Friends

I just spent an hour looking through my iPhoto library and reviewing my last year of photos and was struck by the rich, exciting life we lead. I must say we had an action-packed year, shared with some really good friends and family.

I thought I would now share some of Veronika’s friends from the orphanage with you and some of our new friends from Arkalyk as well. Everyone has been so kind to us and we are relaxing a bit now that we are confident Veronika is doing well and our court date is just around the corner.

The dinner party pictures are from a dinner we were invited to attend on Monday evening to celebrate the birthday of Marina, the orphanage doctor. We had a really nice time and the language barrier seems non-existent, Khabiba translates as we go but a lot of our communication is hand gestures (we are New Yorkers, after all) and facial expressions. Of course, there were the mandatory rounds of toasts and vodka shots, we held our own this time and are starting to really understand why others who’ve been here feel such an attachment to Arkalyk and the people.

More tomorrow, it’s cold and rainy here and we have Veronika in the flat today, she’s got the same cold as the others so we’re doctoring her up and enjoying her anyway.