9/18/04

FYI- Daily postings will be uploaded a little later in the day then previously, as we have found internet connection costs are much cheaper later in the day in our time zone.
ps. We did not load any pics today.. Thanks

Hello Everyone,
Well, we would be crazy to think everything would be perfect on this trip…….
This morning while taking my jeans off of the clothes line located on the balcony, they were bombed by what I had thought to be one of the cutest birds I had ever seen. As you know, laundry can be a daunting experience and the washer is nearly running nonstop just to keep us in bibs. Finally I was able to squeak in a load of my own clothes and hang them to dry. Since it has been on the cool side and the balcony is in the shade most of the day, it takes a good twelve hours for jeans to dry. As I was basking in the glory of a freshly washed pair of jeans, this little sparrow w/ a yellow chest landed on the iron grid work that enclosed the balcony and was looking for a scrap of peroshki . This is when it happened, he let loose, not just a little “flick off kinda thing” it was well….the kind of thing that makes you pull your car off to the side of the road and wipe your windshield off. Now the big question, to wear them or not…..lol. You can check the pictures to see. Let’s hope this is the worst thing that happens.

We have been doing great, today has been much better. The kiddos are sleeping and have been for a couple hours. We are getting the formula thing down pat and have been spiking it with their vitamins and a little bit of cerial. Overall, their tummies have been fuller for longer, hence happy, sleepy babies. We are hoping that tonight Karleigh will make it through. Since we were already talking excrements of birds, I guess its safe to say – night time is her time for a movement. She has been having a tough time of it so we upped the juice quota and it seems to be helping. McCale sleeps through the night, although if we wake him he will happily chug a bottle of formula then pass right back out.

As far as having enough hands to get the work done, we are learning to master the fine art of toe gripping. Not an easy task, but when done properly can accomplish great things. Christy and Danny who are expecting twins should begin practicing; it’s something I wish I knew I needed before we left so that I could have maximum dexterity. Basically what this is, is the ability to pick up stray socks, burp clothes, etc from the ground, using your big toe and ring toe. When you are really good, you can cover one childs foot with a blanket while rocking and feeding another at the same time. So, to all of you who said this was going to be hard – apparently you underestimated the power of limber toes!!

Overall the kids have been nothing short of a pleasure, Karleigh is cutting another tooth, is it strange to anyone but me that she will have 6 teeth at 6months and a week? I was not expecting this, but I guess stranger things have happened. McCales tail will be removed when we get home, so that turned out to be not such a big deal. (Ok Mom Belli, I threw that one in there for you – you can breathe now)

I wanted to share a little bit about Kazakhstan with you, it is a country on its own formed in 91 with the break up of the former Soviet Union. The population is 16,741,519 (02) and land mass is roughly 4x the size of Texas. It is located just south of Russia and to the left of China. There are still many remnants of the Soviet Era, statues, fountains and buildings. Many are in disrepair but the city is on the rise, industry is moving in and there are now many more people prospering than before. The country is oil rich and has major deposits of petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, and copper.

In the rural areas we have learned that the average farmer salary can be about 70,000 Tenge (ten-gay), totaling about $10K per year. They heat their box shaped, tin roof shanty’s with coal or wood in the winter. They grow much of their own food including vegetables as well as beef or lamb. The rural areas sport older cars, models that look like Fiats (Amy I think of you when I see yellow ones), there are Lupas, and boxy foreign models that we don’t recognize. It would not be a day in the city without seeing several brake downs, AAA is desperately needed here.

There are many people doing quite well in Almaty. We were amazed to see the number of Toyota Land Cruisers, etc, in the city. The taxi cab company is called Mercedes cab, because all of the cabs are, well….Mercedes. When walking on a major boulevard in Almaty we see Elizabeth Arden and Estee Lauder stores as well as many high fashion and high dollar clothing boutiques.

The schools here run 7 days a week, two sessions, morning and afternoon. Classes end about 6pm. Just outside our window we can see the teenager’s gym class. They jog through the park area and then the teacher has them run timed sprints. For gym they change into sweat pants and t-shirts, but for class they wear uniforms that look like suits. They are predominately black with white oxfords. Some uniforms have skirts and vests. We have asked our coordinator about the attire, she has told us that suits are very expensive by Kazak standards – about $70 US dollars a year. While riding through the farms we see children walking down dirt roads in these uniforms, I asked how do they afford it? she said “they just do”. I believe if the children do not have a uniform, they do not attend school.

Thanks for checking in with us, we are so excited when we see our “hitometer” go up. It makes us feel so good and close to home knowing you are all following along with us!

Colene and Jeff

Can’t get to email much – so I wanted to respond to a few of you….more tomorrow……

We are thinking about Lynn and Walter and your ceremony this weekend, how the Belli’s are all in Delaware getting ready to celebrate. Our hearts are with you.

Sue and Al, dad said you are doing a great job keeping an eye on our pets, a day does not go by that we are not thankful for all you are doing. Dad B. thanks so much to you too!!
Paula, How the heck are ya??

Kathleen and Tom, welllll?????

Hi Steph and Sam!!

You counting the days yet mom?

To the WPA families – thank you so much for your help getting the bactroban!!!! I really appreciate it, the babyhouse is desperate for it!!

Lisa K. – Hey!!!! Thanks for making our dreams come true!

IL chicks – Im missin ya!

Rotmans, Sasha came over today, Jeff fixed his computer. Who would have thought he would have needed the recovery tools that he packed??? We have your file and can send them to you, can your mailbox take 7mb?