it is and we know that we must do the long journey again in order to complete our journey and to bring Alex home to his family…. I feel now that yes, we possibly could have stayed for the entire trip, if we did not have everyone else to consider!!
On the other hand it feels so good to think that we are so close to seeing Darrelle & Elena and everyone else so I guess that is all natural when you have children in two different continents!!!! Of course that is anything but natural and usual when they are only 10. 4 and 1!!!!!!
Sasha's locker with his Russian name which I asked for and got this afternoon...
Babies Schedule in Russian and Kazakh!!We met with our new coordinator briefly this morning. He is a young Kazakh guy, who had his girlfriend Giulya with him to translate and we all liked him immediately. He genuinely wanted to do whatever he could to make the rest of our trip run smoothly and his manner inspired confidence while at the same time we all found him very approachable and friendly. He arranged to meet with us at lunchtime in the hotel but first we had to go and sign powers of attorneys again as we had to transfer a power of attorney from Elena, our original coordinator to Baurzhan who will help us to complete our adoption. Also, there was a mistake on the papers that we signed yesterday and luckily Alfiya noticed it – they had Alex’s name down incorrectly, instead of Alex Declan they had Alex John Declan or something like that!! It would have caused problems so luckily we had not left immediately after court or there would have been more delays!
After our lunchtime meeting we did not have much time to do anything important like eat! as we needed to get our donation ready for the Baby Home, buy Pampers etc. It felt good in the afternoon to be clearing a little more space in the suitcases by bringing in all the Baby Clothes and Pampers. The carers were genuinely delighted with both the Pampers and all the clothes.
We had to say our last goodbyes to little Alex, and maybe he knew we were going today as we had a very good day with him. He was in very good humour – I wonder will he notice the change in his routine when no strange!! people turn up to play with him tomorrow. We will try to stay in Ust for a few days when we come back in order to visit him in his surroundings and allow him to get to know us again.
Tonight we had planned to go out but before we did we had to pack. I decided to leave as much clothes as I could so that we won’t have to carry back as much when we return. We also left all Alex’s toys and clothes!!
Dinner was very enjoyable – the five of us took off in the snow to our favourite Chinese. At this stage we know what to order and how much to order although a very nice waitress tried to stop us making the mistake of over ordering by telling us that all the dishes were very ‘bolshoi’ (big) and basically we were suffering from ‘Our eyes are bigger than our stomachs’ syndrome’!! However we insisted that we knew what we were doing and vowed to clear every plate even if it killed us!! We did justice to it all and shared two very nice bottles of Alazani wine. – Don’t know what country it hails from but it is a really nice wine. It was a good way to end our time in Ust-K and we had promised to help the Americans celebrate Thanksgiving tonight but however, all but Joanie and her mother have left and are back in the States by now so we still celebrated in their absence!!
Back in the hotel we said goodbye to our bonding buddies and promised to be in touch as soon as we get home…. Snow is still falling prettily and while the temperature is -12 or -13 celius it does not feel too cold..
2 comments:
Adrienne,
Welcome home! Do you return to Almaty prior to or post Christmas?????
Nothing on Kathleen. I have sent texts and e-mailed the information on Alex and on the blog and have not heard back. Two weeks ago I called and did get to speak to Pat briefly and then to Kathleen who is/was home and in good form. A little tired from the ongoing chemo but much improved on the state I saw her in.
Love to everyone in Ennis.
Maura
Hi Y'all
I hope everything went well with your trip home. I have been checking your blog---now that i have a laptop. I know the girls must be thrilled you are home
I've started getting a few things for baby Alex :) we went to the Disney store and couldn't help ourselves. We bought 12 mo. but they look so tiny. What size is he in?
Email if you get chance or I'll just keep checking the blog. I want to hear all the details. It looked like the baby house in Ust was a little more relaxed about y'all being in the rooms, etc. I would also love to hear about Galina. I wonder why she is not working with Frank....does she still help families in Taraz? Ashley, from Taraz group, said she would recommend Ust over Taraz since I would bring Grace with me. I am thinking about Guatamala---mainly because of the time there and the young age of the child---much more expensive---but if God wants it to happen He will find a way.
I can't wait to see y'all---I am going to book a flight for the summer!!!! Katie is going to Europe with friends during the summer and I plan on seeing her when I come to see you.
All my love and best wishes ----keep me posted when you can---I know how busy this time of the year is.
D
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