April 1

Today was overcast with a few drops of rain. The “natives” became quite restless in the morning so we decided to walk to Damdez for lunch. When we got there, it was closed so we went for plan B – Bosfor. It’s on a side street off the square, so quite a walk from the flat, which was just what we needed. We enjoyed a nice lunch for all 6 of us for $14. The low price of eating out continues to surprise us.

Vasya met a friend who lives here and went to play with him for a few minutes this afternoon. We asked him to be home at 5pm. Shortly before 5, we heard the elevator running and wondered if it was him. Then the lights went out and the elevator stopped. I looked at Russ and said, “I wonder what the odds are that Vasya was in the elevator”. We went out to the hall and heard him hollering: Mamma, Mamma! Yep, you guessed it, he was stuck in the elevator (the size of a small shower stall) in the dark.

Luckily, the power came on after a few moments, but the elevator wouldn’t start. I was beginning to wonder what to do next because that elevator has been down for a day or two at a time. Russ went down to the 7th floor and pushed the button and a man came down from the 9th floor and he ran back up and did something too. The elevator started again and when the door opened, a little boy ran out of there and wrapped himself around my waist. He opted for the stairs when we left the building again. Later that evening a lady came around to all the flats collecting money for the elevator. We gladly chipped in our 200 tenge! ($1.75)

The kid’s passports didn’t arrive today so it looks like it will be Monday before we’ll receive the passports. The next step is the exit visas and then we can leave for Almaty. It looks like the earliest we’ll leave here is Tuesday evening. We’re really disappointed because we were hoping to leave for Almaty on the Saturday evening train. But we’re going to try to make the best of it by seeing the museum and some other sights we’ve missed during our stay here in Taraz.
Wendy