We've Made it to Amsterdam

Ok blog stalkers, I'm back. Now what are your other two wishes? We made it to Amsterdam several hours ago, not so uneventfully. My father's friend, Paul, was kind enough to drive us to Logan. After we had been on the road for about 30 minutes, he asked which terminal we would be going to. I went to check my information and discovered that in my frenzy to print some last minute things that my father had forgotten to print... I LEFT MY DOCUMENTS at my parents' house. You can imagine the meltdown that occurred.

Mom was able to locate them and she hopped in the car and met us on the way home. I called Northwest and found out that they would close check in one hour prior to departure time. Luckily, thanks to Paul's excellent driving skills and cool-headed manner, we made it to the airport by 6:20p.m., checked in with no problem and met Tammy at the gate. Phew. I have to say, my angels were watching me because if I had discovered those missing documents any later, we would have had to fly without them and have the FedEx'd which would probably kept us in Kazkahstan for several more days.

We boarded the plane and were surprisingly not seated with Tammy, as we had requested. Instead, I sat next to an older, rather large woman from India, who was clearly having a new experience flying. I am not sure how she had gotten to the U.S., but she really seemed to not understand anything about being on a plane. She didn't speak a word of English, other than "thank you", which she would say several times throughout the flight as I helped her with basic things like pointing out that everyone has a blanket (she showed me with her arms that she was cold), showing her how to unwrap the plastic off the blanket, opening her pretzel bag, and putting her coffee mug on the tray for the flight attendant. She thanked me by banging her feet on the floor incessantly so I couldn't sleep and by dumping a glass of water all over my sleeping mask, which I cannot sleep without. Sigh. Frustrating.

We have a 10.5 hour layover which, I have to say, I am enjoying. It has provided us with a chance to get some solid sleep before the next leg of our trip which leaves in a couple of hours. We booked a room at the Yotel (http://www.yotel.com/) and, much to our delight, realized upon arrival that the room not only had two bunk beds, but also a third full size bed. So, Tammy was able to bunk in here with us and we are so excited to be back in our Siamese family mode. Tammy and I got a couple of hours of sleep and Snorey McHonkster got even more. We are so excited about this hotel, which you don't even have to go through passport control to get to, that I am posting pictures. The pictures aren't very impressive, but the beds are VERY comfortable, we have a flat screen tv with several English channels, a huge bathroom, room service (which we won't use), free wi-fi access, and electric capabilities for all of our electronics without needing adaptors. I am impressed.

While Dad took a shower, Tammy and I went on one of our walks and discovered an amazing baby lounge, where there are about 10 separate "pod" type areas, circular in shape, each with a lovely crib, padded seating area with reading lights, a microwave, changing table and baths. The lighting is very soft, he room very relaxing, and just a marvel to have discovered. Dad and I will be going there with Anelya on our way back and I will take pictures. And here's the thing - it's free! Go Holland!

We are going to relax in the room for another hour or so and then go eat something together before boarding our next flight. Once we get to Almaty, we will clear customs and passport control and meet the Almaty staff who will give us our domestic tickets and hopefully relieve us of our large bags. We have packed carry ons to get us through the weekend in Semey. Most of the stuff in the big bags is for Miss Anelya, so that stuff can meet us in Almaty on Sunday upon our return.

It's 6:20p.m. on Thursday evening in Semey right now. 24 hours from now I will have been reunited with my baby and I will be ordering or good old dishes from Kulinaria Aristocrat. Tammy and I have been deciding what parts of Semey to show Dad on his one full day there, in between visits. It will depend on the weather and how much time we have, but I would like him to go to the bazaar, to maybe see the nuclear memorial, have lunch at Istanbul picnic, and dinner at the Kazakh/Turkish restaurant (remember it depends who you ask...) for dinner. I want to be sure he gets a taste of Kazakh food and I don't know Almaty well enough yet to be sure we'll pull that off there with the babies. I am also going to ask if it would be possible to drive through the neighborhood where Anelya's birth mother lives. If possible, I would like to have a picture.

So, troops. That's where we stand. Now we are going to go eat burgers or something and get ready for our next flight. I am not sure if I will be able to blog from Almaty, but I will at least send a message from my Blackberry to let you know we are there. See you in Almaty!