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It’s Tuesday morning here and the temperature is about 32 degrees. The snow and ice is starting to melt, but there are strong, gusty winds whipping around anything that’s loose on the ground. My mind is starting to wander as Gen and I wait for our ride to the orphanage. The last time I was out of the country for this long, I was so homesick and had bad culture shock. For some reason I don’t feel that way…at least not yet. Don’t get me wrong, I do miss the creature comforts of home, like McDonald’s, high speed internet and a well insulated home and heat.
For starters, our apartment has radiators which don’t seem to be radiating much heat. I know I had mentioned that all the buildings in Kazakhstan are all heated to the point of being saunas. Well, that isn’t the case with our apartment. As I am typing this, I am huddled next to a portable electric radiator. It’s effective range is probably half an inch, but I need to distance myself from it or else I’ll get burned. Lucky for me, my laptop puts out so much heat, it keeps me warm. Our apartment’s insulation isn’t that great, and I can feel the wind coming in. You can actually see the curtains being blown around from the drafts around the windows.
At least the water is warm. There are two temperatures for the water here, cold and scalding hot. I can’t tell you how many times when I’m in the shower when I accidently nudge the water valve and out shoots boiling hot water. The smell of sulfur from the water is a bit overwhelming for my tastes as well. Things could be worse though, the water could be brown, but I hear it doesn’t turn that color till spring…
We arrive at the orphanage and I’m half expecting to hear that we will not be seeing Gabriel today due to planetary alignment problems. To my surprise, he’s brought into the playroom. It feels good to be able to hold my son in my arms again. Even though our court date hasn’t been confirmed yet, I’m starting to feel that the whole adoption process is almost done. I can almost make out the finish line from where I’m standing, but I’m snapped back to reality when Gabe’s caretaker plucks him from my arms and brings him back to his room. Yeah, I think it’s about time we get Gabriel home…
