Kazakh Holiday
Today is a big holiday in Kazakhstan. It is "Republic Day", not to be confused with "Independence Day" which occurs in a few weeks and is the day that Kazakhstan became independent of the Soviet Union about 11 years ago. There are flags up along the street, and people seem to be in a festive mood. There was a crowd gathered down the street with some music, but we weren't sure exactly what was going on.
There is a little supermarket about half a block from our hotel. They sell the basics, including 25 cent packages of cookies that are actually quite yummy. But the fruit is much better in the 'malls', big buildings with lots of tiny stores in them. Today at the mall, I think because of the holiday, there also seemed to be lots of fresh, round rolls of bread. We bought a loaf for 20 cents (25 tenge) that was still warm from the oven. Yum, yum, yum. As we were buying it, we were surrounded by men bringing in more boxes of fresh baked bread on their shoulders.
We're here in KyzylOrda with another family from the US, who are adopting a 2 year old (Tatiania, or Tania for short) from the same orphanage. Christy and TJ are from Ohio, and it has been wonderful having other people here to hang out with, give and get support with, and share resources. It's also special that our kids will know another child who came from the same place. Christy has been here for a week, and TJ just arrived here yesterday. For the first week, Christy's friend Karen was here keeping Christy company. Karen was the official photographer, and brought a video camera. She managed to capture some footage that is incredible, and we feel quite blessed to have had her here. Since she's left, we have not been nearly as good about taking photos.
Did I mention that the Kazakhs have some interesting views about taking pictures? When I was at the airport in Almaty I made the mistake of taking a photo of the airplane. A man in Uniform came up and grabbed my camera from my hands. He already had the camera/phone of another man who looked distraught. I yelled no, no, but he wouldn't give it back. Finally, I heard a voice over my shoulder (turned out it was Christy) saying, "just erase the picture, just erase the picture." So I showed him that I erased the picture, and he gave me the camera back. Phew! We met someone later who told us someone he met had his camera taken, and had to spend hours at the airport, plus some money, to get it back.
The other day I was at the mall, and was going to take a photo of the shops when a man in uniform came up and told me not to. We had been warned about not taking photos of government buildings, but didn't realize that it meant planes and malls too. Now every time we pull out the camera we quiver, look in both directions, and take it as quickly as possible. We figure that the custom is left over from the Soviet days. Still, it's a little disarming....
Ethan enjoyed meeting TJ yesterday. TJ owns his own plane, so was giving Ethan some of the official words pilots say when they take off. Ethan didn't understand a word of it, but seemed to understand TJ knew what he was talking about. Ethan also learned a few more words in English during our 2 hour visit with him. Mark asked the interpreter to teach him (Mark) a few words in Kazakh too. We really wish we could understand each other better! Soon, very soon.
Ethan also likes to play "doctor" -- he takes the play stethescope and puts it to our chest, then our back. Then there's a little toy needle he uses to give us an injection on the arm. (The kids in orphanages get a lot of medical attention here. Apparently even better than most kids. Also, KyzylOrda is very proud of the new clinic they have here -- they told us it's one of the best in the country.)
Ethan clearly likes his caregivers. When we lift him up to look out the window and he sees one of them, he waves his arm and shouts to them. He gets a big smile and wave from them in return. When they come into the room, he goes running up to them to show them his samelyote, and pointing to mamma and pappa. They clearly like him too -- which is very understandable, once you see Ethan smile.
There is a little supermarket about half a block from our hotel. They sell the basics, including 25 cent packages of cookies that are actually quite yummy. But the fruit is much better in the 'malls', big buildings with lots of tiny stores in them. Today at the mall, I think because of the holiday, there also seemed to be lots of fresh, round rolls of bread. We bought a loaf for 20 cents (25 tenge) that was still warm from the oven. Yum, yum, yum. As we were buying it, we were surrounded by men bringing in more boxes of fresh baked bread on their shoulders.
We're here in KyzylOrda with another family from the US, who are adopting a 2 year old (Tatiania, or Tania for short) from the same orphanage. Christy and TJ are from Ohio, and it has been wonderful having other people here to hang out with, give and get support with, and share resources. It's also special that our kids will know another child who came from the same place. Christy has been here for a week, and TJ just arrived here yesterday. For the first week, Christy's friend Karen was here keeping Christy company. Karen was the official photographer, and brought a video camera. She managed to capture some footage that is incredible, and we feel quite blessed to have had her here. Since she's left, we have not been nearly as good about taking photos.
Did I mention that the Kazakhs have some interesting views about taking pictures? When I was at the airport in Almaty I made the mistake of taking a photo of the airplane. A man in Uniform came up and grabbed my camera from my hands. He already had the camera/phone of another man who looked distraught. I yelled no, no, but he wouldn't give it back. Finally, I heard a voice over my shoulder (turned out it was Christy) saying, "just erase the picture, just erase the picture." So I showed him that I erased the picture, and he gave me the camera back. Phew! We met someone later who told us someone he met had his camera taken, and had to spend hours at the airport, plus some money, to get it back.
The other day I was at the mall, and was going to take a photo of the shops when a man in uniform came up and told me not to. We had been warned about not taking photos of government buildings, but didn't realize that it meant planes and malls too. Now every time we pull out the camera we quiver, look in both directions, and take it as quickly as possible. We figure that the custom is left over from the Soviet days. Still, it's a little disarming....
Ethan enjoyed meeting TJ yesterday. TJ owns his own plane, so was giving Ethan some of the official words pilots say when they take off. Ethan didn't understand a word of it, but seemed to understand TJ knew what he was talking about. Ethan also learned a few more words in English during our 2 hour visit with him. Mark asked the interpreter to teach him (Mark) a few words in Kazakh too. We really wish we could understand each other better! Soon, very soon.
Ethan also likes to play "doctor" -- he takes the play stethescope and puts it to our chest, then our back. Then there's a little toy needle he uses to give us an injection on the arm. (The kids in orphanages get a lot of medical attention here. Apparently even better than most kids. Also, KyzylOrda is very proud of the new clinic they have here -- they told us it's one of the best in the country.)
Ethan clearly likes his caregivers. When we lift him up to look out the window and he sees one of them, he waves his arm and shouts to them. He gets a big smile and wave from them in return. When they come into the room, he goes running up to them to show them his samelyote, and pointing to mamma and pappa. They clearly like him too -- which is very understandable, once you see Ethan smile.
posted by AttitudeAdopt | 11:28 PM
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