Day 9 (Monday May 5, 2003) – A Trip to the Mountains

This morning we had our talk with the Orphanage Director.  This is where she explains the medical condition of the child and tells what could be done in the US about the conditions.  Their diagnoses are at times a little more aggressive than in the US.  Some things that would usually be disregarded by a US doctor are brought to the attention of the prospective adopting parents.   Everything is up front though on the children’s conditions (I think mainly because of the fact the International Adoption programs would not survive if they were not to give any and every potential problem - no matter how possibly exaggerated it may be – to the parents).  What it all comes down to though is that this little bugger is ours – lock, stock and barrel – and we could give two hoots about this medical update.  When parents are birthing a child there are no health guarantees given, so why should we expect any different (this isn’t like buying a car you know).  And she just looks so healthy to us.  So, we have taken it with a grain of salt, pray for the best and of course already have a complete medical checkup scheduled for her as soon as we get home.  And I hope I’m not getting anyone overtly excited or concerned, everything mentioned – if truly a problem – is easily correctable by good ole USA medical care (with good health coverage of course).

Of course our little bundle of joy, is also just one of the nosiest things around town.  While Pam was getting her update of Karsten, she just had to keep sticking her nose into the mix.  The other thing I think is really funny is that whenever anyone from the orphanage talks to Leilani & I and Pam about the kids, they’ll explain that: “Karsten is very smart & clever” and is “one of orphanage’s favorites”.  When they look at us they just say, “Alia is most beautiful”.  SO WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY PAL?  MY KID AIN’T SMART AND POPULAR??!!  DON’T LET ME COME OVER THERE AND SMACK YOU AROUND A LITTLE!  Whoops a little bit of the proverbial ugly American coming out there.   Sorry.

The highlight of the day (right behind spending time with the Royal Kazak Princess of course) was our trip to the mountains this evening.  At around 8:30 pm, Roza, her husband Ildar and her brother Tair (the most polite 14 year-old I have ever met) picked us up at Casa de Kaz for a little trip to KØktyube (meaning Green Peak), a foothill of the Zalaisky Alatau, which is crowned by the landmark TV transmitter station.  The Zalaisky Alatau Mountains rise like a wall along Almaty’s southern periphery and form a magnificent backdrop (that is when weather or smog permit).  The tour Ildar and Roza gave was outstanding and the view astounding. 

After walking around and just basking in the beauty, we headed to the restaurant.  We had a nice chat with Roza and Ildar.  Ildar owns an auto parts shop in Almaty and Roza and he are going into a big business venture.  As I may have mentioned before, Roza is going for her MBA and will graduate very soon.  She has put together a business plan and is in negotiations with a luggage rack company to become the exclusive distributor in Kazakhstan.  With the typical (of Europe) small cars running the roads of Kazakhstan (which of course have small luggage compartments) and the mountainous terrains, I think that this may be a big hit.  Hey, CIG, you guys still looking for good investments?  We asked Roza if she would stop being a translator for the Frank Foundation after this big endeavor went through.  She laughed and said, “I do adoption work for my soul.”  Okay, brains, beauty and a heart of gold; are you starting to get the picture as to why we love her so much?   My newest best friend Ildar talked about adoption as well.  He told us that their apartment was behind an orphanage.  He sees these orphaned children every day and there are so many of them.  He knows that they have little chance for a happy, well-rounded life growing up in an orphanage (even though the caretakers work wonders here).   He went on to say that he appreciates the American families who travel such far distances and spend much money to come here to Kazakhstan and provide a better life for these children.  He toasted our new families.  With that, let me just say, I LOVE THIS GUY!  What a tremendous family.  They will forever have a place in our hearts and will always be welcome to our home.  Asalam aleykum, my good friends.

I will end this latest update with a bit of learned advice.  Should you ever be faced with the situation, never (never ever, absolutely never, are you starting to get the picture here yet) should you be stupid enough to ask a Kazakh how to properly drink vodka, we'll leave it at that. 

 Click on the Thumnails to Enlarge the Picture

The money shots. (By the way, I'm wearing one of your hats Fritz, just temporarily borrowing though.)

Dad! You finished all the pizza and I'm stuck with this?!

Karsten looking happy, Pam however looks a liiiiiittle tired here. Probably me keeping her up at night pounding on the computer to get a quicker Internet connection. NOTE: pounding on computer doesn't help.

Hey Dad! You wanna get the camera outta my face and get me a dern tissue!

The long awaited rematch and the Queen of Samoa gets pinned AGAIN!

(1) Here's where we hit for lunch. Go Here! The Tropicana. (2) Picture is a little dark but it's nice inside this restaurant. We were told it gets VERY busy at night. (3) The prices for lunch are very reasonable. It is a huge buffet with salads, soups and main entrees. Here's a shot at one of our plates. I'm not sure what everything it was that we ate, but it all was delicious and for only 600 Tenge (~ 4 bucks!). (4) Just in case you've passed the Tropicana by mistake, this landmark will greet you half a block away. Back up a block, and enjoy a great meal.

Here's a picture of the world famous Pamctop. The Cyrillic "P" is pronounced like our "r" (and should be rolled as you would in the Spanish language) and Cyrillic "C" is pronounce like our "s". Hence, the Ramstore. You can get just about anything you need under this roof. Food, mall shops, huge grocery, ice skating rink, micro-mini theatre, Internet cafe. And is less that a five minute drive from our orphanage.

"Alia Yannone. Delta House Rush Chairman. Damn glad ta meet ya!"

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I swear mommy, Daddy's the one who made that whole mess behind me.

Karstem playing with new truck toy, but yup still in the same jacket 6 days later.

There's Miss Fussy again. She's a beauty, but not always just peaches and cream.

Alia leaving for the day with one of her caretakers. Paka paka (bye bye)!

Took a quick trip to France today and spotted the Eiffell Tower. Actually this is a mini replica in front of a French import shop in Almaty.

(1) The beginning of our trip to the mountains. Leilani stopped to add on to the "wish tree" (by the way, do you think you can guess what Leilani is wishing with our court date a few days away??). People tie something to the tree to make a wish come true. (2) I guess whoever put this was wishing for more beer. I swear it wasn't me.

Walking past a replica of a yurta at the Koktyube (green peak).

Beautiful views of the mountain range. (1) Looking through Almaty. (2) Take this path and you'll wind up in China (about 150 miles). (3) The road we took up. (4) Go this way and you'll wind up in Kyrgyzstan (only about 15 miles).

A nice view of downtown Almaty from Koktyube.

Here's a little Karaoke setup in the middle of the peak. As beautiful as the view is, these two singing were just HORRIBLE! And you've never really heard "Girls just want to have fun" until you've listened to the Kazak rendition.

Here you can see a storm rolling in right before we went inside to eat. To the left is the landmark TV transmitter station. Geek ALert, Geek Alert....the top is the highest, from mean sea level, of any TV transmitter in the world (yet I still couldn't get the ESPN broadcast of the draft??!!).

Roza and her younger brother Tair at the restaurant on the peak. A very polite young man.

The whole gang during dinner. Clockwise from the left we have Leilani, Pam, Roza, Ildar, Joe and Tair.

Friends forever! Joe and his new best friend, Ildar toast to the health of their children Ildan the Mighty and Alia the Beautiful.

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