Day #15: final day of bonding

Drum roll please. We did it--we completed our final day of bonding with Garrett Nurlan (and we've got the "official" paperwork from the orphanage to prove it.) Also received the electronic file of the apostilled guardianship letter (yay!), which we hope the judge will accept as proof that the document exists, thus paving the way for us to schedule a pre-court date. But then there's that three-day holiday again (New Year's starts tomorrow), so no paperwork will be filed until next Tuesday. Yulia (our efficient coordinator) is telling us the earliest our pre-court day could be is next Friday, the 28th.

Typically, the court date is 2-3 days later, which ironically is April 1st (not sure how I feel about the most important day of my life falling on April Fool's Day--lucky for us it's Kazakhstan and it's one holiday that doesn't get celebrated.) Next, we pray the judge will waive the 15-day waiting period, so that we're granted immediate custody of Garrett Nurlan. Following that, there's a 10-day waiting period. This is when we wait for Nurlan's birth certificate, final adoption decree and passport to come through. To get a passport, it requires a courier to travel to the capital of Astana (about 3 hours away by plane)to hand carry the documents to the proper authorities.

After court, we're basically on our own. (Something I didn't know until a couple of days ago.) We lose our driver and interpreter. (As a side note, they're available for $10/hour per person--a luxury we can't afford at the moment.) As I wrote in a previous post, our apartment is 40 minutes away by foot from the center of town. The sidewalks and streets are very muddy and Garrett Nurlan would never make it. (And he's way too heavy to carry.) The only reason we'd venture into town is for the internet and to visit a couple of other adoptive families we've gotten friendly with. But Yulia did offer us her phone skills (calling a cab is something we're not going to attempt on our own). On the plus side, our apartment is close to an indoor children's playground, a bowling alley and an iceskating rink (along with a small supermarket nearby). I'm sure the first week with our son will be trying. He'll miss his friends and life as he knew it. (Just like his mama feels right now.)

After the 10 days over, we should be good to leave Uralsk. Our next stop will be Almaty where we'll have scheduled medical visits with the U.S. Embassy (all necessary to get Garrett Nurlan's exit visas). This tags on another 2-3 days to the trip. All told, we should be on our way home around April 19th. (Fingers crossed.) Where Aunt Rochelle (and our other friends) will greet us at the airport, carrying a large chicken and artichoke, thin crust pizza in her hands. (Hint, hint.)

In the meantime, here are more pictures of downtown Uralsk. This one is the government building (not sure if this is where court will be held).

This is the History Museum. We have photos from our tour of the place (but they need to be downloaded onto a disc). FYI: if you want to take pictures inside most buildings, you need to ask permission beforehand. Most times there isn't a sur-charge, but this museum asked for an additional 100 tenge to do so.

A typical "political" billboard that dots the landscape (this one is of the Kazakh president--not sure what it says).

And, finally, one of the many markets we shop at.