Kazakhstan or Colorado?

Today we did not visit with Dub & Lena for the morning session. Instead, Mit drove us an hour east to the village where Valeryi Fatkulin was born 3 years ago, Kulan.

The drive was quiet as far as conversation goes, since Mit speaks very little English. However, the drive was simply magnificent. This drive is very much like the trip from Denver to Colorado Springs down I-25. It takes about an hour, is nothing but beautiful country, and the mountains stand tall and grand on your right the entire trip there.



Mit demonstrated the Kazakh method of driving for us once again, on what started out as a 4 lane highway, then went to 2 lane road, then just a wide strip of pavement, the just a wide strip of very, very old asphalt. I had just started to wonder when it would turn to dirt when we arrived. Along the way, it was quite common to see huge flocks of sheep both in the pastures and right alongside the road. We also saw many working donkey carts actually traveling the road, not to mention horses, cows, and goats grazing all along the road. It was like being taken back in time about 50 years to the western US. Incredible scenery, and a much slower pace of life.



But we were in the car, going 125 km/h, avoiding livestock and potholes and people along the way. The business in Kulan, which was just to get an original copy of Dub's birth certificate, took only about 15 minutes, and then we were back on the road. Mit stopped and let us take a few pictures of the maternity hospital where Dub was born.





Then, we stopped on the way out of Kulan to take more pictures at the "Welcome Center" of Kulan.







Finally, about 15 minutes outside Kulan, there is a grand statue of some kind of deer, elk, or other similar plain-grazing animal. Mit stopped along the side of the road, and in his broken English told us to follow him up the 50 foot shoulder of the highway up to the statue. The results of his efforts are below.







When we arrived at Umit for our afternoon visit, we were told that Dub & Lena saw Vera arrive in the morning with the Morin family. Both Dub & Lena expected to see us, and both broke down crying when we were not there. Yes, they know the schedule, they know the drill, and they knew we were supposed to be there and we were not. They were very happy to see us when we arrived at 4pm.





Vera delivered the bad news that our court date is NOT going to be Friday, but next Tuesday instead. Apparently, we were going to get a substitute judge, who was willing to make room in his schedule for us. But the big boss judge got word of this while he was attending a seminar in Almaty, and said the he and he only handles all international adoptions. Our court date is Tuesday. He will not waive the 15 day waiting period, so we expect to leave Taraz for Almaty on the 17th of June.

Yes, we were a little disappointed. However, we have just recently heard of 2 couples - one here already and the other still waiting in the US - who are both having great trouble with their referrals. We don't yet know their outcomes yet. So, we are thankful to be here and bonding with Dub & Lena, and we'll take whatever court date and time frame God wants us to have. God is good, and His plan is perfect.

Blessings,
Kevin & Angel