Sightseeing

We are back...at least for now! The internet problem has been absolutely crazy, but it's good to get a break from technology...even if it is forced!  Please let me know if these photos don't come through...

First, let me say that I’m glad my honesty didn’t scare you all off. I really appreciate those of you who are veterans who’ve reassured me that this is ‘normal’! I’d like to say that this whole thing has been super easy, but it hasn’t. Has it been absolutely worth it - YES! Would I do it again - YES! But has it been incredibly challenging and have there been moments when we’ve doubted ourselves and what we’re doing - YES! I am saying these things because I don’t want other people coming behind us to freak out that it’s not the right thing to do when they are in the thick of things. I am also being totally honest because I want people to know that it is all God and not Lauren and Clint! We would have given up long ago…and by some chance we had made it this far, the daunting nature of the bonding process with a 5-year-old would have had us running scared. My point is that you need to hang in there…it’s not for the faint of heart…but nothing that’s worthwhile in life is ever easy. We are growing, our family is growing…but most importantly, our faith is growing!

So, to get to the picture part…..

This morning was actually pretty boring. Matt went with our translator to the final day of their kids camp/school thing and got to do their treasure hunt with them. He had a great time and wrote about it on his blog, but sadly for us this left us visiting little M by ourselves. The nice speech therapist there (the only person we’ve found who speaks a little English and Kazakh) explained that Matt was in ‘school’ and he seemed ok with it but he kind of kept looking around like “is this all you’ve got?”!

Here he is burying himself in all of the big, kinda creepy, stuffed animals in the bonding room. It looked like he was going to bed and reading his book…made me wonder if he’s ever had anyone read him stories as they tuck him into bed at night.

Thankfully Matt was back for our afternoon visit…which turned out to be very McDonalds-ish. We bought a little toy food set that has all of these fast food type things in it and little M loved it! He spent almost the whole time putting things on the tray, cutting, serving, eating etc. He’s well on his way to being an American. haha

Gummy bear anyone?!

My favorite photo...courtesy of Matt! 

After lunch we FINALLY had time to go see some of the sights around Semey. Our first stop was the Irtysch River that divides the city in half. It was really beautiful and had this huge new bridge built about ten years ago by Turkish, Chinese and Kazakh builders.

We went a little further up (down??) stream and saw the spot where a bridge used to be. In the distance you can see the newer, I think more industrial, part of Semey. The water here was very fast and beautiful - it was super clear and Larissa told us that it’s usually pretty muddy from run off up until early summer.

Next stop was the atomic monument. For those of you who don’t know, Semipalatinsk (what Semey was called during Soviet control) was the home of the Soviet’s nuclear testing facilities until the early 90’s. We heard stories that the whole town would shake, which the kids thought was fun, and they often saw the mushroom clouds. We also heard a lot about sickness and death. It’s so very sad. The monument was built at the 10 year anniversary of the testing halt, and is a reminder at the top (you can see the mushroom cloud and the nuclear symbol) and a beautiful tribute at the bottom which is a mother shielding her baby.

Right next to it is a ‘wishing tree’ that is an old Muslim tradition. Tying a ribbon on this tree symbolizes a wish and married couples often stop here after the ceremony to wish for a long and prosperous marriage. We got to see lots (literally one after the other) of newly marrieds here in the half hour that we stopped. In Kazakhstan couples take the wedding party around town with them after the ceremony and stop at meaningful spots and leave flowers, take pictures, etc. It’s kind of a neat custom and we really enjoyed all of the photo ops. (sure wish my photographer sister-in-law Meaghan was here!)

After that we were able to drive around in the older, poorer Tartar section of Semey. There were several Mosques there - some were quite old and beautiful, some were modern. This area was dominated by dirt streets and older, homes. It reminded us a lot of the Roma villages in Romania and it was a little depressing to think that little M’s biological mother probably came from somewhere in there.

Well, I'm out of time...we only get about 45 minutes per day (if we're lucky) at the internet cafe. Here are a few more photos to end with. Love and miss you guys!!

Matt has to be creative...here he is 'surfing' on the swings!