We feel excited, relaxed and happy. We are very comfortable with waiting until May to travel. Besides having near perfect weather, we can finish up a hundred projects at home and at work, and also resume our social life for a while!It looks like our paperwork will be A-OK to get us through the expected time frame. We just need to do a simple update on our home study. Piece of cake.
Andrea says she gives me until April before I start checking in with her constantly. I'm sure she's right; she sees it all the time. I'm enjoying my calm state, but I'm also certain that I will slowly move toward the edge of my seat as spring approaches. I’m thinking that by April 15 I will be restless; by April 20 anxious; by April 25 nauseous; and by April 30 a twitching basket case. Come May, I will feel like my hair is on fire. Promise me you won’t have me committed?
Of course I've been researching the heck out of Aqtobe. Here's some neat info:
The city of Aqtobe has about 320,000 people. That's about the same population as Colorado Springs, CO; Cincinnati, OH; or Tampa, FL. And it's about 2.5 times the population of Charleston, SC. (The whole country is about 4 times the size of Texas, or 2 times the size of Alaska.)
Aqtobe is 10 hours ahead of us. If it is 9 pm our time, it is already 6 am the next day their time.
Aktobe has a mixed ethnic community, including mostly Kazakhs and Russians, but also Ukrainians, Tatars, Uyghurs, Chechens, Armenians, Jews, Greeks and Germans. (We are looking to adopt either a boy or girl of any race and under 1 year old, so the possibilities are wide open for what our child will look like. We do imagine our baby as having the more commonly found Eurasian or Asian {Kazakh} features, but there is a small chance that we could fall in love with a blond-haired, blue-eyed toddler. One never really knows in Kaz!)
Most fascinating of all, here is a photograph of the entrance to the orphanage for children ages 0-2 in Aqtobe. It is called the Ymit Baby House, which means the Hope Baby House. This is the place where our child is right now. Incredible.
Thanks to the blogs of other wonderful families who have recently adopted from Aqtobe, we've seen photos of the very playroom in which we will spend our time during those required daily bonding visits. We have also seen photos of our in-country staff and many of the caregivers at the baby house. These are the very women who are loving and attending to our child the best they can until we get there. Again, incredible! In the interest of dramatic suspense, I will wait to post those kinds of photos until they are from our very own trip. (Many of you PAPs out there have seen the other Aqtobe blogs, but most of our family and friends have not.)
I found a much more detailed map of Kazakhstan below, as well as some very interesting thematic maps. You can see more of those here.
(click to enlarge any photo in this blog)
At no extra charge, here are two more great links about Kazakhstan in general:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kz.html
http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/places/countries/country_kazakhstan.html
I hope I'm not boring the non-adoptive parents too much here. This is just compelling stuff to us. I feel like a Kaz research geek, but I don't care! This is my child's home country. I respect that. I want to know all about it and incorporate some of the culture and traditions into our lives.
It's cool like that.
15 comments:
Interesting stuff, even for a non-adoptive parent. I have been through this with enough friends to feel your excitement and anticipation and I love hearing all about it. You will be there before you know it. I love you guys and hope the waiting isn't too hard.
I'm glad you are a geek. This is cool stuff!
and you know, you never know...you could travel sooner than you think.
Just as you think you know when, it could always change. That is what is hardest to me. I am cool with waiting (most of the time), but what is hard is the unknowns. So, we're looking at summer, which is best for us, with our son in school. But, it's time to sign up for summer camp. They fill up quickly. You have to pay NOW. So, i don't sign him up, because we will MAYBE be in Kaz. If we are not in Kaz, then I will have a sad kid on my hands because all the camps are filled up. But, that's ok. We will just make do and we'll have our own camps right here I guess. That is what is hardest to me. You've had it hit you in differnt ways,not accepting "gigs",etc.
Then they're Catalina..finds out last friday she's going to Petro, gets her loi yesterday, and she's leaving March 1st. It can all change on a dime. YIKES.
ok, enough rambling. We have to get to school and I Have to get to yoga. I Love the girl in her yoga position. I am just glad i have found yoga or i think i'd be having a harder time. Some days are just fine, other days, I wish i knew what was going on.
But hey, PREDICTABLITY is boring, right?
thanks for the cool links.
Great stuff! Thanks for posting. We are so anxious to receive a region assignment so I, too, can become a research geek. You've given me a great head start. Thanks for sharing it all.
Regina, just seeing a photo of the baby house alone is enough to fill me with awe and anticipation for your upcoming. Behind those gates, behind those doors, is a baby waiting to be scooped up by you and Frank and loved forever. Enjoy the next few months -- it's almost like the sweet anticipation of the day before Christmas brings. Not that I should know since I'm Jewish, but I get the picture! Best,
Steph
www.ourjourneyto5.blogspot.com
How cool to know that YOU will be WALKING through those exact gates in just a few short months to meet YOUR child!!!
You guys are awesome. You will be happy that you did so much research once your baby is home.
And yes...... one never knows what to expect in the wonderful world of kaz!
This is the best you can do for yourself! I really admire you are being so calm and relaxed. I have to admit, I was pretty anxious lately, and it did not really help with anything.
What a nice picture of the orphanage! It is really something to know behind those doors is your own child!
I would certainly be one of the ones Andrea is talking about-LOL. I found out my destination in February and began going nuts around May. Forget what June looked like, much less the final couple of weeks in July...
Keep the open mind about meeting your child. I spent months being ready to meet "my beautiful Eurasian" daughter only to end up meeting a blond-blue eyed, Russian German who has been my daughter for 4+ years. Sometimes, life takes you by surprise:-)
Shanna
mom to 2 blond princess from Kaz that republic in Central ASIA
Once I know my region I'll be telling you all about it or I'll just link my blog to yours if its Aqtobe. Good research! But you know me, Im a research junkie.
This is an incredible post. Amazing to read that you are where you are! Things are definitely heating up, but it is so good that you guys are focusing on enjoying the present as best you can now. And we'll all be out here ready to support you and cheer you on when your hair starts to feel like it is on fire (smile). By the way, that is a GREAT description of what it feels like!
SO EXCITING!
Oh - and we also had the same requirements that you had...under 1 year and boy or girl of any ethnicity. Needless to say, you never know!!!
xoxoxo
Absolutely it's cool like that! I love it. It all brings a smile to my face because I was a research junkie too- even down to the average monthly temperatures also!
Yes, you probably will go insane before April is up. Absolutely totally obsessive compulsive. I promise I won't have you checked in though. April was my obsessive compulsive month last year. Is the cell phone on, is the ringer up loud, is it on, where is it, is it on, can I hear it, is it on... LOL! Crazy time!
I am so happy for you to be at this stage of your journey to you child. I love the research stuff--thanks for posting the links.
It is so cool that you have a picture of the baby house and can visulize walking into there and hugging your child.
That internet is amazing! So great you are able to see all those photos. April was a crazy month for us too, we left on May 4th. The dates and emotions you laid out were pretty much the same for us! :) March was the hardest month, way too long and NO holidays!
I looked at the picture of the orphanage and I must admit, my first thought was "well, since you know what the place looks like, and where it is, why can't you just show up there now and get your child?!?!!" I know the answer to the question is hidden deep in the triplicate forms of your dossier that probably needs a sherpa to carry it around (that's why this takes so long, donchaknow. they have to find someone strong enough to carry all of that paperwork)
But ahhhh! that has to be the most beautifully frustrating picture I've ever seen.
Good luck making it to April -- I check your blog every 2 days just in case something has happened!! One one hand, I would love to adopt when it comes time for me to start a family. On the other hand, I don't know if I could stand the suspense!! With pregnancy, you know it's going to be no more than 9 months, and you hope like hell it's not a whole lot earlier than that :) You guys are very patient!
Yep, you'd best do all of those projects now while you are still motivated... because you're right at about 30 April all you'll be able to do is wander aimlessly around the house wishing you were finalizing travel plans instead. I'm living it!
Also - I lived in Volgograd which is not too far from Aktobe in Russia (in fact, we'd go to Samara on the weekends to see a friend living there which is very close to Kaz). The topography - and weather - reminded me of Kansas (this is before I actually knew what Kansas was like)... flat, windy, somewhat dry, wheat fields, hot and humid Summer... Of course, minus the tornadoes I believe! Given that, perhaps you can try clicking your heels three times - there's no place like Kaz... there's no place like Kaz... there's no place like Kaz!
Congrats on being assigned to your region. We're awaiting the same right now and expect to hear sometime in the following two weeks! Isn't the anticipation incredible??
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