Day 9: At the apartment
With today being Sunday, we were on our own to rest and catch up with chores. Sadly, however, what was going to be a laundry day was nixed by the landlord's daughter who spent the whole day doing her laundry. Our apartment, when not rented out (and even when rented) is their laundry facility. So our doorbell keeps chirping like a very loud macau every two hours. The washer actually takes that long to do a load, and its capacity is very small.
We both spent time sleeping and reading and talking about the adoption experience here in Karaganda. The apartment is in a rundown working class section. The apartments are everywhere, rising up to 8 or 10 stories. None seems to be in harmony with the environment, which is a long expanse of steppe. They look kind of like The Projects in Chicago. There is a gloom here that is hard to describe. Certainly, the weather has been overcast and dull, in the 30s and 40s daily. But the general sense for the society is that they spend most of their time in drudgery, trying to just survive. The people on the street, as we've mentioned before, are withdrawn, suspicious-seeming, and repressed feeling, though any one individual met off of the streets is quite personable and friendly. In the mornings as we await our ride, there are usually one or two senior citizens picking through the dumpsters for plastic bags (precious commodity for transporting), cardboard or kindling for fires, or anything else that catches their attention. People beg on the streets, mostly seniors and single women with children. We wonder if there is no social support program for these people, so that they survive by their own creativity; however, we know that in America people beg too, and there are supports in place.
Shopping at a grocery store is a challenge since all labels are in Russian. We are trying to stick with processed foods like canned fruits, vegetables, meats, etc. Thank goodness for labels with pictures! Also, fresh fruits are limited to those that are peeled. We tried milk (moloko) but it was sweet and quickly curdled. They have kefir here, a thick version of milk, that is more like unsweetened yogurt. We can't get up the courage to try it yet but the boys have it at the orphanage. We're leery of the fresh meat section, trying to avoid horse meat. We question the butcher with our dictionary to make sure it is "cow" and not "horse." Everywhere around the supermarket is blaring American and Russian disco music. So much for getting away from our culture.
There are some fancy cars here by our standards...BMWs, Mercedes, etc. Generally, the cars seem to be small and of the 80s era. Many of them are protected by alarm systems. We read that the number one cause of foreigner deaths is being hit. You're on your own across the busy streets and they drive like drivers in any big city but without lanes or traffic signals.
Our timeline for adoption is still up in the air. Upon completing our mandatory 14 day visitations, the paperwork is submitted to the Court and the judge will set a court date. Hopefully, it will be soon. After court comes the 15 day waiting period that still allows family members to intercede and stop the adoption. After the 15 days, comes paperwork processing for another week or so. Finally, in Almaty, the boys are readied for US entry. It is a long, long period of time.
Thank you all for your continued following of our progress and the support that we feel from "Home."
We both spent time sleeping and reading and talking about the adoption experience here in Karaganda. The apartment is in a rundown working class section. The apartments are everywhere, rising up to 8 or 10 stories. None seems to be in harmony with the environment, which is a long expanse of steppe. They look kind of like The Projects in Chicago. There is a gloom here that is hard to describe. Certainly, the weather has been overcast and dull, in the 30s and 40s daily. But the general sense for the society is that they spend most of their time in drudgery, trying to just survive. The people on the street, as we've mentioned before, are withdrawn, suspicious-seeming, and repressed feeling, though any one individual met off of the streets is quite personable and friendly. In the mornings as we await our ride, there are usually one or two senior citizens picking through the dumpsters for plastic bags (precious commodity for transporting), cardboard or kindling for fires, or anything else that catches their attention. People beg on the streets, mostly seniors and single women with children. We wonder if there is no social support program for these people, so that they survive by their own creativity; however, we know that in America people beg too, and there are supports in place.
Shopping at a grocery store is a challenge since all labels are in Russian. We are trying to stick with processed foods like canned fruits, vegetables, meats, etc. Thank goodness for labels with pictures! Also, fresh fruits are limited to those that are peeled. We tried milk (moloko) but it was sweet and quickly curdled. They have kefir here, a thick version of milk, that is more like unsweetened yogurt. We can't get up the courage to try it yet but the boys have it at the orphanage. We're leery of the fresh meat section, trying to avoid horse meat. We question the butcher with our dictionary to make sure it is "cow" and not "horse." Everywhere around the supermarket is blaring American and Russian disco music. So much for getting away from our culture.
There are some fancy cars here by our standards...BMWs, Mercedes, etc. Generally, the cars seem to be small and of the 80s era. Many of them are protected by alarm systems. We read that the number one cause of foreigner deaths is being hit. You're on your own across the busy streets and they drive like drivers in any big city but without lanes or traffic signals.
Our timeline for adoption is still up in the air. Upon completing our mandatory 14 day visitations, the paperwork is submitted to the Court and the judge will set a court date. Hopefully, it will be soon. After court comes the 15 day waiting period that still allows family members to intercede and stop the adoption. After the 15 days, comes paperwork processing for another week or so. Finally, in Almaty, the boys are readied for US entry. It is a long, long period of time.
Thank you all for your continued following of our progress and the support that we feel from "Home."
1 Comments:
My Mom and sister Cathy were here visiting all weekend so I didn't have time to keep up with your daily ventures until now. I did however, go to the blog site and show Mom and Cathy pictures of the boys :-) My Mom brought me the most precious thing that you might consider with your boys. Throughout our childhood Mom taped us speaking on a tape recorder. Also events like me playing my violin (terribly) with a friend, my sister and I playing violin, clarinet duets, my brother telling the story of the three bears and so on. One of the best ones was my Mom singing in her "Mother's Four" quartet. I had forgotten how good they really were. Four part harmony, well prepared :-) One time they were singing in front of an audience when two of them were VERY pregnant. They began singing "I'm gonna lay down my burden, down by the riverside" etc. and the men in the audience started snickering. My poor mom didn't understand why and wondered if they didn't like their singing. Afterward it was made know to her the words were quite appropriate for their "condition" :-)
I'm glad you had a day of rest, it was interesting to learn about the social events too. Two hours to wash a load of clothes -- Wow!! Not being able to read the food labels reminds me of a trick my "college babes" pulled at one of our weddings. Unfortunately for the bride, some of us had to stay at her future home the night before the wedding. One of us suggested (IT WASN'T ME) that we take all the labels off their canned food. She still speaks to us so I guess all is forgiven :-)
Now that you've met the boys I'll bet it is even more difficult to think about the length of time it takes to finalize everything. Years from now it will only seem like a small moment of time, but for now it will probably be a challenge to "wait". Well, I need to get ready for work so will sign off -- what great memories you are recording on your blog site. A great way to preserve what you have experienced. Nancy
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