Day 6: Our New Digs

Milon tried to feed Leah today. She wasn’t that hungry. She was very sleepy and fell asleep on my chest. The caregiver said that Leah gets excited when she changes her in her bonding outfit. She says she knows she is about to see us. They all seem to enjoy having Davis around. They laugh at him and he tries to speak to everyone. He hasn’t grasped the concept that no one speaks English!!

Here are pictures of our apartment. It is comfortable and we feel safe. It isn’t according to US standards, but we didn’t expect it to be. Actually, it is much nicer and bigger than expected! I am in love with the gas stove! It boils water in seconds! We both agree that is going to be a requirement in our next house!

The washing machine drains into the bathtub which is quite funny!

It is so cold here that the inside of the lobby door has ice on it!

Here is a picture of the playground that Davis wants to play on! Somehow I don’t think he would make across the monkey bars but the slide might be exceptionally fun!

We are finding out a lot about Kazakhstan’s traditions from our translator Ainura. She said the youngest son is responsible for taking care of his parents. This means that he and his family lives with them. Ainura says she only dates men that are not the youngest in the family because of this! She said there is great pressure to have a baby as soon as you get married so she is not ready for marriage yet. In Kazakhstan they eat a lot of meat. She said she loves horse and it is her favorite of all the meats! Aktobe has 3 big distilleries of vodka and is sometimes known as the “home of vodka.” Ainura said that most Kazakhs don’t drink vodka. They think of it as an alcoholics drink! They also only drink room temperature water! We made the mistake of giving Ainura cold water from the refrigerator!

Everyone has their rugs hanging on clothes lines here. They actually cover them in snow, hang them up and pound them out to clean them. Seems strange but I guess it works. Ainura said no one really uses clothes dryers. Everyone hangs their laundry out. Believe me, it doesn’t dry very well when it is negative degrees out! Our wash at the end of the day is still soaking wet. We then hang it inside!

We also found out that Ceric’s (our driver) wife is a coordinator with a different adoption agency. Ceric is now driving the Spanish couple to the baby house everyday as well.

I conquered my fear of the grocery store today!! Milon went with me but made me get the groceries and pay! We picked the worst day to do this because it was slammed with people. I did fine and am over my fear...even though people do push a lot around here!

Davis has not wanted to walk anywhere the entire time we have been here. He keeps saying his feet hurt and I have blown it off, thinking he was just being lazy. Today when we walked to the grocery store, I had him wear the boots our coordinator let him borrow when we didn't have our luggage. He walked the entire way there and back. These boots are much larger. I think his boots are too small! Bad mommy! Look at the difference!