In which Owen discovers the sun.
Yes, yes, we know that the sun's real founder was Copernicus or Galileo or some other lunatic like that. Still, in the world of babydom, it's a big deal when you uncover the pathway to that mysterious land called Out-of-doors. It's even more fantastic when you can actually move about in this fabled land unencumbered by the hated and hateful Snowsuit of Imprisonment.
More on that in a bit. First, a few minor discoveries that occurred along the way.
For Owen, he found out that there are actually other toys in this world besides Squishy Turtle. Specifically, one of the nice Amerikanyetc who stayed here previously left some kind of super cool sit and scoot activity center. We've spared you the look of horror from his first introduction to this flight simulator-esque device. Instead we have shared with you the more relaxed version of our test pilot. At left you see Owen after he has mastered the complex controls of said contraption.
In addition, Owen discovered that there are snowsuits which can indeed be endured. The bear suit at left, compliments of Grandma Gloria, is candidly the only thing the cool explorer babies in Kazakhstan wear out these days. It must, of course, be worn with the astronaut cap which follows. Otherwise, your 'doo can get all messed up.
Which really doesn't make sense here because, for Owen, "messed up" is his 'doo. Oh well, play along.
Prior to Owen's big outing, Mom and Dad made a couple of trips of their own. It has been confirmed that, no, everyone is sorry, but it will be absolutely impossible for us to leave sooner than Sunday.
Sigh.
Resigned, I took a trip to the local KLM office to secure passage for Owen home and to see if we couldn't reserve the coveted bulkhead with bassinet seating for the flights. As an important note, Owen can travel around the world for $175 U.S. He is, however, only confirmed for bulkhead as far as Amsterdam. The rest of the way has been requested but cannot be promised.
We are practicing our pitiful looks in case we have to shame some other international passengers out of their seats.
Mom got an exciting trip to the Pamctop to buy a few groceries that Dad had missed in his haste the day before. Vitali gave her the same run and grab trip through the grocery store so she didn't have a chance to purchase everything on the list. Importantly, however, she did score some excellent sandwich cookies with chocolate in the center.
As an aside, the yogurt we picked up yesterday has changed our lives. Why we didn't buy this stuff and eat it every day we've been here, I don't know. Rest assured we will remedy the problem in our last week. Imagine a delicious creamy dessert that you can pretend with some level of honesty is good for you. Robin and I will probably get into fisticuffs over the last container.
Back to the outings. Vitali gave us a couple of hours for Owen to nap and for us to grab some lunch and then, with bated breath and racing pulses, WE GOT TO GO TO THE MUSEUM!
At left you see Donn and Owen approaching the map of Kazakhstan and encased costumes of its peoples. The fabled "Golden Man" is reproduced here and, we'll admit, it is an impressive piece of work.
Sadly, the foyer was the only place where picture taking was allowed. There were, however, several very interesting exhibits inside including a life-sized replica of a yurt, costumes of the ages, a burial mound excavation and some really intricate gold work. The museum is also, interestingly enough, one of the main places to snag souvenirs.
You see below a hat for Dad (I FINALLY found one that fits my enormous noggin!) and a yurt there on the right. The nice sales lady gave Owen the camel-- and, yes, for those who are counting, this is number three. Camels are apparently a symbol of good luck and wealth. I suspect the locals of checking out his parents and deciding the poor boy needs all the financial support he can garner.
After this trip, they may be right.
Outside, we caught a picture of Vitali with Robin in front of the intricately designed doors to the museum. Please look closely as Vitali lacks the traditional Kazakh love of having his picture taken and had to be corralled into the photo shoot.
In addition, we snapped a picture of the monument we'd asked Dilnosa about yesterday and some of the street signs about town. With the monument photo in particular you can get a sense of how dense the fog is here. Most of that comes from pollution. Robin has just returned from a walk around the block and keeps complaining about smelling like she's been to a smoky bar.
Tomorrow we sign some papers and that will be the extent of our efforts to get home for the day. What will those papers be? Your guess is as good as ours and, honestly, we aren't likely to know what they're for even after we sign them. It's all part of the adventure.
Depending on what else the Sisters tell us, we'll likely do some more sight-seeing and investigate the possibility of a babysitter so we can plan a longer excursion, perhaps into the nearby mountains. Owen was first-rate on today's safari, but we think it wise to limit the expeditions to 2-hour increments for the time being.
The Master is currently enjoying a soak to work out the stresses of a long day reconnoitering the natives. We suspect he is organizing his camel herd for a great military coup in the days to come.
