Third Day With Mr. Otis
DJ’s turn to draft the daily entry (with annoying-to-him editing by CD): I wake up at 5:30 this morning, after going to bed at 1:30. It is already hot and muggy, despite the rain overnight. Thank God for the bedroom AC in the new crib. Try to do e-mail and blog, but connection keeps crashing. Go back to bed at 8, waking CD whose stomach is bothering her (CD: I wonder why after that fine mutton entrée), and she gets up to do internet. At some point she wakes me up to tell me that Sasha/Alex, our apartment broker/cell phone procurer/internet connection fixer/tourism advisor, has called to say he’s coming over to fix phone line/TV problems. At around 11, she wakes me to say that Sasha has arrived to discover that I’d already fixed phone and internet and says cable TV will be turned on later.
Sagat arrives a few minutes later to make sure Sasha is pulling his weight and takes us to local supermarket where we stock up on provisions. Sagat tries to convince me to buy horse sausage in intestinal casing. The idea is intriguing, but I decide it’s something better sampled in a restaurant or a local’s home and not prepared by us. (CD: This notwithstanding Sagat's insistence that nothing goes better with a beer or shot of vodka.) Consider a french press but at 9000 Tenge or $70, I take a pass. We get back, and go out to local café for coffee and pastries, where we discover WiFi!!! (CD: ....and listen to an American Christian businessman, definitely how he would style himself, recruit a local to various schemes at great length.) Hit a fruit stand and toy store, and return so I can shower and be ready for Sagat at 1:45.
Get to #3. After short wait, Otis, who has just been fed and is drooling a bit, is brought to us. We show him the toys we’ve brought; he grabs for the teething toy and jams it in his mouth and is also quite intrigued by the hammer that makes squeaky noises. He tries so hard to sit up but can’t quite get there. We put him on his back to see how he does with rolling over. Otis really wants to do it; he tries so hard, but not quite yet. “I’m working on it guys, jeez , I’m only eight months old, gimme a break already.” OK, time to put him on his stomach and see how he does with that, which is not quite where he should be, but considering that he spends most of his time alone in a crib, fine. At around 3:30, CD puts him on her chest, and he snuggles in, and, after a few minutes, nods off. Which is where we are at 3:45 when the caregiver comes to get him for naptime. (The two hour bonding time being somewhat skewed in their favor.)
Sagat picks us up and we head to the Ramstore to pick up what we forgot to buy this morning. Again look for coffeepots/makers, but prices range from $90 to $220 for the same coffeemaker we got at Costco for $60, the price for being in a tea drinking country, I guess. We settle for a Turkish coffee pot for $14 (CD: one of those long handled copper pitcher things), CD assures me she can make it work, will let you know how CD’s trial runs work out tomorrow. I also spot some fine looking hot dogs, picture above, that I will be shipping cases of to my fellow hot dog aficionados, Nancy & Erin.
Return to crib, check email, Elliott has sent me the following:
Sagat arrives a few minutes later to make sure Sasha is pulling his weight and takes us to local supermarket where we stock up on provisions. Sagat tries to convince me to buy horse sausage in intestinal casing. The idea is intriguing, but I decide it’s something better sampled in a restaurant or a local’s home and not prepared by us. (CD: This notwithstanding Sagat's insistence that nothing goes better with a beer or shot of vodka.) Consider a french press but at 9000 Tenge or $70, I take a pass. We get back, and go out to local café for coffee and pastries, where we discover WiFi!!! (CD: ....and listen to an American Christian businessman, definitely how he would style himself, recruit a local to various schemes at great length.) Hit a fruit stand and toy store, and return so I can shower and be ready for Sagat at 1:45.
Get to #3. After short wait, Otis, who has just been fed and is drooling a bit, is brought to us. We show him the toys we’ve brought; he grabs for the teething toy and jams it in his mouth and is also quite intrigued by the hammer that makes squeaky noises. He tries so hard to sit up but can’t quite get there. We put him on his back to see how he does with rolling over. Otis really wants to do it; he tries so hard, but not quite yet. “I’m working on it guys, jeez , I’m only eight months old, gimme a break already.” OK, time to put him on his stomach and see how he does with that, which is not quite where he should be, but considering that he spends most of his time alone in a crib, fine. At around 3:30, CD puts him on her chest, and he snuggles in, and, after a few minutes, nods off. Which is where we are at 3:45 when the caregiver comes to get him for naptime. (The two hour bonding time being somewhat skewed in their favor.)
Sagat picks us up and we head to the Ramstore to pick up what we forgot to buy this morning. Again look for coffeepots/makers, but prices range from $90 to $220 for the same coffeemaker we got at Costco for $60, the price for being in a tea drinking country, I guess. We settle for a Turkish coffee pot for $14 (CD: one of those long handled copper pitcher things), CD assures me she can make it work, will let you know how CD’s trial runs work out tomorrow. I also spot some fine looking hot dogs, picture above, that I will be shipping cases of to my fellow hot dog aficionados, Nancy & Erin.
Return to crib, check email, Elliott has sent me the following:
"….. attached is a recording of a performance on June 22 of Arvö Part's Magnificat by a Flemish choral group, Wodan Skalden, with which I am intimate. Part is a contemporary Estonian composer of great reknown. The performance at the Park Abbey in Haverlee, Belgium, was dedicated as a life blessing to Otis. It is their gift to the three of you.
I know of Wodan Skalden through my great friend, Jan Vanmolkot, who is the head of technology for Jones Day Europe and a bass member of the choir…. As soon as I told him about Otis, he knew immediately that he wanted this performance to be dedicated to Otis. At the very beginning of the recording, you can hear that dedication."
We watch the paint dry while the 5MB file downloads and listen to the dedication (CD: The conductor says, “Welcome to the world, Otis.”), then the beautiful voices and try not to cry. I wish I could figure out how to attach the recording to the blog; anyone who wants a copy should send an email to dpjacobson@speakeasy.net.
posted by Candace and David at 6/24/2005 11:03:00 AM
4 Comments:
OK, two hours a day for now, but doesn't the schedule escalate at some point? When will you be allowed to keep him overnight?
No, the schedule does not escalate, officially at least. The whole routine (about everything, not just Otis) is very much about figuring out hard you can push. We get a lot of OK, OK, then we push too hard, and we get stony silence. This usually means that whatever "it" was gets addressed the following day. (Unless it's something they really don't want to do - like take us for a day trip to the mountains. Those latter things, I think, just have to be reintroduced - kind of like a kid would - every day until resistance becomes futile.)
Anyway, with respect to the Big O's schedule, we get more time either (a) after the court hearing in about two weeks or (b) not until the end of the waiting period in about four weeks. We don't get custody (overnights) until after the waiting period, i.e when we're dealing with our Embassy. We also know that at some point, we get to take him outside on the grounds of the orphanage.
It is starting to feel a little weird, like, well, he's ours, why can't we have him?
Guys, what is the "waiting" period. Clearly, you're not waiting on the mother's confirmation of her decision. I would assume this whole process is well-honed, but it seems awfully torturous.
And why only 2 hours a day between parents and child?
Elliott: Kazakh law is the prosepective parents must bond for two weeks with the child before an application to adopt can be filed with the court. Then a court dae is scheduled and a two week wait for the order to issue. I believe the two hour limit is to ensure that the orphanage's schedule is not disrupted by having prospective parents hanging out all day.
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