11/19/04-Day 4 of the Journey Home

Today was a free day. The adoption process was basically complete and we were free to leave the country. I had called Lufthansa earlier to see if we could get on an early flight, but, true to form, Lufthansa has stopped flying out of Almaty on Wednesdays and Fridays. So we would have to wait for our original flight.

The exciting thing about staying the extra day was that Bolat was going to arrange for us to get together with Steve, Lisa and Jerry. I believe I have talked about them in the past but to remind everyone, Steve and Lisa are from upstate New York and are adoption two infants, Marguerite and Francis. Lisa is a pediatrician who was a wonderful help to Mary Jo and I. Jerry and his wife Jane are from Connecticut and were adopting Allie. Jerry was traveling back with Jane’s older son, I believe. During the first stage, it was great to be at the hotel with all of them. If you remember, they were the couples that visited us in our apartment in Karaganda at a point when Mary Jo and I were at a low point. I really looked forward to spending a little time with them before we shook the dust of Kazakhstan from our shoes.

The other big event of the day was a trip to a souvenir store. I had gone to one in Karaganda, but Gma was not able to, so we wanted to go to one so she could find some souvenirs. So, at 10 a.m., Bolat’s father picked us up for the trip. We drop to a busy part of the city and we got out of the car. I walked toward the building by which we parked hoping the stores were there. Unfortunately, the stores were across the street. On its busy intersections, Almaty has these “undergrounds”, underground tunnels that enable you to walk under the streets. I cannot describe the full horror on Gma’s face as she looked at the stairway down, which was the equivalent length of a two story building. So, we walked down and through a tunnel when we got to other side and had to walk back up. After 25+ days in Kazakhstan and three days of carrying the kids around Almaty, Gma is reaching the end of her strength. She was able to take Grace up the underground stairs and we entered into the Mall. Our escort asked someone where the souvenir stores were and we discovered they were on the third floor. Have I told you that many buildings in Kazakhstan do not have elevators? Well this was one of them and to add to the pain, each floor had very high ceilings. After the first flight, I took Grace from Gma and carried both kids up the stairs and let Gma take her time going up.

On the third floor, we found multiple souvenir stores, but mostly we stayed at one. A very nice lady helped us looked at multiple items. I bought some wall hangings and hats for the kids and Gma bought an array of gifts for the folks back home. We left the stores and worked our way back to the car. Luckily, the trip out of the Mall was downhill, but also had to work through the underground. I took both kids again and we got to the car. Back at the apartment, we slowly worked our way back up the two flights of stairs and fed the kids before we collapse in exhaustion. I am sure Gma had similar feelings, but at this point, I was beginning to think I had never been so tired in my life. Oh, how wrong I was.

After feeding the kids, I took a walk back to the market where I got the chicken; because we wanted to try the famous “kebobs” that Bolat had told me about. Now, in my mind, a kebob is some type of meat on a stick. Apparently, in Kazakhstan, at least in Almaty, this is not was a kebob is. As far as I can tell, a kebob is the big slab of meat on standing on a spit like you see in any gyro shop. They slice shavings off the meat and basically serve it on a tortilla. Yes, fans, I traveled 9000 miles to have a burrito. Let me add in my sarcasm, though, that they were delicious. I am glad we got them.

After lunch, I waited in excited anticipation for Bolat to call with the arrangements. I had spoken to him in the morning and suggest the other folks come over to our apartment and we order pizza. I figured that would be easier than taking 5 children out to eat in Kazakhstan. With the lack of elevators and many other tools of convenience, I did not hold out much hope for high chairs at their restaurants.

So, we waited. And waited. And waited. Four o’clock came, which is the typical time for the Embassy appointments and still no word from Bolat. Time still passed – 5, then 6. I was beginning to worry if we were going to hear anything and since I had made no plans for dinner, I was getting really concerned. Then, at 7, the phone rang. It was Bolat, who let me know that his father’s car broke down and he was using Bolat’s car. So, there was no way for him to transport any of us to a common destination. I can’t tell you how much this bummed me out, but I am sure you can imagine. Again the phrase entered my mind – “Is anything on this trip going to work out as planned?” So, I was I let Bolat know that we had not plans (or food) for dinner and we at least needed help on that. I asked him to order us anther pizza, which he said he would do. That was the last time I spoke to Bolat.

Of course, at this point, I realized that I probably did not have enough Tenge to pay for the pizza and get us home, so I ran out (in the rain, by the way) and was eventually able to find an exchange window at a local market, where I also bought some water and a couple bottles of Efes beer, my last bottles before I left.

Upon my return, we hung out, waiting for our pizza. And waiting. And waiting. About 9 pm, I was beginning to worry that maybe our pizza would not come. Unfortunately the only number we have for Bolat was a cell phone and the phone we had could not call it. I also tried the pizza place in the desperate hope that someone there could speak English, but the line was busy. Oh, by the way, at this point, the kids were still awake. Apparently, they somehow had figured out they were leaving for America the next day and were too excited to sleep. I have to say, they were in great moods and were cracking Gma and I up as we sat in complete hunger. Meanwhile, back at the pizza front…

I again tried the pizza place and was able to finally get through. As to the question of whether or not someone there spoke English, I am sure you can guess the answer. So, I through out varies phrases, like pizza, our address, Bolat and whatever I could think of and somehow they were able to figure out we had ordered a pizza and had not received it. At least, I think they figured that out. The woman on the phone asked for my number and said she would call back, which she did. In fact, they called back 4 times. I am not sure the purpose of the calls, but they seemed to have some value, because at 9:45, we received our pizzas. By the way, did I tell you that we were being picked up at 1:30 am for a 4 am flight?

We were finally able to get the kids to bed around 10 and we sat and enjoyed our pizza. Gma had planned to stay up until we left, but I hoped to get a little sleep. Little is the best description. I think I fell asleep for about an hour when I was awaked at 1 am to get ready to leave. I got dressed and packed the last few items and we got the kids up and ready to go. At 1:15, I took the last of our garbage down and found Bolat’s father already there. So, I went upstairs, dragged our luggage downstairs, brought the kids down with Gma and headed for the airport. Such would end our time in the Almaty apartment and Day 3.