Shymkent Day 1

Let me start by saying Jet Lag is a major drag! Jesse and I both are struggling to get through the days right now. I slept like a baby for 4 hours last night and then at 2:00a.m. I'm wide awake. Thank goodness for Ipod audio books, listening saved my sanity as I was trying to pass the time in a small room with no where to go and no TV to watch. The hotel had one English speaking channel, BBC.

This rainy morning we arrived in Shymkent, a two hour flight from Almaty. We were met by our driver, coordinator and translator. With not a minute to catch our breath it was Game On! Our coordinator arranged for us to see an apartment, but we were not interested in staying there. It was clean but not our "cup of tea". We ask to go to the Hotel instead. We decided to splurge and get the deluxe room for $100/night. A small two room unit versus a single room with just a bed. I figure the extra money might save our marriage, after all we'll be here a month.

Next we raced to the regional Ministry office. Our coordinator Nurshy is hard to keep up with, she's a lady on a mission! I think she pushed the elevator button 3000 times. We spent a total of 3 minutes in that office. The official apologized she was in a hurry and she left. We proceeded to the local Ministry office. We had a short conversation with an official there and then off to the Baby House.

The time at the baby house was extremely stressful but we've met a child we're hopeful will become our "one Moore."

More information to follow as soon as we can...