Happy Birthday Cal! - by McP

Today we celebrated Cal's first birthday! It was another really beautiful, unseasonably warm day in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The sky is so amazingly blue here, and it is said that it is the inspiration for the color of the nation's flag.

Cal really enjoyed himself today, but so did his big brother and big sister. I took Alina and Mac to the Kazakhstan Geological Museum. It was a real treasure to find. It is almost hidden in the dungeon-like basement of the "Kazakhstan Business Centre," a massive Soviet-era building on the corner of Dostyk and Abai (very close to our old apartment from six years ago). There is only a small sign and a big rock that indicated anything was there at all on the small entrance on the less-ceremonially adorned side of the huge building. When we went in, a little old lady (I think this country is run by them!) charged us 300 tenge (about $2.25 total) for myself, Emil and the kids.

We got into a freight elevator and rode down below ground level into a very dark basement. Another lady came in and quickly started turning on the lights on the various displays. We obviously had the whole museum to ourselves! It was a nice little museum with a good representation of the geological findings in Kazakhstan. Mac and Alina enjoyed the mural of the dinosaur times especially.

I think Alina and Mac have had a great educational experience on this trip. We have had many outings that have been educational in purpose. Of course, we have had our fun as well.

Alison and Cal tried to rest at the apartment, although Cal seemed to know something was up. He was restless most of the day.

In the afternoon, all the children took naps. I took the opportunity for a long walk around the city. I walked uphill again, this time up Dostyk Olitza toward the mountains. On this walk I was more cognizant of our limited time here, and took a lot more photographs of monuments and buildings. Hopefully, the children will enjoy them one day.

Finally, at 5 p.m., Emil showed up to take us to Mama Mia's for dinner. Emil brought a gift for Cal, a "Cherburuska" - a Russian cartoon character that looks like a bear but apparently isn't. It is very popular, and Cal was very curious about it.



Emil brought a smaller Cherburuska for Alina, and for Mac he brought a hilarious "Spong-bob" doll. No, I did not misspell it. The Chinese goods sold at the Green Market are often rife with misspellings and other misrepresentations of the characters they are attempting to copy (rememeber the "Superman" I got Mac with the backward "S" on his chest?). We all got a kick out of this. I had been looking for a Cherburuska for Cal for weeks. It is something uniquely regional, unlike the worldly "Spong-bob" character.



I know Alina and Mac will miss Emil very much. They have some basic conversations with him in Russian! While I struggled to learn some basic survival phrases, our children are learning so easily - and retaining it!

Back at the apartment, we started a webcast of the birthday party. That was a last minute decision but we were joined by many around the world. Alina, Mac and Cal all donned traditional Kazakh hats for the celebration. Cal was in excellent form, and carried on for the folks watching back home. He had his first cake and first ice cream. I think we have another sweet tooth in the family!

Thank you all for thinking of us as we start to wind our journey down to the last week. We are going to the office tomorrow to review papers that will be sent to the American Embassy for our processing out next week. It has been quite a trip! - McP