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.