When in Kaz...

Today Jim and I sat at our dining room table for an hour and 48 minute phone "conference" with one of the directors of our agency. There is something somewhat ironic as in front of me hanging on the wall was the huge puzzle, more than 60 years old, that once belonged to my dad, that does not even include Kazakhstan as we know it today, and learned even more of the details of our "adventure" that will begin October 17th. We now know....

*Yes, the rumor is true...there IS a bowling alley in the hotel...SAVE ME NOW!! That means the VARSITY bowling coach that I am traveling with will want to go there ALL THE TIME....AHHH!!! (I did hear mention of a workout facilitiy but I think you have to pay for it...and was warned against running outside the same way everyday because people don't "do that there" and I would stick out like a sore thumb....)

*Oh and another piece of good news for Jim...it is ok to wear American sports teams over there! OH WE CAN ALL SLEEP EASY TONIGHT!!! We had been told that it was not such a good idea but Mark has confirmed that you CAN wear it. AND they actually like sports team gifts...(If I had been smart I would have called Mark ahead of time and told him to tell Jim "NO". Think I will have to find some OSU to wear!!)

*There are other families traveling from our agency at the same time - YEAH!! I was wondering how we would do with the only other English speaking person being...well, each other!! We might run out of things to talk about.

*THIS one just amazes me!!! Kazakhstan's heating is controlled by the government. It is piped under the streets...so when the gov't decides it is cold enough to turn on the heat, then everyone gets heat at once. This is kind of how it is in our house too but the "gov't" here would be JIM!! He did say we are getting to Kaz just about the time the temperature will drop and we may be caught in the in between time before they turn the heat on. I have since added my UnderArmour Running tights to my growing pile of "stuff"!!

*Along those same lines, the baby houses are kept VERY WARM....so you have to basically take a change of clothes because it will be the tropics in there...

*It is customary to remove your shoes when entering a house. We had been told to bring slippers for the baby house but this is true of any house you may visit.

*The bread in Kazakhstan is GREAT but only lasts a few days as it does not contain preservatives.

*People wear "black" jeans in the winter....not to make a fashion statement but rather because of the snow, slush, sand mixture on the streets which in turn gets on the bottom of pants. (I have had this happen in Ohio too but never thought about it...)

*Milk comes in 2 forms: cold milk in a bag or warm in a box. AND you have to ask which is pasteurized and homogenized.

*The baby house were Baby Kaz is right now is one of the best in the area because of the families that have gone before us....it has a new roof, new flooring, etc. I know that makes me feel ALOT better!!

*Laundromats are nonexistent in that part of the world. He has never seen one in Kaz or Russia...I can be found down by the creek with the washboard (Oh wait...the creek will be frozen by then!

*No matter how hard you might try...you stick out as an "American".

*Carry a calulator with you to the markets/malls. You can bargain prices but will not know what the numbers are in Russian but you can type it on the calculator (I would point out I had added one to our items a LONG time ago DESPITE SOMEONE telling me he did not know what I planned to "calculate" - I win!)

*And most important...this is NOT a vacation but rather a mission...I think we learned that a LONG time ago!

I am sure we will have more things to add to this list once we get there!
18 Days..WE are coming BK...I promise!!