Days 1 & 2 – The One With The Lawn Chairs Bolted To Floor

Saturday - Monday, November 3-5

Well, we are finally here in Semey. And it only took nearly 36 hours. Note to parents getting ready to travel: Of all you have to pack please make sure you pack your sense of humor. You will need it!! I had it but lost it somewhere while waiting in the Almaty airport for 8 hours for our flight to Semey. But, I have it back now and we did make it safely which is what matters most.

The flights were uneventful. Just a lot of typical waiting around then crammed in your seat for anywhere from 2-8 hours. We did go into Amsterdam on Sunday during our layover there. There is some beautiful architecture there but the buildings don’t seem to be very well maintained. We went into Central Amsterdam along the canals. It was very easy taking the train to and from the airport. The city reminded me slightly of Venice but dirtier.

By the way, for those planning to go into Amsterdam for your layover and if you plan to use the luggage lockers in the airport, please be aware that customs does go into those lockers to search bags. When we went to retrieve our luggage, about 5 security officials had just opened Mom’s locker and started to search her bags. When she let them know it was hers they did not search it. I mainly wanted to let families know who have to carry over a lot of cash (which is very nerve-wracking by the way). Just be aware.

Also, the flight from Almaty to Semey did, in fact, include a small, cramped, smelly, old Soviet plane. The seats have been described by others as basically lawn chairs bolted to the floor. Some people have said that it was not that bad. They must have been on a different plane. We definitely sat in lawn-type chairs. It made for an interesting flight. But I was so exhausted at this point, I managed to sleep the entire flight.

Once we arrived in Semey, we were met at the airport by the coordinator, Olga, the translator, Larissa, and our driver, Ladimer. As soon as we were whisked into the van, we were informed we were going straight to the baby house. What?? I was very happy to be able to see BabyKaz so soon but we were so tired and felt so grungy. But, straight to the orphanage we went.

I met with the orphanage director who asked me several questions about me, my family, and my life. They then brought in 3 boys all around or under 12 months of age. They were all very cute, but of course, BabyKaz was the cutest of them all. And let me say, he is a big boy. We were given some of his medical information and some very basic information about his birthmother. They did not have any information about the birth father.

I then got to spend about 30 minutes with BabyKaz. His personality emerged immediately. He was smiling and babbling. Of course, he was babbling DaDaDaDa. I thought oh no, he’s already asking for a daddy? Oh well, I’ll have to work on that later.

He is absolutely adorable. He has the same coloring as me; fair skin and blue eyes. He has no hair yet but it will probably be blonde but it looks a little reddish sometimes depending on how the light hits his head.

We had a good visit then went back by the store to pick up a few things and then went to the apartment. We paid extra to have a second bedroom so Mom and I could have our own space. The apartment is clean and pretty spacious.

I decided to start these daily posts like the episodes of Friends were titled; “The One With…” or “The One Where…”. I hope I can be creative enough to keep it up the whole time I’m here. We’ll see how it goes…