Kazakh Language

Yesterday was our 14th day of the bonding period! We are now all 'bonded', and they will submit our papers to court today. Hopefully our court date will be soon (please, please, please).

Ethan learns more English words each day, and we have learned to say a few more things in Kazakh. One thing that is very challenging being here is that we are never quite sure when people are speaking in Kazakh or in Russian. When the Soviets were in control, Russian was the official language. Now that they are gone, Kazakh (which never went away), is becoming more popular. Often conversations will alternate back and forth between Kazakh and Russian, with some Kazakh's speaking one language better than the other. Menus are typically printed in both Kazakh and Russian, and we often are not sure which is which since they are both written in the same alphabet. We are so confused!

Ethan was especially charming when we visited him yesterday. He told the interpreter that he wanted to come home with us (yeah!!). We bought him a couple of books that he loves going through and pointing to the words he knows in English. He especially seems to love dragons and dinosaurs. He also points to things in the book and makes the appropriate noises or expressions -- he salutes and looks serious after pointing to the policeman, he makes a growling noise and puts his fingers on his head to make horns when he points to the picture of the triceritops (sp?), and he makes the appropriate animal noises when he points to the pictures of them -- giggling at himself after each one. Yesterday he asked for an apple in English (we brought him two banannas and two apples, half a package of cookies, and some M&Ms yesterday, which he downed in minutes -- hungry boy!)

More Photos

Karen, who was here with us the first week, has posted her photos from her trip (thank you Karen!!!!). Please check out the following web site to see tons more photos of Ethan (and Tatania, and the room, us, the city, etc.).
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bcvm6av.8mr9v5vf&x=0&y=-yns89y
Note: You do NOT have to register to see the slides -- just click on the "View Slideshow" button above the registration area and and you'll get right there.

Typical Day

By Kazakh law, we visit with our children for 2 hours/day for 14 days during the "bonding period". At the end of this two weeks, we apply for a court day, which can occur anywhere from 3 days to 3 months from the end of the bonding period, but typically is about 3-7 days (please be 3 days, please be 3 days...). After the court date, there is a 15 day "waiting period", which several years ago was waived, but now is not. We are now in the 12th day of our bonding period, and will hopefully find out our court date on Monday.

Parents either stay in country during the 15 day waiting period, or go home. We're planning on going home, then returning for a second trip (this was recommended to us). The second trip is when we can take Ethan from the Orphanage, and when we prepare his documents and visa for travel to the United States, which usually takes 7-10 days.

So, our typical day involves visiting Ethan for a couple of hours, either in the morning or in the late afternoon. We usually get a ride over the the orphanage, then walk home (it's about a 10-15 minute walk from our hotel to the orphanage). The rest of the day we usually do some shopping (food for us, toys and fruit for the kids, or just random browsing through the markets). We then do some reading, go out for dinner at one of the five restaurants we've found, and in the evening we often watch a DVD on the computer we brought (we're sooooo glad we brought some movies -- helps to hear some English!).

Today we introduced Ethan to M&M's, which they sell over here (CocaCola, PhilipMorris, Mars, and many other big brands have already established themselves quite comfortably here). We played a game matching the colors of the M&M's to the colors in his book, except there aren't any blue M&M's (were there ever?). Anyway, Ethan definitely approves of the chocolate candies. He's going to fit right in in good ol' America.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Yesterday we brought Ethan some 4-inch plastic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Apparently they only started getting the program here a few years ago, so they're pretty popular right now. Ethan loved them, although we had some pretty major leg and hand losses in battle early on (most of the toys here are made in China, and break pretty easily.) At least we could converse with him in the universal sounds of battle "arrg!" and "ohhhh!". We had little boy wars with Ninja's attacking each other, and later riding around on the toy lion, leopard, and giraffe (which luckily kept all their limbs). The Ninja's definitely mellowed out as we played with them, even if they were still carrying large weapons in the few remaining hands available for battle.

Ethan also turned into a fierce lion for a while. This kid can really make a scary face! He crawled around growling, and picking up large dogs in his mouth to eat later. (He's really good at making animal sounds -- the best is a really excellent pig grunt.) Later, we got to take the kids outside into the orphanage play area for a while. They have some swings there, and some things to crawl around on, and a tiny pool they fill up in the summer. It doesn't seem like they play outside on it much in the fall or winter (Kazakh's are very concerned about the kids getting cold, and tend to put big coats on and warm hats in weather that we wouldn't wear more than a shirt in) . Ethan showed off his climbing ability, and we also kicked the ball around with him some too.
Yesterday was a beautiful, warm day, probably around 70 degrees. We've been really lucky with the weather here. Summer's are very hot, and winters are very cold, so it's great to be here in the fall. It's been very pleasant most days, especially when the sun is out, which it has been recently. There is, however, a lot of dust. We're essentially in the middle of a desert, so I think it just blows in from there. Or maybe it's from the unpaved streets and sidewalks in most of the city. In any case, there are piles of dirt on the sides of the paved roads, and it blows up and into the air every time a car goes by, or the wind blows. We are frequently covered in dust by the time we get home. Yesterday, there was a woman sweeping dirt from the side of the road by hand, with a small hand-made broom, but it was somewhat futile since there was still lots left behind.

Kazakhstan is the 9th largest country in the world, but has a population of only around 15 million, a little more than New York City. This means that there are large areas of the country that are quite desolate. KyzylOrda seems to be in the middle of one of these vast desolate areas, at least as far as we can tell from the map and our flight here. There is a river nearby, which is used to irrigate crops in the region, including rice and cotton. We are also near the Aral sea, which used to be filled with lots of fish and an active fishing industry. The Soviets took too much water from it, killing all the fish, but the Kazakh government got some funding from the World Bank to reclaim it by building a dam and filling it back up with water. We met a man from the UK here who was working on the project, and he said it was going very well and the fish are returning.

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.

Sammelyotes & Airplanes

The Russian and Kazakh name for an airplane is prounounced like 'sammelyote'. Ethan really likes sammelyotes. On Sunday, we found him a foot-long toy airplane at the local Bazaar, and you can see the seats inside. He loves the airplane (actually I do too - I asked Mark if he'd get me one too :-) ). Anyway, Ethan announces that he is not afraid to fly in the airplane. He has been told that he will fly in one to get to America. ( At least that is what we understand through our translater Juldize))
We have shown him pictures of friends, family and the house. We pointed to the windows of his room, and he wanted to know if there would be toys like the airplane and cars there for him to play with. (Yes! -- that is if mamma and pappa get their act in order). He loves looking at the photos, and it seems that the reality of going there is sinking in more. Yesterday, he waved to his friends outside the window and told them he would be flying in an airplane.
Later, he patted us on the head, and said "mamma meinan, pappa meinan" meaning, I think, my mamma and my pappa. At least that's what the interpreter said. Hopefully he didn't really say something like "mamma jump up and down on the table, pappa jump up and down on the table" or "mamma buy me lots of stuff, pappa buy me even more stuff". ('Stuff', by the way, seems to be popular with 4 year olds throughout the world. Especially car and truck 'stuff' with little boys) (Oh, and so is candy)
Ethan is also seeming a lot more comfortable with us as the days pass. Yesterday he was lounging in both mamma and pappa's laps at various times (very cute). He also gave us lots of kissess on the cheek yesterday when we said goodby, and told us he wants to go home with us now. I'm sure the chocolate and candies, plus all the toys we bring don't hurt. Will America be one big land of toys, playing with mamma and pappa and Kipper the dog, and bags and bags of candy? Guess he'll find out. Unfortunately, that's still weeks away.

Losing the internet connection... will write again soon

Ethan

The boy's name is Ethan Azamat. His birthday is April 30, 2002. So he is 4.5 years old. He is approximately 41 inches tall, and adorable.

We visit with Ethan for two hours every day, and play with him in a big room at the orphanage. We bring toys, fruit (he loves bananas and apples), and yesterday we brought photos from home. He likes looking at pictures in books, and often repeats the English words after we've said them. He also loves music -- he can sing the Kazakh national anthem, and he's been learning bits of "old macdonald has a farm" since one of the toys plays this song -- he seems to have a good ear for tunes.

There are lots of things he likes doing. One day we played "house" ("orphanage"?) where he pretended to cook and feed us food, then put us to sleep on the floor. Then he'd wake us up a few seconds later. I pretended to be sleepy and not want to wake up, which threw him into a fit of laughter. As soon as we woke up, he'd feed us again, then put us back to sleep, so we had 30 second days. He even pretended to wash the dishes, making a "woosh, woosh" sound as he scrubbed them. He cooled the pretend tea down by blowing on it for Mark.

Other times he takes the cars and plays with them. He made a little garage out of some big lego-like blocks, and put the cars inside. One day he was pushing around Tania's little stroller (Tania is the 2 year old who is also in the room because she is being adopted too), and putting his cars and trucks inside of it. Sometimes he just likes to play for a while himself, or else put on my sun glasses and walk around the room. Yesterday we played "piggy-back" which also sent him into a fit of laughter. Ethan seems to be an extremely good-natured little guy -- he has the reputation of cheering up the other kids when they're down.

When we aren't visiting the kids, we walk around the city and shop for toys, go to dinner, or just relax in the hotel room.
KyzylOrda is a fairly small town, about 200,000 people. It is fairly near where the Russians launch their spacecraft and rockets (they rent the space from the Kazakhstan government). It's a bit dusty when the cars zoom past.

Things are very international here -- the music television has everything from US rap, to Japanese love songs, to Indian bollywood numbers. They have "The Simpsons" dubbed in Russian. The stores are filled with things from China and other parts of the world. In fact, it has been very hard to find anything to buy that was made in Kazakhstan. This morning I found some really delicious dark chocolate that has the Kazakhstan flag on the cover. Yum!

People have been very friendly with us, even as we completely fumble their language, and end up waving our arms, muttering "spaseeba" or "Rhakmet" (Russian and Kazakh for thank you) and pointing wildly at the things we're trying to buy. (Most people speak Russian and Kazakh, but they only speak Kazakh with the children at the orphanage. Since both languages are written in cyrillic, and sound very similar to us, we usually have no idea what language we're working in. Hence the wild flailing of arms).

Arriving in Kazakhstan

We are here in Kazakhstan. Things are going very well. This internet connection is so slow, I will have to try to post here again some other time. THe boy is very cute. He likes typical boy things, like cars and trains and trucks. He is already learning to speak some English words. He has an incredibly kind spirit -- he shares things with the other child in the room and plays with her.

We leave

Tonight we leave for Kazakhstan. Our flight arrives in Frankfurt tomorrow morning, and we fly from there to Almaty Kazakhstan. On Sunday, we fly to KyrzlOrda (sometimes spelled QyzlOrda, or several other variations).