We've Arrived!

Thursday, Feb 1. at approximately 1:00pm Brett and Laura began their 33 hour travel schedule to Kazakhstan.

Friday morning, we arrived in Frankfurt Germany with a 13 hour layover ahead of us, bags checked all the way to Kaz and nothing left to do but to explore the location we were in. We hopped on a city train and were off to explore downtown Frankfurt. We walked for many blocks, took touristy photos and ate a traditional lunch of schnitzel and German beer in a historic bar district. The temperature was chilly but tolerable.

We arrived in Kostanai Kazakhstan right on schedule this morning. After some minor dealings with Customs, we were met by our coordinator (who will be our "hand holder" for most of the time we are here). We originally did not expect to meet the special little person we traveled half way around the world to meet until Monday, but were pleasantly surprised to learn we were to meet her within one hour of arriving. We quickly went to our hotel to check in and change and were on our way.

Our first visit was good. Little Miss Sunshine (as she will be known in this blog) stepped into the room dressed for a party. She was cautious of the two adults she was being introduced to as her new mamma and pappa but was not afraid. We shared a bit of time warming up to each other until we had to say goodbye. We had given her a baby doll and were told that when she returned to the room where the rest of the children in her group were she showed it off as the gift given by her mamma and pappa. She seems to be a warm, smart, almost 3 year old. We look forward to the upcoming days of getting to know each other better.

After returning to the hotel we rested and then joined another American family working with our same agency for a wonderful dinner a short walk away from the hotel. The area of Kostanai near the hotel was busy with many people on foot. Some with destinations like ourselves and others seeming to just be out for a nice walk in the crisp winter air. The couple we were with pointed out where we'd likely do most of our shopping, where all the cool restaurants were (including those with English menus) and where to find entertainment. It was a beautiful night for a walk following dinner with fresh snow in the air and on the ground. The streets were lit with lights from the holidays (new year we were told). Tomorrow afternoon we'll get out on foot and explore some more.