May 31, 2010
Today our letter of appeal will be sent off to the courts and we should be advised of a new court date for our appeal by the end of June. Hopefully we get the new court date by July or August, but we have absolutely no idea when it can be.
A lot of you keep sending us emails or calling us and asking us how we are. I have to say Life In Taraz is really not difficult, boring but not difficult however, emotionally it gets really hard when all you hear and see is negativity. I am really glad that Fil and I are on this difficult journey TOGETHER!!!! One day we can tell Dylan that we sacrificed a lot for him and we did it together. Both of us are here which means that we are not working, we still have bills to pay back home and we still have bills to pay here but it’s worth everything when we get to see Dylan everyday. Fil and I have 1 mission and 1 mission only………..BRING DYLAN HOME!!!!!!
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY JEREMY & BECKY!!!!
We would like to wish our new Amazing American friends Becky and Jeremy a happy wedding anniversary. We wish you lot’s of love, happiness, health and to bring Aldanish Noah home very soon!!! xoxoxo
Monday, May 31, 2010
PIC-NIC IN TARAZ!!!
May 29, 2010
Today after our visit at the orphanage we went to meet Jeremy, Becky, Matt, and Nathalie at their hotel because we were going on a picnic. Damira who works at the Hotel Zhambyl where Jeremy and Becky have been staying at since they arrived in Kazakhstan in late December organized everything for all of us.
She bought all the food, drinks, hired a driver and we had an AWESOME TIME!!! She cooked up a delicious meal at the park. I felt like we were back in our parents time washing dishes in the river, chopping chicken and vegetables on the picnic table, using the river as a fridge for our drinks and the lovely bathroom as always………. A hole in the ground!!!! After the meal, she organized a guided visit in the mountains. As the guide was explaining to everyone to be careful where we walk and mentioned to look out for snakes I immediately refused to go!!! LOL!!!! So I (Mary of course) stayed behind and waited for them while they went through the forest up the mountains sightseeing for 2 hours.
I must say we really had a great time and it was really nice getting away and not thinking about anything!!!!!! Another nice taste to Kazakh culture!!! I have to say Damira, Becky, Jeremy, Matt, Nathalie our driver Gagni were all amazing company to be with. The whole 1.5 hr drive back home we sang and danced like idiots in the mini-van!!!!
RIVER IN THE MOUNTAINS!!
CHEF DAMIRA!!
AH MEMORIES!!!
GOOD OLD DAYS!!!
BEAUTIFUL MOUNTAINS!!!
DAMIRA!!!
WOW!!!
Today after our visit at the orphanage we went to meet Jeremy, Becky, Matt, and Nathalie at their hotel because we were going on a picnic. Damira who works at the Hotel Zhambyl where Jeremy and Becky have been staying at since they arrived in Kazakhstan in late December organized everything for all of us.
She bought all the food, drinks, hired a driver and we had an AWESOME TIME!!! She cooked up a delicious meal at the park. I felt like we were back in our parents time washing dishes in the river, chopping chicken and vegetables on the picnic table, using the river as a fridge for our drinks and the lovely bathroom as always………. A hole in the ground!!!! After the meal, she organized a guided visit in the mountains. As the guide was explaining to everyone to be careful where we walk and mentioned to look out for snakes I immediately refused to go!!! LOL!!!! So I (Mary of course) stayed behind and waited for them while they went through the forest up the mountains sightseeing for 2 hours.
I must say we really had a great time and it was really nice getting away and not thinking about anything!!!!!! Another nice taste to Kazakh culture!!! I have to say Damira, Becky, Jeremy, Matt, Nathalie our driver Gagni were all amazing company to be with. The whole 1.5 hr drive back home we sang and danced like idiots in the mini-van!!!!
RIVER IN THE MOUNTAINS!!
CHEF DAMIRA!!
AH MEMORIES!!!
GOOD OLD DAYS!!!
BEAUTIFUL MOUNTAINS!!!
DAMIRA!!!
WOW!!!
Supper at "CasaCola" in Taraz!!
May 28, 2010
Finally Friday we found a place with a scan and printer and sent our letter and id’s to Mario. Mario said he was off on Friday and would take care of everything. So we immediately sent out our emails regarding our letter of employments and a couple of hours later it was already done. On Friday Mario went to pick up our letter of employments and went to the Laval police main office to request our police certificates and they told him it would be ready in 2 business days. Mario called us Friday afternoon 3:30 Montreal time which was 1:30 am Kazakh time to let us know he picked up the letter of employments and requested the police certificates with no problem. Once our police certificates are ready, Mario will pick it up and bring everything to our agency in Montreal so she can send them to the consular of Kazakhstan in Ottawa to get validated and then send them here by Fed-ex. Let me tell you we were very relieved that it all worked out and we slept much better that night!!!!
Thank you very much everyone involved in getting this done in less than 24 hrs because I think Fil was going to have a Stress Attack!!!! We all know with Fil it needs to be done yesterday and not a minute later!!!!!! Thank you Mario for running around for us on your day off!!!
This week we’ll be going to Almaty for a couple of days to a clinic that is used mainly by foreigners to get our medical certificate done and hopefully it will be a simple procedure. The flights are only 3 times a week so we have no choice to stay there at least 2 nights.
We invited our new friends (the 3 adopting families) over for supper on Friday night. So while Fil was running around that day I was home cooking.
We had a real nice evening and if I do say so myself I prepared a delicious meal!! Fil and I really enjoy entertaining and it was really nice having everyone over for supper. We also had a special guest Matt which is Jeremy’s brother who came to Kazakhstan to visit. Matt is currently working as a diplomat in Iraq and we were very pleased to have met such an intelligent, funny and very outgoing guy.
GUESTS AT CASACOLA
PASTA NAPOLITANA KAZAK
Finally Friday we found a place with a scan and printer and sent our letter and id’s to Mario. Mario said he was off on Friday and would take care of everything. So we immediately sent out our emails regarding our letter of employments and a couple of hours later it was already done. On Friday Mario went to pick up our letter of employments and went to the Laval police main office to request our police certificates and they told him it would be ready in 2 business days. Mario called us Friday afternoon 3:30 Montreal time which was 1:30 am Kazakh time to let us know he picked up the letter of employments and requested the police certificates with no problem. Once our police certificates are ready, Mario will pick it up and bring everything to our agency in Montreal so she can send them to the consular of Kazakhstan in Ottawa to get validated and then send them here by Fed-ex. Let me tell you we were very relieved that it all worked out and we slept much better that night!!!!
Thank you very much everyone involved in getting this done in less than 24 hrs because I think Fil was going to have a Stress Attack!!!! We all know with Fil it needs to be done yesterday and not a minute later!!!!!! Thank you Mario for running around for us on your day off!!!
This week we’ll be going to Almaty for a couple of days to a clinic that is used mainly by foreigners to get our medical certificate done and hopefully it will be a simple procedure. The flights are only 3 times a week so we have no choice to stay there at least 2 nights.
We invited our new friends (the 3 adopting families) over for supper on Friday night. So while Fil was running around that day I was home cooking.
We had a real nice evening and if I do say so myself I prepared a delicious meal!! Fil and I really enjoy entertaining and it was really nice having everyone over for supper. We also had a special guest Matt which is Jeremy’s brother who came to Kazakhstan to visit. Matt is currently working as a diplomat in Iraq and we were very pleased to have met such an intelligent, funny and very outgoing guy.
GUESTS AT CASACOLA
PASTA NAPOLITANA KAZAK
May 27, 2010
We received a copy of the May 18th court refusal and we read that some of the documents we had updated before coming to Kazakhstan were not valid because they were not validated by the consular of Kazakhstan in Ottawa. So we questioned them about this and they informed us that usually they accept it but this time they didn’t. They said by law these documents must be validated but in the past have always accepted the files even if they were not. So it was clear the judge was just trying to add some negativity to our refusal letter. So we were given the choice of either coming back to Canada to get these documents updated and validated or trying from here. The documents we need are: 1- new letter of employment, 2- police certificate and 3- medical certificate. The only problem was we were told that it might not be possible for someone else to get us the police certificate and for the medical certificate we would have to go get them done in Almaty, which is very far (either 10 hrs by train or 1.5 hrs by plane). So as soon as our meeting was over Fil immediately contacted his brother to let him know he had some work to do for us ASAP and keep in mind this was Thursday night! Our good friend Antonella and Mario (Fil’s brother) called us back a couple of hours later and let us know it was possible, as long as we provided a signed letter authorizing Mario to go on our behalf with 2 pieces of picture id’s. We prepared our letter and then we had to find a place with a scan and a printer.
We received a copy of the May 18th court refusal and we read that some of the documents we had updated before coming to Kazakhstan were not valid because they were not validated by the consular of Kazakhstan in Ottawa. So we questioned them about this and they informed us that usually they accept it but this time they didn’t. They said by law these documents must be validated but in the past have always accepted the files even if they were not. So it was clear the judge was just trying to add some negativity to our refusal letter. So we were given the choice of either coming back to Canada to get these documents updated and validated or trying from here. The documents we need are: 1- new letter of employment, 2- police certificate and 3- medical certificate. The only problem was we were told that it might not be possible for someone else to get us the police certificate and for the medical certificate we would have to go get them done in Almaty, which is very far (either 10 hrs by train or 1.5 hrs by plane). So as soon as our meeting was over Fil immediately contacted his brother to let him know he had some work to do for us ASAP and keep in mind this was Thursday night! Our good friend Antonella and Mario (Fil’s brother) called us back a couple of hours later and let us know it was possible, as long as we provided a signed letter authorizing Mario to go on our behalf with 2 pieces of picture id’s. We prepared our letter and then we had to find a place with a scan and a printer.
Laoura's B-Day!!
May 26, 2010
A little update on Dylan. It’s a couple of days now that Dylan is beginning to take more and more steps on his own. It seems that he is getting more confident with himself and will be walking on his own for good very soon. Everyday he adds another step to the ladder. Unbelievable. He progresses by the day and we are enjoying every minute of it. We can’t wait to see him walk totally on his own. We’ve been working with him everyday and making him walk as much as possible until he’s fed up and sits his butt on the floor to let us know he’s had enough. He’s got quite a character and shows it more and more each day. He eats, plays, laughs, cries, and observes everything. When he meets someone for the 1st time he pulls these serious and dirty looks and stares at the person for a long time with that same angry look, and everyone laughs because it’s so funny and we crack up too. We understand that he doesn’t know yet we are the 2 most important people in his life because he only sees us 2.5 hrs a day and it’s only normal because he sees a lot of people during the day but it’s nice to see his attachment towards us. There are 9 “NouNou’s” (caregivers) per group of about 8 kids and they do shifts of 24 hrs, and it’s 2 nounou’s per shift. Other people that Dylan usually sees everyday are nurses, doctors, lot’s of different staff members of the orphanage, cleaning women, janitors, other caregivers from the many other different groups, other adoptive parents, and who knows who else because this is the little we see from the 5 minutes we are there waiting for Dylan. In the morning when we go pick him up in his room, Fil and I play a game and we just show up at the door without a sound and wait until he sees us. It really does not take long for him to see us at the door and starts bouncing and screaming with joy………..The Best Part of Our Day, EVERYDAY!!!!!
In the evening we were invited to our landlords’ (Walli & Annara) house for their daughter’s 23rd birthday. We went over about 7:00 after we had supper and once we got there we saw the big table again full of food. We were forced to sit down and eat again. I thought Italian’s were exaggerated with having a lot of food when people came over but I think we met our match!!!! Also they have the same European mentality when it comes to eating very late in the evening. We began eating about 8:30 and once again Walli assigned everyone with their seats and once again we ate besbarmak (horse and mutton). During the meal, everyone had to make a toast for Laoura’s birthday. Every time someone made a toast, Walli would fill up Fil’s glass with his home made Schnapps, which was very strong, and by the 3rd toast, Fil’s face and ears were purple red!!!! It was a very pleasant night being with such nice people.
Cocktail!!
Nonna Kazak!!
a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/49585199@N07/4655252115/" title="May 26-018 by filckr16, on Flickr">
Laoura (B-Day Girl)
Kazak Schnaps!!
Besbarmak!!! Buon Appetito!!
A little update on Dylan. It’s a couple of days now that Dylan is beginning to take more and more steps on his own. It seems that he is getting more confident with himself and will be walking on his own for good very soon. Everyday he adds another step to the ladder. Unbelievable. He progresses by the day and we are enjoying every minute of it. We can’t wait to see him walk totally on his own. We’ve been working with him everyday and making him walk as much as possible until he’s fed up and sits his butt on the floor to let us know he’s had enough. He’s got quite a character and shows it more and more each day. He eats, plays, laughs, cries, and observes everything. When he meets someone for the 1st time he pulls these serious and dirty looks and stares at the person for a long time with that same angry look, and everyone laughs because it’s so funny and we crack up too. We understand that he doesn’t know yet we are the 2 most important people in his life because he only sees us 2.5 hrs a day and it’s only normal because he sees a lot of people during the day but it’s nice to see his attachment towards us. There are 9 “NouNou’s” (caregivers) per group of about 8 kids and they do shifts of 24 hrs, and it’s 2 nounou’s per shift. Other people that Dylan usually sees everyday are nurses, doctors, lot’s of different staff members of the orphanage, cleaning women, janitors, other caregivers from the many other different groups, other adoptive parents, and who knows who else because this is the little we see from the 5 minutes we are there waiting for Dylan. In the morning when we go pick him up in his room, Fil and I play a game and we just show up at the door without a sound and wait until he sees us. It really does not take long for him to see us at the door and starts bouncing and screaming with joy………..The Best Part of Our Day, EVERYDAY!!!!!
In the evening we were invited to our landlords’ (Walli & Annara) house for their daughter’s 23rd birthday. We went over about 7:00 after we had supper and once we got there we saw the big table again full of food. We were forced to sit down and eat again. I thought Italian’s were exaggerated with having a lot of food when people came over but I think we met our match!!!! Also they have the same European mentality when it comes to eating very late in the evening. We began eating about 8:30 and once again Walli assigned everyone with their seats and once again we ate besbarmak (horse and mutton). During the meal, everyone had to make a toast for Laoura’s birthday. Every time someone made a toast, Walli would fill up Fil’s glass with his home made Schnapps, which was very strong, and by the 3rd toast, Fil’s face and ears were purple red!!!! It was a very pleasant night being with such nice people.
Cocktail!!
Nonna Kazak!!
a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/49585199@N07/4655252115/" title="May 26-018 by filckr16, on Flickr">
Laoura (B-Day Girl)
Kazak Schnaps!!
Besbarmak!!! Buon Appetito!!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Supper at Owner's Home!!!!!
May 23, 2010
Today all 3 Canadian families and our coordinators Vera and Mediet were invited for a traditional Kazak supper by the owners of the apartment we are living in. Walli, Annara, their children Laoura and Islam and their housekeeper treated us all like royalty and we were really touched and honoured. Their house is just next door to our apartment and it was really nice to be a skip and a hop away. Their tradition is they must assign you a seat at the dinner table.
Kazakhs' most popular dish has always been the national meat dish 'beshkarmak' (five fingers because of the manner in which it is eaten). It is made of large chunks of boiled meat which the host cuts and serves to each guest according to their importance: the pelvic bones and shin to the elderly guests of honour, the brisket to the son or daughter-in-law, the cervical vertebra to girls and so on.
The highest ranking guest is served a sheep's head cooked in a special way and distributes it to other guests according to local tradition (old men, children, close and distant relatives).
The meat is eaten with boiled pasta sheet and a meat broth called sorpa usually sewed in traditional Kazakh bowls called 'pialas'. At the end of the meal kumys is sewed then tea.
The guest of honour was Walli’s sister from Astana who is here for work and she sat at the head of the table, then was Jean-François and Annick (the couple from Ottawa) because they are older, then Nathalie and then us. The table was HUGE and could easily sit 20 people.
The traditional meal they prepared for us is called beshkarmak , which is a meal that back in the day would be eaten with your hands. It consisted of horsemeat, mutton over a huge plate of big lasagna noodles in a vegetable broth. It was very different and tasty. It was our 1st time we ate horsemeat and it was a nice experience. Fil and Jean-François also drank Camel milk, which Fil did not enjoy too much because it was sour. Walli made a toast to welcome us and throughout the meal he requested all of us to make a toast as well. During the meal Walli and Annara gave us all a gift, which was a traditional Kazak costume, which the older people still wear at special occasions. We already bought Dylan one of these outfits on our 1st trip to Kazakhstan back in December and now we both have one too. It was really nice to know from where Dylan Korkem is from and to see true Kazak Culture.
TABLE SETTING WITH GUEST OF HONNOR
FAMILY (From left to right) Islam, Gurina, Wali, and Annara
U MANDOLINI!!!!
INITIATION TO BE KAZAK!!!
CHEF KAZAK "WALI"
BUON APETITO!!!!
SECURITY GUARD "REX"!!!!!!
Today all 3 Canadian families and our coordinators Vera and Mediet were invited for a traditional Kazak supper by the owners of the apartment we are living in. Walli, Annara, their children Laoura and Islam and their housekeeper treated us all like royalty and we were really touched and honoured. Their house is just next door to our apartment and it was really nice to be a skip and a hop away. Their tradition is they must assign you a seat at the dinner table.
Kazakhs' most popular dish has always been the national meat dish 'beshkarmak' (five fingers because of the manner in which it is eaten). It is made of large chunks of boiled meat which the host cuts and serves to each guest according to their importance: the pelvic bones and shin to the elderly guests of honour, the brisket to the son or daughter-in-law, the cervical vertebra to girls and so on.
The highest ranking guest is served a sheep's head cooked in a special way and distributes it to other guests according to local tradition (old men, children, close and distant relatives).
The meat is eaten with boiled pasta sheet and a meat broth called sorpa usually sewed in traditional Kazakh bowls called 'pialas'. At the end of the meal kumys is sewed then tea.
The guest of honour was Walli’s sister from Astana who is here for work and she sat at the head of the table, then was Jean-François and Annick (the couple from Ottawa) because they are older, then Nathalie and then us. The table was HUGE and could easily sit 20 people.
The traditional meal they prepared for us is called beshkarmak , which is a meal that back in the day would be eaten with your hands. It consisted of horsemeat, mutton over a huge plate of big lasagna noodles in a vegetable broth. It was very different and tasty. It was our 1st time we ate horsemeat and it was a nice experience. Fil and Jean-François also drank Camel milk, which Fil did not enjoy too much because it was sour. Walli made a toast to welcome us and throughout the meal he requested all of us to make a toast as well. During the meal Walli and Annara gave us all a gift, which was a traditional Kazak costume, which the older people still wear at special occasions. We already bought Dylan one of these outfits on our 1st trip to Kazakhstan back in December and now we both have one too. It was really nice to know from where Dylan Korkem is from and to see true Kazak Culture.
TABLE SETTING WITH GUEST OF HONNOR
FAMILY (From left to right) Islam, Gurina, Wali, and Annara
U MANDOLINI!!!!
INITIATION TO BE KAZAK!!!
CHEF KAZAK "WALI"
BUON APETITO!!!!
SECURITY GUARD "REX"!!!!!!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
REFUSED!!!!!!!!
It is with great regret that we must announce that our request to adopt Dylan Korkem has been refused by both the prosecutor and the judge with the same reasons as the other 6 couples which is he was not shown to enough Kazakh families before he was given up for international adoption. Even if we were 99% sure of the refusal it still killed us to hear this from the judge. We cannot even begin to comprehend on how they can get away with such an illegal, cruel and inhuman act.
We will appeal as soon as we have our refusal in writing which should be as soon as tomorrow. We really have a strong case and believe and have confirmation we will win and bring Dylan home but we just don’t know how long it can take.
We want to Thank both our coordinators in Canada (Anna Cheiman) and in Taraz (Vera and Medet) for all their SUPPORT and for all their ENORMOUS EFFORTS in trying everything possible to make this a positive decision, but this situation is beyond their control and now it is up to us to make a difference. We can confirm that everything was done legally and by the book by both Anna Cheiman , Vera and Medet. They are as devastated and just as heartbroken as us on this situation and refusal. They have guided us, helped us in every possible way and we remain forever grateful for their professionalism and honesty towards us.
Taraz adoption has really turned around for the worse and is the only region in Kazakhstan with this problem and we all cannot understand what the reason is. Our file was accepted by both Canadian and Kazakhstan laws and we followed all the procedures as requested. We received the letter of invitation by the Regional Department of Education which confirmed our file was accepted and everything was fine. The municipal court has absolutely no interest in the well being of the children. They have made every effort to deny all international adoption . Every case since the beginning of 2010 involving international adoption decided by the Taraz Municipal Court has been a denial.
We will let everyone know about this illegal situation because there is no law that states the children have to be shown to a certain amount of Kazakhstan families before they can be given up for international adoption. The requirement is that the children must be registered at the orphanage for 6 months before they can be given up for international adoption. Korkem was born premature on January 28, 2009 and was given up for adoption at birth. He remained in the hospital until March 2009 and was then brought to the orphanage. We met him in December/2009 at 10 months old.
Everyone must know about this illegal situation as it is our only hope for the superior court to change our court decision. We have invested a lot of time, energy and money to give up without a fight.
If anyone has any suggestions or contacts please do let us know ASAP!!!
Thanks
We will appeal as soon as we have our refusal in writing which should be as soon as tomorrow. We really have a strong case and believe and have confirmation we will win and bring Dylan home but we just don’t know how long it can take.
We want to Thank both our coordinators in Canada (Anna Cheiman) and in Taraz (Vera and Medet) for all their SUPPORT and for all their ENORMOUS EFFORTS in trying everything possible to make this a positive decision, but this situation is beyond their control and now it is up to us to make a difference. We can confirm that everything was done legally and by the book by both Anna Cheiman , Vera and Medet. They are as devastated and just as heartbroken as us on this situation and refusal. They have guided us, helped us in every possible way and we remain forever grateful for their professionalism and honesty towards us.
Taraz adoption has really turned around for the worse and is the only region in Kazakhstan with this problem and we all cannot understand what the reason is. Our file was accepted by both Canadian and Kazakhstan laws and we followed all the procedures as requested. We received the letter of invitation by the Regional Department of Education which confirmed our file was accepted and everything was fine. The municipal court has absolutely no interest in the well being of the children. They have made every effort to deny all international adoption . Every case since the beginning of 2010 involving international adoption decided by the Taraz Municipal Court has been a denial.
We will let everyone know about this illegal situation because there is no law that states the children have to be shown to a certain amount of Kazakhstan families before they can be given up for international adoption. The requirement is that the children must be registered at the orphanage for 6 months before they can be given up for international adoption. Korkem was born premature on January 28, 2009 and was given up for adoption at birth. He remained in the hospital until March 2009 and was then brought to the orphanage. We met him in December/2009 at 10 months old.
Everyone must know about this illegal situation as it is our only hope for the superior court to change our court decision. We have invested a lot of time, energy and money to give up without a fight.
If anyone has any suggestions or contacts please do let us know ASAP!!!
Thanks
Thursday, May 13, 2010
New Apartment
Hello everyone, we just moved in our new apartment last night. We met the whole family which own this apartment and they are super nice, Wallie (husband), Annara (wife), Laura (daughter), Islam (son) and the grandmother which we don't remember her name. Also when we got in, the Wallie was cooking a FAT ASS SHEEP!! That's right!!! You will see in the pictures that it has a FAT ASS and apparantly this is very good meat. The reason why they are cooking this Sheep is because the Annara's father passed away and on May 15 it will be 40 days that the father passed away and they will cook this meat for the people who will come to the house. Enjoy it everyone!!!
LIVING ROOM
KITCHEN
BATHROOM
BEDROOM #2
SHOWER ROOM
ENTRANCE
MASTER BEDROOM
FAT ASS SHEEP
LIVING ROOM
KITCHEN
BATHROOM
BEDROOM #2
SHOWER ROOM
ENTRANCE
MASTER BEDROOM
FAT ASS SHEEP
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
