In Almaty...Update from Patrick...

Hi. We’ve had a full 24 hours here in Kazakhstan!

Picking our son up at the orphanage will be one of the best moments of my life. I had already seen him in the morning, and our translator (Tonya) and I spent the rest of the day shopping for him and for the orphanage. I decided not to purchase the television; Tonya’s mom (the assistant director of the orphanage) had suggested it, saying while all groups of children had TVs, there was no television for new orphanage arrivals who are awaiting their permanent placement into one of the orphanages many groups of children. Well, even Mira thought the request was ridiculous, so I settled on buying cleaning supplies and diapers. Tonya and I left the gift on the floor outside the orphanage director’s office, who didn’t even come out to tell us goodbye. It was unacknowledged and, for all I know, unappreciated. But at least I know it will be used for children or to make children’s lives a little better, and not be slipped into the trunk of someone’s car.

Then we went upstairs to get Drew. I walked into his playgroup’s room and found him on the floor, with four or five other children. They all froze as I walked in, as I think they normally do when a visitor appears. Drew suddenly crawled toward me at top speed and I swept him up in my arms, telling him he was our little boy. Drew turned around and, without prompting, waved goodbye to his friends and caregivers! Of course he thought we were just going into the next room for one-on-one play, but it melted my heart just the same.

Then I dressed Drew in one of the many outfits that you sent over – he left wearing a snuggly brown sweatsuit decorated with a happy raccoon. He looked great, of course – the 12-month clothes fit him perfectly. But Tonya immediately started questioning if he was wearing enough clothes, or had enough layers. I looked at her and said, “Tonya, don’t start now.” That solved the issue, at least for a while.

We went back to Tonya’s flat and were met by Tonya’s mother and Daniel (Tonya's son). After settling in, I gave them their gifts – Tonya and Daniel were especially excited; she loved all the books and called them “perfect,” while Daniel held and kissed his new shirts.

Then we spent the afternoon relaxing. Taraz was having one of its many days without lights, so we watched the children play by candlelight and Drew had supper of a beef and potato stew. And Daniel was enraptured by our son and kept following Drew around, trying to kiss him because he thought that he was a girl!

Happily, the lights came back on just before the party began. Constantine’s (Tonay's husband) brother and his wife arrived, followed shortly by Daniel’s godfather and his wife. Drew alternated between sitting with me and Tonya’s mother, who seemed to enjoy her last night with out little boy and didn’t want to let him go. The only problem with dinner was that it included many toasts of vodka; and as almost every toast was to wish Drew a happy and healthy life, and as Tonya’s mom kept insisting that she keep my glass filled, I was forced to go along with drinking four or five shots the same day I was taking custody of our son. It’s the Kazakh way, I suppose!

Tonya made the first toast and it was really touching, which is why I’m spending so much time on the subject, I suppose. She wished us a safe, easy journey and our family many happy days ahead, and that Drew grow up healthy and happy and that one day he would come back to Taraz to visit. As the guest, I had to make the second toast, so I thanked them for giving Drew a good start to his life, and I toasted their family’s many recent achievements – Tonya’s university degree, Constantine’s promotion to commander of his base, her mother’s planned retirement in February, and Daniel’s successful recovery from illness (I don’t think I’ve told you this, but Daniel was hospitalized for five days shortly after we left for some sort of stomach poisoning. Fortunately he’s fully recovered!).

I took the chance to give Constantine his present of present of a U.S. Army jacket and shirt, along with the Ranger ribbons we found for him. He was very pleased, and wore the T-shirt for the rest of the dinner. He also asked, jokingly I think, where his matching pants and cap were to go with the Army jacket. I told him we would bring those the next time we adopted from Taraz, and everyone laughed.

At 9 p.m., our driver came to take us to the train. I gave him his gift as well, and he was shocked that we gave him something – I hope he likes his Red Sox gear! Mira did not see us off, claiming some sort of illness, so Tonya promised to deliver her gift from us.

Drew did very well on the train. I had changed him into his PJs before we left Tonya’s flat and I gave him his Benadril when we arrived on our car. We shared the sleeping car with a woman and her 3-month-old daughter. I have to assume that the train people purposely booked both the babies in the same car so we wouldn’t keep anyone else awake! The woman spoke only Kazakh, but we were able to communicate enough to trade names, and the ages of our children. I told her we were going to America, and she asked if Esatai (I couldn’t get her to understand that his name was Drew, I suppose it doesn’t *sound* like a name here) was born in Taraz. I said he was, and she smiled and made many comments in the next 8 hours about how Esatai was saying bye-bye to Taraz and that he was going to be an American. She sounded very happy, which made me happy, too!

Drew fought sleep the best he could on the train – he was nervous, of course, and I’m sure he would have been much happier back at the orphanage. But he never cried, just fought to stay awake, before finally dropping off. Once he slept, though, he was a problem because he insisted on taking up our entire narrow bunk. I finally was able to find a comfortable way to lay and we slept most of the trip before he woke up about 6 a.m.

Our train arrived in Almaty at 7 a.m., which was white with new snow. It’s cold here! In fact, the heater in our hotel room doesn’t work, so the employees brought in a large space heater, which I’m keeping next to Drew’s crib, so he stays warm. I complained to the hotel front desk to no avail, and now I’m just forcing him to wear a couple of layers. I guess old orphanage habits die hard, but I’m not happy with the conditions in the hotel and was quite rude with the desk about it. I’m sure they chalked it up to American attitude, but I can’t care about that.

At 11 a.m., Galina arrived to take us to the clinic for a checkup and blood work. Drew cried as the doctor gave him a brief examination (she declared he had a cold and charged $100). Then he got his blood work and I was stunned that Drew didn’t even whimper or flinch when his finger was pricked. He watched very studiously as the lab doctor pinched his finger long enough to fill up a test tube with his blood. He was brave!

Our only problem, besides the lack of heat, is that Drew has a mild case of loose BMs which has caused us to ruin one outfit and a set of bedding. He’s eating well but I had a horrible time getting him to take a nap this afternoon despite how tired he was. I think his sleep times will be the worst for a while because it’s the one time that he craves the routine and familiar surroundings of the orphanage. He seemed so sad today when he woke up from his nap because I think he really misses his caregivers. In fact, he makes it a point to grunt loudly at all of the hotel maids here, I think because he associates them with his orphanage caregivers.

Galina gave me more paperwork to fill out, so I’m doing that this afternoon, and I’m told we’ll have the paperwork from his medical tests at the end of the day tomorrow. So hopefully we’re getting back on track!

Until tomorrow,
Patrick