FAQ
Today, we forgot to bring CD’s camera to the orphanage, and forgot to replace the card in DJ’s camera after our last posting. This may be a sign of camera fatigue. Whatever. The point: no pictures of a very happy dude, who was clearly psyched to have been visited at 6 PM, then again at 10 AM. So, instead we will answer all the questions that have been piling up.
The time we get to spend with Otis will remain the same (two hours/day, six days/week) until we take him home from the orphanage. We may be feeling unnaturally benevolent, but this seems reasonable -- it's about not disrupting the routine of the orphanage.
We are not entirely sure when we get to take him home. It will be either (1) the day on which he receives his passport from KZ, which will be about three days after the end of the 15 day waiting period, or (2) the day on which he receives his American visa, an additional three or so days later. We are inclined to think the former, because we know he has to get a physical from the doctor in the US Embassy before he can come home, and we presume that is a visa requirement.
He becomes an American citizen (with dual citizenship until he is 18 and has to choose) when we land at Kennedy.
The picture of us all dressed up at court was taken after the proceedings. We were way too nervous to pose beforehand.
Candace has no idea if she still has to wear socks. She is inclined to wear socks if wearing sneakers, not if wearing sandals.
The musical instrument depicted on the piece of fence surrounding the Independence Monument at Republic Square (post entitled, “Ancient Kazakhstan”) is called a kobyz (rhymes with “toe kiss”). If you Google “ancient central Asian musical instruments,” there are a lot of interesting articles in the first 20 or so listings. However, it is very annoying to try to read them on narrow band. So CD skimmed the ones that opened easily. This site looked particularly interesting: www.absoluteastronomy.com/ encyclopedia/b/bo/bow_(music).htm. It, and some of the other sites, suggests that bowed instruments were invented in Central Asia by horsemen/hunters, and that the original instrumental bows were hunters’ bows. Pretty cool. (C has no doubt that Lisa Jacobson will now be motivated to find absolutely the best site. I look forward to looking at it.)
Milena (supplemented by Lena of Jones Day) sent us a translation of the inscription on the plaque on the front of our house. It says Djumagali Sain, a first-rate Kazakh poet, who was during World War II (or in Russian, the Great Patriotic War), a partisan commissar/chief in the Ukraine, lived in the building from June 7, 1949 till May 28, 1961.
We have not as yet tried fermented horse milk (kumiss). It is supposed to be an acquired taste that westerners cannot acquire.
* * * * *
One final piece of news: we have a new driver, Dima, who seems to be a taxi driver in his other life. (The car he picks us up in is a taxi.) Sagat has gone back to his construction business now that our petition has been granted. We will see him when we go to the airport for our return flight. We’ll miss him.
The time we get to spend with Otis will remain the same (two hours/day, six days/week) until we take him home from the orphanage. We may be feeling unnaturally benevolent, but this seems reasonable -- it's about not disrupting the routine of the orphanage.
We are not entirely sure when we get to take him home. It will be either (1) the day on which he receives his passport from KZ, which will be about three days after the end of the 15 day waiting period, or (2) the day on which he receives his American visa, an additional three or so days later. We are inclined to think the former, because we know he has to get a physical from the doctor in the US Embassy before he can come home, and we presume that is a visa requirement.
He becomes an American citizen (with dual citizenship until he is 18 and has to choose) when we land at Kennedy.
The picture of us all dressed up at court was taken after the proceedings. We were way too nervous to pose beforehand.
Candace has no idea if she still has to wear socks. She is inclined to wear socks if wearing sneakers, not if wearing sandals.
The musical instrument depicted on the piece of fence surrounding the Independence Monument at Republic Square (post entitled, “Ancient Kazakhstan”) is called a kobyz (rhymes with “toe kiss”). If you Google “ancient central Asian musical instruments,” there are a lot of interesting articles in the first 20 or so listings. However, it is very annoying to try to read them on narrow band. So CD skimmed the ones that opened easily. This site looked particularly interesting: www.absoluteastronomy.com/ encyclopedia/b/bo/bow_(music).htm. It, and some of the other sites, suggests that bowed instruments were invented in Central Asia by horsemen/hunters, and that the original instrumental bows were hunters’ bows. Pretty cool. (C has no doubt that Lisa Jacobson will now be motivated to find absolutely the best site. I look forward to looking at it.)
Milena (supplemented by Lena of Jones Day) sent us a translation of the inscription on the plaque on the front of our house. It says Djumagali Sain, a first-rate Kazakh poet, who was during World War II (or in Russian, the Great Patriotic War), a partisan commissar/chief in the Ukraine, lived in the building from June 7, 1949 till May 28, 1961.
We have not as yet tried fermented horse milk (kumiss). It is supposed to be an acquired taste that westerners cannot acquire.
* * * * *
One final piece of news: we have a new driver, Dima, who seems to be a taxi driver in his other life. (The car he picks us up in is a taxi.) Sagat has gone back to his construction business now that our petition has been granted. We will see him when we go to the airport for our return flight. We’ll miss him.
posted by Candace and David at 7/12/2005 07:11:00 AM
8 Comments:
Is the naturalization/ American citizenship process different from country to country? I had to apply for Andy's citizenship about a year and a half after we arrived here; he was a Paraguayan citizen during that time. I guess he has dual citizenship, never really investigated that possibility.
The issue is: does KZ have a draft, and if you went back to visit would there be any possibility they could nab him?
Rebecca
Rebecca: The law was changed several years ago. Otis is an American citizen when the plane lands. There is a draft and or mandatory national service in Kazakhstan at age 19. So, if things stay the same, when he is 18, if he chooses Kazakh citizenship, he would be subject to the draft.
Kumiss sounds perfectly tasty and refreshing, according to a number of websites I have consulted. And I see that in many recipes, mare's milk has been superceded by cow's milk, or even packaged milk.
But purists that you are, you probably only want the ancient, Mongol version. :-)
It sounds simple to make, so you should make it a part of your repertoire when you're back home. You'll become known far and wide!
Karen: correct, for political reasons, all babies that are available for international adoption, have medical problems.
Elliott: we'll bring you home a pail of Kumiss--David
Going to take my first chance to welcome Otis to the family, which I guess I should have done yesterday. So welcome. Otis, I expect to see your stroller ponied up to the bar at Floyd shortly as Bruno scurries around chasing bocce balls. I recommend Saturday afternoons when other small folk come with their dogs. For you, juice is on the house.
Sean
Well, as I was a pica sufferer through my teens, I'll probably become a kumiss addict in no time. :)
Interesting that several people brought up the same point.
As far as I know (being the parent of a dual and having lived abroad where it's endlessly debated) the state department i.e. the foriegn service, will hardly ever give you a straight answer as they generally discourage dual citazinship, however the supreme court upholds dual citizenship unless - You are a member of a foriegn army, you stand for a elected post in a non US gov, or you formally renounce your passport at a consulate or embassy. Having said that, the new restriction is - If you are born abroad - you need to live in the US for five years as an adult to be permanant, I don't know how they check this.No matter what anyone says you never have to choose, if you are a dual. As an aside - in Portugal if you are a returning dual of draft age you need to get a waiver from a consulate before you go or they will snag you for two years . . . seen it happen.
Hope this sheds a little light on a subject that the goverment likes to obscure.
Michael
Hello Candace and David!
Well, I have been quietly following your journey with Otis and am finally responding to say...what wonderful people you both are and how much I enjoy everything in your posts! Of course, Otis is absolutely the best part and I am so very, very happy for you. But I also love all the details of your adventures and appreciate every bit of them (socks, cigarettes, food, blah blah blah) from afar. What a remarkable journey and how well you both convey all this to us--thank you for sharing this. (Note: this is not because it is my first blog experience.) And soon, and none too early, you will be home with your beamish boy and what could be better! Until then, keep the faith...with much love and admiration, Kate W.
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