Poor Joe. He has his third fever in a week and a half. Will he ever get better? He keeps semi-recovering and then his temperature goes up again. Strange viruses this year. Speaking of, when we took Sophia in to the doctor, we were supposed to go back in a couple of days. Well, we're bad and we didn't get back in the night the doctor was working. Then, Sophia seemed much better, so we thought it unnecessary. The doctor called us yesterday and requested that we come back so she could check Sophia.
We went today to the clinic. She listened to Sophia's chest and I told her that she wasn't coughing any more. She informed me that Sophia still wasn't well, and that I needed to massage her back (not her palms and the soles of her feet anymore) and take her out for fresh air. That's all. Joe and I were both thinking to each other, um, where will we find this fresh air you're talking about? The smog in Almaty has been so thick, I don't want to take Sophia out at all. Interesting. I will try the massages, although I wasn't very good at doing that before when she first prescribed it.
This weekend we went with a few school friends to The Guiness Pub. We didn't have any Guiness, actually, but it was a decent pub. I guess one time someone went there and asked for a Guiness and they didn't have any. Hmm... They delicious items on the menu like "squid rings" (calamari?) and "meat hodge podge." Gotta love the translations. That's about all we did this weekend.
It's gone by too quickly and now it's time for school again already. Hopefully the weeks in February go by quickly. It's such a hard time of the year. The weather has been so nice these last two days. It's starting to trick us into thinking winter's over. I keep telling Joe, there's no way it's over. There will be lots more snow. Our nanny agrees with me. Maybe by March. We'll just stay focused on looking forward to Grandpa and Grandma Bearns's visit. It's not so far away.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Saturday, January 20, 2007
What Ever Happened to Snow Days?
Yesterday was a miserable day. Thank goodness it was a Friday. We woke to find a ton of snow had fallen. It was a shock. I haven't seen that much snow in years. We decided it was something like 6-8 inches. We'd been told that our school never has snow days and it's true! If this much snow fell in the U.S., there would at least be a 2-hour late start.
We trudged out to our car, brushed all the snow away, and started off in the dark for the last work day of the week. Joe still had a temperature, but he felt like he could get through the day. We found ourselves stuck behind a snowplow (Why did it surprise us that they were so efficient in removing the snow?), and our car started to overheat. There's absolutely nowhere to pull over in Almaty, especially in the snow, so we drove down a side street to a gas station. We were in the way of the pumps, so Joe pulled over to the side. (Now, he says he thought for a minute that there might be a curb, but why would they put one there?) Yep, he couldn't see with all the snow and drove over a curb. With our front tires on the wrong side of the curb, and our back end sticking up a bit, we weren't going anywhere.
Luckily, a nice lady in an old Russian Niva, who incidentally spoke English and worked at the British Embassy, tried to pull us out. We promptly snapped her tow cable. A guy getting gas tried to pull us out in his SUV. We snapped his tow cable! We thought we were doomed. Luckily, he must have had a lot of time on his hands and a desire to help us poor foreigners. He reattached the hook, got the gas station attendants to jack up the car, placed blocks under the wheels and pulled us out!!
We were on our way! I wish. We filled the car with coolant, set out again, and the car promptly overheated. By this point we were both freezing, our toes numb from being out in the cold. We pulled over, called the school, and waited for a huge city bus to hit us as our car sat on the side of the road. Luckily, the school looks out for us and with so many teachers out sick, they were eager to send someone out to get us. We waited in the snow for about a half hour when our nanny's husband, Sasha, the head mechanic at school, showed up to get us. We were saved. Joe spent the morning in his extra gym socks, while his shoes and socks dried on the radiator. I don't think it did much for his illness since his fever went back up.
We're just sitting at home today, recovering. If only it had been a snow day, and we had just been able to go back to bed.
We trudged out to our car, brushed all the snow away, and started off in the dark for the last work day of the week. Joe still had a temperature, but he felt like he could get through the day. We found ourselves stuck behind a snowplow (Why did it surprise us that they were so efficient in removing the snow?), and our car started to overheat. There's absolutely nowhere to pull over in Almaty, especially in the snow, so we drove down a side street to a gas station. We were in the way of the pumps, so Joe pulled over to the side. (Now, he says he thought for a minute that there might be a curb, but why would they put one there?) Yep, he couldn't see with all the snow and drove over a curb. With our front tires on the wrong side of the curb, and our back end sticking up a bit, we weren't going anywhere.
Luckily, a nice lady in an old Russian Niva, who incidentally spoke English and worked at the British Embassy, tried to pull us out. We promptly snapped her tow cable. A guy getting gas tried to pull us out in his SUV. We snapped his tow cable! We thought we were doomed. Luckily, he must have had a lot of time on his hands and a desire to help us poor foreigners. He reattached the hook, got the gas station attendants to jack up the car, placed blocks under the wheels and pulled us out!!
We were on our way! I wish. We filled the car with coolant, set out again, and the car promptly overheated. By this point we were both freezing, our toes numb from being out in the cold. We pulled over, called the school, and waited for a huge city bus to hit us as our car sat on the side of the road. Luckily, the school looks out for us and with so many teachers out sick, they were eager to send someone out to get us. We waited in the snow for about a half hour when our nanny's husband, Sasha, the head mechanic at school, showed up to get us. We were saved. Joe spent the morning in his extra gym socks, while his shoes and socks dried on the radiator. I don't think it did much for his illness since his fever went back up.
We're just sitting at home today, recovering. If only it had been a snow day, and we had just been able to go back to bed.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Viruses from Around the World
I can't believe my last post was January 7. Where did 11 days go? I guess getting back to school makes the time fly. Right now there's a nasty bug going around Almaty. Apparently, everyone travels over break to everywhere in the planet and then they bring back all the fun bugs. Joe stayed home from school today with a fever, and we took Sophia to the doctor yesterday where we were told she had bronchitis.
We took her to the Kazakh "international" clinic, so we are not really sure of the diagnosis. The doctor gave us four different medicines which seemed a bit excessive to me. I had to look them all up on the internet when I got home and I'm only giving her three. But still! We thought it interesting that one of the things that the doctor prescribed was that we massage Sophia's back, feet, and hands. I don't know what that would do for her exactly, but I guess you never know. I admit, I haven't tried it yet.
When Joe went into the pharmacy to get the prescriptions he said it was an adventure all its own. Apparently there were all sorts of windows and people pushing in line. (The Mogamma of pharamacies for those of you have been there in Egypt.) Always with the pushing in line!
I'm sure we'll all heal soon. I'll probably have to come down with something before it's all over. I was missing four out of 12 students at school today. They are going down like dominoes.
Other than that, it's pretty normal around here. I keep telling myself to remember the camera so I can get some pictures of the winter scenery and the local sites. Soon, I promise. A student of ours sent us some pictures from Egypt which are pretty funny, so I might just have to post those too.
We took her to the Kazakh "international" clinic, so we are not really sure of the diagnosis. The doctor gave us four different medicines which seemed a bit excessive to me. I had to look them all up on the internet when I got home and I'm only giving her three. But still! We thought it interesting that one of the things that the doctor prescribed was that we massage Sophia's back, feet, and hands. I don't know what that would do for her exactly, but I guess you never know. I admit, I haven't tried it yet.
When Joe went into the pharmacy to get the prescriptions he said it was an adventure all its own. Apparently there were all sorts of windows and people pushing in line. (The Mogamma of pharamacies for those of you have been there in Egypt.) Always with the pushing in line!
I'm sure we'll all heal soon. I'll probably have to come down with something before it's all over. I was missing four out of 12 students at school today. They are going down like dominoes.
Other than that, it's pretty normal around here. I keep telling myself to remember the camera so I can get some pictures of the winter scenery and the local sites. Soon, I promise. A student of ours sent us some pictures from Egypt which are pretty funny, so I might just have to post those too.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Time Warp
We feel like we are in some strange time warp. Somewhere between the time we left Cedar Falls until now, we got lost in time. We wake up at 1 am. We sleep at 4 pm. 5 am seems like the right time to head to bed. Somehow, coming back in this direction is always much harder than returning to the U.S. A couple more days before school starts. I hope we all get adjusted before then.
Have the holidays really come and gone already? We spent so much time looking forward to our trip home and then it seems it went by in a flash. Although busy, we enjoyed every minute of being back. We got to spend time with grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends. Our friend Janie even travelled all the way to Iowa just to hang out. Nevermind that she injured herself while there and went home on crutches. You never know what will happen! It was just so good to see everyone. Now, we are looking forward to the summer when we'll get to spend more time with everyone.
Every time we go home, I vow to drive less, but this time we just admitted that we'd be driving a lot and rented a minivan. It was well worth it since we had so much stuff. I really felt like I'd taken a step forward in my life that could never be reversed when we were out with friends for New Years. There were some people we had just met and we were giving them a ride. They all piled into our miniva, saw the car seat, and then asked, "Do you have a baby?" Yep, there's no going back. It's so true. I felt pretty old at that moment.
Sophia had a blast in Iowa. She learned how to vocalize better, at the top of her lungs. She learned how to stay sitting up all on her own. She learned that she has lots of friends in Iowa. She's going to miss having so many people around to look at and play with.
As usual, Joe and I found ourselves in a room filled with stuff and the impossibility of stuffing it all into four suitcases. We mangaged to cram it all into five and a small suitcase for Sophia. All I can say is, that girl has way too many clothes. I wouldn't doubt it if she uses them all up in no time, though. What does one bring across the seas? What are the necessities? Spices, baking powder, peanut butter (so expensive here), shortening, drill bits, 3M sticky things, deoderant, baby clothes, baby toys, picture frames, MP3 players, a camera, razor blades, contact solution, vegetable bouillion, seasoning packets, etc. It's weird the things that you see as a priority. Decaffeinated tea, hot chocolate, and flavored creamer may not seem important to some, but they are special treats when you just can't get them here. It's like we land in an oasis where we have to stock up on all the little things we miss.
Highlights of our trip home - seeing everyone (first and foremost), and then the consumer items - Veggie Whoppers at Burger King (thank you America for realizing not everyone likes to eat meat), Target, brewed coffee, fake meat products, Christmas music, movies in English, American style clothing, changing tables in restrooms. The list goes on. It is interesting what consumers we become when we are at home.
The trip this time was a bit grueling. After Sophia was so good on the way to America, we were hopeful that she would be as good on the way back. We shouldn't have been. She fussed a lot! Her cold wasn't making her too happy, and there was a baby in the seat next to us who was oh, so distracting. They kept the seatbelt sign on for nearly the whole trip, so the flight attendant kept making me take her out of the bassinet. No sleep for her, no sleep for me. When we finally got back to Kazakhstan, our big box with our car seat and winter jackets did not come out on the belt. We waited and waited. Finally, we gave up and left. I felt pretty stupid since it was freezing out and all I had was a sweater. Our driver had to give me his coat to wear. (Note to self, don't pack anything you have to have when you get there. A lesson I had to relearn the hard way.) It's been so nice in Iowa, I forgot how freezing cold it was in Kazakhstan. There's a ton of snow too. It is a shock to our system.
Since we've been back I haven't gotten out of my pajamas. We've just been unpacking and unpacking. We haven't even gotten around to getting any groceries. Our nanny was nice and made us some borscht (cabbage soup) for when we got back, but now we are having to get creative. Today, we will finally venture out into the world.
That's about it. I'll post some of the pictures from our visit. You'll notice who's the main star.
Have the holidays really come and gone already? We spent so much time looking forward to our trip home and then it seems it went by in a flash. Although busy, we enjoyed every minute of being back. We got to spend time with grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends. Our friend Janie even travelled all the way to Iowa just to hang out. Nevermind that she injured herself while there and went home on crutches. You never know what will happen! It was just so good to see everyone. Now, we are looking forward to the summer when we'll get to spend more time with everyone.
Every time we go home, I vow to drive less, but this time we just admitted that we'd be driving a lot and rented a minivan. It was well worth it since we had so much stuff. I really felt like I'd taken a step forward in my life that could never be reversed when we were out with friends for New Years. There were some people we had just met and we were giving them a ride. They all piled into our miniva, saw the car seat, and then asked, "Do you have a baby?" Yep, there's no going back. It's so true. I felt pretty old at that moment.
Sophia had a blast in Iowa. She learned how to vocalize better, at the top of her lungs. She learned how to stay sitting up all on her own. She learned that she has lots of friends in Iowa. She's going to miss having so many people around to look at and play with.
As usual, Joe and I found ourselves in a room filled with stuff and the impossibility of stuffing it all into four suitcases. We mangaged to cram it all into five and a small suitcase for Sophia. All I can say is, that girl has way too many clothes. I wouldn't doubt it if she uses them all up in no time, though. What does one bring across the seas? What are the necessities? Spices, baking powder, peanut butter (so expensive here), shortening, drill bits, 3M sticky things, deoderant, baby clothes, baby toys, picture frames, MP3 players, a camera, razor blades, contact solution, vegetable bouillion, seasoning packets, etc. It's weird the things that you see as a priority. Decaffeinated tea, hot chocolate, and flavored creamer may not seem important to some, but they are special treats when you just can't get them here. It's like we land in an oasis where we have to stock up on all the little things we miss.
Highlights of our trip home - seeing everyone (first and foremost), and then the consumer items - Veggie Whoppers at Burger King (thank you America for realizing not everyone likes to eat meat), Target, brewed coffee, fake meat products, Christmas music, movies in English, American style clothing, changing tables in restrooms. The list goes on. It is interesting what consumers we become when we are at home.
The trip this time was a bit grueling. After Sophia was so good on the way to America, we were hopeful that she would be as good on the way back. We shouldn't have been. She fussed a lot! Her cold wasn't making her too happy, and there was a baby in the seat next to us who was oh, so distracting. They kept the seatbelt sign on for nearly the whole trip, so the flight attendant kept making me take her out of the bassinet. No sleep for her, no sleep for me. When we finally got back to Kazakhstan, our big box with our car seat and winter jackets did not come out on the belt. We waited and waited. Finally, we gave up and left. I felt pretty stupid since it was freezing out and all I had was a sweater. Our driver had to give me his coat to wear. (Note to self, don't pack anything you have to have when you get there. A lesson I had to relearn the hard way.) It's been so nice in Iowa, I forgot how freezing cold it was in Kazakhstan. There's a ton of snow too. It is a shock to our system.
Since we've been back I haven't gotten out of my pajamas. We've just been unpacking and unpacking. We haven't even gotten around to getting any groceries. Our nanny was nice and made us some borscht (cabbage soup) for when we got back, but now we are having to get creative. Today, we will finally venture out into the world.
That's about it. I'll post some of the pictures from our visit. You'll notice who's the main star.
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