Escape from Alca-kaz

Sorry for the lack of posts. In a nutshell, I took the overnight train to Taraz Monday night and arrived in the early morning. Vera and Medet picked me up. They took me to Interlink Sara's apartment (she was in Paris for a conference and very kindly offered me her abode for my 12 hours in Taraz) where I slept a bit. Actually, I watched Napoleon Dynamite. Twice. Well, jetlag and a kickin' DVD will do that to you!

Vera and Medet picked me up around 10 a.m. and we then picked up Laura and Steve, who were in Taraz adopting a little girl. Then, off to Umit! When we got to Umit I went to the Director's office while someone was dispatched to get Alex. Miriamgul had one of the Mexican 'telenovelas' (soap operas) on FULL BLAST the whole time I was in her office. The Kazakhs dig the Western hemisphere--loudly! Alex was brought in and I don't know if he recognized me at first. We stayed for about an hour, walking around the grounds and talking with Steve and Laura. We caused a stir amongst the caregivers since they didn't think Alex was warm enough in the 75 degree weather. I had brought an outfit of long sleeve shirt, long pants, socks and hooded jacket. However the pants kept riding up and the socks kept slipping down, which exposed his calves to the elements (i.e., the sunshine and warm weather). They were sure he was going to catch the flu, I think. As we left Vera took some photos and movies of us walking out of the Umit gates. We went to dinner with Steve and Laura that night at King David, a Jewish restaurant.

 


A few hours later Alex and I were on the train back to Almaty. Vera, Medet and Slava's entire family (including granny!) were at the train station to see us off. More than one woman at the train station admonished me for not having Alex dressed warmly enough. They must have thought I had a deathwish, being in a sleeveless shirt. Alex did great on the train.

We arrived in Almaty around 10:30 a.m. Kate and Sam picked us up and we went to the hotel to rest then went to the SOS clinic for our 2:00 appointment, then back to the hotel. I was feeling woozy and later that afternoon got really sick. Flu-like. I fell into bed around 6 p.m. and thankfully Alex did, too. We have a prolific sleeper on our hands! I didn't get back up til about 6 a.m. as did he and not a peep out of him during that time. Thank heaven because I felt so awful I don't know if I could have done anything for him. So I decided I would do anything to get on the next flight to Frankfurt, where my mom was staying until Sunday. All I had to do was go to the US Embassy Thursday for my exit interview and arrange a German visa for Alex since he was traveling on a KZ passport.

Thursday a.m.--called coordinator to see about switching flights. She had phone numbers for Lufthansa and the German embassy, including the name of a woman at the embassy who could help expedite Alex's visa. Much running around and phone calls (no such thing as voicemail or multiple lines--if all lines are busy you just keep calling). Finally, after going from the German embassy to the Lufthansa office to the US embassy for my exit interview and back to the German embassy, WE DID IT!!! Such relief! Went back to the hotel to pack and rest in order to get to the airport for the flight to Frankfurt at 3:20 Friday morning.

Our flight to Frankfurt arrived early, and I wasn't sure if my mom had received the email that I would be coming early. Turned out, Jim had called Renate on her cell phone the previous afternoon as she and mom were strolling through Frankfurt. So about 15 minutes after I got out of German customs (they tried to stop me as I was coming out of the baggage area but I pretended I was French so I wouldn't have to go through formal immigration) mom & Renate appeared. I have never so happy to see two people in my life! We got to Renate's and I caught up on sleep by taking 2 naps, 3-4 hours each. The next day we took a Rhine River cruise (may as well live it up while we're here) and this morning we are on the way to the airport in a few hours. Alex has definitely been living it up--what could be better than having TWO grandmothers looking after you for a few days?! More later, from the USA!!!

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Somehow I made it to Almaty on time last night! All planes were delayed going into and out of Chicago (did Chi-Town not get the memo that there should be no snowy/freezing weather in late April??) but my flight to Frankfurt was the only one that was running on time. Thanks to everyone who was praying for that!!! Once I got to Frankfurt I ran to the ticket counter for a boarding pass and got to the gate as the flight to Almaty was boarding. Whew!

Going through customs at the Almaty airport was fast and easy. I told the agent that I had to declare the US$ I was bringing in and we went into the office. He noticed I was from Texas and all was well--stamp the form, talk about Texas and it's similarities to KZ (he said that north of Almaty looks like "Marlboro Country"--his term!) and I was off.

Marina and Sam met me at the airport. Marina gave me Alex's KZ passport (!) and my train tickets and got me set up at the hotel so I was able to crash just after midnight. I was up early--too early! They don't start serving breakfast until 7:30. I just got back from a walk around town and I must say that spring is the season to be in Almaty! When we were here in March it was still gray and kind of desolate. Now the trees have leaves, the grass is green and the flowers are blooming (thousands of tulips in all colors all over the place) and the whole city is really cheerful and bustling.

Train to Taraz tonight...