Hands Slapped

Today we got in trouble by the caregivers in the afternoon for feeding Michael Oscar too much this morning. He wasn't happy that we couldn't give him any food and drink at the afternoon visit. I think he understood though because he heard the lady complaining to our interpreter about the food and drink. The visit wasn't as fun to him as usual. He really looked forward to those peanut butter crackers ("cookie")and drink.

These pictures are from the visits this morning when we were feeding him. I had Cheerios in my hand and he was looking at me smiling because that's his little charm tactic to get more. He knows how to work us.

Donya and Marat, Our Life-lines

The men in the picture are Donya and Marat in front of the orphanage entrance. Donya, the one in the red, is our interpreter and Marat, the one with the hat, is our driver. They bring us to the orphanage and anywhere else we want to go. They are great guys.

Donya reads what we need him to, tells us about the area, the culture and interprets at the orphanage, bank, internet card store, phone card store and grocery store. He even reads the labels on packages in the grocery store and tells us what it is if needed.

Marat, the driver, doesn't speak English but he comes out with some English words sometimes and makes us laugh. We play around with each other everyday and he'll say the english word and we'll say the same thing in Russian and we all laugh. "spa-she-ba" (thank you), "doe-bray-oo-tra" (good morning), and "posh-lee" (let's go)are some of the things we say. He has gold teeth but you can't see them in this picture. Maybe I can get one of him smiling in the future. I have seen many people with gold teeth. They don't smile a lot here though. Americans smile a lot compared to here.

We went out to lunch with them a couple of times. Donya reads the menu for us. It only costs 10 U.S. dollars (we use tenge "ten-gay" currency here but $10 is the equivalent) to feed all of us and that includes drinks. It is very cheap compared to the U.S. An average person here makes about $200/month.

The other picture was taken from our kitchen window this morning. It is snowing today (Saturday.)

p.s. When Michael Oscar saw us this morning at the orphanage he had a huge smile and hurried up to us with open arms. We're making progress. :)

Choose

Yesterday afternoon and today the coordinators and the director came in to our visits to talk with us about Oscar and whether we want to see more children. We had the feeling they knew we were concerned about Oscar's medical condition and they know he is underdeveloped and can be stubborn etc.

After much thought and after seeing Oscar's progress over the past week, we told them that we wanted Oscar. We understand that our definition of a healthy child in America is different than here and we can help him at home if need be. I think he has warmed up to us now and likes us. He calls us Mama and Dada and smiles a lot more than earlier in the week.

He still cries when he doesn't like something though. He is set in his ways to eat, sleep, playtime, eat, sleep, playtime. We throw a monkey wrench into his playtime with him having to be in this small visiting room for hours. We stop his crying with snacks and then we play. We understand him better now and we know he was given to us for a reason. He is precious when he is himself.

They took passport pictures today and they have sent his paperwork to who knows where to be processed as Michael Oscar Zalomski for court. We know Oscar is the most fitting name for his personality but we asked him if he minded Michael Oscar and he said no problem. ha-ha...just kidding

The pictures are of what we do everyday, two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon---eat and play on the floor with legos! We found a new thing to do today. DRAW! He likes my pen so we brought a pad and he just scribbles away. It can get boring in that small room though. We're all getting pretty good at the legos. Oscar is a little smartie with his. He likes making little cities on the platform and one big skyscraper.

Medical

Yesterday was a tough day because Oscar is still sick and I was upset that he cries when he has to come to us and that it is hard to get him to respond, play or smile. I was hoping for more progess by now. When we do finally get him to smile and laugh, it is the best thing. We have figured out that you have to use reverse psychology with him and approach him indirectly. He reverts when you go at him or want him to do something. Sometimes this is tough to deal with.

We're concerned about his health too. They told us that he would be fine and that he has a fever because of immunizations but we had the feeling there is more wrong with him. We're concerned that he has weak legs and arms. I requested that someone tell us about his medical history so they read us his medical record. We found out he has some medical problems but they say it's nothing severe etc. but I have to wonder.

Today he was better then yesterday. We went outside. With his legs being weak, three layers of clothes on and with his boots being too big, it was tough for him to walk. He needs exercise and a healthy diet with iron and calcium. The other kids push him over when they run by. He is the youngest of the group. He gets bruises from them too. I saw one push him with a toy and I gave that kid the eye like he better not do that again. Eventhough they look young in the picture. They are 3 and 4 year olds. Oscar has a red shirt at the table. We played with the legos and a balloon today and he liked that. Again, his smile is the cutest thing. We go back soon and we will see what happens with this next visit.

Apartment

Here is a picture from our apartment building and the living room of our apartment. There is a mountain range nearby that you can see. Gas is about .50 to .60 cents here, cigarettes are a dollar or a little less, milk comes in a box (different than milk cartons), food portions at restaurants are A LOT smaller than in the U.S. We overeat so much in America. A pizza is the size of a dinner plate that we use for supper. I bought crepes yesterday and they were on the medium/small size dinner plate that we would use at home. Streets are half concrete and dirt (currently mud because of the rain and melting snow). We were told the government is not putting any money into the roads this year. A lot of the population smokes. Most live in apartment buidlings like the one we're in. There are various types of cars but mainly small little boxy cars. There are about 200,000-300,000 people in this city and many people walk to their destinations. Most of the people dress nice. The ethnicities are mainly a mix of Kazaks, Russians and German along with a few other ethnicities. We are planning to sight-see on the weekend or next week. There are museums and other things we want to see. The driver and interpreter will bring us.

Day 2 at Orphanage

We went back to the orphanage twice today and saw Oscar (Ah-scah" or "Ah-scah-tee" is how they say his name in Russian) He was still scared and cried at times because he wanted to go back with the group. It was play time and he knew it and was upset that he had to go with these strangers again. We had peanut butter crackers and he wanted them so he gave us a chance. He was hungry and thirsty. We are amazed how he already drinks out of a cup and is potty trained and he just turned two. The babies here in Kazakhstan don't wear diapers at all.

This morning, he warmed up to John. John made him smile and giggle for the first time in the mirror. John bribed him over to him with some crackers and then sat him on his lap and they were friends from that point to then end of the visit. When they were looking in the mirror John was sticking out his tongue and I was saying "nyet da-da" (no da-da in Russian) and John would stop then do it again in the mirror and he would giggle. He was also doing a peek-a-boo type of thing in the mirror which he liked too. This is the first time we've seen him smile and heard him laugh.

At the afternoon visit, he wasn't happy again to come with us because he wanted to play with the group. I was told his favorite toys are the legos so we bribed him to come with us to the visiting room with more peanut butter crackers and some legos from the toy room. We had fun playing with the legos on the floor and Oscar is good at it too for his age. He was opening up a bit with us. Not totally but a start.

We met our baby boy!

We met Oscar! Our trip to the orphanage was delayed until this afternoon at 3:00. When we got there we had to wait a while for the director to get out of a meeting.

After the meeting, they brought us into the director's office and we were talking and a caregiver brought in Oscar and he was crying and very, very scared. He was in a fetal position and crying and just did not want to be there with all these scarey adults staring at him. He was shutting his eyes tight and big tears were coming out but he didn't cry loud. He is very tiny, fragile and pale. I think he had a fever too. He seems to weigh about 20 lbs. if that. He had a bruise on his face. After already having a two-year-old and taking care of many, I know bruises happen easily with toddlers.

The caregiver sat down and tried to calm him down in Russian but he did not want to hear it with all these weird people staring at him. He cried and hid his face. John stood back with the male translator and others so Oscar would not be more scared because he has never seen a male before. I went up to him and tried to calm him while the caregiver did also in Russian.

I took him from the caregiver and he didn't want to come at first but when he realized I wasn't letting go and I hugged and talked to him and kissed him he just gave in and hugged me back. I turned him around to face me so everyone wouldn't stare at him. He cried a little more because he was frightened but I stood up and rocked him and we looked at the stuff on the shelves. It was late in the day so our visit was cut short and I had to bring him up to his group. As I walked up the stairs holding him, he was just looking around and I brought him into the room with the group of kids and gave him to the caregiver.

When the caregiver took him and put him down with the group, I saw him stand for the first time and he turned around and looked at me directly for pretty much the first time and waved bye with his tiny hand in the air and said "paka-paka" (bye-bye) softly. The rest of the kids were all waving saying "paka-paka!" I said paka-paka and waved good-bye and all the kids were saying paka-paka and waving with him included. So, I went off with that vision of him turning around doing that. It was a nice little ending of a first visit that I will never forget. We can't wait to see him again tomorrow at 9:30. He needs us very much.

Waiting to meet our boy!!!

Hello. In two hours we will be picked up to go to the orphanage to meet Oscar. Someone told us yesterday that she has seen him and he is small, however, someone else told me he is small but the biggest of the toddler group. I heard all the children are small.

I can't believe it's time to meet. I have to keep myself composed so I'm not a big cry baby. I'll end up being the one they will have to tell to stop crying instead of him. I can do it I think (maybe :) I will take pictures if all goes well so you all can see him.

Haley will finally see her brother. I keep missing talking to her because she is sleeping or not home and because of the time difference but we will talk soon sweetie and when I get home I will tell you everything. I am taking tons of pictures to show you everything.

More Pictures of Traveling

The first picture above is from the airport in Germany. The next ones are from the air going into the region we are in. Everybody lives in apartments here in very old concrete or brick buildings. We stick out like sore thumbs. It seems like everybody smokes. Most women wear high heels (and I didn't bring mine lol) The stores are small shops in these concrete or brick buildings. The food is different in the grocery store.

Tomorrow we will finally see Oscar (Michael Oscar:). We're planning on bringing him toys and some snacks so he'll warm up to us quicker. I hope he likes us. We cannot wait and cannot believe we are finally going to meet him. This trip is definitely an experience we won't forget.

WE'RE HERE!!

Hello everybody,

We are finally here after a very long flight. It was tough. I think we are about 7000 miles away from home and let me tell you it feels like it. We connected in Germany and it was a very long layover. We tried to sleep in the airport but we couldn't. The language barrier was not as bad as I thought it would be because many people know English there which was good for us.

After the long wait we flew to Almaty which was another 6,5 hrs. I was delirious from lack of sleep that I went to sleep and don't even remember taking off. I only slept 3 hrs. though. The plane was nice but as good as it gets on a plane. First class would've been a lot better.

When we got to Almaty, we got there at 1 am their time. It was a culture shock. Not as many people know english but they know some and they try. They were helpful in the airport and the workers are very serious. There was a soldier at the door when we got off the plane. Their uniforms kind of scare me because they look so different from the U.S. and they stare at you so we were feeling a bit paranoid. Anyway, we met a driver and the translator in the Almaty airport.

The driver and translator were there to meet us and help us for this layover. They said they could take us to an apartment to sleep a little before the next flight instead of waiting in the airport for hours again. The cab drivers swarmed us when we were leaving trying to get our business. Thank god for the translator and driver. We went to an apartment twenty minutes from the airport and the building was not the Hyatt not even Mary's Motor Lodge. It was a scarey looking highrise and it looked like what you see in the middle east. TOTAL culture shock but we coped.

Hours later they came back to get us and we went back to the airport with NO time to spare. Our luggage was too heavy and we had to pay 14000 tenge (104.00 U.S. dollars) which we had to get exchanged quickly in the airport. Again, thank god for the translator.

We then took a 2 hour flight on a smaller plane ('puddle jumper' as john calls it) and we got to this area. It's colder here then the other places we went to. The airport was very small. The last one we were at in Almaty was the size of the old TF Green. This one was smaller.

We met another translator and driver at the airport and they took us to the grocery store and to get an internet card. We still need a phone card but the store isn't open so we'll get it tomorrow after we meet OSCAR!!!!!!
Well, don't want to bore you with more details right now. I will tell you about the apartment we're in tomorrow. I will post pictures of the area too so you can get a feeling of what it's like around here. Bye for now, we miss you all!!! Especially Haley!! love you Haley, talk to you soon...