Almaty, Frankfurt, Saint Louis

I made the mistake of leaving Kokshetau without a power adapter, and have been unable to do more online than the bit my battery would allow, and then a couple (expensive) minutes here and there at airport internet kiosks. I spent those minutes reading our blog. I was already feeling sad to be away from Susan and those wonderful babies. Seeing pics of Jesse trying to crawl, both of them in their cribs, and pics of the cottage helped, but also gave me a feeling of vertigo--how did I get on the outside of my life looking in?
















Sitting in airports in Kazakhstan, Germany and the U.S. or watching so many more cities roll by miles below during a very long June 15th (Father's Day, as it turns out) did nothing to ease my vertigo, either. If you were in Volgograd, Krakow, Amsterdam, Newcastle upon Tyne, Glasgow, Montreal, Grand Rapids or Chicago yesterday, that was me waving to you from my window eight miles up. It was a long, clear day to think about life, which looks very different to me after just three weeks. Amazing how these little Kazakh wonders have captured my heart and turned my world on its head!







This is me thinking about them while I waited for my flight in Almaty.




During my day-long layover in Almaty I kept my mind occupied by seeing the city on foot. I made two big loops around the center of town and took in lots of interesting sights and sounds. Here are some places around town:

Kabanbai Batyr and Tulebaev, near the apt.
WWII memorial in Panfilov Park
Cathedral of the Holy Ascension













Central mosque
City market--a huge bazaar!
Cathedral of St. Nicholas












Typical Eurasian architectureTypical Soviet architecture
Definitely post-Soviet!













And here is the view from Satpaev Street, at a high point in the city with a great view of the Tian Shan mountains:It was a sunny Saturday and lots of people were out enjoying the weekend:

Family out for a walk

Cooling off in the fountain

Ladies out for a walk (this pic
is for my mother-in-law!)

Sisters at the family fruit stand

Lots of young couples were getting married and taking wedding pics at the popular spots around town this weekend in Almaty (reminded me of the scene on summer days down by the old courthouse in St. Louis). I must have seen twenty wedding parties at the various public parks and monuments I was at during the day. Panfilov park was an especially popular spot. There was even an accordianist there playing his variation on the wedding march.

This Kazakh groom was clearly inspired by Shakespeare in his arduous climb to get a kiss from the bride.

So, although I woke up in Almaty with a heavy heart, already too far away from Susan and the twins, seeing all these sights, especially the people out enjoying themselves, really lifted my spirits. I also had time to think about what it means to adopt children from another country, how we have entered into a partnership with the Kazakh people in our desire to be parents to our little dual citizens. This is a rich thing, and I'm glad for it.