Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Three NYT slideshows on Kazakhstan

Shaping Kazakhstan's Capital

The chief architect is really the president himself, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

October 12, 2006 - (NYT) - World - Slide Show



Slide Show: A New Look for Almaty

A new tower in Almaty, Kazakhstan, has become a symbol of the city's coal-hot potential, an iconic structure that reflects Almaty's potential economic might.

June 21, 2006 - (NYT) - World - Slide Show



Movie Minutes: 'Schizo'

A. O. Scott reviews "Schizo," a coming-of-age story from the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan.

March 18, 2005 - (NYT) - Movies - Video

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

VISA COMPLICATION

We have just learned that the US consulate has not been receiving from the MFA the necessary confirmation numbers needed to process visas for adoptive families. The consulate thinks the problem is with the MFA. We are told that a special faxed letter will be accepted, so that would mean that if he gets the letter from the MFA tomorrow he would be overnighting the visa (which means our passports), which we would receive Thursday, the morning we are to travel!!!

So, we may need to prepare and pack for a month long trip, and then not go, if our Visa/Passports don't arrive from Fed Ex.

Yikes . . . stay tuned.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Baby Photo Album

Posted by PicasaWe both love this book which I had originally found online, and saw at Target (Sassy makes it). We hope it will make US feel better when we have to leave little Morgan behind after the first trip.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Kazakhstan DVD from Kz Embassy DC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyNBu_s1euY

"We still have a few copies available of Kazakhstan: Reaching for the Future, a 9-minute video documentary prepared by the Embassy of Kazakhstan to the United States. It tells the story of what Kazakhstan has become in the 15 years of its independence and of the importance of strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and the U.S. The video is available at Youtube here. Those in the United States and Canada who would like to receive a copy on DVD, please contact Roman Vassilenko at the Embassy."

Welcome to Kazakhstan video

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Run Sally Run!

So, thanks to SALLY CAMPBELL-EVANS, we were able to have our second set of documents apostilled in Tallyhassee with no delay. We overnighted them last night, and she was able to shimmy on into the Clifton State Building in downtown Tally, and turn around and overnight to Portland, Maine.

This enables us to be on schedule to depart Miami on MARCH 1, 2007.

Yeah!

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Paperwork crunch and possible travel!

We just been given an enormous amount of additional paperwork to do. Some our co-ordinator, Libby, hasn't had to deal with before. It has to do with Florida not licensing social workers, and problems created by Kaz' normal requirement for documentation reflecting a current license for the social worker who prepares our home study, among six other documents that need to be updated/redone.

However, this is all by way of buildup to the news that we could travel the weekend of March 2 or March 9th! (That would be two weekends away!) We are not ready, but we're working on it! We'll keep everyone posted, but right now, we've got to get our . . . stuff together.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Photo Albums of Kostanai

КОСТАНАЙ On - Line - Фото дня
http://www.kostanai.kz/picofday.php

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Adoption News: It's Kostanai, Kazakhstan

Hi to family and friends... I wanted to share some news we got today about our adoption plans.

We're happy to hear a report that our "dossier" has been approved in all the federal-level government ministries in Kazakhstan, and that means we're now on a waiting list for a child at the local level. We'll be traveling to Kostanai, Kazakhstan, within two weeks after getting our invitation to travel.

Q. When will we get the invitation to travel?
A. We don't know. (Awwww!) But it's probably coming in March or as late as April.

Q. What's to know about Kostanai?
A. First, you can spell it about five different ways so it's tough to look up. It's cold, even in the middle of summer it's rarely over 95 degrees. It's dry - they get about 12 inches of rain in a whole year. Think of it as the Dakotas of the former Soviet Union - their main product is wheat and iron ore.

Q. Will you get a boy or a girl? What age?
A. We don't know yet, but we will find out after we get there. The odds are strong that it'll be a girl under 1 year old, and we don't know if is Asian, European or mixed ethnicity. We don't know anything until we arrive in Kostanai and are matched to a baby.

Q. How long will you be traveling?
A. If we could leave in mid-March (that's a big IF) we would travel from Miami to Germany, and change plans to fly to Almaty, which is in south Kazakhstan. Then we fly to Kostanai. We'd meet babies and pick one, then spend at least 15 days visiting it in the "baby house." Return to Miami -- without a baby -- in early to mid April. Then wait two to four weeks, and make a second trip to Kostanai, for a trip of about 1 week, to pick up the baby and bring him or her home to Miami. After that, we have some "family medical leave" to get used to parenthood, before returning to work possibly in mid-May.

Q. What will you do for fun in Kostanai?
A. There's a pizza restaurant and not much else. We'll spend a lot of time going back and forth to the baby house, which is 15 minutes outside of Kostanai (it's truly in the middle of nowhere!). We might help work on the orphanage to improve it for future families, or something like that. ( i.e., we're not going to seek work, teach or translate.)

Q. Do you have a gift registry started?
A. We do have registries for gifts started, at these shops. The baby's room is yellow and white with green, and has a bumble-bee theme to it (since we don't know if it's a boy or girl yet).
Q. What's the baby's name?
A. Wouldn't you like to know! (Wouldn't we like to just pick one already!). "Morgan" is the code name for now.

Q. That's just not enough info! I gotta have more!
A. Visit our new blog, to keep up on developments:
http://findingmorganadams.blogspot.com



Here are some other links for organizations and information that we refer to frequently:

Kostanai

This morning I received a phone call from Libby, our MAPS coordinator. She was happy to report that our dossier had been approved "through all channels", including both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education, and been assigned a region-- Kostanay. This was wonderful news, and a bit of a surprise. We had been hoping to hear that we had cleared MFA.

So,we'll be busy planning for our trip, which we were told would be "sometime in the next two months". Of course, that is a little too vague to help our employers, but we'll work with it.

Meanwhile, we're going to spend more time with our Russian language tapes, working on a picture book for Morgan, and finalizing the house plans while researching Kostanai.

More later . . .

Adoption News: It's Kostanai, Kazakhstan

Hi to family and friends... I wanted to share some news we got today about our adoption plans.


We're happy to hear a report that our "dossier" has been approved in all the federal-level government ministries in Kazakhstan, and that means we're now on a waiting list for a child at the local level. We'll be traveling to Kostanai, Kazakhstan, within two weeks after getting our invitation to travel.


Q. When will we get the invitation to travel?


A. We don't know. (Awwww!) But it's probably coming in March or as late as April.


Q. What's to know about Kostanai?


A. First, you can spell it about five different ways so it's tough to look up. It's cold, even in the middle of summer it's rarely over 95 degrees. It's dry - they get about 12 inches of rain in a whole year. Think of it as the Dakotas of the former Soviet Union - their main product is wheat and iron ore.


Q. Will you get a boy or a girl? What age?


A. We don't know yet, but we will find out after we get there. The odds are strong that it'll be a girl under 1 year old, and we don't know if is Asian, European or mixed ethnicity. We don't know anything until we arrive in Kostanai and are matched to a baby.


Q. How long will you be traveling?


A. If we could leave in mid-March (that's a big IF) we would travel from Miami to Germany, and change plans to fly to Almaty, which is in south Kazakhstan. Then we fly to Kostanai. We'd meet babies and pick one, then spend at least 15 days visiting it in the "baby house." Return to Miami -- without a baby -- in early to mid April. Then wait two to four weeks, and make a second trip to Kostanai, for a trip of about 1 week, to pick up the baby and bring him or her home to Miami. After that, we have some "family medical leave" to get used to parenthood, before returning to work possibly in mid-May.


Q. What will you do for fun in Kostanai?


A. There's a pizza restaurant and not much else. We'll spend a lot of time going back and forth to the baby house, which is 15 minutes outside of Kostanai (it's truly in the middle of nowhere!). We might help work on the orphanage to improve it for future families, or something like that. ( i.e., we're not going to seek work, teach or translate.)


Q. Do you have a gift registry started?


A. We do have registries for gifts started, at these shops. The baby's room is yellow and white with green, and has a bumble-bee theme to it (since we don't know if it's a boy or girl yet).




Q. What's the baby's name?


A. Wouldn't you like to know! (Wouldn't we like to just pick one already!). "Morgan" is the code name for now.



Q. That's just not enough info! I gotta have more!


A. Visit our new blog, to keep up on developments: http://findingmorganadams.blogspot.com



Here are some other links for organizations and information that we refer to frequently:


Sunday, February 4, 2007

February Update

While waiting, we've been working on the baby space. We've painted, and redecorated, and re-organized to make room for baby Morgan. The walls are "Pismo Dunes" yellow and the trim is "Swiss Coffee," or off white. There are stuffed animals and diapers at the ready. We need a crib and it looks like this might come from our friends Dominique and Alex (thanks David for your crib in advance). In terms of the sheets and pillows, it's "honeybee" by Wendy Bellissimo, a gender-neutral gingham-plus-bugs design in green and yellow.

(Update: thanks to Nana Marlene for the wonderful white crib!)