Yada yada yada...

1:15 PM

Linda is having an argument with Bacha about whether or not she has to either peesit or kakat. Bacha insists on neither, but she just ate a big meal of ravioli, and drank a gallon of apple juice, and now it's nap time. We don't want another bed-wetting incident. She's generally pretty good about telling us, though. Also yesterday we had a successful kakat (OK, I guess I just like saying it) on the big pottie -- you see, she's used to using one of the little kiddie potties that sit on the floor. But she balanced on the edge like a pro, and we had success.

Of course, we have had two incidences of Bacha peeing all over herself and her clothes when she tried to stand and peesit like Tucker does... But I guess you live and learn.

This morning our plan was to take a walk at about 9 AM, for as long as we could manage, and then come home, eat, and put the kids down for a nap. That's going to be our routine if we can manage it. We finally got out the door at about 10:15, but mostly because we were stalling as I tried to finally resolve the issue of getting a ticket home for Mia. We still don't have one.

The issue is that we didn't buy her a ticket home in the States because we were told that the prices are much higher than if we bought it in Almaty. But then we didn't buy it in Almaty when we were first there because we basically didn't have time. Then we mistakenly procrastinated a bit in Kokshetau, and when we finally got some help from some people here, it was no help and we took over ourselves. Then the issue became availability.

Though our travel agent in the States (his name is Eldo, by the way) says that availability is no problem for him, it turns out that the Almaty travel agents can't get the same seats as people in the States. The only seat available for Mia on 29 June (our planned departure date -- from Almaty, that is) is in business class, and it costs upwards of $2000. After a bunch of monkeying around, we finally booked a ticket for her on 2 July, but held out on paying for it as we were told there was a good chance something might still open up on 29 June. No such luck, and by the time today rolled around, Eldo could no longer find seats for Linda, Tucker, and me on 2 July. So the best we can do now is July 5, and if Eldo can get them, we're going to take them because I want to get home some time this summer! It's admittedly appropriate that a 2:50 AM July 5th departure date means we'd be essentially traveling on American Independence Day.

UNLESS, of course, a new option bears fruit -- one which I only learned about today after an agent named Zhana in Almaty took pity on us. She told me that if Eldo could book Mia's ticket, the agency in Almaty would sell us the ticket for their price (like about $750), IF Eldo would agree to enter the correct ticket number from the Almaty office. I have an email in to Eldo to beg his indulgence, and plan to put him on our Christmas list if he comes through.

At this point, we're leaving AT LEAST 5 days later than we'd planned, and the idea is starting to make me look at ways to make money while we're here. We do not, after all, have an unlimited supply of cash, and this is all cash expense.

So anyway, today we went for our walk, pretty much just around the block, but at a 3-year-old's pace. We stopped at the little slide behind our apartment, and Bacha might have enjoyed her first slide experience. A pretty big slide, at that, and she didn't make it alone. I sat on the seat behind her, and had to hold her up at the bottom. Tucker went on his own, but essentially did a sloppy Pete-Rose-style landing, face-first at the bottom. Cloud of dust and lots of laughter. Bacha then ran around to the ladder again and said "Abyet, papa, idi suda!" (again, Papa, come here!). She has little fear, but knows when to ask for help.

On the way back we stopped at several little stores (no strollers today, incidentally -- much more fun but less exercise for Linda and me). Linda wanted to buy Bacha some underwear and a few extra pieces of clothing. The kids were a big hit with the ladies in the store, though, so we got quite distracted. As it happens, the only shoes that Tucker had with him were a pair of sandals (batman ones -- the kind that light up when you walk), and even they were getting too small. Then we spotted the Spiderman sneakers. Oh my. They were indeed pretty cool -- even lighting up like Tucker's sandals. 1800 Tenge -- we had to buy them. We also needed shoes for Bacha, and found some similarly cool light-up shoes (LOTS of lights on these!) in a more girly-girl style that she liked (having definite opinions on these versus a pair of cheaper ones). Hers came to 2200 Tenge. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough Tenge with me, as part of our trip was to exchange money. So after running next door and finding that the exchange teller was away, the shoe lady worked it out. By punching numbers into a calculator so that I could see them and babbling away in Russian, it became clear that I could pay for both with my $100 bill and she would give me change in Tenge. So I came away with 9200 Tenge in my pocket, and two pairs of shoes. Worked out fine. Also, we bought underwear and a couple of shirts for Mia.

Tucker and Mia continued to charm the ladies all the while. Tucker was fascinated with a little soldier doll, and came away with (imagine this) a little gun and sword as a gift. Mia just threw lots of smiles and flirted, finishing off with taking a pretend ride in a little toy car that made lots of annoying noise when you sat in it.

People were very nice to us, and we had a good time.

Then, we got some basic supplies (beer, vodka, bread, butter, and ravioli -- in that order). I didn't know what kind of vodka to get, but the lady behind the counter was enjoying my communication style, so I essentially asked her what she recommended (pantomiming most of it, of course). She knew exactly what I meant, and went right to her favorite local Kokshetau brand (which she indicated by pointing at the word "Kokshetau" in the fine print, and holding her hand to her heart with a wicked smile on her face). I think we understood each other well. Two bottles of beer, the vodka, a loaf of bread, some butter, and the ravioli came to 613 Tenge, which I repeated after her, after she typed it into the calculator for me to see. She gave me the thumbs-up for my pronunciation, but I know she was being kind.

I should mention bath time last night. Bacha and Tucker love taking a bath together. They play and squeal with delight as they tickle, splash, and douse each other. Bacha seems to never want to get out. I got some great video, though we don't feel comfortable posting "x-rated" videos of our kids on the internet. Too bad, but it's just a little creepy. The sound track alone might be pretty good entertainment, and I might try to post just that.

Tucker is picking up Russian words. The few that we know, at least. When we say "G'dea Bacha?" (where's Bacha?) as a game, he repeats it. He says "Bacha, nyet" instead of "no." Of course, he also babble incoherently more than he did before, probably because that's what it sounds like when she speaks (to us, of course).

Bacha, of course, is starting to understand us when we speak English, as well. Little things like "come here" are working now, where they were not before. This morning, she and I had a little conversation in which I wanted her to put what she had in her hand into the garbage, which was around the corner where I couldn't see it. I explained to her what I wanted, and she went into the kitchen to do it. I heard a cabinet close (the garbage is not in a cabinet). So I got up and pointed out what I meant, asking "do you understand?" in Russian ("vuy punyemayitsche?"). She clearly said "da" and walked over and put the thing in the garbage. Then I pointed at another thing and asked her to do the same, and she complied.

Also, she wanted to put away the drinking cups this morning, and Linda and I both said she should put them in "the sink." She tried the drawer, the cabinet, and the counter, until I finally pointed out what the "sink" was. Then, again, I pointed at the other cups and said "can you put those in the sink, too?" The look on her face said "of course I can, stupid" and she did.

In general, Bacha has her sensitive moments. She doesn't like to be yelled at, for instance. Also there are a few things she considers "hers" -- her bathroom drinking cup, for instance -- and she gets very upset when Tucker "shares" this. A scolding or other infraction of some sort is usually followed by about 30 seconds of pouting, often a walk over to a chair or couch to hide her face, and then the bawling. But she recovers quickly; that smile returning once everything's OK again.

Bacha, by the way, has a very cute voice. Perhaps the sound track I mentioned is a necessity, because you just have to hear her laugh to understand. Her voice is raspy, and her laugh can be positively evil sometimes.

I've been wondering if anybody reading any of this has any questions. If so, post a comment. Anything that could make an interesting research project might be fun and doable. Questions that we can just flat our answer are great, too. Would love to be your eyes and ears over here...

10:15 PM

We put Tucker and Mia down to sleep (after a very long bath) at about 9, and had little hope that they'd go to sleep because they had a four-hour nap today. Mia did drop off, but after an hour and fifteen minutes, Tucker was still awake, so we've just brought him out to hang out with us.

He's a constant stream of questions about things on TV right now. Linda is educating him about the theory of evolution because they're watching something about archeology (had to turn off Running Man when he came out).

I'm trying to contact Eldo to resolve this *^#%$! ticket issue once and for all. 10 PM is 9 AM his time (he's in Kansas). But enough for now.