Current mood:

bouncy

Hoppy Easter
Hello there everybody. Hope you have a wonderful Easter. We didn’t see much egg hunting going on here, because the traditional Easter activity in Kazakhstan is to have the village elder dress up like a pregnant yak and run through the street shouting, “Maslo! Maslo!” (which of course in Kazakh means “motor oil”); while the rest of the townspeople pelt him with pirogis and hairbrushes. I hope I’m making this up. Seemed like any other Sunday here, except we heard the orthodox churches were packed.

Anyhooo… This was a lazy day, as we slept way in and did absolutely nothing this morning. Lunch was provided by the other soviet cafeteria, though Sarah chose to have leftovers before we went, since all they have for her there is dessert. Not that this is necessarily a problem. The old ladies there continue to be amused by our presence. I think they might be surprised we keep coming back, while Eugene is surprised we have not yet expired from eating there. We’re the first of Eugene’s adoptive families to eat at these cafeterias, so we’re blazing a trail for all who come after us.

It looks like we’ll be feeding everyday from here on out, so Sarah and I will take turns getting food on our clothes. She did a nice job today, though Asella still thinks that we should spend our entire visit having a very leisurely lunch.

Since it was Easter and Grandma Mindy sent along an Easter outfit and basket, we decided to bend the rules and sneak Asella out of her lil’ Orphan Annie clothes and into something cool and comfy. Here she is with her basket and nice springtime attire. (It was 80 today; 85 in the orphanage.) And look ma, the kid actually has feet! And they’re gi-normous! She definitely does not take after Sarah in this department.






GJPix Photos

Now for something completely different. What you are about to see may shock you. And you will never see any such photos again in your life. This evening we took a trip a bit out of town to a sporting club and restaurant called Silver. Apparently it is a Kazak adoption tradition to come here and shoot at things. I bagged 3 deer, some quail, and an oil company executive. Ha! I wish! But seriously folks, this is a 12 guage shot gun and I attempted to hit skeet. There does not seem to be any correlation to ones skill with Playstation video games and using an actual shotgun. I don’t think I was close on any of my 4 attempts. I might have hit some air molecules, but I probably missed those as well. It was really loud and it hurt my shoulder. What could be more fun? Well, lots of things really. I can check that off my list of things to do before I die. Sarah was content to pose for a picture and watch her husband go off to war. I’m going to send the picture of Sarah into the NRA’s annual paradox competition (environmentalist vegetarians who love hunting). No, we did not shoot off that many shells. DJ did manage to kill an innocent skeet and a plastic plate.





The place was actually pretty cool, nestled among birch trees with a large pen that had a few deer in it. (I was assured that they don’t shoot them, and there was no venison on the dinner menu.) On the way there we passed little farming communities with hundreds and hundreds of one room cottages next to a small plot of land to grow vegetables. Apparently people come here in the summer to work the land, make some bread (out of vegetables?) and spend some quality time near Kostanai. We ate outside, which was a nice change, and the food was pretty good, for me. Sarah had limited options, surprise, and finished off leftovers and a power bar when we got home.

Another Monday tomorrow. The babies are getting their passport photos taken and we go to court on Thursday. Everything is still going smooth as a baby’s bottle. (I know that’s not right, but I hate clichés.) Have a great day and enjoy your leftover egg salad.

‘til next time. D&S