Three Day Post

We had a celebratory dinner Wednesday night with Vera and Medet since we had had a good outcome at Guardianship Council. We also found out that our final court date will be Wednesday the 23rd at 3:00 so we should make our return date (but not come home early as the airlines have all kinds of dumb rules) AND get on the nicest train in KZ from Taraz to Almaty, locally known as the Spanish train. For the first time in weeks we went to a restaurant that was not Turkish. It was a nice break from eating lamb, kebabs and pizza. We had some tasty Korean type dishes as well as fish. We also made many toasts with the bottle of cognac Vera and Medet ordered for the table. We had a great dinner and told lots of funny stories and laughed a lot. We will really miss them when we have to leave. They are the perfect mix: business-like and professional but with a personal touch.

Thursday--typical schedule of visits with Alex and free time. We went back to the bazaar between our Alex visits and took photos this time. Wanted to buy a rug but they are all machine-made of synthetic yarn. We were looking for a traditional Kazakh rug but there weren't any. As with the rest of the world, the majority of the goods available at the bazaar are made in China.

Alex's nannies told Vera he is getting more spoiled by the day: wanting to be held non-stop, insisting on being fed first, etc. We showed him some short videos of Sam that we were able to upload to our computer before we left the US and he seemed interested.

Taraz started on some kind of city-wide spring cleaning today. As we drove to the baby house in the morning we noticed school kids out on the sidewalks sweeping with small brooms made of twigs. I guess since all the snow melted and it was sunny out and Nauryz is coming up (major holidy similar to Chinese New Year) everyone is out getting ready.

Today (Friday) was a busy day, getting all our final papers done before court Wednesday (Saturday through Tuesday are official holidays for Nauryz), going back to the bazaar and some stores to buy toys to donate to the baby house, taking our final language/culture class at Intrlinga and buying train tickets. The Spanish train was already booked full so we bought a compartment to ourselves (4 tickets) on one of the older trains. Pray that we won't have to use the bathroom often--I hear they are awful.

When we got to the baby house this morning all the workers were outside cleaning everything in site--pruning trees, pulling weeds, washing the windows, etc. Everyone seemed really cheerful, as if they were happy spring was coming and it was a relief to be outside in the fresh air. It was fun to watch them smiling and laughing with each other and the weather was perfect. In the afternoon, after doing all the shopping, notarizing, etc. we got to go through the museum, which was closed a few days ago. It is very nice and they have many interesting archaeological artifacts as well as many exhibits devoted to the different times in Kazakh history. Well worth the $3 it cost us to get in, which included a guided tour with an English speaking guide!


Meat at the bazaar. All of it is out in the open--no refrigeration. The funniest thing was seeing this big cold case that was totally empty except for a few apples--and about 100 lbs. of meat resting on top of the cold case, out in the open. For a traditional Kazakh feast a cooked sheep's head is presented to the guest of honor so some lucky devil got to eat the stuff in this photo. By the way, the eyeball is the most savory part.