Day 4(11 to go!)

Today was cold and drizzly. Shymkent was so warm that I did not bring a jacket or sweater or anything warm. Some of the residents were even in winter coats although it wasn't that cold. I just got back from my mountain tour. I took some pictures on the way there, but they are through a dirty window in a moving vehicle so they are only so so. This fancy building is a gym. As you head towards the mountains, you go through the expensive part of the city. Mansions and designer stores etc. As you drive up into the mountains, you follow a nice stream. You can't see it too well in this picture however.
Once you got up in the mountains, it was cold. You can see the ice skating rink in the background. They also have concerts there and use it as a stadium.
This is the ice rink. This area is called Medeu. They are trying to develop it as they want to some day hold the Olympics here.
The mountains are very close. If you follow the road further on, you get to the ski area called Chimbulak. Medeu is at 1700m elevation and Chimbulak is at 2300m. Medeu is much cooler than Almaty. You can walk up to the top if you want, but there are a lot of steps. There are actually a series of these staircases to get to the top. We drove. When you are at the top, you are standing on a dam. It is to protect the valley below from avalanches and mudslides.
After the mountains, we stopped at a park in the center of the city. It was called Paniflov park or 28 Soldiers park. 28 soldiers from the area were killed in WW2. They died defending a village near Moscow from the Nazis. This monument is huge-maybe 25 ft tall and 50 ft across.
The park is very nice and is next to a museum. I didn't go to the museum, but I was told it is a museumn of the traditional kazakh musical instruments the dombra and qobyz.

They have an eternal flame for the soldiers.

On the other side of the park is Zenkov cathedral that was built from wood including using wooden nails. It was built in 1904.

It is very beautiful in person. there is also a children play area with games etc nearby. Lots of roses, trees, etc also. Overall a very nice park. So despite all my complaining about having to stay 2 extra days in Almaty, it turned out to be a nice time and I have more good memories and pictures to share with the girls when they are older.

Hotel Almaty

I am staying in the Hotel Almaty. My room is the smallest hotel room I have ever stayed in. It is about 8 by 10. The bed is a twin bed although the headboard attached to the wall is for a full size bed.

This is the bathroom I do not close the door since the there is so little room in here. Note how high the little tub is off the floor.
The tub is maybe half the length of a normal tub. You can't really turn around in the shower. The cleaning lady spent 10 mintues in here today cleaning. I have no idea what she cleaned for that long-it isn't that big!

The elevators are also tiny. They never stop even with the floor. Sometimes they are an inch high, sometimes 2 inches low! you can see the elevator shaft below as there is about a 2 " gap between the elevator and the floors.

They are maybe 3 by 4? if that big. 2 people can fit in it. Tomorrow I have to get me, 2 big suitcases and 2 carryons in this thing when I go to check out! I'm not sure we will all fit.

I am on the 7th floor and face the mountains so at least I have nice views when the rain and drizzle aren't clouding them up. This building is the opera house.

More of the opera house and the mountains behind it.

I think this is part of Kok Tobe, but I am not sure. If the weather cooperates, I will be going there tomorrow so I will know then.

One of the fountains in front of the hotel taken from my balcony. There is construction all around the hotel so much of the grounds is torn up.

Another fountain they are in the process of retileing.

Day 3(of appeal period)

I'm still in Almaty and should go to the consulate this afternoon. I changed my titles to reflect that I am now in the 15 day appeal period before I can say the girls are legally mine! 12 days to go
Update:
Here is description the BIG consulate appointment that I had to stay this extra time for. We get to the building which is an office building with extra security. The embassy is only 1 floor of it. We go through security and wait for our escort up the elevator to the 17th floor. I go into the waiting room which is done in shades of purple. About 5 minutes later, they call my name and I go and sign the paperwork that I had previously filled out- 6 forms total-6 signatures. And then we leave! Total time 10 minutes max and most of that was wating for the escort or my name to be called. I know that I couldn't complete the adoption without doing the signatures, but it took so little time that I wish they could have found a way to do it yesterday.

Day 24 Revisited

SInce my DSL was down, I didn't post much on Day 24 so I am going back to that day and posting this update.
The girls were very active again today. I met another family that is adopting from here. We have been to lunch a few times. Today, we met for lunch and they asked me if my girls were having a good time around 10:30. They had been in the physical therapy room which is on the other side of the baby house and they had heard us. The girls had been laughing and screeching and I had been running to try to close the doors so that they wouldn't disturb the whole baby house. I guess I didn't make it.

Leeza loves to go through the circle head first.She just dives through and lands on her head and flops over.

Sasha claimed the "good" swing today. There are 2 identical swings and each day they decide one swing is the good one and both want to swing in it.

Since she didn't get the good swing, Leeza had fun using the video camera case as a purse. Overall, it was a good visit, but I was sad at the end since I have to leave them for a while now and there is no way to explain it to them. I bought them purses, but they played with them yesterday so they needed something new today.

On the way back to the apartment, I finally got a decent picture of the mountains. They are usually hidden by smog. Flying out of Shymkent today, I was able to see the countryside. Once you are away from the city, there really isn't much to see. It does remind me so much of parts of Arizona. Everything was brown, but that may be due to the summer heat. I would love to come back in the spring sometime before everything dried/burns up in the summer heat.

Day 25

Well, my luck with Almaty continues. I arrived here today after confirming my arrival and that I could get an embassy appointment previously. The minute I got here, they tell me that the consulate is gone today and I am stuck here until tomorrow. Why didn't they tell me that earlier and I could have spent another day with the girls and changed my flights earlier?? Plus weekend flights are tough and right now the soonest I can get a confirmed flight is Monday. I may be able to travel Sunday, but I am on a waiting list for flights then. If I can get the Sunday flight, it won't be so bad since I can do a little sight seeing Saturday, but I really don't want to wait until Monday. I want to go home.
UPDATE: I just got a call from Luftansa saying I am on the SUnday flight so now things seem so much better! Actually, it will be nice since Saturday I may get to do some sightseeing in the mountains around here. So all is good again. I will be home Sunday afternoon!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 24

SOrry no pictures. I am at my favorite restaurant Mozzarella using their wireless internet. My DSL died- I guess I only bought August usage not 30 days usage- who knows! ANyway this will be short, but very sweet. Court ended up being at 5:15 yesterday. At 5:45 the judge said something and my coordinator smiled and said You are a mom to TWO! Court was stressful, but not because anything they did. They were all very nice, but you don't know your future until the final ruling! I now have the 15 day waiting period to complete and then about 4 more weeks of paperwork(maybe less) and then the girls come home!!!!
I had a good visit today, but there is no way to explain to 2 toddlers why mama is going away today and not coming back for weeks. My visa issue was resolved so I am good to keep my scheduled flights. I leave tomorrow morning for Almaty. I will go to the embassy in the afternoon and then at 3:15 Friday morning start me journey home. I've had a great time here, way better than I ever imagined. I will miss the girls, but I have a lot of things to do to prepare for them. I may or may not get on the internet this tomorrrow so if you don't see any posts don't worry. I should be back home Friday night, but I will probably sleep until Sunday!!!
Thnaks to everyone who helped me and the girls during this trip.

Day 23

Court is set for 4pm so I was able to go to bonding this morning. The girls had a good time today and both were running and playing and laughing and at times yelling. I had to make sure the doors were closed as they were very loud today.

I gave the girls 2 of the purses I had bought for them at the bazaar. They enjoyed filling them with their toys.

They both enjoyed carrying the loaded purses around.

Cell phone and purse- she is ready for the US!

Then we played on the swings for a while.

And ran around on the gym equipment. My camera is too slow to get the good shots. I will have to get a new camera soon because these girls can move fast!

Then it was palying race and crash cars with the walkers. These walkers are pretty beaten up, but they had fun crashing them into each other and into me.

There was a lot of running back and forth and crashes, occassional falls, but they had a good time.

There were lots of smiles and laughter from both.

And even the occassional scream. What ever happened to that quiet withdrawn little girl. I am glad to see them both so happy. Sasha was as wild as Leeza and copied everything Leeza did , both the good and the bad!