"The world is round, and the place which may seem like the end, may also be the beginning..." Ivy Baker Priest
We go to pick up our kids tomorrow. While it seems like the end of a long twisting journey for us, it is truly an amazing beginning and the start of a huge--HUGE--new chapter in the life of our family....
We safely arrived in Bishkek yesterday, back to the Golden Dragon, after an enormously long and tiring series of airplane rides and layovers. The “short” 4-hour flight to Atlanta was followed by an 11-hour flight to Moscow, a 12-hour layover in Moscow airport, and then another “short” 4 ½-hour flight to Bishkek. We will, I guess, never again view our typical flights to Chicago or Atlanta as lengthy! The good news was that the breakfast buffet was still layed out when we arrived at the Golden Dragon, and our rooms were ready, so we got a hot breakfast of stir-fried chicken and vegetables, and some fruit, ran a few errands and then met with our coordinator to get started on the paperwork for the week. Dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant later, then a good 11-hour night’s sleep.
Today has been easy--our coordinator Lyudmilla and her husband Sergey took our paperwork and our passports to the nearby US consulate for processing, so we did not have to appear in person. They are obtaining a visa for us and the kids to enter Kazakhstan, the neighboring country, where we will have to travel next week in order to finalize paperwork for the kids’ immigration (the regional US embassy, who handles this, is in Almaty, Kazakhstan). We continued to recover from the trip and later in the day we went grocery shopping, stocking up with healthy snacks in preparation for little mouths to feed…
Tomorrow we go to Tokmok orphanage to pick up the kids, and we are so excited! The other families we traveled with are here as well, though only one spouse from each couple made this second trip. They are also very excited to get their babies. It is definitely going to be a challenging week, all of us out of our element and our usual environment for handling kids. But at least the weather is much nicer here than the last trip, and we are scoping out places where we can take the kids to play or walk, when we start to get cabin fever. We have an embassy appearance on Thursday, but really after tomorrow when we get the kids it is mostly down time until next Monday, when we travel to Almaty.
What an interesting day tomorrow will be…
Love to all.
We go to pick up our kids tomorrow. While it seems like the end of a long twisting journey for us, it is truly an amazing beginning and the start of a huge--HUGE--new chapter in the life of our family....
We safely arrived in Bishkek yesterday, back to the Golden Dragon, after an enormously long and tiring series of airplane rides and layovers. The “short” 4-hour flight to Atlanta was followed by an 11-hour flight to Moscow, a 12-hour layover in Moscow airport, and then another “short” 4 ½-hour flight to Bishkek. We will, I guess, never again view our typical flights to Chicago or Atlanta as lengthy! The good news was that the breakfast buffet was still layed out when we arrived at the Golden Dragon, and our rooms were ready, so we got a hot breakfast of stir-fried chicken and vegetables, and some fruit, ran a few errands and then met with our coordinator to get started on the paperwork for the week. Dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant later, then a good 11-hour night’s sleep.
Today has been easy--our coordinator Lyudmilla and her husband Sergey took our paperwork and our passports to the nearby US consulate for processing, so we did not have to appear in person. They are obtaining a visa for us and the kids to enter Kazakhstan, the neighboring country, where we will have to travel next week in order to finalize paperwork for the kids’ immigration (the regional US embassy, who handles this, is in Almaty, Kazakhstan). We continued to recover from the trip and later in the day we went grocery shopping, stocking up with healthy snacks in preparation for little mouths to feed…
Tomorrow we go to Tokmok orphanage to pick up the kids, and we are so excited! The other families we traveled with are here as well, though only one spouse from each couple made this second trip. They are also very excited to get their babies. It is definitely going to be a challenging week, all of us out of our element and our usual environment for handling kids. But at least the weather is much nicer here than the last trip, and we are scoping out places where we can take the kids to play or walk, when we start to get cabin fever. We have an embassy appearance on Thursday, but really after tomorrow when we get the kids it is mostly down time until next Monday, when we travel to Almaty.
What an interesting day tomorrow will be…
Love to all.
3 comments:
Hi John and Debbie,
It seems as though you guys are on your way to expanding your new family. I also noticed you are already thinking about them, even in the travel stages, with healthy snack planning and things to do.
Travel Safely
Hi John and Debbie,
I am frequently checking your "Blog" each day now to see how everything is going. I know you are busy, so updates may be delayed, but we are looking forward to hearing more "news" from you soon.
Thinking of you with much Aloha
Hi John and Debbie,
Still watching your blog closely to see how things are going? Assume you guys are okay and just real busy with your new family and also the zillion things that probably have to be taken care of to finalize the adoption.
All is well here, returned from Maui yearning to go back as soon as possible. California weather is getting very spring like with lots of sun and warmth.
Let us know how you are doing when you can find the time.
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