We're Going Home!!!

We’re done and quite ready to go home!!!! It’s 11:15pm here in Almaty as I write this, and we are waiting for our driver to pick us up at 12:15 to take us to the airport. Our flight leaves for Frankfurt at 3:20am. Early – but I guess you have to leave here early to make connections in Europe when Lufthansa flies out only once daily (most days, anyway).

This afternoon we went to the US Consulate office, our last piece of official business to do on this trip. At the Consulate, we picked up Bryce’s passport and visa. He has a Kazakh passport that contains a US entry visa. We also picked up some documents. Some were for us (such as his birth certificate, adoption certificate, and other court paperwork) and others were for the US CIS to open when we land in the US. They actually gave us a sealed packet of his adoption and immigration paperwork, which we were instructed not to open. When he lands in the US (which will be in Detroit) he will automatically become a US citizen! He will have dual citizenship with the Republic of Kazakhstan until he turns 18.

Other than the Consulate visit, we took a long walk around town this morning so Bryce could nap. He loves his stroller and tends to sleep in it on long walks, for which we are thankful. His schedule has been disrupted and napping has been one of our challenges (meaning he does not want to do it!). Otherwise he is a good sleeper and has slept through the night both nights we have had him. For lunch, we drove out to a restaurant called Saule (meaning sunshine). It’s a cool outdoor café that our last driver introduced us to. We had shashlik, cucumber and tomato salad, and chai (the Russian word for tea). After lunch, we visited the Ramstore for a few more supplies and took a quick trip downtown to Zenkov Cathedral – a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Panfilov Park to get our picture. We also had one last meeting with Gulbanu in the WPA office to go over the last minute details. Bryce was a very good sport for all the driving around we did today – hopefully this means he might do ok on the plane too! We spent this evening packing, which was not too bad since we gave away all the gifts we brought here, which was a major portion of our luggage on the way out.

It has truly been an adventure (even without 16 hours on a plane with a 1 year old which may just be over the top), and we can’t wait to get home! That’s all for now.