Edumacation

Talk about a learning experience.

I am a research junkie anyway, but in the past 6 months I have read hundreds (thousands?) of articles, websites, blogs, books and web group postings about anything and everything to do with our adoption. Not a single important decision has been made without sufficient research.

I've found the adoptive community to be incredibly supportive and helpful, especially through the several internet message boards for adoptive parents in Kazakhstan. Everyone is so generous in sharing their experience and advice on every little detail you can imagine.

I am no expert yet, but I've learned more than I ever thought possible about different adoption programs & processes, the best agencies for each program, the political history, culture and customs of Kazakhstan, international travel tips, the best strollers/carseats/bottles/cribs/food, which pediatricians specialize international adoptees, potential medical problems and so on... I even know the difference between an embassy and a consulate, as well as how to pronounce 'apostille' and what the hell it means!

If that's not enough to make your head spin, we were also required by our agency to complete an online course from www.adopteducation.com. This was nerve-wracking since the topics were mostly about problems that can arise in some children from being institutionalized. Most of the research is derived from extreme situations, so we had to keep this in mind as we read about a few jaw-dropping cases. We took this information seriously, but we certainly can't dwell in our fears of a worst case scenario, just as a pregnant couple should not dwell in theirs. You just have to have faith, trust and pixiedust. :-)

So our next big thing is to learn a little conversational Russian! (It's more widely-spoken than Kazakh, the official language.) We will have a translator with us most days, but we will spend a lot of time over there and will probably need it. Plus, it's the respectful thing to do, and being able to say even just few social niceties is deeply appreciated by the locals.

We have only just begun dipping our toes into parenting techniques, the best toys, books, schools, local events and resources. We're even noticing signs in restaurants that promote free kids night! A new door has been opened and it leads to an enormous world of information. It can be overwhelming. We will prepare as best we can, but in the end we will have to trust our intuition and just start parenting. Imagine that!

Speaking of Russian, our dossier is officially in the translation phase! I wonder how you say "woo-hoo" in Russian. "Voo-hoo?"