April 9
(Cue the Music to the Hallelujah Chorus here)………Ok, now hum it with me…. ” Aaaalelujah …..Aaaalelujah…..mumblemumble….Lord God Omnipotent reineth” Ok, that's all I know, but I'm pleased to announce.....
...The best news of the past two weeks --The kids' passports and exit visas are finally here, and the immigration police have approved our departure from Taraz. We leave on the Sunday night train to Almaty and will start the paperwork process with the US Embassy. We're pretty confident that they are not going to shut the Embassy down for 4 days to go to a conference in Astana. At any rate there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and we’re happy to be moving toward it. It may be an oncoming train, but at least it’s something different! Everyone here is ready to get back to Colorado. We have airline tickets to depart on the 15th, overnight in London and return to Denver on the 16th. Of course, we’ve had plane tickets before (several sets), but we’re pretty confident that this is a date when we’ll actually be able to get on the plane and come home.
By the way, there’s no entry in Spellcheck for “reineth”, so I apologize if it’s misspelled. I guess that word has kind of fallen out of favor with the hip-hop crowd.
We went bowling again and took Jack and Julia’s sister Irina. She had never been bowling before and had a great time. It continues to be cold in Taraz, so it was good to be able to get out and not have to walk in the cold.
The next phase of the trip involves a hotel stay in Almaty, so please forgive us if we don’t update the blog as often. We’re trying to get a place with in-room internet access, but we’re not sure if that’s going to happen.
More musings on Taraz:
Don’t assume that the elevator stops all floors, even if there is a button for that floor. We kept wondering why folks in our apartment building would get out of the elevator and then head directly for the stairs. The elevator only stops at the 3 or 4 floors of the 9 floor building. We’ve pretty much decided to take the stairs after our last “trapped in the elevator” episode. There are no emergency phones in Kazak elevators and no emergency lighting either. You shout in the dark and hope that someone will help.
Taking the stairs can also be a challenge. They don’t appear to do the math on staircases before they start building, so the staircases end up with a landing, 5 steps with 8 inch risers, one step that has a two inch rise, and another landing. The stairs at the museum were especially interesting because every third step was also twice as wide as the rest of the steps. It was pretty amusing to watch all the Americans in the family stumble and bumble our way up and down three flights of stairs. We’re accustomed to just going up the stairs, and in Kazakhstan you have to really concentrate on what you’re doing.
Never step on a manhole cover. It may look heavy and substantial, but there’s a decent chance that it will actually operate like a revolving trap door. They’ve probably got dozens of foreigners wandering around in the sewer system, looking for the elevator.
Russ
...The best news of the past two weeks --The kids' passports and exit visas are finally here, and the immigration police have approved our departure from Taraz. We leave on the Sunday night train to Almaty and will start the paperwork process with the US Embassy. We're pretty confident that they are not going to shut the Embassy down for 4 days to go to a conference in Astana. At any rate there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and we’re happy to be moving toward it. It may be an oncoming train, but at least it’s something different! Everyone here is ready to get back to Colorado. We have airline tickets to depart on the 15th, overnight in London and return to Denver on the 16th. Of course, we’ve had plane tickets before (several sets), but we’re pretty confident that this is a date when we’ll actually be able to get on the plane and come home.
By the way, there’s no entry in Spellcheck for “reineth”, so I apologize if it’s misspelled. I guess that word has kind of fallen out of favor with the hip-hop crowd.
We went bowling again and took Jack and Julia’s sister Irina. She had never been bowling before and had a great time. It continues to be cold in Taraz, so it was good to be able to get out and not have to walk in the cold.
The next phase of the trip involves a hotel stay in Almaty, so please forgive us if we don’t update the blog as often. We’re trying to get a place with in-room internet access, but we’re not sure if that’s going to happen.
More musings on Taraz:
Don’t assume that the elevator stops all floors, even if there is a button for that floor. We kept wondering why folks in our apartment building would get out of the elevator and then head directly for the stairs. The elevator only stops at the 3 or 4 floors of the 9 floor building. We’ve pretty much decided to take the stairs after our last “trapped in the elevator” episode. There are no emergency phones in Kazak elevators and no emergency lighting either. You shout in the dark and hope that someone will help.
Taking the stairs can also be a challenge. They don’t appear to do the math on staircases before they start building, so the staircases end up with a landing, 5 steps with 8 inch risers, one step that has a two inch rise, and another landing. The stairs at the museum were especially interesting because every third step was also twice as wide as the rest of the steps. It was pretty amusing to watch all the Americans in the family stumble and bumble our way up and down three flights of stairs. We’re accustomed to just going up the stairs, and in Kazakhstan you have to really concentrate on what you’re doing.
Never step on a manhole cover. It may look heavy and substantial, but there’s a decent chance that it will actually operate like a revolving trap door. They’ve probably got dozens of foreigners wandering around in the sewer system, looking for the elevator.
Russ
posted by The Petersons at 5:35 PM
4 Comments:
reigneth (hee hee) mh
Hi
That is super exiting that y'all are coming home "soon" im sure it will be nice ot see a change in location. I love ya'll and am looking forward to meeting everyone.
have a happy day
Jenna
We are rejoicing that you are on your way home.It won't be long.
Love and Prayers
Mom and Dad M
Glad to hear progress is happening. I know what you mean about the strange stairs, Kazakhstan is an OSHA nightmare! Can you tell I work in a safety office. Pipes are above ground instead of underground or under the floor. I have been on spring break the past week so I haven't been able to keep up with your adventure. I hope your time in Almaty is short. Kirby and Kirstin were there from the 18th - 27th of June and he was so ready to leave. Since you have been in Taraz a lot longer I am sure you are very ready to be back in the good old USA!
Love,
Gail
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