Thursday, October 29, 2009

Good Luck to A and L and L and A!

A and L, a couple I met at a waiting families session, are off this weekend to Uralsk. There they will be meeting with officials early next week and most importantly their son/daughter. I'm not sure, but I think A said they will be meeting a 2 year old boy. I got a chance to speak to A on Saturday and she was ever so excited. After what seems like a never ending wait, the LOI came and they are off for 3 months in Kazakhstan. Good luck and God bless you both.

Their paperwork left Canada in February, I think. Hmmmm, so let's start the traditional "If their dossier was there then, then I should hear sometime around ..." game. Actually, I don't like the figures with this math, because that would make my LOI coming in March. I like the dream of travelling in January or February. Absolutely desire spending January and February in Kazakhstan. I LOVE our Canadian winter and would love to experience a Kazakh winter.

Another family (L and A, not to be confused with the above A and L, got it????) received their LOI, no sorry, they got the call that their LOI is ready for them. The call came on Friday and they were told they will be traveling in the next couple of weeks. We asked L when her dossier went to Kazakhstan and she thought it was in May. Well, Diane and I know very well that it wasn't in May because nothing went to the embassy in May. You might remember that we had hoped to have our dossier go to the embassy in April, but they didn't but we did learn that our files were each number 1 going to the the different regions (mine for Almaty/Uralsk and Diane's for Karaganda), and then we had to wait until mid June before they FINALLY got there, so we know! Therefore it must have gone in April or maybe even March. Can you believe forget such an insignificant point as when your dossier went to Kaz???? How can I play the 'When will my LOI come?' if I don't have the relevant information. LOL

I saw A and L and L and A on Saturday at our 3rd Annual Republic Day celebration. It was wonderful to be with all our Kazakh family. I'll try to post some photos tomorrow. We had 13 Kazakh cuties at the party ranging from a 5 year old to a 14 month old. We rent a lawn bowling club which is a great place for our parties. There's room for the kids to run, play ball, ride toys and have fun. This year, many of the children enjoyed making crafts at the craft table. That was a surprise to Diane and I, because we thought there would be no one at that table this year.

The party is a pot luck and we try our hand at traditional Kazakh foods. It is fun to try out a recipe from the internet. I did Samsa last year, and meant to try some kind of dessert this year, but it was too hectic of a week. So I made my staple of Kazakh Chai tea with cardamon and fennel seeds. I think it tastes yummy.

Diane, Loretta and I are already trying to pin down the date for our next party which is Nauryz in March. With both Diane and I waiting for LOI's we figured it would be best to have everything in place as early as possible. I also wanted to get the date posted as early as possible as Canakaz members outside the GTA might want to attend. Sheila and family hope to come from New Brunswick, so she needs the dates to get the best possible seat sale prices available, right Sheila?????

No comments: