Day 5 Return of Cholepan and the Austrians

Today starts at the baby house with a huge smile from Deanna when she enters the room and sees Monte. I think we have only seen a shadow of who this little girl is and will become. She is like a closed flower but we are starting to see small signs of her blooming, even in just a few days. Our doctor said this will take time since she has gone so long, her whole life, with so little interaction. Right now little things like her smiling or moving or making noises are a big deal to us. She loves her fingers. Standard comfort position –middle and ring fingers in mouth, pointer finger on nose.

But this day is less about us and more about someone else. We learn that the Austrian couple (see Day 4), instead of going straight home, has decided to visit our baby house. They are scheduled to visit someone very special to us at the same time as our bonding time with Deanna. They are scheduled to meet Cholepan! (see Day 2) And somehow it ends up that we need to share a room. There we sit with Deanna, who is having a great day by the way. In walks the Austrians, and here comes Cholepan! The mother and Cholepan hit it off right away. They seem to have the same (high) energy levels, and all look so happy together.



Cholepan and the Austrian Couple





The Austrian couple is very kind and friendly, and we end up sharing diapers, measurement tape, medical records, cookies, our stories, and finally email addresses. When Cholepan gets close to Deanna, we get another little treat. Deanna starts talking and making all types of noises – Kazakh baby talk I guess. We have hardly heard a peep out of her. But Cholepan shows up and Deanna turns into a chatter box.


It is hard for me to express the depth of emotions. I never thought we would see Cholepan again after Day 2. She had a place in our hearts from the beginning. I knew we made the right decision, but it was very painful to know that saying “yes” to one meant saying “no” to such a precious little one. To see Cholepan again, especially with this family who themselves have been through so much, and to see them hit it off, well… if miracles still happen, I swear I am seeing one before my eyes. I cannot take my eyes off this family. They are so beautiful and happy, and I feel so blessed to see this unfold. Everything in the world, at least in this little room, is right today.



The truth is that we don’t know if the Austrian couple will end up with Cholepan. They must re-submit their application after the debacle at the Almaty baby house and re-apply for the Karakastek region. There is a lot of uncertainty in the process. They will return in a few weeks to finalize their decision. In the meantime, we agree to watch over Cholepan if we have the opportunity to see her and keep them updated via email. If you have a heart to pray for Cholepan and this couple, please do so. It seems to be working so far.



Back at the hotel, we head out find a restaurant other than the King Burger and the pizza place where we have eaten twice. We find Mr. Donerci which looks like a Kazakh version of a gyro restaurant. We decide to give it a try. Working for the Kazakh language menu, we have no idea where to begin. Our waitress is of no help and just stares at us. We take our chances and order the most expensive thing ($10) on the menu, hoping for the best. We are pleasantly surprised with a shaved mystery meat (lamb?) dish with something that resembled French fries and flatbread. The French fries are awful but the meat and bread are pretty good so we order one more. Some of the locals have bought what looks like a burrito - is this flatbread wrapped around the same meat - so I try to make one from the plate in front of me. Monte observes that the waitress is staring and laughing at my strange ways. Then she gets all stoned faced again when approaching our table. We finish, pay, and leave just happy to have something in our stomachs.

Monte & the mystery meat!

It is Saturday night and Monte falls fast asleep at 6 p.m. The other night, I was lucky enough to find Kazakh versions of High Plans Drifter and Texas Ranger, but there is no Clint Eastwood or Chuck Norris on the tube tonight. I fumble through the DVDs Monte brought and find myself watching the Sex and the City movie - by myself – enjoying it. Things are getting a little weird.