This is Daniel James. When we get our own internet connection, we will post more pitures! It's taking forever just to load this one picture (But it will be worth the wait)!!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Not sure If this Will Work!
We’re having a problem accessing the internet and also using our cell phone. Kathie, Patti said not to worry; she will get a hold of you as soon as she can. I’m not sure when we will be able to post this but we should be set up within the next few days. I’ll just keep writing until we are able to post this to our blog.
We haven’t been able to establish our internet connection. We’re using another couples computer and don’t know if it will work. We will post more as soon as we get our computer situation straightened out!
Day 1 (1PM) – We’re Not In Kansas Anymore!
Hi Everyone! Patti and I made it to Almaty, Kazakhstan about midnight last night. I was concerned about going through Customs but it wasn’t a problem at all. The Customs Officers were all young female (and very attractive) military personnel. It reminded me of a very steamy 1980’s Janet Jackson MTV video or a James Bond movie! Since our son will be required to hold dual citizenship until he is 18, I’m not so sure I could come up with a strong enough argument to go to college instead of a few years in the military! I hope they don’t use these young women on the recruiting posters; that just wouldn’t be fair!!
We picked up our luggage and were met by Sonya and our driver. On the way to the hotel, when we were stopped by the police for speeding. Our driver paid his “fine” and we continued on to the hotel. Sonya said that traffic enforcement are highly sought after and very profitable assignments.
We spent the night at the Hotel Kazakhstan. The room was nothing special but the bed was fairly comfortable after such a long trip. The lobby of the hotel is very nice with a spectacular huge crystal chandeliers hanging from the 40 foot ceiling. The floors and walls are all made of marble and there are several 8 foot high statues positioned near the entrance to the elevators. Right now, we are sitting in the lobby waiting for Sonya to take us to the airport for our 5PM flight to Karaganda.
Our 4 hour layover in Frankfurt Germany was a pain in the butt. There was no place to sit down and relax during our 4 time there. Patti exchanged some money for Euros so we could get something to eat. We found a McDonalds, ate lunch and hung out there for awhile. I sat with the luggage wile Patti ordered our food. I didn’t think 12 dollars for lunch was a bad price until I did the math. Patti handed in $40 at the money exchange place and received $21 Euros in return. The best I can figure is that fish sandwich, cold fries and bottled water at McDonalds cost about $23 US dollars! Yikes!
We will be going to the baby house tomorrow morning to meet our child! We are very nervous about the whole process but from what many have told us, when you meet the child that was meant for you, you just “know it”. Some even go as far as saying “the baby that was mean for you actually chooses you”! I hope they are right! We are hoping to get a full night sleep tonight as we are both exhausted (we didn’t sleep on the plane and got only 4 hours last night).
I’ve got to pack up the computer; Sonya will be here to pick us up soon. I’ll write more when I get a chance.
PS – I tried to post this to our blog but the battery to the laptop died. I’ll post this tomorrow.
Day 2 (10PM) Funny thing happened at the Airport!
Sonya picked us up and we made our way to the Almaty Airport to catch our 5 PM flight to Karaganda. It would be a two hour flight to our final destination and birthplace of our child! Sonya handed us our tickets, checked us in and assisted us to our gate. We were ready to go!
As our plane touched down in Karaganda, I was thinking that our child probably just getting ready for bed. He was somewhere in this city of 600,000 and he had no idea that tomorrow would be the day that his life would change forever! Patti and I had been preparing for this day for a long time; the anticipation was overwhelming!
We made our way off the plane and headed for the baggage claim area. The baggage area appeared to be a temporary warehouse facility due to the remodeling that was going on at the airport. We retrieved our bags and made our way to the main terminal, which appeared about 80% complete (We later found out that construction to the airport was in anticipation of Karaganda being named the Capital of Kazakhstan back in the late 90’s. Since Astana was named the Capital, the construction of the airport would probably never be completed. That’s a shame because it was absolutely beautiful! ). As we looked around, we suddenly realized that there were only 40 or so people in the entire terminal. These people consisted of the folks on our flight and about 4 or 5 construction workers. We started walking toward the door looking for an unknown person holding a sign with our name on it! Within 10 minutes, Patti and I were all alone! We were starting to get nervous but Patti suggested that the weather was bad so our driver could have been running a few minutes late. I thought about that but I also knew that our plane was 20 minutes late and it took another 30 minutes to get our luggage.Couple that with the fact that all the other passengers had already been picked up; it wasn’t looking good for us!
As it approached 8PM, we saw a two women walking toward us. Unfortunately, they were not from our agency. One appeared to be an employee of the airport but she neither spoke English. A few minutes later, a young man entered the airport and walked up to us and said “You need taxi? I am taxi”. It was obvious those were the only English words he knew! I told him that we have someone already picking us up but they are not here yet. He “asked” where they were taking us. I told him that I didn’t know. “Can you call them?” I said no because I didn’t know who they were. I got off the plane and was looking for someone with a sign with my name on it. As I was explaining it to these 3 people (by grunting and using pantimime), the reality was sinking in! We were stranded at an airport, 8000 miles away from home, with no one to call and no idea where we were supposed to be!! Patti was getting that look in her eye like she was going to cry! She tried to call Lena (our in country contact) but we had the wrong number! Because of the time difference, our agency was not scheduled to open for another hour. The airport employee clearly was waiting on us; as soon as we were gone, she could go home for the evening! Patti asked me if I had the number for our agency. I told her no, but to call her sister and have her look it up on the internet and give it to us. The our internatinal phone decided not to work! Yikes! Patti was doing fine but I was about to panic and burst into tears!!
I walked over to “taxi guy” and asked him to take us to the Cosmonaut Hotel. We didn’t have reservations there but it was the only hotel that I knew. As soon as I got it out of my mouth, a young girl walked in the door – THANK GOD! - she was looking for us!!! That was quite the ordeal!
Kieta took us to the Dostar Alem Hotel. It’s very nice and is very close to the baby house. There is a nice restaurant at the hotel that has English menus that described all the dishes. The menu featured a “meet platter” and also had a few different cuts of “stake”. The “Bagdad chicken wings” were also proudly offered as an appetizer (the wings were actually very good but would have been better if they were not served with ketchup on top of them! When you ordered your meal, you had to point to what you wanted and the waitress would write it down in Russian. It took me a minute but I finally figured out that the menus items had to be in the same position as the Russian menus so the waitress knew what to write down. The hotel also has a bowling alley in it. We are hoping to meet other Americans within the next day or two.
Kieta is meeting us at 9:15AM (8 hours from now) to bring us to the baby house! We are going to the Shopagot House (formerly known as Maluka House). This is the same baby house that most of the bloggers have been to. Tomorrow is the BIG day!
Day 3 (8:30 AM) Today Is The BIG Day!
Patti and I didn’t sleep very well last night. At 6AM, I gave up on trying to get back to sleep. We went to breakfast and met 2 other American couples that are adopting from the same baby house (there is one other couple that we haven’t met yet). Dave and Becky are from Schoharie and Julie and her husband are from Williamsport PA. Julie was in the dinning room as we walked in; she was expecting us. “Are you the Americans”? Dave and Becky were here a year ago to adopt and are back for a second child. They were very friendly and a wealth of information. They told us that the first day (choosing a child would be overwhelming). But they also said not to worry because there is no way to choose the wrong child; they are all beautiful and very healthy!
Kieta will be picking us up in 30 minutes to take us to the baby house. The business center at our hotel opens at 9AM so I’m going to try to post this as soon as it opens. Wish us luck!
Presenting …Daniel James (D.J.)!!
Daniel James was the first baby shown to us! He was absolutely beautiful!! I was trying to keep an open mind and asked if we were going to be presented with other children. Patti looked at me and asked, “I don’t think we need to see any more children, do you”? With that, we started our 14 day bonding period with the child that was destined to be part of our family! The best we can determine right now, his birthday is May 12th, 2007 but we still have to confirm that (it could also be May 7th). The Doctor told us that he was a “healthy and positive child”. We are so happy to have finally met our son! Oh, and did I forget to mention, he is ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!
We haven’t been able to establish our internet connection. We’re using another couples computer and don’t know if it will work. We will post more as soon as we get our computer situation straightened out!
Day 1 (1PM) – We’re Not In Kansas Anymore!
Hi Everyone! Patti and I made it to Almaty, Kazakhstan about midnight last night. I was concerned about going through Customs but it wasn’t a problem at all. The Customs Officers were all young female (and very attractive) military personnel. It reminded me of a very steamy 1980’s Janet Jackson MTV video or a James Bond movie! Since our son will be required to hold dual citizenship until he is 18, I’m not so sure I could come up with a strong enough argument to go to college instead of a few years in the military! I hope they don’t use these young women on the recruiting posters; that just wouldn’t be fair!!
We picked up our luggage and were met by Sonya and our driver. On the way to the hotel, when we were stopped by the police for speeding. Our driver paid his “fine” and we continued on to the hotel. Sonya said that traffic enforcement are highly sought after and very profitable assignments.
We spent the night at the Hotel Kazakhstan. The room was nothing special but the bed was fairly comfortable after such a long trip. The lobby of the hotel is very nice with a spectacular huge crystal chandeliers hanging from the 40 foot ceiling. The floors and walls are all made of marble and there are several 8 foot high statues positioned near the entrance to the elevators. Right now, we are sitting in the lobby waiting for Sonya to take us to the airport for our 5PM flight to Karaganda.
Our 4 hour layover in Frankfurt Germany was a pain in the butt. There was no place to sit down and relax during our 4 time there. Patti exchanged some money for Euros so we could get something to eat. We found a McDonalds, ate lunch and hung out there for awhile. I sat with the luggage wile Patti ordered our food. I didn’t think 12 dollars for lunch was a bad price until I did the math. Patti handed in $40 at the money exchange place and received $21 Euros in return. The best I can figure is that fish sandwich, cold fries and bottled water at McDonalds cost about $23 US dollars! Yikes!
We will be going to the baby house tomorrow morning to meet our child! We are very nervous about the whole process but from what many have told us, when you meet the child that was meant for you, you just “know it”. Some even go as far as saying “the baby that was mean for you actually chooses you”! I hope they are right! We are hoping to get a full night sleep tonight as we are both exhausted (we didn’t sleep on the plane and got only 4 hours last night).
I’ve got to pack up the computer; Sonya will be here to pick us up soon. I’ll write more when I get a chance.
PS – I tried to post this to our blog but the battery to the laptop died. I’ll post this tomorrow.
Day 2 (10PM) Funny thing happened at the Airport!
Sonya picked us up and we made our way to the Almaty Airport to catch our 5 PM flight to Karaganda. It would be a two hour flight to our final destination and birthplace of our child! Sonya handed us our tickets, checked us in and assisted us to our gate. We were ready to go!
As our plane touched down in Karaganda, I was thinking that our child probably just getting ready for bed. He was somewhere in this city of 600,000 and he had no idea that tomorrow would be the day that his life would change forever! Patti and I had been preparing for this day for a long time; the anticipation was overwhelming!
We made our way off the plane and headed for the baggage claim area. The baggage area appeared to be a temporary warehouse facility due to the remodeling that was going on at the airport. We retrieved our bags and made our way to the main terminal, which appeared about 80% complete (We later found out that construction to the airport was in anticipation of Karaganda being named the Capital of Kazakhstan back in the late 90’s. Since Astana was named the Capital, the construction of the airport would probably never be completed. That’s a shame because it was absolutely beautiful! ). As we looked around, we suddenly realized that there were only 40 or so people in the entire terminal. These people consisted of the folks on our flight and about 4 or 5 construction workers. We started walking toward the door looking for an unknown person holding a sign with our name on it! Within 10 minutes, Patti and I were all alone! We were starting to get nervous but Patti suggested that the weather was bad so our driver could have been running a few minutes late. I thought about that but I also knew that our plane was 20 minutes late and it took another 30 minutes to get our luggage.Couple that with the fact that all the other passengers had already been picked up; it wasn’t looking good for us!
As it approached 8PM, we saw a two women walking toward us. Unfortunately, they were not from our agency. One appeared to be an employee of the airport but she neither spoke English. A few minutes later, a young man entered the airport and walked up to us and said “You need taxi? I am taxi”. It was obvious those were the only English words he knew! I told him that we have someone already picking us up but they are not here yet. He “asked” where they were taking us. I told him that I didn’t know. “Can you call them?” I said no because I didn’t know who they were. I got off the plane and was looking for someone with a sign with my name on it. As I was explaining it to these 3 people (by grunting and using pantimime), the reality was sinking in! We were stranded at an airport, 8000 miles away from home, with no one to call and no idea where we were supposed to be!! Patti was getting that look in her eye like she was going to cry! She tried to call Lena (our in country contact) but we had the wrong number! Because of the time difference, our agency was not scheduled to open for another hour. The airport employee clearly was waiting on us; as soon as we were gone, she could go home for the evening! Patti asked me if I had the number for our agency. I told her no, but to call her sister and have her look it up on the internet and give it to us. The our internatinal phone decided not to work! Yikes! Patti was doing fine but I was about to panic and burst into tears!!
I walked over to “taxi guy” and asked him to take us to the Cosmonaut Hotel. We didn’t have reservations there but it was the only hotel that I knew. As soon as I got it out of my mouth, a young girl walked in the door – THANK GOD! - she was looking for us!!! That was quite the ordeal!
Kieta took us to the Dostar Alem Hotel. It’s very nice and is very close to the baby house. There is a nice restaurant at the hotel that has English menus that described all the dishes. The menu featured a “meet platter” and also had a few different cuts of “stake”. The “Bagdad chicken wings” were also proudly offered as an appetizer (the wings were actually very good but would have been better if they were not served with ketchup on top of them! When you ordered your meal, you had to point to what you wanted and the waitress would write it down in Russian. It took me a minute but I finally figured out that the menus items had to be in the same position as the Russian menus so the waitress knew what to write down. The hotel also has a bowling alley in it. We are hoping to meet other Americans within the next day or two.
Kieta is meeting us at 9:15AM (8 hours from now) to bring us to the baby house! We are going to the Shopagot House (formerly known as Maluka House). This is the same baby house that most of the bloggers have been to. Tomorrow is the BIG day!
Day 3 (8:30 AM) Today Is The BIG Day!
Patti and I didn’t sleep very well last night. At 6AM, I gave up on trying to get back to sleep. We went to breakfast and met 2 other American couples that are adopting from the same baby house (there is one other couple that we haven’t met yet). Dave and Becky are from Schoharie and Julie and her husband are from Williamsport PA. Julie was in the dinning room as we walked in; she was expecting us. “Are you the Americans”? Dave and Becky were here a year ago to adopt and are back for a second child. They were very friendly and a wealth of information. They told us that the first day (choosing a child would be overwhelming). But they also said not to worry because there is no way to choose the wrong child; they are all beautiful and very healthy!
Kieta will be picking us up in 30 minutes to take us to the baby house. The business center at our hotel opens at 9AM so I’m going to try to post this as soon as it opens. Wish us luck!
Presenting …Daniel James (D.J.)!!
Daniel James was the first baby shown to us! He was absolutely beautiful!! I was trying to keep an open mind and asked if we were going to be presented with other children. Patti looked at me and asked, “I don’t think we need to see any more children, do you”? With that, we started our 14 day bonding period with the child that was destined to be part of our family! The best we can determine right now, his birthday is May 12th, 2007 but we still have to confirm that (it could also be May 7th). The Doctor told us that he was a “healthy and positive child”. We are so happy to have finally met our son! Oh, and did I forget to mention, he is ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!
Monday, February 25, 2008
It's Time to Go!
My brother is taking us to the airport in about an hour. We're much more calm this morning than we've been all weekend. I'm hoping that we have everything we need but at this point, we can't do too much about it. It's time to let go of all the stress and to enjoy the ride!
I'll update the blog as soon as I get a chance.
I'll update the blog as soon as I get a chance.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
48 Hours!
We have less than 48 hours until we start our 8,000 mile journey to meet our child! Patti called me at work yesterday morning to tell me that our visas had just arrived! Her hands were shaking so much; she had all she could do just to sign for them! This is such an exciting time for us. We just wish we weren't so nervous so we could enjoy it a little bit!
We still have so much more to do to get ready. Patti is upstairs packing the suit cases while I just finished doing our 2007 taxes and getting our 2005 & 2006 income taxes together and photocopied for our trip. There are numerous other forms that we are required to bring with us. We went through a checklist last night and saw 2 forms that I'm not familiar with. I called our agency in a panic asking about these new forms. Unfortunately, due to the storm in Boston yesterday, our agency had closed at noon!! From what we can determine, these forms are not needed until our second trip (I hope)? If there is anyone out there who has made this trip before could comment on the Immigration form I600 (we did the I600A last year) and the I864 (Affidavit of Support), we would greatly appreciate it. We will sleep much better to have confirmation that these forms will not be required until our visit to the Embassy in Almaty (and that they do not have to be notarized, approved by the county and apostilled before we leave??)! Since these are Immigration forms, I refuse to even consider that they had to be approved by I.C.E. before we can leave on our trip. That wouldn't be good at all!
Patti and I will be stopping by her mom's house tonight to drop off Molly. Her mom and sister will be taking care of our cat while we are away. Molly is in for quite a surprise when she find out she will be sharing a house with 2 other cats and a dog! She will probably find a good hiding place and won't come out until we return!
Well, I've got a lot of things to do! Bye for now!
We still have so much more to do to get ready. Patti is upstairs packing the suit cases while I just finished doing our 2007 taxes and getting our 2005 & 2006 income taxes together and photocopied for our trip. There are numerous other forms that we are required to bring with us. We went through a checklist last night and saw 2 forms that I'm not familiar with. I called our agency in a panic asking about these new forms. Unfortunately, due to the storm in Boston yesterday, our agency had closed at noon!! From what we can determine, these forms are not needed until our second trip (I hope)? If there is anyone out there who has made this trip before could comment on the Immigration form I600 (we did the I600A last year) and the I864 (Affidavit of Support), we would greatly appreciate it. We will sleep much better to have confirmation that these forms will not be required until our visit to the Embassy in Almaty (and that they do not have to be notarized, approved by the county and apostilled before we leave??)! Since these are Immigration forms, I refuse to even consider that they had to be approved by I.C.E. before we can leave on our trip. That wouldn't be good at all!
Patti and I will be stopping by her mom's house tonight to drop off Molly. Her mom and sister will be taking care of our cat while we are away. Molly is in for quite a surprise when she find out she will be sharing a house with 2 other cats and a dog! She will probably find a good hiding place and won't come out until we return!
Well, I've got a lot of things to do! Bye for now!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Express Mail / VISA Fiasco!
On Friday afternoon, I shipped (Overnight) our visa applications and passports to the Kazakhstan Embassy in Washington D.C.. I wasn't expecting them to be delivered until Tuesday due to the weekend and Monday's holiday. We ABSOLUTELY have to have them in our hands by Friday so we could board the plane on Monday. On Tuesday evening, I went to the USPS website to see if it had been delivered. To my surprise, they attempted to deliver it on Saturday (but failed because the Embassy was closed). The site did not show any attempt to deliver it again on Tuesday, like they were supposed to do. I called the Kaz Embassy on Wednesday morning and was informed that they have not yet received our applications. I then called the Express mail 800 number and they gave me the number of the D.C. post office. I called the D.C. office and they told me that it would be held there for 5 days because they were not able to deliver it. If it was not picked up in 5 days, they would return it to me. They told me to call the Embassy and have them pick up their mail. When I called, I was told that they do not pick up the mail; that the USPS had to deliver it! I went back and forth with the Embassy and the D.C. post office for 45 minutes (6 calls). Neither one would budge! Needless to say, I was wasn't very happy at the response I was getting by either side. I even offered to drive 800 miles to D.C. to pick up the package myself and drop it off at the Embassy so we could have it back by Friday! Arrrggggggg.....!!! We would never have our visas by Friday, we would miss our flight; we were up the creek!
I then remembered a telephone conversation I had with a young woman at work a few months ago. She was a brand new Postal Inspector who was looking for the police to do a safety program for a group of mail carriers. I called her up and asked if she could help us out. The alternative would be that I would be forced to call my wife at work and tell her that we would NOT be going to Kazakhstan on Monday (Thank God, Patti's office moved to the ground floor last year - it wouldn't have been pretty)!! An hour later, our passports, along with our visa applications, were delivered to the Embassy. A HUGE THANK YOU to Postal Inspector, Dr. J.H.!!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! At 4PM, I received word that our visas had been issued and would be mailed back to us (keep your fingers crossed)!
We purchased our airline tickets on Tuesday. This is another VERY long story but I will spare you the details! We will be flying out of Albany on Monday afternoon at 2:20PM. We will travel to Washington D.C., Frankfurt Germany and arrive in Almaty, Kazakhstan at 1:00 AM on Wednesday morning (Tuesday 2PM NY time). We will have 3 1/2 hour layovers in Washington and Frankfurt, so the trip will take us only 24 hours. We will get a hotel for the night and fly to Karaganda sometime on Wednesday. We will spend the night in a hotel (or our apartment) and go to the baby house on Thursday morning (late Wednesday night).
It's going to be a very busy weekend. We have most of our stuff but we still have to pack everything. I have to load a bunch of software to our new laptop. I have to figure out how to convert our camcorder files to something that is compatible with this blog (or YouTube). I think I need some kind of conversion software. If there are any techie's out there that know how to convert files from our Cannon HG10 (using the bundled software) to something that can be used here, please let me know. This is my first camcorder and I don't have a clue!
I then remembered a telephone conversation I had with a young woman at work a few months ago. She was a brand new Postal Inspector who was looking for the police to do a safety program for a group of mail carriers. I called her up and asked if she could help us out. The alternative would be that I would be forced to call my wife at work and tell her that we would NOT be going to Kazakhstan on Monday (Thank God, Patti's office moved to the ground floor last year - it wouldn't have been pretty)!! An hour later, our passports, along with our visa applications, were delivered to the Embassy. A HUGE THANK YOU to Postal Inspector, Dr. J.H.!!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! At 4PM, I received word that our visas had been issued and would be mailed back to us (keep your fingers crossed)!
We purchased our airline tickets on Tuesday. This is another VERY long story but I will spare you the details! We will be flying out of Albany on Monday afternoon at 2:20PM. We will travel to Washington D.C., Frankfurt Germany and arrive in Almaty, Kazakhstan at 1:00 AM on Wednesday morning (Tuesday 2PM NY time). We will have 3 1/2 hour layovers in Washington and Frankfurt, so the trip will take us only 24 hours. We will get a hotel for the night and fly to Karaganda sometime on Wednesday. We will spend the night in a hotel (or our apartment) and go to the baby house on Thursday morning (late Wednesday night).
It's going to be a very busy weekend. We have most of our stuff but we still have to pack everything. I have to load a bunch of software to our new laptop. I have to figure out how to convert our camcorder files to something that is compatible with this blog (or YouTube). I think I need some kind of conversion software. If there are any techie's out there that know how to convert files from our Cannon HG10 (using the bundled software) to something that can be used here, please let me know. This is my first camcorder and I don't have a clue!
Friday, February 15, 2008
We Have A Travel Date!
We started this journey 14 (VERY LONG) months ago and now it all seems to be coming together! Twelve days from now, our lives are going to change forever! On Thursday, February 28th, Patti and I will be in Karaganda to meet our new baby! If it sounds like I'm in shock and just don't know what else to say, it's because I am.
Patti and I will be flying out of Albany a week from Monday. My mother was kind enough to point out to me that February 25th was our 3rd wedding anniversary (Thanks Mom)! So, with everything else that I've got going on, I've got to remember to reserve a quiet, romantic, table for two, at Kentucky Fried Chicken at the Detroit International Airport on Monday evening! From Detroit, we will probably be flying to Amsterdam or Frankfurt (or possibly both) and then to Almaty, Kazakhstan. The entire 7,500 mile trip will take anywhere from 25 to 32 hours depending on layovers. We will then probably spend the night in Almaty before we make a 2 1/2 hour flight to Karaganda the next day.
Our agency has provided us with a list of hotels and also an apartment for our stay. We are leaning toward the apartment due to having more room and also the convenience of having a kitchen to cook most of our meals. They tell us that the apartment is used my many foreign travelers so I'm "assuming" that there is a pretty good chance that it has high-speed internet access. That would be a HUGE plus!
As soon as Patti and I step off the plane in Kazakhstan, we will be multi-millionaires! The currency used in Kazakhstan is the "tenge" (pronounced "ten - gay"). The current exchange rate is 120.15 tenge for $1. Our apartment will cost 10,212 tenge a night, so we won't be millionaires for very long (but we will enjoy it for a couple of days anyway)!
A few of you have told me that you're having trouble with the "comments" feature. I changed the requirements for making comments so it's much easier to do. You are no longer required to have a Google account. Just click on "comments", write your message, chose an identity (anonymous) and click on "publish your comments". Please don't forget to sign your name so we know who you are!
Well, that's about it for now. Thank you for stopping by!
Patti and I will be flying out of Albany a week from Monday. My mother was kind enough to point out to me that February 25th was our 3rd wedding anniversary (Thanks Mom)! So, with everything else that I've got going on, I've got to remember to reserve a quiet, romantic, table for two, at Kentucky Fried Chicken at the Detroit International Airport on Monday evening! From Detroit, we will probably be flying to Amsterdam or Frankfurt (or possibly both) and then to Almaty, Kazakhstan. The entire 7,500 mile trip will take anywhere from 25 to 32 hours depending on layovers. We will then probably spend the night in Almaty before we make a 2 1/2 hour flight to Karaganda the next day.
Our agency has provided us with a list of hotels and also an apartment for our stay. We are leaning toward the apartment due to having more room and also the convenience of having a kitchen to cook most of our meals. They tell us that the apartment is used my many foreign travelers so I'm "assuming" that there is a pretty good chance that it has high-speed internet access. That would be a HUGE plus!
As soon as Patti and I step off the plane in Kazakhstan, we will be multi-millionaires! The currency used in Kazakhstan is the "tenge" (pronounced "ten - gay"). The current exchange rate is 120.15 tenge for $1. Our apartment will cost 10,212 tenge a night, so we won't be millionaires for very long (but we will enjoy it for a couple of days anyway)!
A few of you have told me that you're having trouble with the "comments" feature. I changed the requirements for making comments so it's much easier to do. You are no longer required to have a Google account. Just click on "comments", write your message, chose an identity (anonymous) and click on "publish your comments". Please don't forget to sign your name so we know who you are!
Well, that's about it for now. Thank you for stopping by!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
"WEGOTOURLOI"
I received a weird phone call this afternoon while at work. There was a lot of yelling and screaming on the other end of the line. I thought it was a prank call but then I thought, "what kind of idiot would make a prank phone call to the police"? After 15 seconds or so, I realized it was Patti. She kept screaming, "wegotourloi, wegotourloi"!! I didn't have any idea what she was saying. I thought she may have picked up a new Russian phrase that would come in handy for our trip so I asked her what it meant. She was able to compose herself long enough to say "We - got - our - LOI" (Letter of Invitation)!! It finally came, wegotourloi, wegotourloi! We are finally going to Kazakhstan to get our baby"! Oh, ... now I get it!!
We received an email from our agency this afternoon. It stated that our Letter of Invitation had been issued and that we would be traveling to Kazakhstan "shortly". They said it will probably be at the end of February but will have the exact travel dates tomorrow (Friday). We will post our travel dates as soon as we get them.
As soon as we get our travel dates, we have to complete our visa applications and send them to the Embassy in Washington D.C.. They will then process and return them to us, hopefully the next day. Since Monday is a holiday, we should have them by Wednesday or Thursday of next week.
We also have to purchase airline tickets. In doing my research, I've read some glowing recommendations for Golden Rule Travel Agency. They specialize in adoption travel so they are very aware of the many "last minute" changes that we may have to make. I spoke to one of their agents last week and feel pretty comfortable with them.
On Saturday, I spent 2 hours researching international cell phones and the different plans that are available. When I got done, I was more confused than ever! Patti is going to be in charge of the phone while we are there (and pretty much everything else too)!! I'll just carry the luggage and be "The Blog Master"!
We received an email from our agency this afternoon. It stated that our Letter of Invitation had been issued and that we would be traveling to Kazakhstan "shortly". They said it will probably be at the end of February but will have the exact travel dates tomorrow (Friday). We will post our travel dates as soon as we get them.
As soon as we get our travel dates, we have to complete our visa applications and send them to the Embassy in Washington D.C.. They will then process and return them to us, hopefully the next day. Since Monday is a holiday, we should have them by Wednesday or Thursday of next week.
We also have to purchase airline tickets. In doing my research, I've read some glowing recommendations for Golden Rule Travel Agency. They specialize in adoption travel so they are very aware of the many "last minute" changes that we may have to make. I spoke to one of their agents last week and feel pretty comfortable with them.
On Saturday, I spent 2 hours researching international cell phones and the different plans that are available. When I got done, I was more confused than ever! Patti is going to be in charge of the phone while we are there (and pretty much everything else too)!! I'll just carry the luggage and be "The Blog Master"!
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