Thursday, July 16, 2009

I’m feeling cranky today. I think it’s the heat and not having AC isn’t helping. But, I’m saving $1400 on the hotel bill so I’ll deal with it….I don’t like it..…but I’ll deal with it. I didn’t get much sleep last night either. I couldn’t shut my brain off. Sometimes I have trouble doing that and it takes me forever to go to sleep. My brain just keeps running and running and won’t stop no matter what I try to do. I got maybe four hours of sleep last night so that could also be contributing to the crankiness.
I met Beth Turnock last night. She is the Director of Interlink Resources here in Taraz. I contacted these people last year when I knew Alina was in Taraz. I knitted over 45 hats for the kids in the Ulan and Savva orphanages and sent them over around Christmas. They got them in February. Anyway, the Interlink people took pictures for me of the kids who received my hats (see post My Hats in Kaz). I want to do a workshop with the older kids who have aged out of the orphanages. Apparently, there is what we would call a Trade School for these young adults to attend so they can learn a skill or a trade. I talked with Beth and Sara last year about doing a workshop with the young ladies. I would like to teach them how to crochet. So, Beth contacted me earlier this week and we met for dinner last night. Very nice lady and we had a very pleasant dinner at Basfor (this is one of the restaurants Shirin showed me as we were making our way to the Bazaar last Friday). I had the Mexican steak which was a thin piece of beef with onions, spices and cheese melted on top of it with rice. It was very tasty. I also ordered a mushroom salad and that was sooooooo good! We asked the usual questions of each other…where ya from….what brought you here… and so forth and so on. After dinner, Beth showed me where the Interlink offices where located. I had actually passed by them on the way to Umit. Very nice building with beautiful ironwork on the entrance gate and around the office building itself. They not only do things for the children in the orphanages, but they also help adoptive parents that adopt from Taraz. They have an extensive library of books and every Friday, they have “pizza and a movie” night for all the adoptive families. I’m going tomorrow and I can’t wait! I know the other families coming in next week will/have enjoyed it too. They also help the parents locate things they may need while they are here such as power converters, fans, etc. I’ve heard nothing but good things about them. It was good to actually meet Beth face to face since we had only been corresponding via email for over a year. I hope I get to meet Sara as well. She works with Beth at Interlink and she was the first person I connected with when I was making the hats.
Today’s visitation went well. I didn’t even make it to the paved path to the shelter before Alina met me with those tiny little legs going just as fast as they could go, her usual big grin, impish laugh, and those tiny arms flung open wide. She was in a good mood and very glad to see her mama. I was glad to see her too. Shirin took pictures of us as we were saying hello to each other this morning. These pictures we will show to the Guardianship Council next week. Once again, I have to prove myself worthy of a child. Why is it that it’s easier to have a child than to adopt one? I’m not saying that having a child is easy but you sure don’t have to jump through the hoops that we adoptive parents have to jump through…interviews, psychological evaluations, people poking around your house, fingerprints, FBI clearances, doctor forms, social workers, photos of you, your family, your house (even your bathroom), etc, etc, etc. But, I digress. Back to what’s most important right now. I pick Alina up, kiss on her on the cheek, and we head to our gazebo.
I brought her another Golden Book today. It was my favorite when I was little….Mother Goose with Walt Disney characters acting out the Mother Goose poems. She loved it! She even told me today that she likes books. I brought the stacking toys back but those were hardly played with. I had to coax her into playing with them by pouring them out of the little plastic backpack onto the gazebo floor. Only then would she want to play with them which consisted of putting them back in the backpack. At the end of the visitation, I finally got her to stack them with me.
In the middle of our visitation time today, Alina’s group walks by our gazebo and some of the boys decide to come toward our most hollowed and sacred play area. Alina is not liking this at all and yells at them and tells them to, “GO AWAY” in Kazak. They do not heed this warning and come up to our gazebo and some of them come inside. Of course, I’m not going to ignore them so I start talking with them and Alina gets a little upset. She start saying, “maaamaa” in that whiny tone of hers. She says something is Kazak and Shirin tells me that she said she doesn’t want to share me with anyone and that she is very jealous that I am talking to the boys. Then, all the boys start to spit at me and picked up Alina‘s toys and started throwing them! I couldn’t believe it! Their caretaker’s back was turned so she didn’t see it but I told them “joq (no!)” and they just thought it was funny. The caretaker finally figured out what they were doing, scolded them, and told them to leave Alina and her Mama alone. I’ve read that if the group of children that your child is in can figure out what’s going on, they will be jealous of your child and possibly even taunt, tease, or, God forbid, abuse your child. I can only hope and pray that’s not happening to my baby. The caretaker leads the group away from our gazebo.
Alina and I took a walk around the orphanage by ourselves today. Shirin was busy organizing paperwork so I decided that it was Mama and Alina time. We walked past the windows of the orphanage and Alina would see her reflection like she did the other day. She would say, “Aleeena” and point at herself. I would come into view and I would say, “bulcrum (who is it?)” and she would say, “Mama“. It was so darn sweet! We only made it halfway around until met up with her group. I decided not to get near them since they pulled the stunt of spitting and throwing toys in the gazebo. We cut through the courtyard, passed by the pool, and went through the front doors of Umit which leads right to our gazebo.
For snacks today, I brought her tea that had a strawberry flavor to it. She calls it “sup” which in Kazak means juice. She seemed to like it and barely put the bottle down until it was finished. She finished it off in a little over 45 minutes. I also brought the cookies and crackers back as well. I brought some yogurt but she didn’t want it. I’m taking some chips tomorrow along with some candy and crackers and, of course, the tea….apple flavored this time.
There wasn’t much Mama time today. She wanted to play with her books and didn’t really want mama that much until the end of our two hour visitation time. I swear she knows when our time is up. She starts to get whiny and says, “maaamaa” in the most pitiful tone of voice you’ve ever heard. She wants me to hold her and I do. It was like that today. I was sitting on the gazebo floor and we were putting the stacking blocks away. All of a sudden she says, “Maaamaa” and comes over and lays her sweet little head on my shoulder and wraps her tiny arms around me. We just sit there for a while and I stroke her back and we sway back and forth. It was a good three minutes before she let me go (that’s a long time for this one to stand still and in one place…believe me!). It was time to go so Shirin and I gathered our stuff and put it in the van. Alina thought she was getting in the van and cried a bit when she realized that she wasn‘t going anywhere. We started walking back toward the front door of Umit and she starts to cry again. She says she doesn’t want to go upstairs to her room. I asked her if she was hungry and she said yes. So, we proceed up to her room and all her playmates are already eating their lunch. What ever they feed these kids smells absolutely delicious! I put her down and she instantly starts crying and reaching for me again. I pick her up, kiss her on the cheek, and tell her I’ll be back tomorrow in Kazak. One of the nanny’s grabs her from me. She left my arms without much protest. I think she was hungry and tired. I turned around and left as quickly as I could as I usually do. Lord knows this is the time of day I hate but there’s nothing I can do about right now.
Shirin and I walk back downstairs and out of the baby house toward the van. Janette is waiting for us. Usually, it’s the other way around. We get in the van, close the doors, and head out of Umit through the blue and yellow iron gates. We stop to drop Shirin off close to her house and then we stop so Janette can drop off some paperwork at the Department of Education. It was for Alina. Then, I get dropped off at the hotel. I tell Janette and the driver thank you and goodbye.
I’m running low on Tenge (the currency of Kazakhstan). So, I decide to go to a currency exchange place just down the street from the hotel. The Hotel Zhambyl could not be more centrally located to everything one needs while staying in Taraz. There are three restaurants that I know of within a five to ten minute walk, there are two small grocery stores…one across the street that maybe is a two minute walk and one just down to the right on the same side of the street as the hotel…one minute walk tops. The money exchange place is about a five minute walk from hotel. The mall, Tsum, is about a ten minute walk and there are three parks within a five minute walk. Yes…you can walk everywhere…even out of shape and overweight me! Now, Gros, the big grocery store is a good 15 minute walk and I haven’t tried that by myself yet but I’ll probably do that this weekend. I know the way but since the four hour walk last Friday, I’m trying to let the matchbook size blister on my left foot heal a little more before I take on a 15 minute walk.
I head out of the hotel and turn right to go to the money exchange place. You can tell where these places are because they have a sandwich board type sign next to the street that shows the exchange rates. As I reach the sign, I’m not quite sure which door to enter since there are three possibilities. My process of elimination tells me that the door with the dollar sign on it is the one. I was correct (that‘s what watching NCIS will do for ya!!). I walk in and see the familiar barred window that I had seen when I first arrived in Taraz over a week ago. I stand at the window for about three seconds and a not so tall, buzzed haircut, young looking Russian man comes out to greet me. No smile or anything. He slides out the money tray that is located in the middle of the barred window and I hand him my American money and say, “Tenge”. He checks to see if my money is real by putting it under an ultra violet blue light and then he inspects the bills. He is convinced I am on the up and up and then pulls out a large calculator. He shows me the exchange rate, I answer “jaqsa (good)” and he’s off to retrieve my Tenge from the back room. A few minutes later he comes out with the 30 thousand and something Tenge, holds it under the ultra violet blue light to prove tome that it is real and our transaction is complete. I thank him in Kazak and I am on my way out the door.
I start walking back toward the hotel. I want to stop at the new little market I have discovered on the way to the money exchange place but decide not to today. I walk to the crosswalk in front of the hotel and cross the street and visit the market that I‘ve shopped at before. They have THE BEST bread there! It’s always fresh and homemade. I buy some tea for the baby and some other essentials that I’m running low on. Oh…and mustn’t forget some of the wonderful Kazak beer that I’m so enjoying while here. I bought four bottles and I’m trying two new kinds! I get back to the room, put my market buys away and settle down in front of the fan to have some lunch which consists of the wonderful bread I just purchased and some cheese. Both are very satisfying. Next, I write this blog entry and then more crocheting to finish up the gifts I brought for the caretakers at the orphanage until 5:30 p.m. my time. Then its time to call “ata (grandpa)” and “aje (grandma)” and fill them in on today’s activities.
That’s it for today. I hope I haven’t bored you to much. Thanks for coming back and going through this journey with me. I’m thinking about turning my blog posts into a book. Let me know what you think!

Sow Bul!!