"Lost in Almaty"

Tuesday, Nov 13th
Ok, we weren't "Lost," but we have lost connectivity, thus this post is two days late (posted on Thursday from the Ram Store)...

Day 49. Major events of the day: “Yes, we have no connection,” Hamburgers and Ice Skating

Almaty weather: 33, feels like 33, and headed to 49. Overcast, haze and some drizzle.
Back in Petro: 10, feels like -5. Projected high: 22 (It warmed up from yesterday, but it’s still *COLD* up there!).
Meanwhile back in Memphis: Overnight low of 64 with thunderstorms, and heading back to a high of 74

The first thing I noticed this morning was that it got light before 8, much earlier than in Petropavlovsk. A quick check of the weather info confirms a sunrise of 7:41 am instead of 8:49. Sunset is at 5:30 pm, 6 minutes later than Petro. So our trip south not only took us to warmer weather, it also gave us an extra hour of daylight. Almaty is at about the same latitude (43N) as Milwaukee. Petropavlovsk is 12 degrees further north (55N, and about 900 straight-line miles away), about the same as Hudson Bay. Apparently that “little” distance makes a lot of difference!

Fortunately, I was able to “sniff” a wireless connection long enough to say “Hi” to Cathe before losing the connection. I can “see” several wireless routers, but can’t find a connection. This post will just have to go up a little late.

Since arriving yesterday, we’re back in the waiting mode, hoping the children’s new Kazakhstan passports and exit visas will be issued quickly. Keep us in your prayers that the paperwork is done. If it is, then we can get our exit interview with the US Embassy and get the children’s entry visas by Friday and catch a plane over the weekend. If we don’t get our exit interview by Friday, then we’ll be “stuck” due to flight schedules. It’s not all bad since there are things to see as long as the weather holds, but we would much rather be home!

In the mean time, maybe we will actually get to see the mountains. Today was overcast and hazy, so we can’t even see a hint of an outline (which we did at sunset yesterday). Cathe and I had only a brief glimpse of the snowcapped peaks to the south as we were on the YAK-40 heading to Petropavlovsk. I could see the faintest outline from our apartment, so the view must be spectacular on a clear day.

Last night, Kate didn’t take long to become as snug as a bug in a rug (literally), while David took command of the TV & DVD player remotes. In addition to our growing collection of movies at home, we have acquired several more here. The kids still have trouble sitting through more than a half hour at a time, but are getting better. Also, I’m becoming more accustomed to their activity and eating habits. Their lives were on a tighter schedule than the military, with specific start, and more importantly, finish times for everything. It didn’t take me long to understand the start times part, but we’ll have to work on finish times as not everything always goes per the planned schedule and a later start will usually mean a late end… Any parent who has suffered through, “Are we there yet?????” will understand perfectly. It may be a while before these two understand, “We’ll be done when we’re done.” 8-D

We’re completely on our own in Almaty, and definitely missing Masha and Sasha. It was nice to have local expertise to help us along. At least we’re close to the Ram Store mall, so it almost feels like home to me. Observing the kids, I am amazed that they are not totally overwhelmed with it all, especially the mall part. Maybe that’s because it’s only a bunch of stores and there’s not much exciting to do there? (we’ll wish for these days/years not too far in the future!).

During our morning adventure, we walked by the Presidential Palace (Almaty was the capitol before it moved to Astana 10 years ago). Daily walks will be part of our routine for a) something to do, and b) to ensure the kids are tired enough to go right to sleep at the appropriate time in the evening. Our kids are having a fun week with no school on top of being on school holiday last week. I’m sure they will be ready to go to school right away after being bored! Anyway, we hadn’t ventured more than a block from our apartment before Kate had a double-barreled inquisition from one of the babushkas (older woman/grandmother): Not only did she ask Kate why she wasn't wearing a hat (it was close to 50 outside), but also wanted to know why she wasn't in school. No questions for David who was only wearing a fleece, not even a coat... Maybe she figures boys are tougher?

Our first pass through the Ram Store was fun, but we missed a few items, napkins and matches, so we planned for another mid day pass through the Ram Store after going to visit the National Museum. Unfortunately, the museum is closed on Tuesdays, so we couldn’t go in. We did walk around the grounds and the kids posed for a picture with a camel statue out front. We never saw a camel in Petro, but understand there are many camels in the southern parts of the country, especially to the west. We’ll just have to postpone that activity until another day. We did go to the supermarket and are going back this evening for hamburgers and to upload today’s entry.

Since I only have 3 minutes to get my shoes and jacket on, I had better stop for now!

Disappointment! One of my major ulterior motives in going to the Ram Store for burgers was to tap into the wireless network. Signal… Connected… No internet! 8-(

At least the kids had their first burger & fries combo. The burger was close but not quite what we’re used to. Fries were great though. Пепси is Pepsi, nothing new there but the combo came with a little stuffed toy! Kate, usually the pickier eater of the two devoured her burger and most of the fries. I was surprised that David didn’t seem to be as thrilled, but he ate his as well. Wait ‘til they get a couple “real” burgers!

After dinner, it was time to hit the ice so Dad could check e-mail. At least that was the plan! Both Kate and David did much better on the ice today. I think a lot of it was due to lacing the skates tighter (both had them were too loose at first, and I suspect that was the root cause for much of yesterday’s control issues). While the kids were skating, and amidst the every-other-lap, “Papa, smotree!” (Watch me daddy!) I booted up the computer and anxiously waited. Try as I might, even with a re-boot, I couldn’t reach the outside world. E-mail and this post will just have to wait a little longer, but since you’re reading it, I must have had some luck!