Some trivia, some facts, some other stuff…

Not exactly sure what to write about so I’ll just start.

Some trivia
The time difference between Karaganda and New Orleans is 11 hours. We’re a day ahead of you.

Potato chips come in many different flavors here. And not the flavors you would think. We have bought chicken chips, meat and mushroom chips and ham and cheese chips (which Din says taste like an Egg McMuffin).

The public buses all have curtains. Not sure why.

You have to pay to use public toilets. This buys you the privilege and some toilet paper.

All the women wear fancy high heels here. Lots of bling on the shoes.

No one wears shorts even though it’s quite warm.

No one but Americans wear sneakers.

What do we do all day everyday?
We’re sort of boring. We get up – head off to the Orphanage, spend time oohing and aahing over our children then head back out. Off to the mall or the grocery to get supplies, home for lunch, nap and then back to the Orphanage. Dinner may or may not happen – usually we nosh, do some reading and then off to bed. The big excitement here was we did some laundry! We have a tiny washing machine that literally holds about 2 pair of jeans. All the instructions are in Russian of course so it was a complete mystery. I finally drew out the whole front panel and took it to the “O” to have it translated. It was a happy day!

We met a couple here from Lake Charles, Louisiana. Scott and Christina. They’ve adopted a boy and named him Will. We’re totally jealous of them because somehow they got their hands on some Community Coffee! For those of you not in NOLA, this is the coffee of choice. And when you’re in a place where Nescafe instant is the only option, you can imagine why we’re envious! We met these guys because they are in our playroom.

I should explain how the O works (or at least what we can figure out). There are many rooms where the children sleep. They seem to be organized by age or possibly feeding needs. Tristan is in a room where all the kids get porridge in the mornings but bottles in the afternoon. (What else they eat will be a later post- you won’t believe it.) Each sleeping room has about 10 cribs – or beds – lined up side by side around the room. There is a room right outside this where they get fed and the ones who have not been chosen yet, spend their days. The ones who have been chosen get fed in here by their new mamas and papas and then we all move to the playroom. The playroom has lots of toys available and a big ball pit so the kids have fun. Every family brings a blanket which is spread out on the floor and the kids go down on them. Then each family does what ever type of “playing” they want. We’ve been working with Tristan on his muscle building. He’s started standing and sitting – with help – but is making tons of progress everyday. It’s really amazing the difference we’ve seen in a week. Even the doctor came by and commented on it (we think!). He does have a cold right now but all of the kids have some sort of sniffle or cough. I’ve also turned up with a sore throat (can’t imagine why) but I’m ignoring it.

Some times we get to go outside and wander around the building. Tristan hates the sun in his eyes. We’re sure it’s because he hasn’t spent much time out of doors so far in his life. We figure he has to get used to it so he can deal with New Orleans sunshine! When the children go out, they are all loaded up with clothes. Especially hats which have to be pulled down over their ears. The Care Givers are very strict about this.

More new families arrived on Monday. We feel like seasoned veterans now! It’s almost impossible to believe we’ve been here as long as we have. On the other hand, sometimes it feels like we arrived yesterday.

We’re still having fun although I started reading Andrei Codrescu’s, “New Orleans, Mon Amour” and I’m starting to miss home. We do have a sort of streetcar outside our window which does sound like the one at home so it’s nice. The wine situation on the other hand is not so nice. We’ve tried to buy what we think is Cabernet but it’s either really sweet (more like Madeira) or is like vinegar. No amount of “breathing” helps. On the other hand the local beer is great. Very tasty.

We’re hoping to get a group of Americans together Thursday night for drinks or dinner. Should be interesting. Everyone we’ve met so far has a similar story to ours. We’re all so happy to be here and finally meeting our children.

Next blog entry: gypsies and why you shouldn’t pay them for photographs…

Paka!
Carolyn

More Photos, of course.

Gangsta T.

First real recap of the whole experience so far

Well, I guess we have some catching up to do here. It's been a whole week since we arrived so I think it's time! Plus I (Carolyn) had a long nap so I'm ready to recap. It's going to be a long one since I have the energy!

Some explaining. We're not publishing Tristan's middle name -his current name. (But for Gina, his middle initial is "Y".) We feel it's best to keep these details off the world wide web until we're all back home. For families coming behind us, we will fill in these details later so you can have the info.

We arrived in Almaty on Saturday the 20th. We had an incredibly tight connection in Frankfurt, and some trepidation about a visa situation, but that all worked out. The only hitch was that one of our bags got lost. We decided not to try to figure it out at that time and just go on. Getting there was far more important than filing a lost bag report!

When we arrived in Almaty, we used the VIP service to get through customs, etc... and we highly recommend it to future families. It was a short process and much easier on the nerves!

Lola our interpreter found us right outside the airport door and helped file a missing bag report. We were so glad to have her help! We would have been there for hours without her.

She and the driver got us to our hotel and we checked in. The other couple from our agency (they send a couple of families at once) had not arrived yet but we left them a note and hoped to hook up the next day. Our room was servicable - sparse but with a very nice balcony where we unwound for a while. We were up fairly early and off to breakfast in the hotel which was included in the price of the room. I could tell that food is going to be an interesting experience here. Din is much more willing to try things than I am. We'll see how it goes! Oh and coffee is not a thing here like it is at home. Tea is the hot drink of choice. I had 3 instant nescafes - that was the only option.

We met the other couple, Geoff and Laura, and went sight seeing with Lola. We took a drive up to the mountains for a scenic (and chilly) view, then walked through the park, saw the Orthodox church and basically absorbed the local color. Din and I have been very impressed with the amount of trees and flowers around the city. Huge wide avenues. Lots of salmon colored buildings with white trim. Very impressive architecture and not what we expected. Had some lunch (and a latte!) in a "starbucks" which really wasn't but it was really good.

Geoff is a professional photographer so you can imagine how happy we are to have him with us. I'm not so sure he's happy to have a professional Art Director with him but the professional computer guy is a huge plus!!!!

Went off to the airport and waited for our flight. Our coordinator in Karaganda, Larissa, had booked the flight for us so we weren't exactly sure what to expect. Geoff and Laura had overpacked (just a bit!!!) and were worried about being over the weight limit for their luggage. Since we were still missing our bag, we signed one of theirs through as ours. Very interesting story here which we will post when we're home.

Off to the next flight. Din started to get nervous when we headed past the big planes and toward the smaller ones. Then the even smaller ones! We finally got one that had ROUND windows.

This thing was - shall we say much a much older aircraft than we were accustomed to. There was no "safety drill", no mention of life vests or using your seat cushion as a flotation device, nothing was said about oxygen masks - hopefully the pilot had one on board. As far as seats being in their upright postion; Impossible. Half of the seats were held up with the knees of the person sitting behind. Quite the experience!

We flew into Karaganda, met our translator Olga, our driver Vladimir and headed to our apartments. Olga gave us the keys, general instructions and told us we should not wear our shoes inside. (we're still not exactly sure why but this is the custom everywhere we've been.) We have wonderful accomodations. A diswasher, washing machine, ironing board and even a small balcony. Our apartment connects with Geoff and Laura's which is great. We get along beautifully - like we've known each other for years. It's really terrific to have such great people to share this experience with.

That evening (Sunday) we sat around our table with them and just talked. None of us could believe after all of this time (us, 2.5 years, them 1.5) we were finally about to meet our children. It was impossible to believe - not to mention terrifying!

Monday morning Vladimir picked us up and we headed off to the "baby house". Can you say, "scared to death?! " Wow. We were trying to make small talk on the way but we all had just one thing on our minds. We were about to meet our children. The scary part was that we had been told that we had a very short time to make our decision. Would we be able to do it? This was mind blowing. The time was finally here!

Olga was there to meet us. She took us in - we took off our shoes - and went up the stairs to one of the play rooms.The four of us walked in and saw 3 Care Givers sitting around a table. We nodded hello and looked around nervously. Geoff handed out Altoid mints to us and then to them. Nice move, we hope… dont' want to send the wrong message, like - here eat this. I can detect your halitosis (sp?) from all the way over there.

This is what Din wrote about this: This is Baby Day. Where we have to decide on a child that we would like to spend the rest of our lives with. Yes it does feel like the gravity of this situation would push you straight into the ground, never to be found. Yet, all four of us are still standing there in the play room. I have to say, one feels like a fool trying to make a good first impression while standing around without shoes on. Imagine going into a job interview wearing just socks (on your feet). We were pretty well dressed otherwise, since we were told first impressions were important, though we were feeling ragged from the travel.

Back to the story. Olga came back in and told us that the Assistant Director would be in to talk to us and then they would start to bring in the children. Geoff and Laura were set on a baby girl. Din and I would be happy with either sex but wanted one as young as possible.

The Asst. Director came in and said, we all know why we're here (and something else that none of us can remember). Our minds were racing. Then it started.

First they brought in a boy about 10 months - dark hair, big brown eyes and handed them off to one of us. Then more started coming in. About 15 in total. All shapes, all sizes, all different. (only a couple of girls which was dissapointing). Within minutes we four were passing these children between us, trying to search their eyes to see if they were "the one". It was quite the experience. Trying to spend enough time with them but trying to be fair to the other couple - and the other children - so we could be sure of our decisions.

Olga came back in and told us that in 15 minutes, they would start to remove the ones that we weren't connecting with. Wow was that startling - and intimidating. But it was easier than I thought. You really do connect with some and not others. It's an amazing process. After a while, we got down to about 4 that we wanted to spend more time with. Interestingly enough, Geoff and Laura were seriously considering the same two that we were. Then the hard part came. We actually had to tell each other who we really wanted. THANK THE FATES that we each had settled on a different one!!!!!!!!!!!! That was a huge relief!

They chose a boy who is 10 months old, has huge brown eyes and a ready smile. We chose our boy who is just 7 months and much smaller than the rest but is a total charmer. We had all looked carefully at how they responded to stimulation. Could they follow us with their eyes? Were they ok?

Once our decisions were made, the doctor came in and went over their medicals with us - a couple at a time. Both children were premature and surely developmentally delayed but that was to be expected. We were still confident with our choices.

Since then the time has flown with these boys. As I think Din has already posted, our days consist of visiting them twice a day and running errands in between time. We've discovered the malls and the grocery stores and are comfortable walking around. We also sleep like crazy. We're all having a tough time getting over the jet lag. We just nap, nap, nap. Today, Sunday, was only one visit to the Baby House in the morning so we had the afternoon totally to ourselves. We slept. Hopefully, we can start to keep this blog daily and let you all know what life is like here.

Incidentally, our bag showed up the second day so were greatly relieved! Everyone coming behind us, remember, don't pack his and hers bags - mix things up so you can survive on one bag - thanks for the advice Don - you saved us!!!!!!

This city is very interesting. Some of what you picture, some totally different. Again, lots of trees and wide avenues. Driving around with Vladimir is a real experience. We call it the "pothole slalom". The streets here are full of holes, pedestrians just walk out into traffic and there are no lines in the roads so cars are driving everywhere! Laura and I sit in the back seat and try not to look! Din and Geoff are taking video!

Food is a bit of an issue as I thought it would be. We've found the local pizzeria which is great (Marios' for those coming after us) No one speaks English so prepare to point and mime. Geoff is great at this thank goodness. We've discovered that the #18 has salami (as close to pepperoni as you will get) and mushrooms. Mmmmmm.They are single serving size so everyone gets their own. If you have left-overs and want a box to go, it will cost you 30 tenge. (on a related note, ketchup is extra - 20 tenge).

Most of the food is some sort of meat or cheese in a pastry. Sometimes a phyllo or maybe a croissant type thing. I thought I had a mushroom one the other day but I think it was actually kidney or liver - who knows! We're just trying to avoid horsemeat. That's quite prevalent around here!

We are having a great time. Din and I just talk and talk about our lovely child. He is totally ours. We see him everyday and are amazed at his progress. Day to day he learrns new things and is completely responsive to the stimulation and love he is getting. His caregivers adore him and give him lots of love but we've seen the difference we have made in his life. He is smiling much more and is making tons of progress developmentally. Laura says he should get "most improved" this week in the baby room. We are enjoying our role as parents. It's funny, Geoff and Laura have cats too - as novice parents, we all find ourselves making cat noises at these kids. We laugh when we realize we're doing it!!!! We feel so silly but it's all we've known so far. We're all learning!

I have much more to write but I don't want to wear you all out. I'll try to start posting daily tomorrow.

A few personal notes:

Kim - thanks for all your emails! W'e're dying to know how your trip to Cannes was. I'm using the journal you guys gave us daily. That's how we can recap here!

Christian - send us an email or post here on how the kitties are doing. Hope all is well at the house. If you don't mind, give Dallas a recap when you see him.

Smokey - he's "newborn" size for now but who knows (the way he's growing) what he'll be when we get home.

Will - thanks so much for printing out this blog and bringing it to "the shop". So glad you've thought to keep all those non-computer people up on our progress. We really appreciate it.

Gina - thanks for all you're doing. You are amazing! thank you thank you thank you. Hope all is well with you all.

thank you all for your emails and posts - it means so much. We check daily and are excited when we get new ones.

For the time being, if you need to email us use dinsinclair at gmail.com the "at" should be the symbol. I'm spelling it out to avoid spam.

paka!
Carolyn

More Photos

Carolyn feeding Tristan & Laura feeding Boedan.



























Baby Boedan, Papa Geoff & Mama Laura.






The Wash.

Wow! Finally, an actual post.

Thank you all for being so patient. We're finally somewhat rested. We have to go to the "baby house" twice a day to see Tristan. It is something we start looking forward to as soon as we leave him to come back to the apartment. In between, we end up running errands and trying to find places to eat that have menus with pictures of the food on them.

Tristan is such a joy. As you know, he is 7 months old and just charming. He has us totally in love with him. It's utterly amazing. The caregivers have a lot of fun talking to him in Russian and making him crack up. The head nanny for his room is Galina. She is such a trip (future video of Galina talking about G. Bush). Galina will come over to Tristan and just talk to him, at a very high volume, and poke him in the chest to make him laugh. You'll see what I mean (future video). They are very caring. Everything is done quite efficiently. From the feedings to the diaper changing. We're very lucky that we're being trained by these caregivers. Talk about multi-tasking! They're amazing and you can tell that these kids are treated as they are their own.

We have already started feeding Tristan the formula that they provide. We found out today that we may be able to bring in formula ourselves and supplement. We have also fed him solid food. It looks like a rice cereal with an egg in it. No ons was brave enough to try it. So this feeding thing sounds sort of ordinary, right? Wait till you see the spoon. It is a table spoon. Not even a tea spoon - a table spoon - the big ones. f(uture video of us and big spoon) All of the kids get fed like this and all of them just chow down. It's funny. I'm sure you are all just enthralled by this commentary. Tough. We're new parents.

So, Tristan is bonding with us really well. We can talk to him and get him laughing. We are also doing simple things right now for development. He also gets really good massages. That's also a big thing here. They massage the kids. It is wild. I tried to sign up. (future video of massage). Tristan loved his massage. He was sick recently, so he's not 100%. And we can't put him on the ground with the other kids yet. Everyone seems to have the sniffles and the caregivers don't want Tristan getting sick again. So we're stuck holding him the entire time. Poor us.

Well, gonna sign off for now. have to leave in 15 minutes.I'll try and start posting the experience play-by-play later tonight. I'm hoping to have decent bandwidth tomorrow so I can post some video as well. Later.

I am SO Serious

Unless Mama is Tickling Me.

photos are up… actual posts sometime soon.

We're still trying to catch up. Details of our experience and life in the former soviet bloc coming shortly. Thanks for all of your well wishes and support!

And Tristan Sleepy.

Tristan Wide Awake

Tristan and Papa

Tristan and Mama

Tristan in His Crib

Very serious, indeed…

It's a Boy!!

7 months, huge blue eyes, we've named him Tristan _______ Sinclair. Too exhausted to post more, except to say we are having an amazing time. More tomorrow...

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