May Day

Today is May Day in Kazakhstan, no real difference to us except the streets are quieter. And there were only 3 families in the room today making it much nicer and less chaotic (there are usually 7)! And all 3 girls were in pink so we couldn’t resist taking a picture. (The woman on the right is our neighbor)

But first, the CIRCUS! Little did I know how right I was that we would become the circus act. There were 17 of us, 15 of which were sitting in the 2nd row (2 in the first). The clown that entertains the crowd between acts quickly got a few of us involved in the show. Namely, Joe!!! He was the star of our group with 3 appearances in the ring! First, he hula-hooped (or tried to at least), then he and another crowd member tried one big hula hoop together (back to back and then spooning). For his finale, Joe played the bongos on a pail with another guy while a third shook some pom poms (I think I saw him singing A Fish in the Tree). I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time!!

Back to today. It was a great day! Hannah’s caretakers are putting her to our schedule so we got to feed her twice today. And I changed my first diaper (not first ever, but first Hannah diaper). The most exciting part was that I got to see her toes (all were there)! They keep them so bundled up usually. In the afternoon, Hannah was in such a good mood. She actually stayed awake and easily entertained our entire 2-hour visit. I just feel like the day went by so fast with her. But with 19 days left, that’s OK. We still have plenty of time.

During our afternoon break, we went on a tour of Karaganda. To the maternity hospital where our little angel was born (just for pictures outside) coal mines, a Mosque, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Muslim cemetery, and to a mini Karaganda park (with a few of the more recognizable buildings from Karaganda in miniature).
Oddest of all, it SNOWED today! Can you believe it? May 1st. It’s been really cold these last few days too but should be getting warmer by the end of this week! Not soon enough!