I'm here!!!

Well, I'm not even sure where to start but I am here and doing great!! My flights were fine though incredibly long. The flight from Atlanta to Frankfurt was probably the most interesting one so far. I sat in the aisle next to a woman (who was sitting by the window). Let me start by saying she got up every hour. I only slept a couple of hours on that flight (and not consecutive hours either) but during one moment when I was asleep, all of a sudden I had the feeling of a shadow passing by me. I opened my eyes to see the woman next to me standing in her seat with one leg on the arm rest. I caught her just as she was preparing to jump over me. Yes, jump over me. If it helps give you a better idea, this woman slept with the tray table down and her legs on the table. :-) So, after 9 hours next to this woman, I was pretty happy that we landed in Germany.

Anyway, the layover in Frankfurt was actually the toughest part so far because I was so tired. I did all I could not to fall asleep. The layover was about 3.5 hours and finally we boarded a bus to go to the plane for Almaty. I met 2 other WPA families on the bus. They looked 1)American, 2)exhausted, and 3)happy beyond belief. All things I am sure I looked too so I took a chance and introduced myself. It was really nice to be on this leg of the trip with others! The flight to Almaty was also very long (7 hours) and we had another time change of 5 more hours so we arrived after 11:00pm local time in Almaty. I wish I could accurately describe the approach into Almaty. It was so dark, and foggy, and snow was everywhere. It reminded me of the book The Polar Express.

We deplaned and took another bus to a small building looking exactly like you would imagine a building to look from the Soviet days. I apparently have the same luck with standing in line in Kazakhstan that I do in the U.S. Every time I moved to a shorter looking line, it turned out to be the new long line. I was pretty much the last person to make it through Customs but they let me through after checking my passport and visa. Next we moved downstairs to get luggage. I have never been so happy to see 2 suitcases in my life!!! Everything arrived and even intact! On the plane we had to complete declaration forms (which I had done). It turned out though that I should have completed 2 of these forms. I even vaguely remember reading that somewhere but by this point - well, I'm impressed I was able to walk. :-) Anyway, one of the security guys kept telling me "Two" over and over. I had zero idea what he was talking about. He eventually found a woman who spoke Russian and English to explain I had to do another form and then all was right with the world. By the way, to get an accurate picture of the building and people - think Dr. Zhivago. Only without the soundtrack.

So, now we all take our luggage outside where like 1000 taxi drivers are trying to get everyone to go with them. Just like at home. Through the sea of fur hats though I spotted the nicest man with a sign saying "Gayla Green". This was my driver, Dima, and he and Dilnova (also from WPA) took me to my apartment for the night. The drive to the apartment was about 25 minutes and was so pretty and surreal. It was extremely foggy, snow is everywhere, and they still have lights up from the holidays.

My apartment here in Almaty is SO nice!!! I took pictures but may not have time to post them today. It has a living room, kitchen, computer room, bedroom, and bathroom. I completely crashed last night. It was about 1:00am here by the time I got in bed. I slept until my alarm went off. A good deep sleep. My shower this morning was probably in my top 5 showers of all time. Not that I usually rank my showers but after 2 days of airplanes and no sleep, this shower was heaven. I must add that the apartment is HOT. The heat is turned on and controlled by the city so you don't have any choice about it but it was easily 82 degrees in there. I slept without a blanket.

This morning Dima picked me up and took me to Gulbanu's office where I signed a lot of paperwork and turned over most of my money. Colene - I gave Gulbanu one of the calendars and she loved it! She also told me about my schedule. I will fly in the morning to Uralsk. My flight leaves at 5:15am so Dima will pick me up at 3:45am. Fortunately I am not really used to this time zone as I am about to change time zones again. Uralsk is 2 hours behind Almaty.

But the best part of tomorrow is I finally get to meet Abby!!!! I can not wait for this moment. Gulbanu pulled up pictures of Abby today and told me she thinks Abby looks like me a little. :-) Gulbanu also told me that all the babies in Abby's baby house are sick - except for Abby. I hope she does not get sick!!

My schedule is still very up in the air apparently. They are now hoping I will have court on Jan. 22 but if it gets moved I will definitely have to stay here longer (like a week longer) because of the next available court date. I'm just going where they tell me.

Right now I am at the Ramstore with my driver. He brought me here to pick up a few things and use the internet cafe. I have seen pictures of the Ramstore from other families but it totally is very reminiscent of a mall from home - only everything is, of course, in Russian. It is like a very nice mall - complete with ice skating rink. After I finish up here I will get some lunch.

As you can tell - I am doing great and could not be in better hands. Everyone says it but it is indeed true!! I will try to post again tomorrow evening from Uralsk.