Week one is done!

Well, we have made it through the first week of our adoption adventure, and are that much closer to getting ourselves and Emma home. Thanks again to those at home who have supported us. We couldn’t be doing this without you. Visiting Emma was fun today. We brought a bag full of toys, but she seemed more interested in trying to pull over the plants on the side of the room. It isn’t a very big room, so our powers of distraction were thoroughly tested. For those who have asked for brighter photos, I’m not sure this is possible. The visitation room is quite dark. There is only one bulb on the ceiling to light the room. The Kazakhs waste much less energy than we Americans, and we find most places we go to be much darker than we’re used to.
After our visit to the orphanage, we went to the Ramstore in search of an affordable toaster. No luck - the cheapest one was about $100! We decided we could toast our bread in a frying pan. If only we could find some nice American no-stick cooking spray. Oh well…After shopping, we met up with an American couple from Rochester who are completing their adoption of an adorable little boy about Emma’s age. We found them by putting out an SOS on the yahoo groups along the lines of “Anybody else in Almaty who speaks English?” We all had lunch together in an Italian restaurant, which was relaxing and nice. The only glitch was when Jim ordered a Margarita to drink, and was instead brought a Pizza Margarita. We’d already eaten a pepperoni pizza, but since we didn’t know how to explain what we really wanted in Russian, we simply said “Spaseba” (thank you), boxed it up and carried it back to our apartment. At least we’ve got dinner covered.

To our friends in the yahoo groups: thank you to those who have adopted already for your encouragement, and to those waiting - hang in there - you'll be here soon (and if that is indeed before the 23rd, e-mail us at qcpetres@gmail.com when you get here and we'll try to meet up with you). If any of you are preparing to travel and have specific questions, feel free to e-mail us as well.
Today’s photos include the usual ones taken inside the orphanage, as well as some of the outside. It is blustery today, as you can see. Right outside the orphanage gates we saw a Kazakh woman in a long coat walking a little dog in a snowsuit. We are very glad we brought our down coats. We think the photos in Cyrillic are the sign for Baby House 3 on the outside wall, and the babies’ schedule on the inside wall. Enjoy the pictures and the rest of your weekend!