Our 1st Day in Kaz

Sightseeing in Almaty

We get into the car and Lola tells us that we are going into the mountains. It is rainy and cold and there is snow in the mountains. They rise up from the outskirts of the city and are very tall. The 2014 Olympics are scheduled to be here (we think). We drive up, see a huge beautiful skating rink and then we drive up a little further and Lola has us all get out of our cars to look down the mountain in the wind and the rain. We get back into the cars (not a moment too soon) and drive down the mountain. By the time we reach the city again, it is no longer raining. We drive around and stop in several places including an old church and a coffee house—thank goodness. We are all very tired and pretty much dragging ourselves around. But we are getting to know each other and realizing that we share a lot of the same concerns and confusion. It’s a huge relief to be able to share this with another couple—it kind of spread out our nerves across four people rather than just two.

We go to the airport and wait for our plane. There are storms and we wonder if they will cancel our flight. Luckily they didn’t. That would have been very bad because the whole reason for us leaving on Friday instead of Saturday was to get to Karaganda on Sunday or first thing Monday morning.

We get on a very old propeller plane for a 2 hour flight which lasts 2 ½ hours. We will tell you more about this another time. It was hard to hear after we got off the plane. At the airport, Olga, our translator for the rest of our trip, picks us up with two drivers. They laugh at how much luggage we have. Luckily it all got there. We drive to our adjacent apartments and collapse.

We are in Karaganda without toilet paper or water—but we’re ready to go. We have tissues and enough water between us to brush our teeth.

Getting Caught Up

Getting here.

2:30 pm on Friday the 19th of May our trip begins. The journey had begun many months ago (18 or so), when we started exploring adoption.

We had made arrangements to get picked up at 2PM and were packing until 2:30 so, as you might have guessed, we left a little late. Our timeline was a bit off as we spent a few hours looking for Clara the night before (she’s still out there somewhere). Clara if you are reading this please come home.

After we arrive at JFK we realize how much luggage we actually have (a lot). We find a safe corner and make some adjustments. Then, off to British Airways where we navigate the crowd and make our way through the line. It was quite a surprise when learned the weight restrictions on luggage included both carry on (14 pounds) and checked.

So, we think *&^@#! Then, we step out of line, Geoff goes to buy a bag and we figure out how to repack to meet the requirements. It all worked out, we made the flight and slept most of the way from JFK to London. From there we catch a plane to Almaty, Kazakhstan (via Yekaterinburg, Russia). We arrive in Kazakhstan very early Sunday Morning.

So, picture this: it’s 3AM in Kazakhstan. We get off the plane with the other 8 passengers (the rest got off in Russia) and go to the terminal. There is a woman at the gate holding a sign that says Horowitz. We figure that this is the guide/translator waiting for us so we approach her with a big hello and she promptly turns around and walks to an elevator. We look at each other, shrug our shoulders and follow her.

Forty minutes later, we have made our way through customs, have met Lola, our real guide, and are on our way to a hotel. We get to our room and another adventure begins.

It’s now 4:30 and we have a tiny room with tiny twin beds and the bare necessities. The beds aren’t made, the bathroom is wet with towels on the floor and we are TIRED. We can pretty much deal with anything as we know we are only hours away from meeting our baby (who is he or she we keep wondering). Geoff went back downstairs and after standing politely next to three tough looking guys who were talking with the hotel clerk, he interrupted their conversation. 20 minutes later our sheets were being changed. It was 5:30AM Sunday morning, we are just getting to bed, Lola was coming back to take us sightseeing with another US couple at 11:30AM. And, we had another flight at 6:30 pm to our final destination; Karaganda. Whew……………

Friday

some pics until we write more.

Day 5 - May 26th

Today we started to work on language skills. We sang the "My name is Boeden" song...it's a version of the Copacabana (My name is Lola, etc.). Geoff and I each have our own version. Boeden likes it. He walked around the room while holding our fingers. He really moves around. He was laughing and some of the time it really sounded like he was saying da da da and ba ba ba (ball). Maybe that's just wishful thinking, but I like it just the same. That's all for now.

What a cutie (by Laura)

Today is Wednesday and it's really hard to believe that we only found Boeden two days ago. He is just the cutest little guy! He smiles a lot and definitely knows who we are and gets excited when we come in. We meet with him for two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening every day except Sunday, when we will only visit once.

He was born on July 30, 2005 so he is almost 10 months old. He weighs about 15 pounds right now and crawls and pulls himself up to stand holding onto chairs and things. He is ticklish and has a cute laugh. One tooth just broke through.

While we thought that we were coming to get a girl (we have 10 nephews and no nieces in our combined families), we can't imagine having anyone else. He is definitely our baby...through and through. (We are just gushing, in case you can't tell.)

We named him Boeden to honor Geoff's dad, Bertram, with a name that starts with a "B." Boeden means a gift from God. We definitely think so. His middle name is Raphael which honors my grandmother, Rose.

That's all for now.

Meet Boeden

Hello All. We're back in communication. It's been a few days and at least 10,000 miles. There is a lot to say about our trek from Philadelphia, PA in the US to Karaganda, KZ, and, at some point later I will. For now, the big and important thing is that we have a baby boy.

His name is Boeden R. Horowitz and he is scrumptious! He's just under 10 months old and full of love. Laura and I are SOOOOOOoooooooo lucky to have connected with him; and we are now a family.

Here is a picture of him.

I'm a leavin'........on a jet plane

Getting closer. Laura was up until about 1:30 and I hit the sack around 5:00 this morning. Somewhere in the early going last night we got a call about Clara so we went hunting through the streets and back ally's of Media. We found a cat that looked exactly like her (could have been her) but we don't think it was Clara.

Some of you will be hearing from us today and over the next few days. Keep checking back here for updates and leave us messages. We want to stay connected. Take a look at the map (click on it to enlarge). Our first destination in Kazakhstan is Almaty. It's located in the south / southeast region of the county. From there we fly North to Qaraghandy. I'll let Laura give you some of those details later. Right now she's downstairs, back in action, making sure all the details and creature comforts and accounted for.

T-minus 30 hours

The hours are flying by and we're trying to shore thing up on the work and home fronts. We're also reaching out to everyone we know to help find Clara, our lovey dovey cat, who took off the other day.

My dad was fond of reminding me that I didn't come with instructions and all he could do was his best to figure out how to guide me (no matter what the circumstances). I think Clara wanted to offer a reminder.

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