Way back when

Back when I was just turning 50 (2 whole months ago) I thought I'd write every day and keep track of the many ways I was taking care of my health. Now I can't even get myself to walk up the stairs. It's partly the weather -- it's so much hotter. I'm not sure what else I can blame it on.

On the plane to Kostenai (from my journal)

My first mistake was thinking I knew what time it was in Almaty. I carefully set my alarm and thought I had plenty of time when I woke up. Turns out I was off by an hour and the front desk had to call and say that our driver was waiting. I threw everything in my bags and headed down. I missed the tea they made for us, since we were leaving too early for breakfast, but we got to the airport with lots of time to spare. We couldn't even check in until they were ready for our flight, so we waited. The airport is too new to even have a cafe, so I was happy I had a power bar with me. Once they called us for check in, we entered the secure area. It turns out that this flight makes a stop in Karaganda on its way to Kostanai. By the way, we're flying on the interestingly named "SCAT Air Company," which seems to have no russian or kazak translation. I just have to complain for a moment about the plane. First, you can bring on as much carry-on as you can lug up the steps, which is helpful to me, and you can leave some in the back of the plane in an open storage area, which is also helpful. But then you discover that the seats are placed so close that no one can fit comfortably. I literally have my knees squashed into the seat in front of my, and I there is no way to recline the seats at all. The distance between the edge of one seat and the back of the seat in front is about six inches. But every seat is full, and I am far from the biggest person on the plane. I'm not sure how we're going to manage with lap babies on the way back. We got lunch, which was pretty good, and hot tea, which I appreciated. I love that the flight attendant brought out hot water for the tea in an battered, flowered metal tea pot. We had to get off the plane in Karaganda, which the Lonely Planet guide describes as a central point in the Soviet gulag. We walked into a huge, empty terminal with the requisite socialist realist sculpture out front. It is hard to give a good sense of this echoing crumbling rather glorious space. Lori and I went looking for the bathroom. It was not obvious where to go, so I asked a guy wearing an airport worker jacket for directions, but as soon as he spoke I realized that he reeked of alcohol. Of course, he insisted on accompanying us. I would not have been surprised if he planned to follow us in, but fortunately the toilets were guarded by a matron who wanted money for use of the facilities. Unfortunately, we haven't changed any money yet, and while it was ok to use dollars to buy water in the Almaty airport, I was happy she seemed satisfied when I said we had no tenge. Then, when we came out and headed back to where we left our fellow passengers, there was not a soul to be found. We were starting to worry about what was happening when we got back to the door we entered through and it had a padlock on it. It was a twilight zone moment, since it looked as if noone had opened that padlock in years! Empty terminal, padlocked door, encounter with drunken man now nowhere to be seen... cue the spooky music. Then we heard our flight announced and we raced upstairs and found check in. We had to go through security and get a new boarding pass, and then we were led out a ramp down to the ground to walk out to the plane. And now we're off again.
8 March 2004

A visitor made this comment,

Alice - Joe D. will be so disappointed that we had a direct flight from Almaty to Kostenai, as he is a complete fan "...requisite socialist realist sculpture..." and "...echoing crumbling rather glorious [Soviet] space..." :) You might want to look into returning from Kostenai to Almaty on Air Kaz, which had a direct flight and flew Boeings, with plenty of leg room. In any case, use VIP service in Kostenai. You will be the first on the plane and able to pick the bulkhead seats.

Arrival (from my journal)

I am in my hotel room in Almaty, after two long flights. I have not yet managed to take a shower, but I am enjoying the freedom to stretch out and to move without all my bags. I decided to leave the big suitcase in the luggage room downstairs, once I realized I have a 3rd floor room with no elevator. The person at the door didn't help us carry bags up the flight of stairs from the car to the front door, so I didn't think I was going to get any help getting up here. The flights were uneventful, and on the second leg I had a whole row to myself, so I got to stretch out a little. The first leg was completely packed, plus I was in the row behind a very unhappy, very loud two year old, who did not fall asleep until shortly before landing. Any ungenerous thoughts I might have had were quickly silenced by the thought that could well be me in a few weeks. I felt bad for the child and her poor parents, who tried to apologize to everyone around them. I don't know if my russian skills made the arrival in Almaty any easier for my two fellow travelers (Lori and Diane, also adopting through AFTH) but we got through with only minimal questions from official looking types and Oleg was waiting outside with a sign. We walked out of this brand new airport terminal, into what was to me a very russian scene. First, it was clearly a construction site, so it was very dusty. The parking lot was filled with a mix of cars that look held together with wire and chewing gum and at least one shiny new Audi with a very tall guy in a leather jacket talking on a cell phone. In Minsk, he would have been referred to as a "new russian." I don't know about here. Oleg drives a well used SUV, so he had enough room for us and all our stuff, but just. There was a brilliant half moon shining, very few other lights, and to crown the new airport terminal, a huge 3-d diamond with flashing strobe lights inside. Go figure. It was about a 15 minute drive into the city, and remarkably familiar looking to me. Long blocks of crumbling 3 and 4 story apartment buildings, groups of older, decorated dachas behind fences, places where it was clear that old soviet slogans have been covered over with billboards advertising cars and electronics. Oleg told us that this is the former capitol and current financial capitol, but it feels pretty small. One sign this is a different place: a very large mosque in the center of the city, very lit up. OK, I'm getting cold and I want to shower and try to sleep.
9 March 2004

We're home!

I know it's been a while, but it still feels pretty new. Although everything has gone remarkably well, and I think we all feel very much at home together. OK, I'm being completely contradictory. New, and familiar at the same time. But she's a love, and I love being a mom.
7 June 2004

Time flies

It's been three months since we arrived home. I learned yesterday that Kostanai is no longer waiving the post-court waiting period and I breathed a tremendous sigh of relief that I am no longer caught up in that miserable time of having no control over what happens to me, my daughter and this process. I am most grateful that I have her home, and very happy that I decided to adopt. But the process is much more emotionally difficult than I ever expected and I have put it behind me with great relief. I feel for those still in the waiting period. I would still encourage anyone who wanted to adopt, but I would caution them about the challenges.
8 July 2004

December already?

How is it possible? Before I became a parent, I never knew it was possible that time could go so fast. Days become weeks. I measure time in different increments -- today I have child care, this day no one has a cold, I haven't showered in, um, three or four days. And so the days become weeks become months become well, I suppose they will become years. I realized yesterday that V's infant car seat, which replaced a hand me down, is less than a year old. Almost brand new. Now I have two giant big girl seats in the back of the station wagon, making transporting an extra adult virtually impossible.
15 Dec. 2004

One year later

I'm busy making blue and yellow cookies and blue and yellow cupcakes for our celebration of Naurez here at home. I'm thrilled we are here and not there, happy to be including a real mix of kids in the celebration, and looking forward to entering our second year as a family. Since the first day of spring has always had significance to my family, it seems totally appropriate to celebrate the anniversary of our adoption this way. So "kokem tydi" or spring is born!

New digs, new spaces

One open question is how this will change things.