May 9, 2008

Victory Day celebrates end of WWII

Today was a national holiday for Kazakhstan and all of the former Soviet bloc countries celebrating the end of WWII.   This is a huge celebration with dedications at monuments, parades honoring veterans and those lost in WWII but not forgotten.   WWII obviously had a huge death toll by many countries.  Russian had the highest with twenty two million military personnel and civilians that lost their lives (by far the largest of any nation and it represented 16% of their total population).   There were concerts, dances and a festive atmosphere that included with a fireworks display.  Offices close for the day and school is out.

Mariya and Sasha had their first day off from us since we arrived on April 20th.   We attended the celebrations, walked through the downtown area and had dinner at the Italian restaurant.   This is one of the few restaurants we can go to without Mariya to help us order.   Pizza, spaghetti and beer seem to be universal in their menus.    There is a walking area through the middle of town where cars do not drive.  It is called Constitution Street and this is where the festivities were being held.  The streets and walk area were filled with people and the beer gardens along the walkway were open.

Julie and Steve continued to work through the paperwork maze of trying to get updated forms, medical license, I171H (a form saying US Gov is OK with us adopting 3 children) other addendums all requiring notaries stamp and to be sent to Tallahassee to get apostilled.   All these original forms then need to be Fedex’d to Kaz before the adoption can become official.   Steve was able to complete all the paperwork and overnight to Tallahassee for our state officials to apostille the docs to confirm notaries are registered.   Hopefully they work quickly and turn this around ASAP.

Nick and I are amazed how late the sun goes down here.  The sun sets tonight at 10:16.  Because of this the fireworks did not start until 10:30.  We were able to see them from the park next to our apartment.  They were great fireworks and a beautiful end to the day.  Nick and I were tired and ready to get to sleep; the rest of the town was ready to party.  Our neighbors had a karaoke party until late into the night.  It was nice to see everyone so festive and enjoying their day.  The weather was beautiful, like it was ordered just for the day.

The Hrenko Family

Adoption Journey to Kazakhstan

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Festivities for May 9 End of WWII Celebration