I have been getting some complaints regarding the activity (or lack thereof) on the blog. Therefore, I decided to post an entry so the Carlisle crew refrains from harassing me about my "blogless blog".
I'm having the time of my life here in Kazakhstan. We are only allowed at the baby house to visit Marissa for four hours during the day (Mon-Sat), so we have a good 20 hours a day to content ourselves. During our free time, we party with the locals, dine in the finest restaurants, frequent the theater, and the like. Yeah right! This is definintely more of a business trip than a vacation. Our contact with other human beings is limited to the five other adoptive couples/singles and our translators. It wouldn't be bad if we could read or speak thee language, but this just isn't the case.
Thus, the theater is ruled out.
Our dining consists of the one or two restaurants that have an English menu. There is actually a really nice Armenian restaurant within walking distance of the baby house. Since they have an English menu, we go there fairly often. There is also a hotel restaurant, The Cosmonaut, which has an English menu as well. Micah is a little more adventurous regarding what types of food he will try. (Not me. There is no way I'm eating horse. Just to be on the safe side, I've decided to avoid meat altogether.) Our typical day is as follows: We get up at 7:30-8:00. We check emails or make phone calls. We then get dressed and wait for our driver, Vladimir, to pick us up at 9:30. We nod and smile (the extent of our communication) and drive to pick up Marie. Marie is a single from France. She is adopting a toddler boy named Victor. Marie does speak English, so we chat until we arrive at the baby house.
We spend from 10:00-12:00 at the baby house. We get Marissa out of her crib, feed her, change her and play with her. At noon, we have to take her back to her crib for a nap. (She recently decided that napping, um, s*cks, so she screams her head off when we put her down.) We have "free time" until 2:00 when she wakes up. During this time, we go to lunch or run errands. Our translator is available to come with us if we need her. At 2:00, we go back to the baby house, get Marissa out of her crib, change her, feed her, and play with her again. At 4:00 we have to take her back to her crib for another nap. We are allowed no visits after this.
Our driver picks us up at 4:00 and takes us back to our apartment. I try to read, do crosswords, email/call, watch russian MTV, and eat dinner. For the most part, I eat yogurt. I know it doesn't contain horse, and I like the taste.
At 8:00, I get ready for bed and watch Lost. I am almost through season one. Lisa, I think that you would like this show. You are welcome to borrow it if you'd like. Tammy, I can't believe you're afraid of the Polar Express, but you're just fine with a mysterious jungle wind that chops people into bits and blows their body parts in the trees. Yeah, you're normal.
Marissa is doing really well. Her crawling has improved from last week. she definitely recognizes us and is happy to see us. We still rank below Dr. Love, the pediatrician. She is absolutely wonderful with the kids. Aside from the fact that Marissa has known her longer, they know the same language. Marissa likes to spend time with us, but doesn't understand what we are saying to her. She seems to understand Dr. Love and the caregivers.
Marissa is really aggressive and very determined. Everyone notices its. She may be the smallest baby in her room, but she will tackle ones twice her size if they have a toy she wants. It will be funny to see how she and Noah interact. Today, she took on the 20 lb Canadian because he had a pretzel teether she wanted. We took her away from him two or three times and each time she would crawl right back to get it. At one point, he was laying on it and she wormed and clawed her way underneath him to find it. It was like we were watching the baby WWF. The parents found it entertaining.
Well, I guess I will go for today. Enjoy the pictures; I know that is all you are really interested in anyway:). Miss you guys and hope to see you soon.
Love,Linda
4 Comments:
I had hoped that your trip to the Big K would be exciting and thrilling. It appears, given your description, my hopes and dreams for you have come true.
I won't deny my commentary on your lack of blogging. With all that free time, one might think you would blog more.
You are correct. We (The Carlisle Crew) do only care about the pictures of the baby, and maybe the descriptions of the baby. I check the blog more often now. I find that the less you post, the more I look.
I feel bad. Had I known that you would have so much free time, I would have given you more books to read, or perhaps some DVDs.
Keep the pictures coming.
Sonya
Micah & Linda,
Marissa is very sweet and beautiful. I can see her changing in every set of pictures. Looking forward to meeting her someday soon.
How long before you get to come home???
Please tell Noah I said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!"
Love you all,
~ Aunt Marci
Geez, a girl asks for a few updates and you act like I'm asking for the world. The Carlisle Crew does need pictures and descriptions of the baby sent regularly. Updates regarding Mindah are also appreciated, but if time is limited... Well, you see where I'm going with this.
(j/k)
It is surprising that Marissa is so aggressive. In her defense, however, a pretzel-like teething ring sounds like a must-have for any girl her age. But Micah, how will you cope? I'm sure living with an aggressive woman who insists on having her own way is a totally foreign concept to you.
As always, the pictures of Marissa are adorable. She looks so much happier in the recent photos than she did in the first ones you sent. I think that is a great sign that things are going well.
I'm sorry to hear you haven't toured much of the "Big K," as some would call it. But Linda, hearing you describe how you spend your time there might lead one to believe that your life in State College is much more exciting. I'm thinking that if you just had some teeth to brush, it would feel like home. However, my advice is to get some of that dark beer Micah liked and have yourselves a party. As for the yogurt, all I can say is you will have very strong bones when you return.
Speaking of your homecoming, any word on a date yet?
Love,
Mary
Geez, a girl asks for a few updates and you act like I'm asking for the world. The Carlisle Crew does need pictures and descriptions of the baby sent regularly. Updates regarding Mindah are also appreciated, but if time is limited... Well, you see where I'm going with this.
(j/k)
It is surprising that Marissa is so aggressive. In her defense, however, a pretzel-like teething ring sounds like a must-have for any girl her age. My only concern is for you, Micah. I'm sure living with an aggressive woman who insists on having her own way is a totally foreign concept to you.
As always, the pictures of Marissa are adorable. She looks so much happier in the recent photos than she did in the first ones you sent. I think that is a great sign that things are going well.
I'm sorry to hear you haven't toured much of the "Big K," as some would call it. But Linda, hearing you describe how you spend your time there might lead one to believe that your life in State College is much more exciting. I'm thinking that if you just had some teeth to brush, it would feel like home. However, my advice is to get some of that dark beer Micah liked and have yourselves a party. As for the yogurt, all I can say is you will have very strong bones when you return.
Speaking of your homecoming, any word on a date yet?
Love,
Mary
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