Favorable Decision

We went to Guardianship Council and were given a 'favorable decision'. Yahoo! We went before a 3 person panel (one man, two women) plus a stenographer. Vera made some opening remarks and then they asked us a few questions. The whole thing took about 10 minutes. I got nervous toward the end when the head of the council made a long statement. I was sure she was saying, "That's all well and good but I don't think we should rule in your favor," but actually that was the part where she told us they were ruling for us. Most of the build-up was a statement about wanting the orphans of Kazakhstan to go to loving homes and their priority is to place them locally but they know that isn't always possible. The Petersons went after us and we didn't stay to hear how they did, but I'm sure it all worked out. (UPDATE: Just talked to Wendy--all went well).

The electricity has been going off and on, mainly off, all afternoon. Since we didn't have an afternoon visit with Alex, Vera and Medet arranged for us to go to the town museum, which is on the square about 100 yards from our hotel. When we got there we were informed that the electricity was off there as well and we wouldn't be able to go in because we wouldn't be able to see the exhibits in the dark. I bet they really don't have anything in there but when they hear that tourists are going to come visit they turn off all the electricity to the town square and say, "Sorry! No lights!"

We headed back to our hotel and decided to stop into a little cafe that has piqued our interest. It is called Cafe Astana (Astana is the capital of KZ) and is on the square, attached to the main government building. We have always gone to 'Tourist Friendly' spots until now but wanted to see where the locals go for a cup of tea. I thought it might be closed due to lack of electricity, like the museum. We went in the door and found that the cafe was down a flight of stairs in the basement of the building and I didn't have to worry about it being closed due to lack of light--nearly every light fixture in the ceiling was missing its fluorescent tube anyway. All the lights were out but there was plenty of sun coming through the windows. Very simple--about 10 wooden tables with oilcloth table covers and a one page menu. There was a little bar in the corner (where you could buy eggs?!) and the place was big enough to shove the tables to the side and have a band play with room for a dancefloor. We ordered our tea and tried to read the menu. They have lunch items (samsas!) so maybe we'll go back tomorrow.

A funny thing we saw today at one of the little news/bookstands (a liberal term--it is simply a folding table and people sell books, magazines and newspapers on the street): a copy of the Kazakhstan driving rules for people trying to get their driver's license. If you've spent more than 5 minutes in this country you would question the existence of any driving rules. The lines in the road are merely suggestions. Imagine yourself driving on a two lane urban street, like Lower Greenville. Here, if the car in front of you is going too slow, you can just use the oncoming traffic lane to pass them, even in the middle of the city. And don't be surprised if another car comes up on your left, even farther over in the oncoming lane, to pass you. At stoplights the drivers slam on their brakes when the light goes from green to yellow. We have seen cars come to a literal screeching halt for a yellow light. Sounds good, right? Well, they do this because the cross traffic starts going as soon as they see that your light has turned yellow. They start into the intersection while their light is still red and often people behind them will honk their horns if the driver in front hasn't started through the intersection before his light has even turned green. Needless to say, this makes crossing the street as a pedestrian akin to an Olympic event.

We have also learned that how you honk your horn can tell you a lot. Two short beeps means "Look out" and is typically done for a pedestrian who is trying to cross in front of you. A longer single honk is done for a slow vehicle in front of you that you want to pass. However, a long-ish honk followed by two short beeps usually means that you are simply greeting a friend on the street. If you are driving a Japanese vehicle with the steering wheel on the right it is OK to pull over, roll down the window and shake hands.

We see police cars all the time but are not sure what they are doing--nobody gets stopped, ticketed, etc. Usually there are 2-3 officers either in the car or milling about. A lot of times there are two or three cars with about 6 officers total hanging around and shooting the breeze. We have been told, however, that there is a seatbelt law (hahahahahahahahaha!). In fact, one of the Interlink gals has been pulled over for that. If you don't have the appropriate papers (or the appropriate paper currency, ahem) your car can be impounded until you get things settled. In case of a car accident (we've only seen 2 since we've been here) the two parties typically settle the matter in cash without involving the police or insurance. It isn't unheard of for the wronged party to impound the car of the person who was responsible for the accident until restitution is made.

There is a good joke about the police department because they do pull people over on occasion for 'speeding' and will settle the case on the spot for 200 tenge (about $1.50). This usually occurs when pocket money is getting low. The joke is that a young officer approaches his boss about working some extra time so he can make more money for his upcoming wedding. The boss, instead, hands over the radar gun. Haha!