Well we're still all sick except Sierra and Les. We were scheduled for our international medical this morning. Jim's fever was up this morning so Carla called the office and asked if both parents needed to be there. Thankfully, they said no, so Les and Carla took the kids and let Jim rest.
Vitale picked us up around 1030. We went to the office to pick up Zhanara and then were off to the clinic. We think Kai's fever broke along the way, because he was soaked when we got there and his fever was down to normal by the time the nurse saw him. The nurse weighed each of them and took height measurements. Kai is 18 lbs. and 27 inches long. Sierra is 16 lbs and 26 inches long. You could have fooled us on the weight. He should feels a lot heavier than her. Sierra was fine during this process but Kai wailed the entire time. He just feels rotten overall but the visit to the doctor was the icing on the cake.
Next we went to the waiting room until the doctor was ready to see us. Zhanara (and another lady from the waiting room) played with Sierra while Carla held Kai. Sierra was the hit of the lobby. Zhanara found some toys for her to play with so she was all smiles.
After a brief wait, we were called to the back by the doctor. This was odd - he was Italian but had an British accent - bizzare. He checked out Sierra first. He was a bit gruff but he was quick, which was good since neither child cared much for the exam. Les held Sierra for hers. She didn't cry much, but would have angry outbursts at him periodically. He told her not to worry - "she could go home and tell everyone that an Italian undressed her." This didn't console her - imagine that...
Kai cried the entire time. To say he hated it would be an understatement. We told the doctor we started him on antibiotic and he said he didn't look to have an infection. Carla said "what about the green goo coming out of his nose." The doctor said - "Oh, he's got green stuff coming out.." It's hard to miss but he agreed he needed to be on an antibiotic. Apparently, he wasn't listening when Carla said he was on antibiotic because he went and got some for us to take home. We gave it back after re-explaining we had enough at the apartment.
The entire adventure took about 1 1/2 from the time we left the apartment. When we got back, Les helped Carla feed and change the babies. We then put them down for a nap. Vitale came to pick Les up at 1:00PM to get strollers from the Market. While everyone (including Jim and Carla) napped, he ended up taking Les to do some site seeing. Here's a recount of Les' fun afternoon.
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I never knew how large Almaty was until Vitale took me clear across the city to the other side from where our apartment is located so I could purchase two strollers at the Green Market. This market is really a large outdoor/indoor (no heat and its below freezing) flea market or bazaar with individual stalls or vendors. Vitale acted as my interpreter and told the Kazakh vendor that I wanted to buy two "umbrella strollers," which made no sense to her. Upon looking at the merchandise, I spotted two similar fold up strollers (nicer than what Walmart sells) and that's when the fun began. I wanted to buy two strollers alike but we couldn't get past first base on that request. The vendor kept insisting that I buy the two dissimilar floor models. Upon further haggling, her assistant came out of the back of the stall with two similar strollers at twice the price. I then asked Vitale to negotiate the price since I was buying two and he said these people were firm on price. Next, the real fun began. Since Carla, Jim and I had been trying to use up our Tenge (funny money), I didn't have enough to buy both strollers. Vitale told me that they would accept good old american "greenbacks" (no kidding), but I told him I only had dollars in my hidden money belt (under my clothes). He said he would shield me near the back of the stall so I could drop my pants to get to my money belt. Upon retrieving the required sum, I redressed and made my purchase. We now had two strollers for the many long airport layovers that were facing us on Thursday.
I next had to visit the Zoom store to buy souvenirs for Carla and Jim, who hadn't been able to look themselves due to sickness. On the way to the Zoom, Vitale asked me if I wanted to see his church. I said it would be a pleasure so off we went to St. Nicholas' Russian Orthodox Church. It is a beautiful 100 year old wooden church with murals on inside walls and ceilings and many ornate objects and old paintings. He let me take a few pictures which are shown below. This church has blue onion shaped spires on the roof and is sometimes called by WPA visitors as the "blue onion church." It is quite a site if you get a chance to visit.
Vitale and I then went to the Zoom store where we again visited his favorite vendor (a Russian lady with a big smile). She seemed glad that I had returned to make additional purchases. I could not find everything on Carla's shopping list, so Vitale then proceeded to take me to no less than six more booths where he interpreted and negotiated for me. Everyone seemed to get a kick out of the "Americanski" that was shopping at their booths. At one booth, I had three young girls simultaneously waiting on me, with one picking out items, a second bagging them, and a third tallying up the purchases. I thanked them and they just giggled.
After leaving the Zoom, Vitale asked me if I wanted to see Almaty's big Russian Orthodox Church. I said if he had the time, I would be delighted to see it. This church, which is seen below, is the one you see on all the tourist literature. While I could not take inside pictures, it was a memorable site. The church is Almaty's largest and is 500 years old. Again, many original hand painted ceiling and wall murals, old paintings, and ornate objects. Outside, we saw a manger scene and a large area where people feed the many pigeons. In the same park at the church is Almaty's war memorial which has separate memorials to both World War I and World War II. Since Russia was so decimated by the Nazis during World War II, we have seen that each city has a large war memorial with an "eternal flame." We also saw the Kazakhstan museum of musical instruments (chalet looking building) and retired military officers home. All in all, I had a memorial day and was glad to have visited some of Almaty's wonderful sites. The only downside was that Carla and Jim couldn't see it for themselves. I took many pictures (does that surprise you?) so everyone can see what I saw. I told Vitale he should give up being a driver and become a tour guide. He just laughed.
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By the time Les got back from his adventures, Carla was laid up with a fever of 102.5 and Jim was tending to the kids (his fever was down to about 99). Carla was out for the rest of the evening. Les and Jim tended to bathes, dinner and bed time for the kids. After a night of waking Carla up every 4 hours to pump Tylenol in her, she was better by the next morning.
The adventure continues..
Here are some pictures from the day.
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