The Long and Winding Road…Home

We’re sitting on the plane with only three hours to go until we land at LAX (Los Angeles International Airport). We’ve been traveling for 33 hours straight. There is so much to write about, and as we are sleep deprived and generally smelly, we may miss a few items.

After our court hearing Monday, we packed up and loaded our luggage into Jultas (our driver) car. By Kazakhstan standards, he has a pretty decent car. It’s an early 1990’s Audi. It has four doors, and about 200 thousand miles. As we loaded our four large suitcases, two backpacks and one carry-on bag, it became clear that the seating arrangement would be challenging. We were able to stuff two of the suitcases, and the two backpacks in the trunk. We had two suitcases and a carry-on in the back seat. I would like to say at this point how much I love my wife. She insisted that she and Jacob ride in the back seat next to the luggage and carry-on. Kim and Jacob basically shared one seat all the way to Almaty. Not a terrible ride, unless you think 7 ½ hours on a barely paved two lane road as terrible. No one in Kazakhstan seems to use their air conditioning. When we left it was about 85 degrees outside, so we rode with the windows down, it was like cruising Pacific Coast Highway, with the wind blowing in our hair, except for the nauseating burning smells, the dust everywhere and crazy Kazakhstan traffic.

Jultas is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. Unfortunately he speaks less English than I do Russian. I think I’m proficient with about six words in Russian. This resulted in some attempted awkward communication. We made a few stops, we couldn’t get Jacob to pee on the road side. I think he was a little nervous. The landscape was pretty much like the plains of Nebraska, it did look like great farm land. We saw horses, donkeys, sheep and goats all over the place. I think Jacob may have had some stage fright due to the animals, the winds and oh yeah we where in a strange country, where he couldn’t understand anyone, and some of the locals looked a little scary.

The traffic was funny, we would pass large trucks, pulling multiple trailers that looked like they were going to fall over. We also zoomed by the old Soviet cars as I don’t think they can go faster then 40 MPH. We were passed by Mercedes. It’s an interesting culture, and social system. There is money in Kazakhstan, as they have found huge oil reserves. Unfortunately, only about 5% of the population has access to that money. Well, this five percent were out on this crazy “highway” blowing by us at 100 MPH.
At one point we passed two wild fires, where the fields were blazing. No one seemed to mind. My guess is that the fires are still burning as there were miles and miles of fields.

The road we took included a long mountain pass, that lasted for about three or four hours of our ride. This incline is referred to as the Steps, again it looked like good soil for farming. I don’t know the elevation, but I know we climbed steady at a 10 to 12% grade, and going down was pretty scary. On our way down it was getting dark, Jultas was getting tired and the crazy procession of Mercedes, trucks and Soviet cars made for quite a ride. Jacob had slept the first two hours of the trip. As the ride progressed, the poor little four year old slowly lost his ability to sit still, stop talking and became very effective at driving us crazy. Kim and I were short on patience but we made it without any major incidents.

We finally made it to Almaty. Jultas got us to the airport in one piece. Unfortunately, we parked on the wrong level. So we got to carry the luggage up to next level. Jultas helped, and offered to stay with us. We thanked him and told him it was unnecessary so traded contact information. We then began the next leg of our journey.

Our flight was scheduled to leave Almaty at 3:20 am for Frankfurt Germany. We arrived at the airport around 9:30 pm. We had to leave Taraz early to make sure we got there on time. We also wanted to drive the Steps in daylight if possible. Every airport has a different system for boarding, checking-in and security. Almaty is very different. We couldn’t check in until two hours before the flight. Fortunately there was a café inside the airport. No one spoke English, but there was an English menu. Half the items weren’t available. Kim and Jacob ended up with some nasty bread with terrible cheese melted on it. I ordered eggs and bacon. I like my eggs a little runny, but these would have made Rocky proud in his training days.

Poor Jacob was going stir crazy, poor Kim and I were at our wits end. Finally, at 1 am, were allowed into the check-in area. As we passed the security, Kim and Jacob were walking ahead of me as we still had our luggage, and I was trying to navigate the luggage cart through the horde of people. One important side note, in Kazakhstan, no one has learned how to use lines. This applies at stores, restaurants and airports. It’s very annoying, I almost threw down with this old Kazakh woman at one store, but that’s another story for another time. I’m pretty sure I could have taken her, but she had a snaggle tooth that was pretty intimidating. Anyway, Kim had the tickets and passports, all of the sudden two police men, with their ridiculously large hats pulled me to the side. I yelled for Kim, as she has the passports and tickets. She claims to not have heard me, I think she was hoping for a strip search and a beating in the back room….okay that’s a joke, and I haven’t really slept in 33 hours. Kim finally, came, and the policemen said something in Russian, and pointed to the customs office, we started to walk to the office and then when the police men looked away we made a B-Line for the Lufthansa check-in desk. I’ve seen Midnight Crossing or Midnight Express (my brain is fried), and that’s not the life for me.

The check-in was going well until they weighed the bags. Two of our check-in items were over the weight limit. We had to pay twice for each bag as we had two flights, that’s $25 a piece times two, dang $100. Actually, I would have paid $500 for someone to take the luggage off our hands. I even thought what’s in the luggage that I can’t live without? We were able to check in the luggage.

We then entered the gate area, going through security, passport check and no line, just the horde. We did meet a nice family from Seattle who were returning with their newly adopted baby girl. The plane had three or four families in the adoption process. It was nice to share experiences, laugh about living in the land of Kazh and speak English. We even got to talk about football! Not Soccer (stupid Euro CNN).

We got on the plane, and Jacob and I slept a good chunk of the flight. We had decent seats, and flight staff were warm and friendly. They fed us, and it tasted great. About 6 ½ hours later we landed in Frankfurt, Germany. We decided that since we were a Kazakhstan flight, our flight wasn’t given a gate, so we had to exit on the runway, and take buses to the terminal. No problem, except it was pouring rain outside. We had about three hours before our next flight. That’s when we found a little piece of heaven. McDonalds! It was 6:15 am, but they served it all. Jacob got his fries and chicken nuggets, Kim had a cheese burger and fries, and I had a glorious Big Mac! No horse meat there! We sat with the Seattle family had a nice time. There was even a small play area that Jacob thoroughly enjoyed. I will always love that airport, as it may have saved my sanity.

We had to go through security next. Germany has very strict security. The security staff was very pleasant, but we all got patted down including Jacob. He laughed as he thought he was being tickled. They even felt our socked feet. By that time my feet must’ve been ripe, and I’m sure that guy didn’t get paid enough for that job.

The gate areas are fenced in and randomly open, but once the staff comes to the gate they throw everyone out, and have you re-enter with your ticket. It’s a strange system. While we waited, Jacob decided he didn’t want to play anymore, and had a melt down. It didn’t help that Kim and I were exhausted. It wasn’t our best moment, but we did make it on the plane. Boarding went a little smoother as Germany has embraced the concept of lines. Once on the plane, everything started smoothly, Jacob feel asleep. We got a little shut-eye, only to wake to some food. We ordered Jacob kids meals, we had to call from Kazakhstan as the original request never made it. He was so excited about these meals. On both flights he woke to his own personalized kid’s meal. He was so happy. I’m so impressed with how well my little four year old has done. Even though right now he is driving us crazy, but understand he’s been traveling for 33 hours, sitting on a plain for nine hours, it’s really okay. Kim and I are beyond tired and can’t wait to land. I think we’re beyond the point of exhaustion. We’ve had a few hiccups, like the DVD player got switched on during the car ride and has no power now. So much for The Little Einstein’s helping out.

I think our supper is coming, and then we should land. We’ll finish the update and post it in a few hours.

Well, I’m sitting on my bed, after a good shave and shower. After we landed at LAX, we went through a passport check at the gate, customs and then waited for luggage. After waiting for what seemed to be a long time, our luggage came down the shoot. We then had one more passport check. All this security, it’s sad and a pain.

We had a welcome surprise as we walked up from the Customs/baggage claim area Amber, Mithcell, Rick, Pam and Barbara (my mom) were there waiting for us. It must’ve been dusty in that darn airport, as my eyes were misty again. It was a great homecoming, Mithcell gave each a big hug, Amber made cookies, Rick and Pam had stocked the kitchen, Barb made us a dinner. We’re tired and wondering what would happen if the children fall asleep before we do?

I’m going to try and post some pictures as well. I can't tell you how happy we are to be home, now we can't wait for Dasha to come home. We showed some videos today, and there were a few tears. I can't imagine what our little girl is thinking. The sooner she is here the better.