I thought it was time that I included pictures of our wonderful hosts, here in Kostanai. In one photograph, Bruce is at the airport with Andre, our driver and Oleysa, our interpreter and coordinator. In another picture, Bruce is dancing with Dr. Irina. And Nellie is in the picture by herself. We couldn't have survived here without the four of them!
Today's journal will be brief as there is not much to report except that Bruce called "his girls" from Frankfurt to say that he'd made it safely to and from Almaty en route to Newark. Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan (replaced by Astana in 1997) lies in the foothills of the Tien Shan Mountains, bordering Kyrgyzstan and not to distant from China. Bruce reports that these snow capped mountains are stunningly beautiful! Julia and I will get a chance to see them when we spend several days in Almaty at the end of our trip. I'm looking forward to exploring a new city!
Julia was precious today and I swear she kept looking over my shoulder for her father! She now nestles herself in my arms as opposed to pushing off of me as she did when we first arrived. I think she will be crawling by the time we get home.
I had lunch today with Oleysa and "the Americans" at the "Bistro Cafe" where I had the best "beef loaf" ever and the closest approximation to an American cheese burger! After lunch, I left our group and walked through "Central Park" as the sun was high in the sky and the weather was warm and spring-like. I bought some staples at the "Gros", including several plastic eggs, filled with surprises (?) that I will give to the hotel staff on Sunday, Easter morning. Tomorrow, I plan to take myself ice-skating in the afternoon and will attend Easter Mass on Saturday night. On Sunday, Nellie bought us tickets to "A Show" at the Kostanai Philharmonic. Best as I can decipher, it's a traditional Kazak musical production, hopefully with minimal dialogue!
I look forward to hearing that Bruce arrived safely home, that Austin is with him and the cats have forgiven us for leaving! I will write again as soon as something interesting happens! Love for now from KZ! Carrie (and Julia!)
1 comment:
Congratulations!! Words cannot express how happy we are for all of you. You are all so blessed to have one another. This is such a beautiful family. We can't wait to see you guys and we're beyond excited to meet Julia. We miss you and are anxiously awaiting your return.
All our love,
Liz, Jason & kids
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