Home

I'll write more soon, but just a quick post to say we arrived home in one piece physically--but mentally fragmented into tiny bits. The flight was utter hell. Brent and I slept about 2 hours out of 26. One of our flights was delayed, so we missed the transatlantic connection. And half of our luggage is still MIA.

Since we've been home things have remained hectic as a result of the fact that (a) lots of things we'd like to have (like the formula for the twins, the power cord for my computer) is in that lost luggage, (b) our children are still on Kazakh time and so want to sleep during the day and play during the night (makes it hard to catch up on that sleep--especially since I don't like to nap and Brent has returned to work), and (c) everything is new to the twins all over again and so they are clearly overwhelmed. It's like we've started all over again with them. No schedule and no clue what they're going to want or need next. So we're back to winging it. The good news, however, is that Mom and Marv are here helping out and I now know from our first time through this that things will improve pretty quickly. We'll find our feet.

In the meantime, it is good to be home.

I'll post something proper once I get my bearings.

Strike That

Luftansa went on stike.

The stike was over almost as fast as it started, but still our flight has been cancelled. So, we're not going to be sleeping at home tomorrow night after all. Oh well, I was going on and on about how much I love Almaty right?

It looks like we'll be able to come home on Sunday on Brittish Air. So, if all goes well we'll sleep in our beds on Sunday night.

Homeward Bound

We made it to Almaty!

It was hard work, but we made it! For many of the in-country flights, passengers are required to handle their own baggage. You should have seen us! We have two ENORMOUS duffle bags, two suitcases, two carry on bags, two strollers, and two babies. It was very stressful. But thanks to the help of two small Kazakh women who jumped in and helped us (our bags were about the same size as they were!) we were able to get everything where it needed to go. In general, I've been amazed at how kind people have been as we've traveled this last leg of our journey. Our fellow passengers, for example, were very patient and accommodating. (There were about 30 people on the plane (it was the Yak 40).)) Jess felt it important to make eye contact with (and if possible, physical contact with) every single person in his vicinity. Thus, neighboring passengers were enlisted as part of his entertainment. What is more, when he treated everyone to about 4 of his brain-piercing screams folks responded fairly patiently--though it was pretty interesting to see 30 people cringe simultaneously (not kidding, here). But since (to our collective relief) these screams didn't bring down the plane, and since each performance was followed by a smile of pure joy and pride on his part, most people seemed willing to take it in stride.

We've been having such fun in Almaty. It's a bit of a shock to be back in a city again after being in the rural town of Kokeshetau for so long. And what a city it is! Gorgeous! I love it here. I could spend weeks and not tire of the sights and sounds. We have a very cute apartment that is centrally located. We've been walking all over the place. And, again, people are so nice. Lots of men have helped me take the stroller up and down stairs. Women everywhere demonstrate a great willingness to entertain the children (fan them and coo at them) while we look around the shops. They also taught us an important Russian word that we should already have known: близнецы (bleeznetsa = twins).

Since we have only a dial-up connection I can't share pictures till we get home. But, take it from me: this is a place you should visit.

Even though I wouldn't mind being here for longer, it turns out we're going be here for shorter. Our travel agent found us seats on a flight leaving tomorrow (Saturday the 2nd)! (Initially, we thought we'd be here till Tuesday the 5th.) Since our stay has been shortened, Brent has very generously allowed me lots of solo outings these last few days so that I can take in the city. (Remember, he's already seen much of it when he was here before, and one can travel much faster sans infant.) So, while we're leaving early I do feel like I've been able to see many of the sights.

I can hardly believe that tomorrow night we will be sleeping in our own house! The end of our adventure is here. What a summer we have had! As I said in one of my first posts, we left as a family of two and come back as a family of four. It will be a whole new reality when we get home.

Yep, it's the end of world as we know it...and we feel fine.