Day 29, 30, 31 & 32 - Final Days count down

Day 29 (Saturday, March 3rd)

Saturday is a big day for Weddings here. Every Saturday since we arrived we’ve witnessed at least one caravan of honking cars all following an elaborately decorated car. It surprises us that so many would get married during such cold months, yet they do. If we hear continuous honking while sitting in our hotel room on a Saturday we don’t need to look out the window to know that two more people have tied the knot!

Laura woke up this morning with a miserably congested head. Both of us thought it best for Laura to stay back and Brett to visit Polly alone. He brought a book just in case Polly rejected him without Laura in the room. To Brett’s surprise, Polly was quite receptive to his visit alone and they fully enjoyed their “Daddy-Daughter” time without Mommy.

Late this afternoon we walked to nearby Victory Park. This park is large and beautiful with fresh snow blanketed high where grass and gardens, we assume, lay below. At the far end of this park is a platform which stands an enormous statue of a soldier. Behind the statue is a marbled wall engraved with the names of soldiers from Kostanai Kazakhstan who fought and died during World War 2. A must see for anyone who comes to the town. From the park we ventured over to the soccer stadium, which borders Victory Park. The gate was closed and locked but we could still see inside. We took some video but it was difficult to capture the true size of this field. Soccer must be a big spectator sport here.

Day 30 (Sunday, March 4th)

Today is absolutely gorgeous! It’s about +20F here in Kostanai with mostly blue sky. This is one of the first days we’ve seen a number of people walking without head cover. The humidity is low as is the wind so the temperature actually feels warmer than it really is.

Immediately following our morning visit with Polly, I (Laura) hustled over to my facial appointment. Yes…I said facial appointment. When I heard the price would only be 4000 tenge (about $32 US) I could hardly pass up this splurge. Let me tell you girls, this was by far the best treat I’ve given myself in years. My face was pampered for a full two hours. If you are planning on visiting Kostanai any time in the near future, I highly recommend getting a facial. I went to a place with the words “Eden” on the front. The salon is located directly across the street from the small mall with the mosaic exterior.

Day 31 (Monday, March 5th)

It’s another beautiful day in Kostanai Kazakhstan…we think Spring is trying to sneak in a little early. We took a very long walk today and got to see some sights we hadn’t seen yet. For starters, we walked past the Russian Orthodox Church. We did not go inside but I would imagine it is beautiful.

Our walk took us into more residential areas than what we are accustomed to seeing here and we were surprised by the number of new homes being constructed. BIG, EXPENSIVE homes (see linked photos). I guess these are signs of the improving economy here.

Day 32 (Tuesday, March 6th)

March 8th is “Women’s Day” which is a big national holiday celebrated in Kazakhstan. In honor of “Women’s Day”, the three adopting families here working with our agency (including us) all pitched in and purchased the director of the baby home our children are in a bouquet of Chrysanthemums and a cake. We presented her with the flowers and the cake this morning since she will be taking Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off (as will many working women in the country) to celebrate this special day for women. She was thrilled with this gift and immediately invited us all (8 in total including our coordinator) to sit in her office and share the cake and have some tea. This was quite an honor. As I raised my cup to toast to “Women’s Day” the director stopped me and asked that she give the toast. We raised our glasses and she proceeded to toast to us and the children we will soon bring home as family. When the tea cups and cake plates were empty we all exchanged hugs and words of warmth with her and wished her a very happy “Women’s Day”.