Friday, January 16, 2004

Hello from snowy Uralsk!

It has pretty much snowed straight since yesterday afternoon, taking only a short break this morning. The new snow is truly beautiful. Again, I have no idea how much we have gotten but it is such a lovely sight.

Yesterday afternoon I walked to Chagala since I had a longer break. They are now getting used to me there. :-) And they are getting used to my custom requests. Yesterday I asked for plain cheese pizza (not on the menu) and man but it was good. They also give me complete control of the remote. :-) Just as I was leaving, 2 American men came in and I gave them the remote as I left. The snow was very heavy as I walked home but it felt great and made walking much easier!

My afternoon visit with Abby was so much fun. She was in the best mood and laughed a lot. Her laughs are just music to my ears. Yesterday we got creative with stacking cups and I showed her how to make an echo noise in it. Well, she would imitate me and then crack herself up. We did this many times. :-) I also moved one of the little chairs to the edge of the blanket and she loves to stand holding to the chair - while banging a cup. Now, you knew there would be banging involved somehow. :-)

After my visit, I went home and ate my leftover pizza and read for a long time. If any of you ever find yourself in a foreign country with no tv and very short daylight hours, I highly recommend some good books. Fortunately, being the devout reader I am, I also picked great books to bring with me. Last week I finished The DaVinci Code (loved it!) and have now been reading Middlesex. Oh my but this book is fantastic!! I can't put it down. Good thing it is very long. :-) See, book club ladies, I'm trying to keep up with you from here! :-)

This morning's visit with Abby was more of our usual. Stacking cups, laughs, jumping, blocks, and, yes, cheerios. Every day she makes more eye contact with me and seems to be more aware of who I am. I forgot to mention at the end of yesterday's visit, Assia had been holding her a little and when Abby came back to me, she just buried her head in my sweater. We sat like that for a long time and Assia even commented that it was too bad my camera was not handy.

After today's morning visit, Assia and Igor took me souvenir shopping. First we went to a book store where I was able to get 5 children's books. All of them are printed in both English and Kazakh. Four of them are about a Kazakh folk hero. I think his name is Aldar Kose and I already like this little guy.

Next we went to a store that had a variety of gifts. I bought a Kazakh flag, some Kazakh dolls, a camel doll, a small jewelry box, and a great painting of a famous building here in Uralsk. They had some beautiful games but I'm afraid they are too heavy. I may try to find something similar in Almaty (since we will be there from Jan. 21-28, I will have time to do some more shopping). My goal is to buy 18 gifts. I will then give her one each year on her birthday for her first 18 years. I can't take credit for this idea as I read it somewhere but think it is a cool idea.

After lunch in my apartment, I ventured out to find a children's store near me. Someone had drawn a map in the apartment journal and I was able to find it. It was a bit pricier than other places but they pretty much had everything for kids. I bought Abby some new toys that I will donate to the baby house when we leave. I know she is tired of the toys we have been playing with. I got her a duck thing that makes a noise when it is pulled and also a stacking kind of toy which also has a duck (not sure what is with all the ducks here). :-) The pulling duck is cute but quite honestly, the other duck scares me a little. The toy part seemed worth the little scare. The quality of toys here is nowhere close to what we have in the U.S. and I have a feeling Abby may be able to destroy these toys in short time. I also bought her a very cute stuffed dog which we will take home with us.

A few more observations about life in Uralsk:
1. People walk around with bread. Bread is not always sold in plastic bags so sometimes they are just carrying the plain bread.
2. Every day I see people outside in the snow cleaning carpets. They use a broom and will beat and/or sweep it before taking it back inside. I took a few pictures of this.
3. Today I had to pick up a few things and we went to the small market near my apartment. Even though this place is roughly the size of a 7-11, you pay for what you buy at the counter where it is stored. So, today I bought bottled water, diapers, and cookies and I had to pay 3 different times because each item was on a different wall. Also, no sales tax here.
4. Cats. Near my apartment there are some dumpsters and every day I see on average 10-12 cats hanging out at the dumpsters. There is always a man who seems to be feeding them. These cats are eating quite well as they are easiest among the largest cats I have ever seen. And I thought American cats had attitude? Oh boy, these cats crack me up every day. They appear to picture me as if I were on a platter with a red apple in my mouth.
5. Each day I take 5 diapers to the baby house. I also keep a spare outfit in my bag. They will dress Abby in the same outfit until it is dirty and then they give it back to me to wash. Usually she wears an outfit for 2 days and they give it back but now she has been wearing the same outfit for 4 days now.

Assia told me this morning that Abby's doctor said I could stay an extra 30 minutes this afternoon. I wish I knew what I did so I could do it again! :-) Actually, last week I asked if I could stay to feed her and I asked if I could observe them give her a baby massage, so I'm guessing they might be allowing one of these things. I hope so! I have discovered they don't really tell me much in advance - just pretty much what I need to know when I need to know it. It works for me. :-)

Have a great night everyone! And as always, thank you for your emails, good thoughts, and prayers!