Thought this was pretty funny - Sophia zoned out to her downloaded Baby Einstein video. She'll definitely be using the computer in no time.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Monday, August 28, 2006
We're Back in Business
The internet is up and running again at our apartment. Yeah! We were starting to go into withdrawl. I've posted our summer vacation pics and promise more to come of Kazakhstan. We had our first workshop today with all the staff at school. There's so much to do before we start on Thursday! I guess it's coming whether we are ready or not.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Prostitutes and Two-Yolk Eggs
A week has passed already and what a week it's been. Where did I leave off? Let's start with my title. The first night we were here, Joe got up at about 3 am suffering from a little jet lag. I heard him call from the second bedroom, "Hey, you wanna see a prostitute getting harrassed by a policeman?" Fun stuff happens right outside our apartment, you see. Then, as he was making breakfast in the morning, he called out, "Hey, come see this." I went out to seehim cracking open a two-yolk egg. If that wasn't interesting enough, he cracked two more eggs which also had two yolks. We decided the chickens must be genetically altered due to the nuclear testing in the north of the country. (Let's hope not!)
We have been busy since the last post, but sorry, no pictures as we still don't have internet at home. Soon, we hope. We got a car from the school, a 1991 Audi. It's got a few kinks, but it gets us where we need to go. The traffic is not the greatest. People do drive crazy here, not as bad as Cairo, but it doesn't seem to make any sense. The pull out in front of you. They nearly turn into your lane when they are waiting to turn. The weirdest thing is that pedestrians just walk out into the traffic, and the cars just slam on their breaks to avoid them. In Cairo, it was the pedestrian's job to not get hit and to weave in and out of traffic. Here, the car has the responsibility not to hit the gutsy pedestrian. Joe's been driving since I can't drive stick-shift. I had my first lesson today out at the school. It was a little rough. Let's just say, I stalled it a few times.
The biggest things we accomplished this week were getting the dog from customs and getting a nanny. Somehow, we managed both. The bureaucratic system in the country is way worse than that of Cairo. We didn't think it possible. Joe went to the customs section of the airport three times for a few hours at a time. At least in Cairo, a bribe can usually pave the way. Here, no, a thousand stamps from a thousand different people maybe. Joe went back and forth and back and forth, getting stamps and talking to the same people. Thankfully, our school has been amazing in helping. The school's driver in particular. He's a Russian named Sasha who helped Joe out a lot. Finally, Leia is at home and has settled in pretty well. She likes taking walks here.
Sasha's wife, Svetlana, is our nanny. She's coming to our house to take care of Sophia and to do a little housekeeping. We told her to ignore Leia and Leia would be better. She shut her in the back bedroom. Yep, our dog is annoying. Sophia stayed with Svetlana one day at school and one day at home. It was hard being away from her for that long!
We are starting to feel settled and the city is easy to get used to. How can I describe it? First of all, it's green! We have been setting out in the stroller and walking the streets. We found a huge park near us with a huge fountain. It's in front of a gargantuan Soviet-style government building. There are lots of tree-lined boulevards. Such a treat after being in the desert. The mountains are a backdrop to the city. Of course, it's not all perfect. I would say that in many areas it's a bit overgrown and dry. Our block in particular is a bit run-down looking, but all we have to do is walk a block or two and it's really nice.
We drove yesterday up into the mountains. It takes about 10-15 minutes to get there. We are so excited to go hiking. There's a ski resort at the top, so we'll have to give that a try this winter. There's also an Olympic-size ice-skating rink. We'll have to post pictures.
Almaty surprises us. It's completely modern. Westerners never consider that a town in Kazakhstan, a country we never even hear about, could be so modern. There are tons of designer shops. I don't know how they can afford to shop for clothes here. When you think about it, we don't have these shops in most parts of America. The guide books describe it as European, and I couldn't agree more. It definitely has that feel to it.
There are Russians, and then the Kazakh people are Asian-looking, something like Mongolians might look. It makes for an interesting blend. Unfortunately, people automatically think we speak Russian and spout off fast Russian at us. No one really speaks English, so I'm going to have to get with it. Thank God for Joe knowing some Russian. Talking to the nanny would be impossible without him.
We'll keep posting as we can. We're still working on getting internet at home. Hopefully this week. We miss everyone at home. Again, I promise, pictures soon!
We have been busy since the last post, but sorry, no pictures as we still don't have internet at home. Soon, we hope. We got a car from the school, a 1991 Audi. It's got a few kinks, but it gets us where we need to go. The traffic is not the greatest. People do drive crazy here, not as bad as Cairo, but it doesn't seem to make any sense. The pull out in front of you. They nearly turn into your lane when they are waiting to turn. The weirdest thing is that pedestrians just walk out into the traffic, and the cars just slam on their breaks to avoid them. In Cairo, it was the pedestrian's job to not get hit and to weave in and out of traffic. Here, the car has the responsibility not to hit the gutsy pedestrian. Joe's been driving since I can't drive stick-shift. I had my first lesson today out at the school. It was a little rough. Let's just say, I stalled it a few times.
The biggest things we accomplished this week were getting the dog from customs and getting a nanny. Somehow, we managed both. The bureaucratic system in the country is way worse than that of Cairo. We didn't think it possible. Joe went to the customs section of the airport three times for a few hours at a time. At least in Cairo, a bribe can usually pave the way. Here, no, a thousand stamps from a thousand different people maybe. Joe went back and forth and back and forth, getting stamps and talking to the same people. Thankfully, our school has been amazing in helping. The school's driver in particular. He's a Russian named Sasha who helped Joe out a lot. Finally, Leia is at home and has settled in pretty well. She likes taking walks here.
Sasha's wife, Svetlana, is our nanny. She's coming to our house to take care of Sophia and to do a little housekeeping. We told her to ignore Leia and Leia would be better. She shut her in the back bedroom. Yep, our dog is annoying. Sophia stayed with Svetlana one day at school and one day at home. It was hard being away from her for that long!
We are starting to feel settled and the city is easy to get used to. How can I describe it? First of all, it's green! We have been setting out in the stroller and walking the streets. We found a huge park near us with a huge fountain. It's in front of a gargantuan Soviet-style government building. There are lots of tree-lined boulevards. Such a treat after being in the desert. The mountains are a backdrop to the city. Of course, it's not all perfect. I would say that in many areas it's a bit overgrown and dry. Our block in particular is a bit run-down looking, but all we have to do is walk a block or two and it's really nice.
We drove yesterday up into the mountains. It takes about 10-15 minutes to get there. We are so excited to go hiking. There's a ski resort at the top, so we'll have to give that a try this winter. There's also an Olympic-size ice-skating rink. We'll have to post pictures.
Almaty surprises us. It's completely modern. Westerners never consider that a town in Kazakhstan, a country we never even hear about, could be so modern. There are tons of designer shops. I don't know how they can afford to shop for clothes here. When you think about it, we don't have these shops in most parts of America. The guide books describe it as European, and I couldn't agree more. It definitely has that feel to it.
There are Russians, and then the Kazakh people are Asian-looking, something like Mongolians might look. It makes for an interesting blend. Unfortunately, people automatically think we speak Russian and spout off fast Russian at us. No one really speaks English, so I'm going to have to get with it. Thank God for Joe knowing some Russian. Talking to the nanny would be impossible without him.
We'll keep posting as we can. We're still working on getting internet at home. Hopefully this week. We miss everyone at home. Again, I promise, pictures soon!
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Into the Great Unknown
We didn't know what to expect when we stepped off the plane in Almaty, but so far we have been very happy. Our flights went well. Sophia, thank God, slept during each plane ride. She's lulled to sleep by cars, planes, strollers, anything moving. Lucky us. The flights went well despite an hour delay here and there.
When we arrived in Almaty, we found a new, modern airport. The only problem was that the school had made a mistake on our letter of invitation for our visa. The officer promptly informed us that we couldn't get a visa. Not business, not tourtist, nothing... hmm... would we live at the airport then? Good thing Joe was thinking and asked if we could go get the people waiting to pick us up.
An officer escorted me to the arrival area where our principal was waiting. With a little help from a Russian-speaker and the secretary by phone, they allowed us to enter on a one-week visa. We'll have to figure it all out this week.
They then drove us to our new apartment which is very nice. Two bedrooms and a study. Clean and furnished. We don't like the moss green paint in the study and the peach in our bedroom, but otherwise it's quite nice. The school even loaded up our kitchen with groceries! They sent a van and driver for us the next day so we could do some more shopping.
The city is very modern. It seems so easy after Egypt. The only negative is that so far no one speaks English. I'm going to have to get busy learning so that I can quit staring at people in silence after they spout off a bunch of Russian at me!
Joe and I were making breakfast this morning, and it dawned on us - something was missing. Noise. It is so quiet. Even on the weekend nights of Friday and Saturday it seems quiet and empty. The town doesn't seem big at all, and we were told we are in the center.
We are at an internet cafe now since we have yet to figure out how to get internet at home. We're going to spend the rest of the day unpacking and settling in. Tomorrow we are off to the school to sort out things like getting a car, getting a nanny, etc. The school has offered to help us find childcare which helps set our minds at ease.
I'm sure we'll have lots more to report later, and I promise to update with pictures once we figure out internet at home.
When we arrived in Almaty, we found a new, modern airport. The only problem was that the school had made a mistake on our letter of invitation for our visa. The officer promptly informed us that we couldn't get a visa. Not business, not tourtist, nothing... hmm... would we live at the airport then? Good thing Joe was thinking and asked if we could go get the people waiting to pick us up.
An officer escorted me to the arrival area where our principal was waiting. With a little help from a Russian-speaker and the secretary by phone, they allowed us to enter on a one-week visa. We'll have to figure it all out this week.
They then drove us to our new apartment which is very nice. Two bedrooms and a study. Clean and furnished. We don't like the moss green paint in the study and the peach in our bedroom, but otherwise it's quite nice. The school even loaded up our kitchen with groceries! They sent a van and driver for us the next day so we could do some more shopping.
The city is very modern. It seems so easy after Egypt. The only negative is that so far no one speaks English. I'm going to have to get busy learning so that I can quit staring at people in silence after they spout off a bunch of Russian at me!
Joe and I were making breakfast this morning, and it dawned on us - something was missing. Noise. It is so quiet. Even on the weekend nights of Friday and Saturday it seems quiet and empty. The town doesn't seem big at all, and we were told we are in the center.
We are at an internet cafe now since we have yet to figure out how to get internet at home. We're going to spend the rest of the day unpacking and settling in. Tomorrow we are off to the school to sort out things like getting a car, getting a nanny, etc. The school has offered to help us find childcare which helps set our minds at ease.
I'm sure we'll have lots more to report later, and I promise to update with pictures once we figure out internet at home.
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