I know it seems that I disappeared last week, but I did make it safely to Astana, Kazakhstan. I arrived last Thursday night and have been adjusting ever since then. I guess I should start from the beginnning..... Believe it or not, the most trouble I had with the flight was in Philadelphia. We sat on the runway for 3 hours while the plane was being de-iced~ what a great start to the trip here. When I arrived in Astana, I thought the weather was similiar to what I left in Phili. However, I couldn't have been more wrong about that. It is cold in both places when I left, but the cold here is at times unberable. It gets so windy, combined with the snow that blows around and the ice everwhere, walking is an amazing feat! Given the fact that if you want to go somewhere, you must walk to it, you tend to get over the danger of frostbite and falling really fast! I try to blend in with everyone else (the hair may give it away) with my babushka and long coat, but people can tell you are American. No one speaks English, so I have gotten really good at charades.
Anyway, I went to the baby house Friday morning and met with the director of the orphanage. Everything is discussed through an interpreter. A caregiver brought in Juliana (who's name is Aida) and my whole world changed. She was so tiny and beautiful~ very alert, taking everything in. I got to hold her for just a minute...then there was more talk in Russian and just like that she was taken away. It was nap time there and I would not be allowed to visit with her today. Ok, have a nice day. There is no bending of the rules, no questions, this is the way it is. It was at this point that I felt very alone, very overwhelmed and so exhusted. So fine, what do I do now until tomorrow? Not much......you are pretty much left on your own until someone picks you up for a visit. I did go to the grocery store and then went back to my apartment. I had no internet, no TV, a phone that I didn't know how to use or call out on, didn't know where I was and what was around me, couldn't read the street signs and there was no one to talk to and the city was covered in snow. I was kind of left to my own defenses without any map to help me through. I thought that this would be the worse 7 weeks of my life. Besides the fact that night was really daytime because Astana is 11 hours ahead of the east coast, so sleep wasn't an option.
There it is.... a summary of my first day here. Can't wait to hear more?!
