(Thanks to everyone who are leaving comments. I love to read them! If you leave a comment as an Anonymous person, please sign your post so I know who you are.)
B..U..S..T..E..D!!! I got busted today for not paying of using the internet….damn! Apparently, the little guy that has been nagging me to pay has been keeping tabs on me and I had to pay 1740 tenge today….that’s about $12. Not bad for two weeks worth of usage. So, it looks like I’ll be paying 220 tenge an hour (about $1.47) to use the internet in the business center. That so sucks! That means I’ll be spending over $100 just in internet fees while I’m here. The reason I’m complaining about it is that they don’t ask everyone who uses it to pay. Some of the families have never been asked to pay. Then why are they picking on me? Ugh! Would you like to take a pint of my blood while your at it! I need every cent I have right now. I know $1.50 isn’t a lot but when you don’t have a lot of money to start with, every little bit counts. Vent closed.
Janette has yet to inform me whether she is going to charge me extra starting today for visiting the orphanage. The way it works is that you get 14 days for free (yeah right, like anything is free when your adopting!) and then you are to pay $50 each day after that as I’ve stated before. Well, as of last week, Janette was “considering” not having me pay extra because my regional payment was $12,200 instead of $10,000. I hope she just doesn’t say at the end of the week, “oh, please pay me $350 right now for the transportation fee for the week.” It seems this is how Europeans work with money. Do the job first, then ask for the money. I’m so afraid to ask her about it because I don’t want to tick her off. She could then say pay me the $50 a day which I can’t afford. But, if I wait it out and all of a sudden she wants me to pay her $350 a week, what a whole in my budget that would make. Do I ask her or not? I may wait until after Guardianship Council meeting on Friday and ask her then. If she wants the $50 a day, then I can only afford to see Alina three times a week; ie $150 a week. That would certainly suck big time but at least I will be able to see her a few times a week instead of not at all.
I forgot to mention something yesterday in my post that Shirin told me. When Janette and Shirin took the Robeys and Kara Docter and her mother to pick up their children at Umit, Alina saw Janette and Shirin and became very excited. But, when she figured out that I was not with them, she began to cry. My heart melted when Shirin told me that. I hope Janette will take my baby’s feelings into consideration when she’s “considering” charging me or not.
Today’s visit went very well. Alina was quite the chatter box today! She was just talking to me the entire time we were together. It was so cute!! Lots of laughs and giggles and kisses (su-e-mah) for Mama. I loved it of course! She did feel better today. No rubbing the tummy and not one trip to the bathroom. Mama did not bring cookies today only apple juice, crackers, and stick pretzels. I found these really skinny pretzel sticks at the market yesterday with no salt on them. I just assumed they tasted like our pretzels with not salt. They do but they are a little sweeter than ours. They are good and Alina seemed to like them. We are going to stick with these for a few days until we get our tummy back in order.
We had a few new toys to play with this morning. Kara had left some toys for Janette and told her to donate them to the orphanage. Well, Janette misunderstood and kept them for Kara and gave them back to her this morning. So, Kara gave them to me and I took them to Umit and I told her I would leave them in one of the storage cabinets in the shelters. There was a set of stacking cups, some plastic keys, something with three knobs on it and each knob made a different sound, a small ball, and some plastic rings. Alina was to old for most of the toys except the stacking cups. She loved them! My little girl is so smart. She would take them apart and put them back together. She might not get the right size cup in the next size cup correct the first time, put she would try until she got it. She never gave up and always ended up solving the cup mystery. Shirin would get impatient and start to tell her that that cup went into this one etc. (Kazaks are very impatient people. I will have to write a post about the way they drive. My description so far has been nothing….nothing!) I just let her figure it out on her own. She was having a good time and not getting frustrated at all.
We had a lot of Mama time today. She wanted me to pick her up more than usual and she came and sat on my leg when I was sitting in the floor of the shelter (Natalie and Christian were in the gazebo we are usually in so we let them stay there and we went to another shelter to play). She did that at least three times today. And like I said before, she was chattering up a storm today. She would look at me and start saying things. Sometimes, Shirin can’t understand her babble. But, she did tell me that she went swimming yesterday and that she lost her five tenge. Don’t know where she got five tenge but she said a couple times today that she had lost it. Shirin and I just laughed it off. As she was chattering to me today, she would look me in the eye. Very good sign for bonding. It was also as if she was just telling me about her day yesterday. It was so interesting to see her little mind at work and wanting to let me in on her life when I’m not there. She even said Mama in front of some of her sentences today. She would start with Mama and then tell me about something that happened at the orphanage yesterday. It was so heartwarming even though I had no idea what she was saying. She wanted me to know what her day was like yesterday and trusted me enough to tell me. I think a little more of the bonding bridge was built today. It’s not complete yet but it’s getting there.
When it was time to go, one of the caretakers came to collect my girl. She saw her and whimpered a little bit and reached for me. I picked her up, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and told her that I would see her tomorrow (ya-ting-ya-den). She gave me lots of hugs and kisses. I put her down and off she went with the nanny. Saying goodbye seems to be getting easier for her……not so much for Mama.
I met Natalie and Christian today. They are a French Canadian couple adopting their son Liam. We have emailed a couple of times and I was so glad to see them. I also got to meet Liam. What a cutie pie! This is their second visit so they are getting ready to go to court soon. They are staying until September like me! Yeah! Both of us were glad to know that we would have someone in town to do things with. I am very much looking forward to getting to know them. Their translator is Farida. I met her the day Janette took me to the notary office. She was my translator there. It was good to see her again. She is so full of life and very animated when she talks. She will be my translator at court.
Oh my gosh! Farida was telling Shirin and I today that the stupid a**hole male doctor of the orphanage has stolen personal property from adoptive parents! No one has been able to prove it but Farida knows its him. Apparently, a Belgium lady came to adopt her child last year and was playing with her child just out of sight of the gazebo. She had left her purse in the gazebo. The male doctor saw the lady’s things unattended and called his two teenage sons and told them to come to the orphanage. While the Belgium woman was playing with her child, the male doctor stole her purse, with her passport and all her money in it, and gave it to his sons who just walked out of the orphanage with it. This man is a lunatic and needs to be fired! I asked Farida if everyone knows this about him, then why is he still working here? She said that no one can prove it but she knows it was him that stole the Belgium lady’s purse. No wonder he’s stalking me! Until today, I was the only adoptive parent visiting their child in the mornings. Now, Natalie and Christian are there. But, he has been casing me out to steal my stuff! What a bastard!!! He even followed us to one of the shelters today to tell us we should move to another shelter because they found kittens and puppies under this shelter and there could be bugs from them under the floor boards. Shirin said thank you but we didn’t move. He never came back. He is sooooooo creepy! And now that I know he is a thief, we’ll have to be extra careful and he’s making me feel paranoid. As if I need something else to worry about these next eight weeks! Damn him!!! I would love to go all NCIS on him and create a sting just to get him fired!
I worked on my Guardianship Council meeting photos last night. I don’t know how to set my camera so the date will print on the photos. I’ve even read the manual but I, apparently, am just dumb. So, I imported the images I wanted to use into Microsoft Paint, typed the date on the pic, and saved it as a jpeg. Ha! Perfect! No one has to know that the date was not printed on it by the camera! Sneaky but ya gotta do what ya gotta do! We took the flash drive to the photo printing place today and went to a place to buy three black folders and plastic page protectors. We have to wait to pick the photos up tomorrow because there was something wrong with the computer printer or something. I have to have three copies of each photo to prepare three folders for the Guardianship Council meeting, court, and the Kaz Consulate in Almaty. I have to glue two pictures, which constitutes two days worth of visitation, to one page and place them in a black plastic folder. Apparently, there will also be paperwork included in the folder. Hey, I collected over a thousand sheets of paperwork for my dossier, I think I can do this. It will give me something to do with my time tomorrow.
That’s all for today. Thanks for joining us….
Cheers!
Kim and Alina Jean
6 comments:
The doctor is such a jerk! Here's something to do with your time: sneak a picture of him when he's not looking, print it up, then sew a small dart board or target to "decorate" your room that just so happens to have his picture in the middle! Proceed to throw rocks, sticks, food, or anything else you desire at your creation! Enjoy!
Hi, Kim, I am very familiar with the creep male doctor. He has curly gray hair, I believe? He is taller. He would set outside on the benches while we were there, and he would repeatedly pound the sides of his hands on the benches. It was quite bazaar to say the least. He would bang his hands hard as if this was some kind of karate or something. weird!
If it makes you feel better, we snuck in the hotel gazovik several times and used their internet, and we had to pay too. Well, they had a sheet that they used to tally everything. We stayed in an apt, however, and we would use the internet cafe. It is across the street from the in town carnival thing. Near your hotel. There are some pay phones outside, and if you walk up the steps and go in a lobby there are more pay phones. Then walk back into the other room, and there are computers. I believe it was much much less expensive here than in the hotel gazovik to use the internet. Check it out!! And you have to try one of the ice cream cones the street vendors sell near the internet cafe. Tell your coordinator you cannot afford to stay so long and to spend $50 a day for a driver, and ask if you can hire your own taxi to save expenses because you want to see Alina everyday. They will probably get mad because they all want all the money for themselves. This is also the reason probably that they got mad at you for talking with the interlink folks. The interlink folks speak English and can tell you exactly how cheap things are there. There was a woman we met while there named Lourdes. She was with Adoption Ark. She arranged for her own apt and it was huge. It was only like $200 or $300 for the whole month. She really ticked off the Adoption Ark people I think because she came to adopt a teenager about 15 16 and it didn't work out because she thinks he just wanted to come to America and not really have a family, so she told them she wanted a toddler, and Bulat told her there were none available and really she was given a very hard time and left, I do believe, without any child. Do not tick these people off. We met this woman Lourdes for lunch one day at the Turkish Cafe with the Fanta signs. Have you eaten there yet?Just be careful with who you tick off as these people are controlling your entire adoption and they could make things very difficult for you, even this male doctor could somehow get nasty and try to sabatage this. I know it is hard because you know how cheap things really are there and then you have to pay all this money.
I laughed my butt off about the swimming and bathing suit yesterday. That was so hilarious. And the driving, isn't it just incredible how they drive. I mean it is scary!!! And we learned how to cross the streets after a week of being there. The cars just go around all the pedestrians. Please tell Farida that the Douglass family with Anastasia say Hello! She is wonderful, isn't she? I cannot believe how wonderfully Alina is attaching to you. These photos are priceless. To even sit with you and let her hold her for a few moments is amazing especially considering her having spent her whole life in the orphanage. Also, don't get upset when she doesn't show emotion when the caregivers take her. Our daughter couldn't wait to go back to her group because she knew she was going to eat, and that is the most important thing to kids there.
Did you see my previous post about the language being spoken? Did you ask your coordinator if they are actually speaking Russian and not Kazak?? I thought all the kids there speak Russian, and not Kazak
As Holly said, don't tick anybody off. I would like to take that doctor and slap his face. Just do like Lena said and throw darts at his pic, if you can get one. After you are back in the USA, write your adoption agency and tell them about him. Gili says this about your new man, "Kim, can I tell you something? Your boyfriend has to go in the trashcan!" Jealous a little? LOL!!!
OMG! I enjoy just reading everyone else's comments on your posts - they are priceless! I can imagine you have a great time reading them as well.
Sounds like waiting until after the Council meeting will be a good time to bring up the daily fee with Janette. Maybe if you do it in a way that you are respectfully asking HER expert opinion of what you should do (hire a taxi yourself or not?) it will clear things up? Like everyone has said, you certainly don't want to make anyone mad. But surprise fees aren't any fun either...
Hang in there...you're doing GREAT!
I think I would try to make a deal with your coordinator and just say what you can pay. About the internet, I would find an internet cafe too if you can. You may need to keep your special stuff in your shirt where male doctor hands don't go. Kind of scares me for the kids sake too ya' know. G loves seeing pics of Alina by the way! Write what you can and post every other day if the cost gets too much. I know you have lots of spare time in that you can't see Alina everyday for all day but maybe write some in a journal to post later if it gets to be too much. Love to you both, Beverly
Hey, I hope everything went well Friday. It should be Sunday morning where you are. Hope you are doing well as I hope Alina is too.
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