We're in Kaz!

We have made it to Almaty. It's 2:30 am. We have 5 more hours before we fly. It was a long, but uneventful flight. We both really like the Lufthansa flight. They plied us with free liquor and gave us free hot food, what more could we ask for?

Our 4-hour layover in DC was eventful. I remembered on our way to KC that I forgot the cord that transfers data from our camera to our PC. I wasn’t too worried b/c Ben’s computer has an integrated SD drive. When we got to KC, I thought I’d post a quick picture. The drive didn’t work. We dug through our carry-ons just in case I had packed the cord. I hadn’t. A panicked call to my nephew followed to see if he had any ideas. He suggested some drivers from the Dell website, but this would have taken 5 hours to download.

Once we got to DC, a very nice man at the Brookstone store helped us figure out the problem. My SD card was an HDSD card—the new, fangled SD card that does not work with our old-school drive. We bought an old-school SD card that is much smaller than my fancy 4Gb card, but it works and we can share pictures. Whew! Here’s Ben expressing his joy that the card worked!




Our 6-hour layover in Frankfurt was less drama filled. Ben took advantage of lounge type chairs in the resting area. We did not have to go through customs in Germany... we just hung out in the B concourse. (Mom & Dad, you will be delighted to know that there is casino in the Frankfurt airport. Now you can add this to your list of destinations!) The best part of the Frankfurt trip was the pug we met. Kazakh pugs are much like their American cousins. This little guy was as friendly as he could be. He was on our flight from Frankfurt to Almaty. He didn't make a peep.



We are now in our last 5-hour layover in Almaty enjoying hot tea (me) and fanta (Ben). The airport has wi-fi (yea!). I've already talked via skype to my parents and Amy. For the amount of worry that I put into going through Kaz customs, the process was straightforward and quick. We waited on our bags longer than we waited to go through customs.

Katya & Sam were waiting for us as we walked into the waiting area. Katya is even cuter than her picture. They made sure we were settled at the coffee shop, got us an English menu, explained how to get on our next flight to Aqtobe, gave us a cell phone. I felt like I was in very good, very competent hands.

We are happy to be this far. :-) Next stop, Aqtobe!