Images

The Uralsk River


Here are a few images running thru my head. If I can get some pictures to post, maybe they'll run thru your head, too.

MacJohn's



The last 2 or 3 days in a row, we have had lunch at a mini mall, The Atrium, about halfway home from the baby house. Mac John's is a fast food American restaurant with burgers, shish kebab and decent pizza in an atmosphere that is very McDonald's. The chef couldn't be more enthusiatic to be serving Americans. He is Egyptian and has told us that he cooked at a Pizza Hut in Egypt and then in Lebanon. Now he finds himself cooking for Mac Johns in lovely Uralsk in Kazakhstan. We have signed the guest book, and are grateful for simple, easy, familiar food. See a face thru the window? That's Kyle.


More of the Atrium




The Apartment
They took us to see an apartment tonight after our afternoon visit to the Baby House. From the outside, it looks like the usual run down beige buildings that they have perfected here and according to Claire (college chum reading this blog who lived in Moscow for a time), all Russian states have in plentiful supply. Inside it's not bad. Two floors, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, living room, kitchen with a nuke. No internet, yes washing machine. I'll try & take a picture. We move in Friday the 29th, and will spend the rest of our Uralsk time there.

Meeting with the Doctor
We met one of the physicians who has cared for Sultan, and we have learned more of his history. I was looking for history and medical history, and found out a little of both. Medically, he looks good. He's has all his immunizations, tested neg for all the hepatitis series, for HIV, and... Something else (my notes are upstairs). It seems (and this is the same story for the future child of another couple that is here), Sultan was found wandering the streets with a note in his pocket. It's unclear what the note said, but it gave his weight at birth, and some marginal info about him. We know his mother named him Sultan, so somehow, they must have deduced who his mother was, and matched that up with birth certificate information from the hospital (presuming he wasn't born at home). It's all so sketchy, and it really crumples me to think of him wandering a street for an hour or a day until he was taken to the baby house, but like I said, maybe that scenario isn't completely uncommon. He is very healthy, though, short (but sweet!), and they expect he will grow once he gets a better diet, etc.

Greeting him
Twice recently, we have arrived at a time when his group is playing outside. Today he noticed us as we were walking up and he shouted Mama and Daddy and came running towards us.

Cold feet
While we were changing his pants this afternoon (guess why), Almira the translator noticed how cold his feet were. She explained that this, no doubt, was the reason that he peed. I told her that I had never heard that cold feet make you have to go. She was incredulous. Parents out there, your thoughts?

And baby makes 11
The couple farthest along in their adoption went to final court today and in celebration we all had dinner at the hotel restaurant together. The new baby, a boy named Counselor, after Jesus, is 11 months old and absolutely perfect. We bought his parents a card with the picture of a baby on it with text in Russian, which turns out to be a birthday card, but who cares? Now we are 5 couples and one baby. When all is said & done, we will be 5 couples and 7 children.

To top it all off
So I also bought the group some celebratory pastries for our party tonight, and to go with it a cake topper figurine of a baby in a blue bassinet... the obvious choice in pastry toppers. Of course, I could have chosen the cake topper of a champagne glass next to a nearly naked buxom woman in a see-through black negligee. Although that certainly was a special sentiment, too, I went with the baby one.

Good night everyone!
xox