Here!!

CHECK OUT LINKS TO THE RIGHT TO KEVIN AND JOSH'S TRIP BLOGS Josh gives some, um, interesting insights into our trip.

I've never been so tired in my entire life.

What a perfect sentence to begin this post. :-) I'm so glad I started this private blog as you all are going to read some really "raw" emotions and impressions here. This is not information I feel would be appropriate for a public blog.

I'm not sure where the last update was here -- truth is, I'm not sure what DAY it is here or the date. We did just talk to my parents via Skype and they told us it was still Sunday there, so it must be Sunday night here. :-) It's just beginning to get dark and we just got a call from Aliya, our translator, reminding us to be ready for pick up at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. After all this travel, we will finally meet "The Princess".


So, I'll back up. We left Nashville on a plane that you wind up with a rubber band. No, seriously, though, it was a three seater and smaller than I suspected it would be. A little less than two hours later, we arrived in Washington, D.C. where we realized it was late afternoon on a Friday of Memorial Day weekend in the nation's capital. Can you say BUSY?? We managed to use the restroom, get Josh a couple of magazines, eat a Subway and then a man we met from flight one, who is also traveling to Kyrgyzstan told us they were boarding the plane. So much for snacks.
We flew on a 767 from Washington to London. Our original seats were separated with Josh and I sitting on the side and Kevin by himself in the rear. Fortunately, his seatmates didn't show up so we moved to the back. It was nice to be able to have to seats to stretch into the aisle. There were several movie choices and the Disney Channel for Josh so we did pretty well until we decided Josh needed to sleep. HAHA. Those of you who know Josh know he's not a small child (but then, no one in our family is small!) so he tried to stretch out across both of us. We tried it for a while, but he wasn't sleepy and was wiggling so we gave that up. I think, maybe, during that 7.5 hour flight, we all might have each slept an hour. We ate dinner on the plane -- Josh got chicken and fries with some applesauce and juice and maybe cookies -- yes, lemon cookies. I absolutely don't remember what we had. Kevin's down with Josh in the pool so I'll have to ask later. Kevin just reminded me, we had a salad and ravioli. It was really good. We were also served breakfast of fruit cup and banana nut loaf. All very good food on United.


When we arrived in London, we got off the plane on the GROUND and walked to a bus where we were transported to Terminal 1. We decided we were supposed to go to Terminal 4 (as I had somehow, in my mind, decided we were flying British Air -- nope!). After clearing security in that terminal, we were told we needed to be in Terminal 2. So, another 10 minute bus ride and we were in the right terminal. Josh, at this time, decided he was hungry. We stopped at the Giraffe restaurant and ordered BLTs. Josh had a kids' smoothie and Kevin had coffee and I had tea. Imagine our surprise when, after converting our money, it was $51. I think we'll skip food in London next time. They did have a toy store with wooden toys that I'd like to purchase some of for Ellie. The toy prices were actually pretty reasonable compared to the same things in the States. Maybe on the trip back through. I paid for us to hook up to the internet and updated my regular blog and was literally falling asleep while I typed. Kevin and Josh were walking around. We met up with Elizabeth and Bill there and they went to eat. I told Kevin I had to lay down on the seats there. I slept for an HOUR and don't remember anything. In London, gates are not announced until 30 minutes prior to flights. After we got our gate assignment, we sat and I watched the people who were going to board the plane. Most of them were Asian, and probably lived in Kyrgyzstan so I was excited to study them (people watching at it's finest). A mom, her baby and her mom came up and I was in HEAVEN as the baby looked to be about the same age as Ellie. One thing I noticed there and on the plane was that many of those people I was "watching" had the same lips as Ellie. Crazy, yes!


The flight to Bishkek was slated to be 8.5 hours. I don't have a clue how long it took. We stopped in Almaty to let some folks off and then it was another 30 minutes on to Bishkek. This plane was a 757 and had only one movie choice. Josh fell flat out asleep as soon as we took off. This was from the boy who was "NOT tired" :-) We had dinner. I had some sort of beef tips in horseradish sauce with onions and peppers with a side of sweet potatoes. Kevin had curried veggies in rice (I tasted it and did NOT like it). Josh got some grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and carrots with peas. He wouldn't eat it and told us he was "not hungry". I knew it was the peas and carrots. We scooped out them and he ate a bite or two but didn't eat a lot. We each tried to sleep off and on but didn't get much sleep there either. I watched Bucket List. Kevin, Josh and I watched parts of National Treasure 2, but we'd all seen it before so we just watched parts of it.


After we landed, we went to the visa department and got our papers ready to turn in there. Visas were $35 each. After we got our visas, we proceeded to customs. We were a bit concerned because the guy, who did not speak English, kept looking at Kevin's passport and him and shaking his head no, like he was thinking this was not him. He looked at mine and Joshua's and finally sent us on through. We moved over to get our bags and after all of us, including Elizabeth and Bill, got our luggage, we proceeded to customs. We waited and finally someone came out. I asked if she spoke English and she said, "Some. Little." We asked if we needed to declare anything. She said No, but we knew we needed to declare our cash since we had heard that if we didn't and left with cash, we might not be able to leave with it. Finally, we got someone who could translate and we got forms, filled them out, and got them stamped. Then, basically, all hell broke loose.


We exited the baggage area and saw at least 15 people standing there. I had forgotten to tell Josh and Kevin that there would be lots of people trying to take our baggage so they could get the tips. Josh let someone take one of our carts and I went and took it back saying, "Nyet, nyet". It's the ONLY word I know in Russian and I have found it's the most important word here. :-) There was a man with a placard with our name on it, "Mr. Charles Latham". Elizabeth and Bill had someone else with their name. We were trying to get our luggage gathered and I heard Elizabeth say, "Bill, I don't know who that is taking our luggage." About that time a woman walked up and said, "Excuse me, could I talk to you a minute?" and I'm thinking, "Great, we are going to jail (haha!). Praise the LORD, it was Aliya, our translator. She asked if we had ordered a car from Silk Road Lodge and I told her no, we were expecting them to pick us up. She did have a car and driver there, but because both we and our travel mates had SO MUCH luggage (really, folks, most of it is donations!!), she said it was fine to go with Silk Road guy and, "It is safe." That's really all I needed to hear. It was dark and people were talking in a language I didn't know and I just wanted to leave there. Today, when she called, she said it was a bit much for her too as there were a LOT of people there. So, I put Josh in the van, got in myself and Kevin hopped in. We knew there were guys helping Mr. Silk Road with our luggage, but we weren't tipping them as we had not asked them. GO Mr. Silk Road who got into some big discussion with them. Now, I don't speak Russian, but I KNOW he pretty much told him to bug off. Some things don't have to be translated. :-) We drove to our hotel and it was beginning to get light. We could see the outline of the mountains in the distance. Josh was a bit shaken by the airport ordeal, but calmed down a bit during the 15 +/- drive there. I could tell, even in the dark, that this country is poor. But, in their defense, there isn't anything, so far, that I wouldn't see in some of the areas that I work in inner city Nashville. The difference, as far as I can tell so far, is that there isn't an affluent area.


We arrived at the hotel, got checked in, Elizabeth and Bill arrived and our luggage was hauled upstairs. Unsure if we should or should not tip, we did. Mr. Silk Road, got $10 and Mr. Carried our Luggage Up" got $5 USD. Someone should address tipping protocol here in the manuals sent out to us. Anyway... our room is fine. It's a bit like maybe a Days Inn/Howard Johnson, but the bathroom was clean and that's important to me. We were told breakfast was at 7:30 and so Kevin fell out on the bed, Joshua started watching Nickelodeon in Russian (see, it doesn't matter what the language is, he'll watch ANYTHING) and I sat in the chair and fell asleep immediately. Josh woke us up at what we thought was 7:30 and we went downstairs. We were told it was another 40 minutes until breakfast so we came back upstairs and I could not TELL you what happened next because when I woke up some NINE HOURS later, Josh and Kevin were both asleep as well. It was 4:00 here when we woke up. Kevin had fallen asleep in the bed in his SHOES.


We all showered and went down to find out about internet access. While we were asking where Elizabeth and Bill were, Bill came downstairs. They had been up, had breakfast, lunch and gotten their internet hooked up and went to the store. Didn't we feel like some serious slackers????
Kevin had gone downstairs to the restaurant to wait on us, and SURPRISE, they just brought him a beer and put it on the table. When we told him we were going over to the restaurant at the Beta store, he was required to pay for the beer. We don't even DRINK beer. I've now taught him "NYET". :-) And then, to the Beta store we went. We went to the restaurant that Bill and Elizabeth told us about in search of burgers and fries. EVERYONE stared at us as we walked along. :-) Might have been that 1) we were American; 2) we were in shorts/capris (me) and it didn't seem many were; 3) we looked lost. :-) We found the Beta store and the restaurant. We ordered. We began to eat. I think we have different palates. I was NOT going to be the person who complained about the food. I tried to eat it and talked to Joshua about the importance of "getting along" and "being a guest" in another country. Finally, I noticed, neither he or Kevin were eating their sandwiches either. I can't put a finger on it -- it wasn't really "bad", it just made my stomach feel queasy. We finally gave up, finished our Coke light, got the bill (470 soms = $12.98), left a tip (do you TIP here??) and left. We went to the store to get water (to brush my teeth - YUK and drink), Coke light, bread and jelly. We have peanut butter. I suspect we might loose weight (or can you live on Jelly Bellies??) while we are here unless we find some more food sources. Total bill, 270 soms = $7.45 for three liter bottles of water, six bottles Coke light, one loaf bread, 1 jar jelly -- seems reasonable. I have to trot over to exchange money in the store and Kevin had given me a $20 that had a tear. ARGHHH. So we exchange $100.


We walked back, got our internet hooked up and I set up Skype. Skype is the cheapest thing we've had since we left. A call to both our parents, for a little over 45 minutes was $1.28. WHOO HOOO. So if you all get calls from us later in the week and we won't hang up, it's because it's such a bargain. :-)


I'm so ready to meet "The Princess" and to hold her, touch her and talk with the orphanage director/doctor to see if there are medical things we need to know about/discuss, etc.
I have made a couple of statements to Kevin telling him I will NOT come back here by myself. I just can't juggle all that I need to, be as tired as I was and be handed over a new baby. Call me a wimp, but now that I've made the initial trip, I can't see me doing it by myself. We will do what we have to, but I can't do it by myself. The other thing is that I'm so glad that we are bringing Ellie to the U.S. While I know that had she lived here, this would have been the "normal" she was used to and that, by nothing but the grace of God was I born in the U.S., I would not want to live here. As I looked out my window this afternoon, there was a woman just a piece away doing her laundry with a hose pipe and some rubber tubs. She had a little girl, maybe 2 or so, with her. When she turned around, I saw that she was pregnant. She looked so young. I saw the run-down house she walked back to. This could have been Ellie's mom -- not literally, of course, but her life. How very hard these people have it here. We are such a blessed country and so awfully unappreciative. It was hard for me to go back into the bathroom and use $15 Oil of Olay moisturizer and think of what we were paying to stay in this hotel after seeing her.

I can't begin to imagine how I will feel when I meet this bundle of sweetness. I feel like this country, where I am a guest, is giving me a huge present. I can't imagine how to thank them.
All the positive and negative are part of the experience, one I will not get the chance to ever repeat so I continue to value each day and each experience and each moment, trying to memorize the images of each day and each event so one day, I can re-live them for Ellie. I know how important her story will be to her one day. Sadly, I know that if her country were not so poor, her birthmom might have been able to keep her.

In less than 12 hours, I will see my daughter. What a long wait it has been to touch a dream, a promise from God. Oh, and interesting tidbit. In the Bible, God made a promise to Noah and used the rainbow as a symbol to remind Noah of His promise. Thursday night, at the ballfield, there was a DOUBLE rainbow over our park. I have not seen a rainbow in years. God has fulfilled His promise to us. What a blessing!

Our hotel, Silk Road Lodge

Woman washing clothes
Mom and daughter - washing clothes (from hotel window)

Mom talking to daughter

Daughter helps carry tubs back home

Kevin and Josh enter the hotel room
Our bedroom
View from hotel
View from hotel (someone's home)

"I'm not tired" Josh
Diet Pepsi in tiny cans from airplane
Kevin and I watching National Treasure 2

Kevin, after a LONG flight (haha) with Josh and "Kitty"

Airport in Almaty

Kevin and Josh in "Central Park"
The van we came to the hotel in