At Frankfurt Airport

We left Semey on Friday, September 4 and made our way to Almaty. We were picked up at 7:30 by Daniel and Veronika. It was so hard to drive to the airport, feeling that every inch we drove was another inch further from Anelya. I thought I would be ok with leaving, but it was very emotional for me and much more difficult than I thought.

Our flight was on time and we were picked up at Almaty airport without a hitch. Marina recognized me right away and greeted us all. We were driven to our hotel and checked in, then we took a walk up the street to get some lunch. Marina left us at this point. After lunch we went back to the hotel to take a nap. At 4p.m. We set out with the Clark-Gilpatricks to change some money and find a place to eat dinner.

Almaty is waaaay more expensive than Semey and the section we stayed in was very swanky. Range Rovers and Mercedes everywhere... Natasha, we are not in Semey anymore... It was a bit of a culture shock for all of us and it really made me miss my home in Kazakhstan and the wonderful people we met.

We started to walk around and it started raining pretty hard. We decided to eat at the only restaurant we could find, Pomodoro Cafe. It was a good Italian pasta place and, beside the 8 dollar bottle of water, it was reasonably priced.

It was really wonderful for us to enjoy our last meal together in Kazkahstan. Tammy, Bob and Sarah have become family. I will miss them so much. We have bonded so much during this crazy and life-changing trip.

We went to bed around 7 and got up at 11:45p.m. To be picked up. We checked out of our hotel and made it to the airport without incident. We did get an inside look at the "nighttime indescretions" of some men picking up "professional" women. Yuck.

The system at the Almaty airport is that there is no system. The doors open and you basically walk straight ahead like a herd of cows. The flight was fine and we are now on hour 5 of our 6 hour lsyover in Frankfurt. It really hasn't been bad.

By the time we get home, we will have been awake for a full 48 hours, crossed 10 time zones, and left the light of my life on the other side of the world.

Now starts the countdown for me to go back and pick up what I left behind: I left my heart in Kazakhstan.

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