"I completed a 25 Random Things list and it made me think of things I’d never forget about Kazakhstan. So, I thought I’d send this to my friends who have had the luxury of spending time in Kazakhstan. List the things you’ll never forget about your trip(s) to Kazakhstan and pass this onto your friends who have been there (and back to me!)."
Ok, I will refrain from writing the entire list about Erlan except for the first one.
1.) The first day we met Erlan. He was wearing a light blue outfit. I thought he looked so small and looked like Ben. We fell in love with him immediately.
2.) Gen & Joel, Kami & Eric, Agnes, Bernadette, Rosa y Carlos. It was nice to meet people who became our friends.
3.) Bayana and Ceric. I hope I get to see them again some day.
4.) Camcas! Ben ate them daily for breakfast.
5.) Erlan's nanny telling us (on Erlan's last day in the orphanage) that we spoiled him and he used to go tell them that he needed to go to the potty and now he just wet his pants. The other nanny just looked horrified.
6.) The day Ben asked the nannies if we could borrow a coat for Erlan. Bayana told him how to say "May I borrow a coat please?" in Kazakh. Ben hurried upstairs and repeated the phrase. He came back down with a coat reporting that the nannies had burst out laughing when he said it. When Ben later repeated his new phrase for Ceric, Ceric burst out laughing. Turns out Ben had said something along the lines of, "May I borrow a coat old woman!"
7.) Arrested Development. I bought the series to take with us to Kaz. Neither of us had seen it before, and we were immediately hooked once we started watching it during our layover in Almaty. Now I can't watch the show without thinking of Kaz.
8.) Celebrating Kaz New Year, going into the Yurt sponsored by Bayana's university, and making toasts with our friends (keep the cognac coming!)
9.) Meeting Gabe, Lincoln, Sacha, Gaia, and Maria. I hope they know the joy that they have brought to their parents.
10.) Getting Regina's email asking about Milo. We were so excited that the Ruopoli's were wanting to adopt him.
11.) Hanging out with Agnes, Sacha, and Agnes' parents in Almaty.
12.) Taking the train to Almaty from Aktobe. I'm so glad we did that and saw the countryside, even though Erlan had the chicken pox.
13.) Practicing Spanish with Carlos y Rosa. Who would have thought that I'd be able to dust off my college Spanish while in Kazakhstan.
14.) The incredible diversity of people that we saw and met in Almaty.
15.) Walking up to Kok-Tobe and being passed by a bus on our way up.
16.) Ben helping the orphanage staff during their clean-up days and being told by one of the nannies (in English), "Your papa is a good man."
17.) Being in Aktobe when the snow melted. It melted so rapidly that there was water everywhere. The potholes were actually small lakes.
18.) The shoes that Kazakhs wore! They wore gorgeous, impractical shoes that could not have kept out snow, water, or cold. They stared when they saw our boots.
19.) Giving an interview for Kazakh television. This is not something we wanted to do. The head doctor showed up in the playroom during our visit and asked if we wanted to give an interview. We did not but really couldn't say no. We were asked about adopting from Kaz, why we chose Kaz, and how hard was the process. We told them we thought that Kaz had a rigorous adoption process. We like the mandatory bonding process and though it good for the kids. We also said the process was very difficult. [We were later told by Katya (our interpreter in Almaty) that it was translated that the Kaz adoption process was very easy, much easier than adopting in the US.] We were very close to the end of our appeals period. We spent those last days on pins and needles hoping that the interview would not bring one of Erlan's long-lost relatives out of the wood work.
20.) The cheese and meat ladies at our local market. Every time we walked in, they would yell, "Ben!" I felt like I was in the Kazakh version of Cheers.
21.) The pedestrian avenue in Almaty. It was such a nice place to hang out and walk around with Erlan.
22.) The Russian Bathhouse in Almaty. I still have had my share of naked people.
23.) Taking walks with Erlan and Ben around the grounds of the orphanage trying to avoid the other children. It was heartwrenching every time we saw them. The little girls would yell at Ben, "Papa! Papa!"
24.) The children we couldn't bring home with us. There were three little girls that always tried to catch our attention. I would have happily brought them home with us. I still think of them and wonder how they are doing and if they've been adopted.
25.) Erlan's favorite nanny, Nazipan. I wish that I would have thought to give her our email address and our blog address so that she could check on him when she wanted to. She brought a gift bag for Erlan on his last day with traditional Kazakh items for him when he is older.
In case you're thinking, that's a lot of gifts; we requested that no gifts be given. Erlan has more toys and games than we know how to handle. Sometimes I think that toys magically appear at our house. Don't worry though, he did get some gifts--we're not heartless. :-)
Erlan loved his birthday party. He realized that the celebration was for him. He was delighted when everyone sang to him. At one point, he hid his face. It was almost as if he was overwhelmed.
