November 17

We have arrived in Taraz and just got back from visiting Olesya for the first time. She was very sociable and seems to be agreeable to the prospect that inspired the journey in the first place. Regrettably, Chaco (our dog) took the camera cord out of our bag so we are unable to get the pictures from the camera to the computer. We are working on a solution and hopefully pictures will be available at some point.
Everyone has been very nice so far and aside from the misplaced camera cord and a bit of jet lag, things are going very well. The flight from Denver to Frankfurt was about 8.5 hours and the Frankfurt to Almaty leg was right around 6. We stayed at the Hotel Kazzhol for the day and left on the 2100 train to Taraz which arrived at 0600 this morning. This was the Spanish train, as opposed to the Soviet train. Here in Taraz we are staying at the Hotel Zhambyl.
Olesya really does exist, and she is perfect! Within just a few moments of our first meeting, we heard her voice and saw smiles. She took a little nap in my arms, then peed on Joe's shirt. Apparently, she won't start wearing diapers until we bring them in for her (that will be tomorrow).
Iris, Olesya is looking forward to meeting you so that you can help her sit up, she can't quite do it herself yet. She doesn't have any teeth, but it looks like she's about to get some. She likes sucking her thumb when she sleeps.