Medical Exam day

We are a day behind in emails!  Our internet has been crazy!  So here you go...

 

Medical Exam day

On Monday the 30th we went to the SOS international clinic for the kids' medical exams.  It is a very small building with a very small waiting area.  And we have four children who very quickly fill up small spaces.  We are always so blessed by how gracious and tolerate people here seem to be with children.  There are times in the states that you can sense people's impatience and annoyance with children who are just being children, I have never gotten that feeling here. 
The first step in the exam was the basic vital statistics: height and weight.  We have been very curious about his weight and didn't really trust the numbers that the orphanage had given us.  The final verdict: his weight is 38.8 lbs and his height 38 inches.  He is short.  And round. 

He feels much heavier, but mostly because he has zero muscle tone and lifting him is like lifting a 40 lb bag of sugar.  Children who are carried and held a lot learn how to "help" by supporting their own weight and holding on.  Children who are not held often do not know how to be held.  Asa is like this. And it makes me sad.

The doctor did a basic examination and thankfully there were no surprises.  Overall he is healthy, we just have to get that hip fixed and he is seriously behind on his vaccinations.  That will be fun too.  When the doctor started looking at him, Asa was cooperative and even a bit cheerful.  When it came time to get up on the exam table, he started crying.  He was scared.  We do not know exactly what his history with doctors is and what has been done to him by doctors.  And with our very limited Russian it was hard to comfort him and assure him that he was safe.  Thankfully, the exam did not take long and we were soon back in the waiting area.

When all of the families were finished it was time to pay.  We were told that the clinic accepted American cash, so that is what we all had with us.  Nope.  Only Kazakh tenge.  16,900 tenge to be exact.  Thankfully it was the beginning of the trip and we had that with us!  We had enough money in American cash, but after the medical exam we all had to go exchange more money so that we could eat!

After the medical exams we walked to the US Embassy to turn is visa applications.  (We walked a lot yesterday.)  Getting into the embassy was another adventure. Same rules as the other embassy: passport check, metal detectors, no electronics (including digitals watches) and this time they had the children wait outside with one of the parents.  When we got inside the room, we were standing around talking and laughing and just enjoying ourselves.  One of consulate officers called us over and started giving us a hard time. 

 
"Can I help you!" 

"No, we are just filing paperwork at the window next to you."  Our coordinator was filling out papers and calling us over one at a time.

"What kind of paperwork?!"

"We are adopting, we are applying for our children's visas."

"Oh, you are the Kyrgyz adoption people" in a much friendlier tone of voice "I thought that you were applying for non-immigrant visas.  Okay then…."

Two things struck me: the people in that office had been told we were coming, so someone at the Department of State is kind of doing their job.  And that this guy was ready to be a jerk to anyone who was NOT a US citizen.  Hmmm.
After we turned everything in, the officer told us to come back the next day at 3 pm for our visa interviews.

It was now time for lunch.  Past time for lunch.  As I noted earlier, breakfast at our hotel is very disappointing.  Very.  We opted to have breakfast in our room.  A granola bar called a "Corny Big" and some yogurt which always tastes just a little bit strange in this part of the world.

While some of us were in the embassy filing papers (and being yelled at) the rest of the group met some very nice Americans who directed us to a very nice mall with some great food.  We were excited and started walking.  The walk to the mall was really beautiful.  We walked past a very big and important looking government building and our best guess is that it used to be like the White House of Kazakhstan.  We also walked through some very nice park areas.  It was shaded and the grass was very lush.  The flowers were beautiful and everything was very well taken care of.  A stark contrast to Kyrgyzstan where it is difficult to find grass anywhere, much less grass that is intentionally grown and watered.

The mall we ended up at is call Almally and is super nice.  Super nice.  And brand new.  It is an underground mall and the only part visible to the street are three large glass domes and some beautiful fountains.  If you were walking by you would never guess that there was a very large mall underneath your feet.  And there was no parking lot.  That was very strange to us Americans.

The food court was a welcomed sight.  They had a local grill type place that served Asian type foods including shashlyk (kabobs), some stir fry dishes, rice and noodles.  Next to that was a StarBurger with burgers, fries, baked potatoes, slushes and other goodies!  And then we saw it, it made all of our eyes shine with delight: Southern Fried Chicken!  The sign said it had "a Simply Lip Licking Flavour!" We didn't care, they had chicken strips and French fries and Coke from a fountain.  Oh it was heaven to us!  The kids (and adults) enjoyed the chicken, the kids love French fries, and the Coke was cold!

We walked around the mall some.  Found a Crocs store where the Crocs cost slightly more than at home.  A Lego store where, again, things cost a little more than at home.  And some other shops that would cater to traditional Kazakh people and others that would cater to young Western minded Kazakhs.   

After the mall, we went back to the hotel for a short rest time and then headed out for dinner.  We had seen a restaurant behind the embassy and decided to check it out.  Upon checking it out, we decided to keep looking.  We must have looked lost because a young American man came up to us and asked if we needed help.  He directed us to several restaurants.  We chose one called the Ritz Restaurant.  It was in a mall that was "not very far".  We set out again.  And walked and walked and walked.  And walked until three of the four kids were fast asleep in their strollers and baby carriers.  When we got to the Ritz Restaurant we found out that it was an Asian restaurant, as in Chinese.  I had voted to pass on a different Chinese restaurant on our way to this restaurant.  I spent 17 days in China and Chinese food outside of the US is not, well, I didn't want any more of it. 

Our guide had to help us.  The menu was all in Russian and Chinese and the pictures were small and hard to see.  We all chose the "safe" option: fried rice and boiled rib meat.  How bad could it be?  Yeah, we are not talking Chinese Kitchen here.  It was barely palatable.  Except to Kolya and Krystina, they will eat anything.  Asa would not eat it.  One good thing: the Coke was very cold.  One person in our group ordered dumplings and most everyone shared that and left the restaurant with a little something in their tummy.

As we walked outside the mall we discovered that the mall actually sits on the same street that our hotel is on.  We had taken the very long way to the mall to get there, but the walk back was only about 10 minutes.  And all downhill. 
We fell into bed last night, exhausted.  Asa has been waking up at 7 or 7:15 each morning.  This morning we woke him up at ten til nine.  He is a tired boy!