A day in the life

We've been in Uralsk for 18 days now. We're definitely in a routine here. Our apartment is across the street from the new mosque. Every morning at 5:15 am, the mullah calls for morning pray. The calls are hauntingly beautiful, but it's also a keen reminder that we're not in Kansas anymore. By 8 am, I stumble out of bed. I never get a good night's sleep as I use my bunched up coat as a makeshift pillow. (Remember, in Amsterdam we were forced to give up our pillows and they traveled back home along with the rolls and rolls of toilet paper.)

Although I'm barely conscious, I have to remember not to flush the TP down the toilet. Apparently, the sewer systems here aren't equipped to handle it. (Okay, I'll admit it, I did it once and felt awful.) After my warm shower (another luxury), I head to the kitchen to cut up snacks for Garrett Nurlan. We use cheap vodka (not tap water) to clean apples and other skinned fruits and vegetables. By 9:20 am, we're in the elevator, coughing from the lingering smell of urine in the hallways. (Nothing like a little piss to wake you up in the morning.) Our trusty driver Yerlan is waiting to whisk us off to the orphanage for our first of two visits. For the record, we're fortunate--most families only get one visit per day. We get two: one from 10-11am and another from 4-5pm.

Here's a picture of Luba (our translator), Yerlan and I during a heavy snow storm outside the orphanage. After our first visit, we've got free time until 3:40 pm. Somedays we go sightseeing (so far, we've been to the WWII Memorial, Oral River, Golden Church, New Mosque, History Musuem, Old Church), but most times we head to the internet cafe to catch up on life at home.

Here I am at the Kazakh Telecom, one of the internet cafes we frequent. At 3:40 pm, we head for our final visit to see this little cutie.
By 5pm, we're on our way home to a delicious meal of potatoes, onions and carrots. (Mmm, mmm--one cannot ever get enough root vegetables.) In the evening, we can choose CNN International, BBC or Russia Today--or play a mean game of Gin Rommey. Guess you can say, we're living life large.