Bacha, Bacha, Bacha

Linda Here

- for clarification with anyone new to the blog
(pronounced like ChewBACCA, or like the becca after
Rebecca with an "ah" sound (Re)bahcha, or Bach like
the composer with an ahhh on the end. This name has
been a nickname for Bayht all her life. Our decision
to make was how to spell Bacha as the Russian letters
that would be used are not available or sound
different in our American alphabet. So our little
girl's name is Mia Bahyt Franke with the nickname
Bacha.

Bacha is a great sleeper. This is good news. She
will take a 2 - 3 hour nap with Tucker and sleep
through the night 10 or 11 hours. Yea!

When Bacha wakes the first thing she does when she
comes out after giving us a big smile is look for and
put on a baseball cap. She may also put socks on her
hands and feet. She smiles almost all the time except
when she thinks that Tucker might get something that
she won't. Whatever Tucker wants Bacha wants whether
she was thinking about it or not. I was surprised
that after Tucker used the potty this afternoon for a
poop, Bacha felt slighted when I turned the light off.
She wanted to go next even though she didn't need to.

Bacha seems to use the potty as bonding time with
Mama. She asks to go to it often and when she does I
balance her as there is no child seat and then I sit
on the edge of the bathtub. Bacha then makes her
great big smile and imaginative faces, sounds and
holds out her hand for touch. I mirror whatever she
does and she loves this time together. It really is
quite cute.

Bathtime is fun. Both she and Tucker get in the tub
together and play. Water flies everywhere and there
are lots of smiles and giggles.

Language is starting to come. Bacha knows brush teeth
and will ask to brush teeth several times a day. She
knows the words milk, more, shoes, socks, bed, hat,
cookie, and outside. Bacha likes to draw circles on
the magna doodle, put stickers everywhere, (this
morning it was on the tips of each finger) and
occasionally go through a book or magazine. Tucker
has a book called "I Love You". It is a book he can
proudly read all by himself. Bacha likes to pretend
she reads it as well. She uses just the right
cadence.

I brought three stuffed animals including Mouse &
Mouse and elephant. Bacha was telling stories to
herself using Mouse & Mouse while I was telling Tucker
a Luke story last night. It is the first time she
really seemed to care about the stuffed animals.
Tonight she cuddled up with Mouse.

I slept next to Bacha the last three nights in case
she were to wake up which she has. When she does she
has a look of fright. Last night she came over and
cuddled next to me. If she wakes up I blow her kisses
and rub her belly and she falls right back to sleep.
She moves around at night like Tucker does. The two
of them just flop all night. I have started to put
diapers on Bacha at sleeptime. She has had nap and
bedtime accidents even though I have woken her up
during the night to pee. She is drinking a lot more
than she did at the Baby house where they regulated
her liquids.

Bacha is very animated and attracts lots of attention
when we are out. In the store the other day while we
were buying he shoes she sought out a mirror and
started making faces and noises. The ladies loved
her. Bacha had stong opinions on which shoes she liked
and which she didn't.

Bacha seemed to be requesting musica the other day. I
forgot we left a little music in I-tunes on the
laptop. I have a collection of Tom Jones, Cassandra
Wilson, Diana Krall and Ceclia Bartoli. When I hear
Tom Jones singing the Green Green Grass of Home I miss
kudzu.

I brought a Groovy girl doll with us from home. Bacha
has shown no interest she seems much more of a tomboy
in tastes.

Last night I had a heart to heart talk with Tucker
just after Bacha went to sleep. Bacha takes just
minutes to fall asleep whereas Tucker needs time and
touch to wind down - a good 45 minutes. I asked
Tucker how he felt so far about Mia. "Do you like
that Mia is here", "no, she takes my sword". "Will
she break my light saber "saver" when we get home"? I
had to assure Tucker that she would not have the
opportunity to break his light saver and that I
understood that perhaps his sword should be off limits
to Bacha. He appreciated my understanding and gave me
a big kiss. I do love these two so much.

__________________________________
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Mia likes hats

Mia likes hats
Originally uploaded by mmfranke.

It seems that as soon as Mia came "home" with us, we pretty much stopped taking pictures. Tsk, tsk... Anyway, here's a playful shot of Mia posing for Linda with Linda's hat on. Mia likes hats. First thing she does in the morning is put one on.

Philosophizing

9 PM

Mike here.

I can't help thinking that there must be more to write about during a trip to Kazakhstan than the mundane things with which I find myself consumed these days. But then again, life really is probably made up of multiple strands of mundane fibers woven together to make some sort of profound fabric. Perhaps a few strands...
* Last night, Tucker wouldn't go to sleep right away, so we let him stay up with us for a while. It seemed like years since it had been just the three of us. I couldn't convince myself that it had only been 48 hours.
* My days include many times during which I try to communicate with people though I speak only a smattering of the language. Ironically, I find myself connecting more with people around me than I do at home, not less. What I lack in vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar, I have to make up for in eye contact, body English, and vulnerability.
* There is an entire branch of mathematics devoted to such problems as the one Linda tries to solve almost every day -- that of unravelling a skein of yarn.
* There are people in the world who, for whatever reason fate has bestowed upon them, go through their entire lives as a curiosity; a sideshow; an attraction. I have developed immense respect for these people, as, after only a few weeks, I'm already tired of being stared at everywhere I go because I look different than everyone around me. While I've always fantasized about mildly famous, or even somehow extraordinary, I must admit that I find the burden of peculiarity to be a heavy one.

Today's morning excursion to the green market netted Linda yet another four skeins of yarn -- this time including the beautiful, but not very practical, colors of the Kazakh flag. The "yarn lady" sees Linda coming and smiles.

Our afternoon excursion, to the park, included an exhilarating session of "bumper cars," with Tucker and myself in one car, Linda and Bacha in another, and two other people in two other cars. Tucker was thrilled, and Bacha slightly overwhelmed. We won.

We also paid for some time for Tucker and Bacha to romp around in one of those inflatable climbing gyms, with slides and catwalks and bins of balls. Tucker was a very good big brother, helping Bacha up some stairs at one point by taking her hand and leading her, then following up behind her to make sure "she gots it." He also confronted another little boy at one point, saying "she's my sister!"

Our attempt at settling down in the park's outdoor cafe to have some Shashlyk (kabobs) and beer was frustrating, however. Firstly, it wasn't clear how to order food. I figured out that we had to order at the window. Then I figured out that the lady in the window said you had to actually order the Shashlyk from the guy outside the fence who was cooking it. So I did. But by the time I got to order, the guy had run out. How do you run a restaurant by running out of food at 5 PM? I don't know. So we took our beer to go (you can do that here -- open containers are common).

Oh. We also made our first trip to the "goom" store near the park. Two years ago, this was a daily excursion, largely because it's across the street from the internet cafe (which we aren't using this time). The goom store is a large department store, Kazakh style. We did the marriage-saving thing of splitting up: Tucker and I stayed outside to guard the strollers (and eat ice cream) while Linda and Bacha went inside to endure the heat and buy some more clothes for Bacha. Tucker and I had a great time watching people. At one point he wanted me to climb the stairs, and I told him I wanted to stay near the strollers. He said "it's OK Papa, I'll stay here and protect them." Heh. There was also one interesting ongoing incident of a young mother and her 18-month-old (or so) son. He kept bawling, and she couldn't console him. It seemed ridiculously obvious to me that the reason he was so upset is that she simply wouldn't let him do any of the things he wanted to do: crawl (instead of walk) up the stairs, play with the plastic bottle, or... fall. It seems that it's extremely distasteful here for children to be seen sitting or even kneeling on the ground or the floor. Sure, it can be dirty, but the level of alarm here seems disproportionate.

Regarding how people dress... The last time we were here, I spent the entire time wearing one of two pairs of Adidas sweat pants that I bought here, because I felt too out-of-place wearing my jeans. The sweats were very common, and I felt that when I wore them I only stuck out like a slightly sore thumb rather than a completely inflamed one. This time, however, it's the opposite. Jeans are common -- although I like baggy ones, and the ones here are all skin-tight. The men all wear leather shoes with long, squared-off toes and hard soles. They wear short-sleeve, button-down shirts. Of all of this, I think it's not so much my clothing that makes me stand out, it's the fact that I'm white (though getting a pretty good tan), tall, and have a beard. I'm sure that the few who notice my earring raise an eyebrow as well.

The women dress very nicely, mostly. Dresses, skirts, tight tops, high heels... you get the idea. I watched a woman this morning wearing a tight white blouse, sheer, side-slitted skirt and high heels negotiate the dirt lot and road behind our apartment like it was nothing. She looked right at home stepping around mud puddles and onto the path behind the garbage dump.

Have I mentioned how the men squat? It's very common for men to rest by squatting -- at a bus stop, while talking in a group, just outside smoking a cigarette. I don't think most Westerners can even do it. I can't do it easily unless I have a little something under my heels (though then it's quite comfortable). It's just a sight you don't see in the States.

I figured out a thing about pedestrian traffic today. Until today I always felt unsure about when I could cross a street and have cars stop for me, or when they would beep and claim right-of-way. It's the crosswalk. If the crosswalk is painted with fat white stripes, then you're pretty safe to just step out into the road at any time (though the cars may pull up to within inches of you).

About the honey here... I love honey. I eat a lot of it at home. Usually the regular kind that you squeeze out of a plastic bottle of some kind. Sometimes the "spun" kind that you spread. I bought honey here the other day. I had to ask Sveta to confirm my pronunciation of it: "myud" (it was too close to "mud" for comfort). It's very good, but strange. You have to stir it, and it has a grainy sort of texture -- a little like the squeezable kind of honey I'm used to back home after it's started to crystallize. It's very strong, too. If you lick a spoonful of it, you get a pretty good sugar "rush," and you can practically taste the pollen.

That's it for now. Pacca Pacca. (bye)

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.

Fixing a car, Kokshetau style

Fixing a car, Kokshetau style
Originally uploaded by mmfranke.

Here's a clandesting shot I grabbed while we were walking to market today. Some guys fixing a car (no, really).

Avla Khan

Avla Khan
Originally uploaded by mmfranke.

You're heard of Kubla Khan. Well this is a picture of the whole family at a statue of Avla Khan. I wish I could say what his significance is, but I can't. He's just a very prominent figure in Kazakh history. A great warrior. I will learn more (can't find anything on google). Stay tuned.

Day One with Mia. No blood.

Mike here.

(BTW, I can't take credit for the title of this post. Linda's idea.)

It's 3 PM. Linda and the kids (still like the sound of that) are taking a nap. Woo hoo! A successful nap! And Bacha didn't say "ne godoo" even once!

Sleeping arrangements are that the kids sleep in the bedroom, and Linda and I sleep wherever we can. Heh. One of us will probably sleep with them -- probably her -- and me in the living room. This works out because it gives us a little along time together once the kids have gone to bed. When it was just Tucker, we'd move him into the living room when we went to bed, but that's a bit more of a hassle with the two of them. Also, the couch in the living room is small, and they're more likely to fall off it at night -- not to mention bludgeon each other to death in their sleep (they both do a lot of acrobatics in their sleep).

I can see it now, the nightmare scenario (I have lots of time to think of these nowadays)... we're walking around Kokshetau with our two Kazakh kids, both of them with black eyes, and some babushka stops us and starts yelling at us, wielding a straw broom like a weapon. All we can understand is that she's angry, and keeps saying "black eyes" ("chorny glaz" happens to be something I understand). She also mumbling something about "Amerikanyits" and "George Bush" and "Lewinsky" and causes enough of a commotion to attract the attention of the local fireman... err... military officer. We try in vain to explain that The black eyes were mutually self-inflicted during a nap... Before long, we're all hauled off to the local prison, where we're put in a cell with one of the other American couples, who are being held for touching the merchandise at the green market (ouch -- they really should've known better). After a long wait, Sveta comes to our rescue and explains to them our situation. We're required to pay a fine of 500 Tenge and three Ziploc bags (they're very precious here), and then we're sent on our way.

Ok, back to reality now. Anyway, I usually sleep in the living room, also because I'm usually the one up the latest (posting stuff to the internet and watching soccer).

While it's true I should be getting more sleep than I am, I'm still getting more sleep than I usually do at home, and I'm really quite tired most of the time. I know, I know, there are a lot of things to be mentally exhausted about, and I'm cutting myself some slack about that. I feel like I have to be "on" all the time. In fact, I've been a little too "on" lately -- enough to get on Linda's nerves. She rightfully called me on it last night, and I'll have to find a way to lighten up. I just feel like there's always something to do, and if I don't do it, something bad will happen. I get this way on camping trips, too, although on most of my camping trips I've had only myself to take care of and that's a lot less stressful, so I relax. Right now I feel like I'm on a camping trip that's going on a little too long and I'm ready to go home. But it's only half over.

We went to a play today at the same place we saw the last play. This one was a story about Alladin. The stage production was quite elaborate, and the sound system was a character in itself, acting as the voice of the genie and the bad magician in a number of places. The lighting was quite elaborate, too. Tucker was scared through a lot of it, and needed lots of hugs, often turning his back on the show to hug me chest-to-chest and have me tell him what was going on. He's very sensitive to things like that -- especially when sound is involved. Sveta tried her best to translate what was going on and at least help us understand the basic plot elements (Alladin sets eyes on the Sultan's daughter and is hunted down because this is a crime... he obtains the lamp somehow and the evil magician wants it... the Sultan wants his daughter to marry a particular rich nobleman and they convince her that meeting Alladin was a dream... she believes it... then she doesn't, and uses the lamp/genie to exact revenge... there's a wedding... yada yada yada). There was lots of music and dancing. Very fun to watch, even if I could only understand a word or two.

We also went shopping at the green market. To be specific, we took all five of us (us, the kids, Sveta) and two strollers through the most congested, claustrophobic parts of the market to find clothes for Mia. I about hit my limit when Tucker started acting up, so I did the same "guy thing" I generally do in the mall at home... Tucker and I went and played in a mud puddle while the girls shopped. I was pretty much OK with that.

Hmmm... I got good reviews on my last post for writing what I considered to be boring details about insignificant things, so I'll do it some more, because it's good therapy for me.

Oh yeah. We have no water. Came home from our outing to find that the water to the whole apartment was off. I immediately called Sveta, and she said "yes, this happens sometimes. Maybe in a few hours." So I said OK. She called back a little while later to say that Oleg (the landlord) could bring more water if we needed it. But we really have enough to drink. It's things like washing the dishes, finishing the laundry, and going "kakat" (figure it out) that concerns me. Anyway, we'll just wait. Two years ago, this sort of thing happened with the power. This time it's the water. Whatever.

I remember writing in my journal last time that "things basically don't really work" in Kazakhstan. While things are much better this time, in general there's still a lingering sense of brokenness in everything, it seems. At the baby house, I recently took a photo of a shower in one of the bathrooms. The shower head is permanently fixed so that it aims at a corner of the stall in an unusable way. There is no place at all for a curtain of any sort. All the pipes are exposed, and there are no knobs on what must be the hot and cold water valves -- besides, the valves are painted over. Finally, there is an electrical wire coming out of a hole at about head-height in one side of the stall, along the wall and out another hammered-out hole in the other side of the stall. And to top it all off, the shower looks like it was used recently. <shrug>

Oleg and Sveta just came to the door unexpectedly. Oleg brought two five-liter jugs of water anyway (not for drinking, this water). I thanked him/them profusely, and asked if, just in case, there was a place I could get more if needed. Oleg and Sveta had about a three-minute, argumentative, back-and-forth conversation, after which Sveta translated it as "he said there will be water today." I just love those kinds of conversations.

They also brought our phone bill up until now. So far we've chalked up about 8000 Tenge in phone charges -- almost all of them for the internet. That's about $60, or $3/day on average, at a rate of about $1-$2 per hour, depending on the time. I can live with that, as it's not only our only real link to the rest of the world, but our main source of entertainment. Besides, we're using it less now, since we're getting the routing down to where we get on and off quicker.

I can't look at the women here the same way any more. The younger ones, that is. Especially the high-school age ones. I keep seeing Mia in them. Oh my god, she's likely to be one of those beautiful, tall, slender, asian-looking women some day. Several tiems, I've felt waves of "overprotective father" already welling up inside me that have caught me by surprise. Tucker, of course, is also likely to be one of those tall, asian men. "Tall" and "Asian" are two words that most Americans don't associate with one another in general, I think. But the combination is stunning. Kazakh people are a proud, and proud-looking, people. Plus, the women here always dress very nicely -- skirts, heels, makeup -- and, of course, it's summer.

I wonder if I mentioned an observation that I made on the last trip. I observed that here, people walk upright with good posture, yet they regularly bend over or squat to do manual labor -- and obesity seems to be almost nonexistent. In the United States, people all too often shun manual labor that causes them to squat or bend over, and yet they often walk with a slump -- and obesity is rampant despite the number of health clubs and diet programs around. Go figure. Similarly, this time I've noticed that in the Unites States it's considered almost shameful to, say, re-use a plastic bag. In fact, it should be shameful NOT to. While "recycling" is very uncommon in Kazakhstan, "re-use" is pervasive. So what's the moral of the story? I don't know. You decide.

I think I hear movement in the other room... Yup... Mia woke up a bit disoriented, and had to go kakat. She's up now, and smiling. She's almost always smiling. That's the smile that Linda fell in love with two years ago. Tucker, on the other hand, is "no man" -- that's when he's being cranky and has nothing to say but "no"...

Water just came back on. I guess my time alone is at its end. Time to go and get supplies (funny, at home I call it "shopping").

Oh -- also notice the new "Going Home" movie. Really apologize for the small format. Perhaps I'll try shorter, larger-format ones next. In case you can't read the subtitle on the one part of the movie, it says "This is where Mia receives final instructions"... The head caregiver for her group was putting the fear of god into her about paying attention to Mama and Papa, and being good to your brother... etc... Mia's response was simply to say "Da". I'm going to get that part reproduced as an audio loop when I get home, and play it for her while she's sleeping... <insert evil laugh here>...

.... Quite time now... the kids are asleep...

On the language front... Bacha spoke her first unsolicited (sort of) English words tonight. I said "OK, time to brush teeth." She responded with "Ne godoo bosh teeth". Heh.

Also on the language front... I was tickling her mercilessly on the bed tonight, and she was LOVING it. She had a look of surpise on her face every time. Actual shock and awe (the good kind). And she kept saying "Abyet" when I was done. I soon figured out that this MUST mean "again." Sure enough.

The ride home

The ride home
Originally uploaded by mmfranke.

Here's a shot of Linda and Mia in the car on the ride home from Shchuchinsk today.

The nap that never happened

The nap that never happened
Originally uploaded by mmfranke.

I wrote about trying to put Tucker and Mia down for a nap today. Fat chance. But it was nice to see them together...

Gifts

Gifts
Originally uploaded by mmfranke.

Ths most stressful part of this entire trip is now behind us. Linda has completed the daunting task of putting together the many bags of gifts to be given to the various people involved. It was stressful last time we did this, and also this time. However, we have much nicer gifts this time, filling pretty little bags with little goodies like scarves we bought in Amsterdam, boxes of chocolates, South Carolina bookmarks we brought from home, and specially assembled photo books for certain special people.

Bacha Day

Mike here. I'm writing this as I'm watching Manchester United and Arsenal duke it out in English Premier League play. Pretty brutal match, as the referee has let things get quite out of control and is now finally flinging yellow cards as if they were on sale.

As planned, today we picked up Bacha from the baby house in Shchuchinsk to bring her "home" to our apartment in Kokshetau. In a strange way, it was all pretty uneventful -- as much as such a thing can be. She was excited to see us, and anxious to go. She and Tucker were both calm during most of the drive; Tucker even dozing off after a while. I had Mia in my lap for much of the drive, and though she wanted to close here eyes, there was clearly too much to see, and she also kept looking at me to see, I think, if she could trust me. Finally near the end of the trip, though she never slept, she did allow herself to lay her head on my shoulder and let me cradle her through the worst of the bumps.

Once we arrived in Kokshetau, we stopped at the military academy cafe (I'm calling it the "soup kitchen" in my mind) to order a big, celebratory meal. Four little pots (very large bowls) of borshch, Four plates of "plouf" (rice pilaf with meat), enough cabbage salad for everyone, and a plate of "coteleta" (cutelets -- essentially little ground beef burgers) all cost 800 Tenge. We got home and feasted, only eating half of it all.

After the feast, during which everyone ate very well -- especially Mia, we attempted the nap. Yeah, right. We knew it was a long shot.

After the nap that never happened, we finally unpacked the second stroller we brought, and went shopping at the clothing section (mostly) of the green market. It was a very windy, dusty day, and the walk there is mostly on dirt road. Mia handled it like a trooper. Tucker whined a bit until we got him a hat to put over his face. He's very sensitive to wind, especially when it means dust in the eyes.

We tried to find Mia some shoes, and did, but 1300 Tenge seemed too high a price (God forbid we pay American prices!), so we passed them up. She likes wearing Tucker's old sneakers, and even though they're several sizes too big because they're just barely too small for Tucker, she gets around in the pretty well. And when Bacha has an idea about what she wants to wear, it's very difficult to convince her otherwise.

We finished the shopping trip buying some toiletries, more yarn for Linda, and our basic daily supply of water, milk, and yogurt. Couldn't find any cold cereal that Tucker would recognize (he doesn't like the cooked cereal we have), but I got some stuff made by Nestle that's filled with sweetened condensed milk. Just had some myself and it's really good. They use sweetened condensed milk a lot here -- Sveta brought sandwiches to the lake the other day that had the stuff spread on them, along with butter.

Anway... (gee, I'll bet you're finding this to be fascinating reading...)

After the shopping trip, we hung our for a bit at home, and before we knew it, it was bath time.

(Whoa -- the soccer match just got uglier. The ref just called a PK and it's being wildly contested. The replay shows that there was no contact. Yup. 1-0 Man U.)

We were expecting fireworks, thinking that Mia wouldn't like the bath since she's never really had one. Or at least we've been told so. We've been told that the kids at the baby house get "saunas" which are essentially steam baths. But I'm not so sure because Tucker loved his first bath with us, and so did Mia. We put them in the tub together tonight and I did the classic Papa thing and took some X-rated video. There was lots of laughter when they splashed each other. No problems even washing the hair. The only tears came when Mia had to get out.

This would be a good time to mention our most important Russian lesson for the day. The verb "hotchoo" (sounds like a sneeze but with a heavily aspirated Russian "h") means "to want." "Nee Hotch" means "I don't want." In 3-year-old Russian, "Nee Hotchoo" sounds like "Ne Godoo". We heard this a LOT today. Godoo, Ne godoo. Godoo, ne godoo. Mia has opinions on everything.

Tonight at dinner, in fact, she was trying to explain to Linda that she wanted to be fed (instead of feeding herself). Finally, in frustration, she grabbed Linda's hand and stuck it on her own spoon, as if to say "now do you get it?"

Linda read the kids ("the kids" -- I like that) a story, and then tried to get them to sleep. She left them after a bit to calm themselves down, and a little while later I heard Mia crying and Tucker calling "Papa, Mama..." for help. I walked in and Mia was sitting up in bed, crying, and Tucker was trying to console her. She calmed down right away when Linda and I came in. We asked her if it would be OK if we slept with her, too ("Papa Mama Spat Tozshe?") and she quickly nodded "Da." She went to sleep pretty quickly after that.

Ooops... Linda just announced that she wet the bed. We wondered about that. We just re-made her bed on a pad on the floor, and she looks like she's going to go right back to sleep. And I made it out in the living room just in time to see Man U. go up 2-0.

So that's our day, and our evening. As it turns out, for Linda and me our lives haven't changed very much, in comparison with how Mia's life has changed, and even how Tucker's has.

Tucker, by the way, had a rough time for a little bit today. He was fine most of the day, but he woke up from his car nap while I was in getting dinner with Sveta, and apparently could not be pleased. He went from being an only child to being a big brother. All of a sudden he has to share his toys, act more responsibly, be a teacher, and share our time. Tough day for him today, and overall he handled it well.

Game over. 2-0 Manchester United. I'm gonna miss watching soccer on TV when we get home.

Mission Accomplished!

Mission Accomplished!
Originally uploaded by mmfranke.

Court proceedings went well today, and we are officially Mia's parents!



(Well, OK, there's still the 2 week "waiting period" in which we have a chance to change our minds...)



We'll probably write more soon, but for now here's a picture of all of us (Sveta is behind the camera) after the proceedings were complete. From left to right, the people are: Shaizada (she works with the "Sisters" law firm and handles paperwork), Linda, Tucker, Me, the pediatrician at the baby house (who said a lot of nice things about us, speaking on our behalf during the proceedings), the Judge, and an official from the ministry of education (who also said nice things about us since she was at the 60th anniversary celebration and saw us there).

Tucker climbs the walls

Tucker climbs the walls
Originally uploaded by mmfranke.

Here's a quick snapshot of Tucker literally "climbing the walls" just after the court proceedings today. He was very well behaved, considering the proceedings took about an hour, AFTER waiting a half an hour for the prosecutor to show up. He was getting pretty restless near the end, and I think things were overwith just in the nick of time. A Tucker meltdown in the judge's chambers would have been quite ugly. But in general he was a really good boy, and the judge was very understanding -- even at one point giving him some postcards to play with and saying he could "run" (we didn't have to hold him).

New Movies

Heya -- Mike again.

I just posted some new movies -- from the other day.

In the "circles" one, what you didn't get to see is that Mia was drawing with both hands. She didn't seem to have a preference.

In the "mobiles" one, you probably can't tell, but the mobiles are made out of used yogurt and drink containers. Even the "rope" itself is re-used -- it's torn up bits of old sheets.

Have I mentioned that tomorrow is a big day? :-)

Green Market Booth

Green Market Booth
Originally uploaded by mmfranke.

I took a few pictures at the green market the other day. None of them are really dramatic, or really give a feeling of the place. But here's a typical booth.

Snow Leapoard

Snow Leapoard
Originally uploaded by mmfranke.

Here's something you don't see every day. This one is about six feet long, just off the road on the way to Shchuchinsk. We pulled over so I could get this shot.

Showtime

Mike Here.

Tomorrow is the big day. At 8:30, Sveta and Alexander pick the three of us up to go to court to finalize Mia's adoption. I've written my speech, and Sveta has reviewed it. There's really not much else for us to do today -- especially since we've decided (on Sveta's suggestion) that it would actually be better to pick Mia up the following day instead of right after court tomorrow.

This means one more drive to Shchuchinsk, but it does give us another day to finalize our gifts, photo albums, etc. It also means another chance to get our apartment together. Perhaps it means a chance to breathe -- our last breath before we dive.

Our visit with Mia today was chaotic, as it was all with many other children. The tricycles were out in force, and there was much competition for them. Tucker loved pushing Mia on her trike -- she hasn't quite figured out the pedaling thing yet.

At one point, Mia and Nina were playing in the playground -- chasing each other. It was cute. One of them would shove the other, and then the chase was on. Tucker chased the both of them around and around until he figured out that he was the third wheel. Then he got pretty jealous and needed lots of hugs from us. We had to explain to him that sometimes girls like to play with girls, or just that sometimes people like to play with other people. It doesn't mean that Mia doesn't love him.

We also took a short ride in the car today, just to see what it would be like with the four of us. We remembered that Tucker was a little afraid of the car, so riding in it with us was pretty scary and we did this joyride thing with him to break the ice. Mia had no such fear, and was impatient when we would get going fast enough. It was very sweet to see Tucker with his arm around Mia, holding her steady, saying "watch out Bacha, lots of bumps!" He's such a good big brother.

Tonight, we went to the Louca's (the cottage) for a feast of takeout Shashlyk (kabobs) and various salads and stuff. We also got beer on tap for takeout -- you just bring in an old bottle and buy it for 130 Tenge per liter. You do the math. We bought four liters worth by the end of the night. Darn good beer, too.

I got a chance to talk to Chris Marker, the male half of the Chris and Suzie, the other American couple. I really enjoyed talking to Chris. He's got a pretty eclectic background. We laughed a lot. I certainly admire them for the task they've chosen -- that of adopting a 10-year-old girl. Little Nastya is unfortunately having a hard time. This is a tough age to be all by yourself with a bunch of Martians like us. Grown-ups, no less.

I am so, so grateful to the Loucas for opening up their house to the whole gang. It's a lot of work, and they're very generous. Onissus (probably spelled that wrong) is awesome with the kids, too. He's a chiropractor by trade, and clearly has a very grounded, patient demeanor.

Whoa. Big day tomorrow.