tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post4107471869284628913..comments2009-11-16T23:30:01.682-05:00Kjersten, Steve, Aitugan &amp; Nuraihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440205367634904488noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post-50298008787575075662009-11-16T23:30:01.860-05:002009-11-16T23:30:01.860-05:00I would agree about Zhenia and Farida. It became my project to find the most bizarre question I could ask him about Kazakh life.<br />Farida is one of the most professional business women I have ever come across and will get the job done. Did you try the young people at the English Center. They are wonderful and will tell you anything you ever wanted to know and make great tour guides. I miss the Babushkas above you in the apartment and the children in the &quot;playground&quot;-a few can speak English. It helped to know very basic Russian and to use it despite my embarassment. I met and enjoyed many people that way. The more questions I asked people about their lives and Kazakhstan the more open they became. Maybe they just sensed my genuine curiousity and appreciation of Kazakh life. Farida did invite me to her nieces wedding and some family events. What I regret most is not asking more questions about our daughter&#39;s life in the baby house. I should have pushed harder on that but did not want to offend. Love the pictures!Lesleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15713485161241431180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post-86170569289288979302009-11-15T20:00:36.796-05:002009-11-15T20:00:36.796-05:00LOVE the market. It looked wonderful. I would love to go there and to buy and to have a kitchen to cook in. My fave thing.<br />Enjoy the time you have left!Trudihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02531403805139231278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post-61590690709611240292009-11-14T21:25:36.693-05:002009-11-14T21:25:36.693-05:00Hey guys! Thanks so much for posting these amazing photos. It is a wonderful opportunity for me to see some amazing things I will more than likely not see with my own eyes. It is so great to see all of your smiling faces as well! Take care, and hopefully we&#39;ll see you soon!MollyBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13455105897340489732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post-91130982742807897492009-11-14T05:28:12.672-05:002009-11-14T05:28:12.672-05:00Oh, I love me some bazaar! GREAT pictures, as always. I know what you mean about the staff. Dad and I felt that way in Almaty on trip 2. Here we were cooing over our most prized new family member and they seemed to not even notice there was a baby around. I guess it&#39;s not their job to go bananas over our kids, but in this kind of process a wee bit of personal connection and maybe even a dose of warm and fuzziness just makes the whole process more pleasant. <br /><br />I am excited for you to come home, because it will mean that you are that much closer to bringing Nurai home. I am thinking of you here in NH, where I have been awake since 4:30a.m. for no reason. Anelya is asleep and my jet lag is gone. Note to self... go to sleep!<br /><br />Best wishes,<br />AndreaAndreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04871070183717480209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post-50036008497277291812009-11-13T08:15:45.041-05:002009-11-13T08:15:45.041-05:00Great pictures of the bazaar. The bread looks awesome. I would have loved to hear your converations with Tougy! <br /><br />We walked to the baby home each day during our stay in Kaz and became very familiar with several local families along our route. We took some wonderful picture of them and were able to find a place to print them out. Everytime they saw us coming they would come out of their homes with different family memebers to pose. We remember them fondly. <br /><br />Looking forwad to the next installment :)<br /><br />AllisonPat and Allihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792672694993080579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post-69884953397997177942009-11-12T21:02:22.488-05:002009-11-12T21:02:22.488-05:00Hi, you&#39;re right, trips one and two were so different for me, too. I&#39;m forcing myself to think of the positive things and not dwell on the negative ones.<br /><br />Maybe when you&#39;re in the Astana Babyhouse you could see &quot;Sabina&quot;. Everyone knows here. Or at least send her good thoughts from her mama. <br /><br />Take care, all my best, Susan<br /><br />PS To KJ, are you walking 60 miles in Kaz???? (smile) Amazing to think that you, Jen M, Sara and I are all in the midst of our second adoptions and Lori and Stacy are on the second journeys, as well. What a blessing.Baby Kaz Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07754632509380342812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post-31899488651698028412009-11-12T20:04:22.971-05:002009-11-12T20:04:22.971-05:00So sorry you all suffered a bite of the bug. Our coordinator told us to drink a shot of vodka a day to keep away any illnesses. (-:<br /><br />Love the market pictures. The markets were some of our favorite outings while in Kazakhstan. Enough so that we got to sort of know some of the vendors.<br /><br />Thinking of you all.Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18018807460231503761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post-51034517535567779882009-11-12T19:51:30.329-05:002009-11-12T19:51:30.329-05:00wondeful, wonderful art through photos and words. Thank you. You satiate our &quot;wonderings&quot; ... what are they doing now? ... what are they seeing? ... how are they? ... what decisions are they having to make now? and then a blog entry comes and all of those questions get resolved. We do thank you with grateful hearts.mormor &amp; morfarAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post-49239875311418912222009-11-12T16:46:54.040-05:002009-11-12T16:46:54.040-05:00SUCKS that you&#39;ve all been so sick and that the timeline is so insane now. But understandable that you&#39;ll return home. Cannot wait for your date! <br /><br />And the bazarre looks EXACTLY like Semey&#39;s. Made me nostalgic. Seriously, one of the most amazing places I&#39;ve ever been in my whole life. Glad you had a chance to visit there. Unlike anything else.<br /><br />Love Kaz. Love you all.Jen and Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08026907425214264932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post-57333262954991390872009-11-12T16:28:34.535-05:002009-11-12T16:28:34.535-05:00Steve, what beautiful travel images -- I loved the one of the woman with the green eyes. How did she allow you take the photo - what did you do/say to get the close ups? <br />I don&#39;t know when we are traveling dear Morrison family - will we meet? I sure hope so .... <br />stephStephanie and Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00815695220115930948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post-41056893515574673082009-11-12T16:00:39.881-05:002009-11-12T16:00:39.881-05:00Loved your Bazaar photos!!! Hope you bought from some of the vendors: eggs &amp; bread at least. Are those fresh dates in the big bag? And orange shoestring ??<br />I enlarged every shot to get a better look. Would have loved a currency exchange to know what things cost.<br />Your people photos always excel and my favorite 2 are of the butcher framed by his cuts of meat and the old woman engaged in selling eggs to the teens.<br />After a bout of stomach sickness, I&#39;m surprised you could look at the bazaar with such enthusiasm. You are ALL amazing. Looking forward to the next post.<br /><br />Love and hugs.GAIAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08856802665420970786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post-51512153105423421032009-11-12T15:50:10.919-05:002009-11-12T15:50:10.919-05:00I so love Kazakhstan. I so miss Kazakhstan. Till we return (in a few months we hope)I am able to drink in as much of the culture as I can through wonderful people like you. <br /><br />Thank YouDiana and Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15785263902206237691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post-55421312225801689772009-11-12T15:44:16.305-05:002009-11-12T15:44:16.305-05:00The bizarre bazaar is the best! The &quot;vitality and rawness&quot; of it, as you said, are so human and real. I love the photos of the older folks -- they have so much character in their faces.<br /><br />It is sad that your team is cold and disinterested. What a lost opportunity for both sides. We had a mixed bag with our team, but they had been doing adoptions a long time. We are still in touch with one of our interpreters, which is nice.<br /><br />I hope everyone&#39;s tummies are settled and you&#39;ve all got your energy back. I imagine the homesickness really kicks in when you&#39;re not well.<br /><br />The timeline really does stink, and it&#39;s not in the best interest of the children, which is the most baffling part. But taking two trips does give you the opportunity to prepare a little more for your new little Bounder, now that you know exactly who she is.<br /><br />Steve, your photos are always such a pleasure, even if you get bored with being in the same tiny environment. The beautiful and fascinating subject matter (3 gorgeous girls) combined with your skills never disappoints. I hope you get your mojo working soon or there will surely be a revolt!Reginahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06287586757039620927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post-9566525531097110182009-11-12T15:01:02.470-05:002009-11-12T15:01:02.470-05:00We loved the Bazaar in Shymkent! You have some wonderful pictures. It was fun for us to see the vast differences in the city of the modern Mega Mall and the old style Bazaar! <br />Hope you are all starting to feel better. Enjoy your time in Astana!Rob and Donaleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14436003156830944283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post-10032603837620936192009-11-12T14:27:10.066-05:002009-11-12T14:27:10.066-05:00What wonderful photos - you brought back great memories. I, too, love the sights and sounds and even smells of the outdoor markets. I think the locals are somewhat embarassed by the &quot;crudeness&quot; of them compared to the more modern grocery stores. But that is their appeal. And that wonderful bread! Yum! <br /><br />It is interesting the attitude of the staff there. Too bad, actually, for all involved. While I do understand that culturally, these people take their work very seriously and that many are wary of becoming too close to Americans (they say that we are superficially friendly), I would think that they would be proud to show off their culture and town in any case.<br /><br />I hear you on the timelines. It breaks my heart to think that we won&#39;t be able to spend the entire time in country with our Little like we did with Miras. The time line is becoming much like the Russian time line and we shied away from Russia for that very reason. At the very least we plan on spending a couple of weeks at the tail end too to re-bond and be the ones to take the child from the only home she&#39;s known so far.<br /><br />Hope everybody is feeling better. Not fun at all so far away from home.Kelly and Snehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12694012810022647105noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post-26091900026658366492009-11-12T13:55:14.041-05:002009-11-12T13:55:14.041-05:00What great pictures of the market.....oh man, the candy bins. Loved that pick your own candy! Luckily, we discovered that at the end of our trip not the beginning! ;) You should make a photo book out of some of your Kaz shots and sell them for two hearts or something. I would totally buy one as we did not get the same kinds of shots. Our town was very camera shy. But your pics remind me SO much of our market in Zhez. Very cool! Hope court comes quick and that Astana is a fun Journey!kitzkazventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05892605201125564126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post-60561458312015682342009-11-12T12:43:32.732-05:002009-11-12T12:43:32.732-05:00That brings back so many wonderful Kaz memories - I&#39;m so glad you posted these pictures!Jstarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00238961954785799617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36499167.post-66600961976694900602009-11-12T12:38:08.291-05:002009-11-12T12:38:08.291-05:00I took pictures of some of the amazing people I saw in the market while adopting my daughter in Aktau and then had some printed up while I was there. It was so much fun to present them to them the next week. I had our interpreter along and when I gave a picture to one older lady of herself she asked who the woman in the picture was. It was priceless. <br /><br />Glad you have been enjoying your time in Kaz and congratulations on your seconding Kaz Princess.<br /><br />Lou Ann<br />Mom to Lexie, Princess of Aktau KazLou Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240566827986460210noreply@blogger.com