Jen here. Well, Benjamin Aidos maintained his shrieking for about 70 minutes (although it seemed like days) before falling asleep last night. One of us was with him the whole time, but we did hold out and he was not taken out of his bed. The good news is that except for some brief sadness at about midnight, we all slept from about 9:30 last night until 7:30 this morning. Benjamin is fragile this morning but hopefully a precedent was set and he (we) won't have to go through that again tonight. We all had a good breakfast of oatmeal and toast and raisins (and Aidos and Steve had tea), Steve went to church (more about that later), and we finished a couple of loads of laundry.  Aidos did a great job and helped us hang it on the drying rack in the living room. He likes to have a job to do. Now we are ready for the day. 

It is a holiday weekend here - Independence Day (Kazakhstan became independent from the USSR on December 16th, 1991) is celebrated for the next four days (Sunday-Wednesday). There will be parades, fireworks - and everyone is off work until Thursday. We have our appointment with the doctor on Friday and with the US Embassy on Monday. The main wait is for papers to be sent to Uralsk and then back here so we have the correct documents to go home.

Almaty had another sticky snow last night and the city is beautiful, decorated with snow and lights for the celebration. It is a calm day - temp is about 0 (C).  We took a good long walk around noon time.  Aidos did great.  He's very tentative when he's outside, but I think he's getting a bit more comfortable.  Our apartment is right in the middle of the city - so there are restaurants and shops - even a coffee shop! - and markets all around us. The apartment itself has a nice large living area, one big bedroom with a king (!) bed for us and a crib type bed for Aidos. The ceilings are high, the windows and wall paper are new, and so is the bathroom tile. The kitchen has a soft floor in spots - their solution was to just put linoleum over the whole thing - so every once in a while you are surprised by them. The place was a bit dirty, but I spend a few hours yesterday scrubbing floors and the tub, tile, and sinks. I also did an official Bob Earles renovation in the bedroom to make it darker in there. Now it is quite nice - comparable to lots of places I lived as a graduate student. 

Tonight we will go to Mary Lou and Jon's for dinner - I will make it at their place. They are experiencing their first few days as parents, and seem to need some conversation and help.

Steve here.  As Jen said, I finally got to a Catholic church today (for the third Sunday of Advent).  I couldn't read the missal, nor could I understand anything that was said (although I heard "pajaloosta" (please) and "spasiba" (thank you) several times, and I think I figured out the "Amen").   The church, the Cathedral of the Trinity, looked exactly like churches in the US, and from the inside, I couldn't tell that I was in Kazakhstan.  I could also follow the entire mass perfectly despite the language barrier.  I think I got to see why the Catholic church is "universal".  Some young teens were selling small Advent centerpieces after mass, and I bought one - we didn't get to have an advent wreath this year, so it makes the season seem more special.  I'm not sure that Jen will allow me to light the candle, however;  the greenery will be really close to the flame!  The only disappointment was that the Packers weren't on TV when I got home from church.  I don't think I'll be able to see them even if I get up at the appropriate 3:15 am start time.