Troubles in paradise
More random thoughts, since that seems to work best
--Apparently they changed the requirements here for the paperwork without telling anyone. We now need a notarized, apostilled copy of Mark's immigration papers from when he was here to prove he met with the child. Just a photocopy isn't good enough. Needs to be apostilled. Problem is that will take 3 days to get here from the US. Of course, photos of Mark with the child do not count. His ticket stubs don't count. No, we need this one piece of paper. Welcome to bureaucracy land. Now, don't know when I'll be coming home. Send me good thoughts, I need them right now.
On a lighter note:
--Since this is a mostly muslim country, we were surprised by all the Christmas trees we saw everywhere, even in public places. Turns out these are not Christmas trees, but New Years trees, complete with ornaments and a star on top. They also have someone who looks just like Santa Clause, but who is not Santa Clause. He brings presents, has a red coat, white beard, etc, but has a different name, and comes on New Years, not Christmas. My translater told me you can tell the difference because Santa has a shorter red coat than this guy, but to tell you the truth, they look the same to me.
--Ethan has been trained early to cross the street by running. He's terrified the cars won't stop, which at first mama tried to show him that it was ok when the light turned green. Turns out that Ethan was right -- a light doesn't guarantee anything here. Cars definitely have the right of way, and if you don't jump out of their way they don't slow down, just honk at you. Having a kid offers zero protection either.
--Maybe having the kid does make me look like a native though. I've been asked for directions 4 times in the last day. Luckily I whip out the one sentence I know, which is "I don't speak Russian"
--Today I went with my translater to the English class she is teaching. They asked me tough questions, like why am I adopting from Kazakhstan (not sure at the moment....), how the US deals with immigrants, what I thought of the Bulat movie, what words I know in Kazakh (not many...)
--Yesterday for lunch had a dish made with the local wide, flat noodles. Sort of like lasagne noodles, only no ruffles at the edges and thinner. Quite good. The national dish also has these noodles, and is called 'five fingers', apparently because you lick your fingers after it's so good.
--Ethan likes to help in the supermarket, carrying the bags, handing things to get weighed, etc. He's getting used to asking for a toy, and getting one, but not more than one. Today he got a big truck that carries four helicopters in it.
--WHen we walk down the street he yells everytime we see a truck. Maybe squeals with delight is closer to it. Then he wants to know the color of them.
--He's figured out how to work the remote on the TV. Pushes a few random numbers, but usually gets it on and can change channels
--Apparently they changed the requirements here for the paperwork without telling anyone. We now need a notarized, apostilled copy of Mark's immigration papers from when he was here to prove he met with the child. Just a photocopy isn't good enough. Needs to be apostilled. Problem is that will take 3 days to get here from the US. Of course, photos of Mark with the child do not count. His ticket stubs don't count. No, we need this one piece of paper. Welcome to bureaucracy land. Now, don't know when I'll be coming home. Send me good thoughts, I need them right now.
On a lighter note:
--Since this is a mostly muslim country, we were surprised by all the Christmas trees we saw everywhere, even in public places. Turns out these are not Christmas trees, but New Years trees, complete with ornaments and a star on top. They also have someone who looks just like Santa Clause, but who is not Santa Clause. He brings presents, has a red coat, white beard, etc, but has a different name, and comes on New Years, not Christmas. My translater told me you can tell the difference because Santa has a shorter red coat than this guy, but to tell you the truth, they look the same to me.
--Ethan has been trained early to cross the street by running. He's terrified the cars won't stop, which at first mama tried to show him that it was ok when the light turned green. Turns out that Ethan was right -- a light doesn't guarantee anything here. Cars definitely have the right of way, and if you don't jump out of their way they don't slow down, just honk at you. Having a kid offers zero protection either.
--Maybe having the kid does make me look like a native though. I've been asked for directions 4 times in the last day. Luckily I whip out the one sentence I know, which is "I don't speak Russian"
--Today I went with my translater to the English class she is teaching. They asked me tough questions, like why am I adopting from Kazakhstan (not sure at the moment....), how the US deals with immigrants, what I thought of the Bulat movie, what words I know in Kazakh (not many...)
--Yesterday for lunch had a dish made with the local wide, flat noodles. Sort of like lasagne noodles, only no ruffles at the edges and thinner. Quite good. The national dish also has these noodles, and is called 'five fingers', apparently because you lick your fingers after it's so good.
--Ethan likes to help in the supermarket, carrying the bags, handing things to get weighed, etc. He's getting used to asking for a toy, and getting one, but not more than one. Today he got a big truck that carries four helicopters in it.
--WHen we walk down the street he yells everytime we see a truck. Maybe squeals with delight is closer to it. Then he wants to know the color of them.
--He's figured out how to work the remote on the TV. Pushes a few random numbers, but usually gets it on and can change channels
posted by AttitudeAdopt | 9:16 PM
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