Day Two

We had another awesome visit with our son today. He started off wanting to play with the cars and trucks, and he also did a bit more bowling. Then we had fun with the red punch ball we brought. He particularly liked to wham things with it, which was rather amusing. After that, he sat at the little table and we had a tea party. He liked pouring the pretend tea and fake drinking it. We "ate" some fake food as well. The time went by way too quickly.

The drive from Bishkek to Tokmok takes about 45 minutes each way. The scenery is beautiful, with towering mountains and big open fields. It's also interesting to watch the people coming and going and see how life is lived on this side of the world. We always stop at the grocery store in Tokmok to pick up some food for the kids. Today we brought them some cheese and a couple of rotisserie chickens, which I think they ate for lunch.



After driving back to Bishkek from the orphanage, we've been having a late lunch with our in-country coordinator and one or both of the other couples who are here for their bonding visits as well. Yesterday, we ate at a Turkish restaurant. Today, we had more traditional Kyrgyz food, including lamb and potatoes and some meat-filled dumplings. After lunch, we took some pictures in the main area of the city called Ala-Too Square. It's decorated for Christmas, and various dressed-up characters were there (including Alvin and the Chipmunks!) to take pictures with people. We also did a bit of shopping at a toy store, where we got our boy a little toy car, a stuffed ram that says a message in Russian, and a book that reads/sings some common Russian fairy tales.


Our favorite part of the day is always the time we spend at the orphanage. It's so hard to say goodbye to our son. We want to just take him home to Denver today. Here's hoping that tomorrow comes quickly!