Day Fifty-Nine

Julia and her two front teeth have left the Infirmary and are safely returned to Baby Room No. One. Clap! Clap! Clap!

Mother and daughter spent a delicious morning walking the grounds of the Delfin Baby Home. In the garden, on a clear, warm spring day, we talked about planting and the difference between annuals and perennials. Actually, "mother" did all of the talking while "daughter," feigning a slight interest, persisted in attempting to rip the buds off tree branches. Fortunately for the tree, Julia's own short limbs were engulfed in snow suit sleeves so damage was averted. She was notably more comfortable today and the tiny white ridges of her two lower "milk teeth" are more pronounced with each visit.

Tomorrow, May 1st, is a holiday in Kazakhstan, commerating ethnic and cultural diverstiy. As with International Women's Day (March 8th), and the traditional Kazak New Year and spring festival, Nauriz (March 22nd), the main street in Kostanai will be closed and there will be colorful displays of ethnic costumes, music, dancing and food. More yurts are also expected! Remember the yurt? These were the circular tents made of felt or animal skins affixed to collapsible frames and used by nomads in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. But you knew that.

Meanwhile, Bruce is waiting patiently for our return while working like a dog, spring cleaning the yard, preparing the baby's room, staining our back porch, answering inquiries about our Kazakhstan adventure, 'Google-ing' baby equiptment, touching base with friends and family and persistently vying for Austin's attention! Relatively speaking, life for me in Kostanai has been a vacation. I have loved the food, the beer, the people, the accommodations and the the exotic nature of this sacred place. Our babies birth land. But I'm now ready to come home already. I miss Bruce and our big kid, Austin. I miss my Mom, Reggie and all of you, our dear family and friends! Still hoping to be home by Mother's Day, I am sending my love on ahead, with gratitude and warm wishes ~ Carrie

Day Fifty-Seven

On my 57th day in Kostanai, Marcy, Darryl, Nellie (our translator/guide) and I boarded a bus which took us to another bus which brought us to a taxi station where we hired a car to drive south west to the iron ore mining capital of Kazakhstan. We ventured to "Rudney," deriving from the root word "rud," meaning ore in Russian.

Partly for the scenery, partly for the challenge of traveling in a foreign land and partly for the experience of exploring a new locale, we departed Kostanai at 1:30 PM on Saturday afternoon. Initially, we were amazed to discover that Kostanai is much larger than we had previously believed. Surrounding the downtown area, are sprawling suburbs offering a mixture of single family homes and high rise condominiums. There are no swimming pools, despite pockets of great wealth and the scorching, arid climate that prevails throughout the long, hot summer months. Once outside the city limits, for as far as the eye can see, lie endless fields of low cut grass, wheat or tilled dirt, preparing to birth to this year's vegetable harvest. Every few kilometers, in the distant pastures, thickly clothed sheep or brown cows were grazing. And as is customary for a predominant number middle income city dwellers, there are clusters of brick or wooden sheds on small parcels of farmland where people lease or own land for weekend fruit and vegetable farming.

On the outskirts of Rudney, the distant hills reveal evidence of strip mining. The mining of ore and coal, in addition to Kazakhstan's oil reserves, metallurgy and chemical production, play an important role in Kazakhstan's economy, employing 27 percent of the total labor force. Another 23 percent of the workforce is employed in agriculture with an emphasis on livestock and grain production.

Rudney is a small city or large village. It has extremely flat terraine, with wide streets, colorful metal store front facades and expansive tile wall murals displayed on many of the older, government buildings. As in Kostanai, Rudney also possesses numerous imposing, Soviet era metal statues, denoting the ore industry, military conflicts and the collective struggle of the common man. We walked for hours and hours but the sun doesn't set until after 9:00 PM so it simply felt like a v-e-r-y l-o-n-g d-a-y. Our final exploration was the new, local, three-story mall and the event center, replete with movie theater, disco, bowling alley, billiards and a Chinese restaurant. By 8:15 PM, we caught a bus for home which took us to another bus which dropped us off at the bottom of the promenade in Kostanai, one kilometer from our hotel. In a trance-like procession, we trudged the gradual incline just as the sun was setting in the west.

It was nice to get out and really nice to get back in! And we now know that we never could have done it without Nellie!

Day Fifty-Five

Julia has teeth! Upon arriving at the Baby Home this morning, Julia's caretaker showed me that her two front bottom teeth have broken through the gums! That's the good news. The bad news is that she has diarrhea, a fever and she is very uncomfortable. She cried on and off throughout my visit and it was nearly unbearable because there was nothing I could do to soothe her. She went back to the infirmary where they are monitoring her temperature and hopefully keeping her comfortable. So the first picture is of Julia, teething.

The next picture is the worst one in the series of me and the BEST one of Julia. Isn't that motherhood in a nutshell? And the last photograph is a shot from our balcony window, the scene Bruce and I and now "I" look out on everyday. It is a picture that we never want to forget. I just wish that I could include the sounds (Russian and Kazak), smells (boiled meat, open air barbecue, fresh bread, sour milk and old clothes!) and tastes (indescribable) of Kostanai!

In my ninth week in Kazakhstan, I am just now realizing that my ability to sustain positivity and a sense of adventure comes solely from the security of knowing that Bruce and Austin are taking care of our lives back home while preparing for Julia's arrival and my return with anticipation and love. This security is magnified by the love and support from our families and dear and loyal friends who are "keeping a light on" for us as well. Your love is the miracle, the muscle, the motivation and the meaning. Bruce and I both want you all to know how much we love you back!

Day Fifty-Two

I may regret having said this, but today's big delight came in the form of a bowel movement. After fifty-two days, I finally got to change my baby! Yes. She works! It was magnificent! It happened at 10:57 AM. Nice job, Julia! Clap! Clap! Clap!

As usual, Julia was happy and playful today and she is now the biggest baby in the Baby Room in height and weight. If she wasn't coming home with me, she would soon advance to the next level and move to the room with older babies on the other side of the dividing wall. But her caretaker, Maria, has assured me that she will stay put until our departure. I am greatly relieved!

After this mornings visit, Oleysa and I helped Darryl relocate from the 3rd to the 2nd floor, right next to me! Marcy, who is a little further down the hall, has a throwing up illness so she missed her baby visit with 10 month old "Zhana" and lunch with the girls. Actually, we missed her! We lunched at the Korean/Russian place where we all had the spicy noodle salad, Summer Soup (a cold, white broth of sour milk and mineral water) and a chicken dish. From there, we walked to the "salon" and booked a facial for Darryl and to the "nail place" to schedule a manicure for Oleysa. Back at the hotel, Darryl and Oleysa inquired about the "loaner computer" she is having installed in her room and I changed from jeans to a skirt to accompany Oleysa to the Registry Office to pick up Julia's new birth certificate, listing Bruce and me as her parents! It was to be a momentous occasion only the papers hadn't been prepared and Oleysa was asked to return again tomorrow. Mind you, this involves a 20 minute walk in each direction. On our way back, while Oleysa went into the "bill paying store" to pay her telephone bill, I found a street vending "flower lady" and bought her a small, surprise bouquet of yellow and white mums.

We are in such good, competent hands with Oleysa that I sometimes forget how dependent on her I really am for all of the big, important stuff that she accomplishes so seamlessly. And although younger (in some cases by FAR!) than all of us, she leads us like a mother hen, directing, nurturing, encouraging and answering our endless and often repetitive questions. And then she schedules and prods us to get to all of our appointments on time! Oleysa is exemplary and extraordinary and I am proud to call her a mentor, a teacher and a friend. It's been another good and very interesting day. I hope the same holds true for you, my mentors, teachers, family and friends back home!

Day Fifty-One, Part B

Before I explain how I ended up sitting next to THIS GUY, let me rewind to this morning's visit at the Baby Home. Darryl, Luke, Julia and I had our final "group session" with Loretta and Margie who left Kostanai for Frankfurt shortly after lunch. If there is one, it was the best day to fly "Air Astana" as the weather is gorgeous! Sunny, warm and clear. I decided to spend my afternoon walking with a camera so I headed out by way of "Central Park". Two long blocks from Hotel Medeo, I realized I needed sunglasses for the glare as well as the pervasive dust. Not wanting to go backwards, I turned toward the outdoor market where I knew with relative certainty that I could buy a knock-off pair of Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Gucci or Dior for under ten bucks. I was right. They are BIG, BOLD and really cheap! It was then that I remembered that I needed to buy fruit and that Darryl needed fruit so I proceeded to the produce market and bought LOTS of fruit. I also remembered that I was hungry so for about 20 cents I bought two fresh ground beef perrogies and ate them hot out of a plastic bag while standing on a mound of dirt, juggling my bags of fruit. Still, I had not lost sight of my original objective which, as you recall, was to take pictures on this glorious day! Things were going swimmingly so far.

In closer proximity to Victory Park than to Central Park, I turned right out of the market and headed west toward the Vladimir Ilich Lenin (1870-1924) Memorial which was unfortunately shrouded in blinding sunlight so that you are looking at a blog photo of the grounds and not the monument which is now draped in roses and floral wreaths. And although the landscape is greener and undoubtedly more attractive, I still believe that Kostanai is most charming under snow. But back to my story,,,

I meandered through the park taking pictures when all of a sudden I heard an uproarious commotion and saw people of all ages, hundreds of them, running toward the soccer stadium. Sucked in by curiosity, I joined the swell and soon found myself (clutching three bags of fruit) squashed amidst the crowds on a ticket line for the opening match between the Kostanai "Tobyl" and the Astana "Actaha" (mind you I didn't know this until I was safely escorted to my seat!). By this point I had mounting reservations and NO options. I couldn't move. It hadn't even occurred to me that once I got up to the window, I had no idea WHAT I was asking for or HOW MUCH it would cost me! As fate would have it, I survived. And my greatest accomplishment of the entire day was non-verbally convincing a battalion of armed guards that I could not possibly surrender my produce!

The karmic twist is that MY seat was next to "THIS GUY"! I am not kidding. I can't tell you who won the game. I can't even tell you who I was rooting for! But I can say this for sure; that I figured out how to fit in. Isn't that one of life's lessons we learned in kindergarten?

Well, now night is approaching. The heat of the late afternoon sun has allowed me to throw open my balcony doors while I sit in jeans and a tee shirt, reflecting on the day. My all of your day's adventures be so simple and so sweet. Love from here to there...

Day Fifty-One, Part A

Today deserves two installments! The first segment is about my two kids! I spoke with Austin, "my older child," last night and he had an "awesome" time on his 8th grade school trip to Italy! From what I could "extract," his favorite tourist attractions were the Sistine Chapel and Saint Peter's Square, both in Vatican City. He came perilously close to bringing me home a string of Pope-blessed rosary beads but then remembered that we're Protestant. At least he thought of me in the context of religious paraphernalia! It sounds like he, too, has had a growth-enriching experience abroad. I couldn't wish for anything better! He also expressed a renewed appreciation for the United States which, in spite of it's myriad flaws, IS a great country. We're all glad that Austin's home. Including Austin!

Regarding "my younger child," Julia is thriving! I can't get used to saying that I have two children!!! Today, Julia squeeked and squalked and babbled and spit for over an hour, much to the delight of the younger babies! And although I know that "babbling" is a sign of "normal" development, it's amazing to watch her blossom in so short a period of time. I've got to bring her home before she starts saying "Da Da"!

The first photo is of Julia standing by herself in the playpen and the second is of Julia in the arms of her new caretaker. It has been a great day for me! I'm hoping that you are having a great day, too!

Day Fourty-Nine

In the first photograph, Julia is on Darryl's lap and her little buddy, Luke, is on Loretta's lap on the couch in the crib room of the Delfin Baby Home. You can see by their sizes what a difference one month makes! And first prize goes to the person who can identify the edifice in the second picture! We came across it last night en route to dinner at "The Mango Cafe" and it is amazing in its grandeur. We think it has something to do with a peasant uprising or socialist revoloution! It has been fun for Julia and me to share our daily visits with Darryl, Loretta and Margie. It's been a nice diversion and a bonding experience for the adults as well as our children. I am so grateful that we will continue to share in each others' lives after leaving Kostanai. Another small miracle!

When I visited Julia yesterday, she was holding herself up, standing in the playpen! Clap! Clap! Clap! And she was proud of herself, too! I am so glad that I am here to see her everyday. I have even begun to imagine the day when she and I will leave for Almaty and spend a few days touring that great city before our long trek home. I have heard that it is warm there now and although our days are warmer here, the mornings and late afternoons in Kostanai return to temperatures in the low 40's.

I am off this morning to visit our Jewel, our precious gem. Then I will run some errands with Oleysa who is taking the girls to "444," the belly dancing nightclub for kabobs and dancing tonight! Oleysa, who goes far above and beyond what a host must do to make her international guests feel comfortable, is a joy to be with. I am relishing our prolonged time together in Kostanai! Love to you all and we can't wait to see you very soon, again! Carrie (and Julia)