Sunday, March 27, 2005
Met the Cotunas and bonded with the Baers
Sam was a whirling dervish (at least for him). I saw him up in a window being held by a caretaker looking down at us. Lots of waving. He wanted on the ground and did lots of crawling. I even got a few sly grins. He would opt for Dad over Mom. Dad is eating it up. ☺
I degress to yesterday. Todd and I were eating lunch on the 2nd floor (sweltering) of the Pancake House when from the table behind Todd a guy said, “Why are you in Ust?” in a total American voice. Turns out even weirder, the guy got his MBA from IU and lives in Bloomington, Indiana. Twilight Zone music please. He is here as part of a volunteer business program to help Kaz businesses. It was just so bizarre. He told us there were 205 thousand people living here in Ust. He said there was very little snow – Mentioned Indy probably had more snow, but that it was super cold, 40 below for weeks on end and that every molecule of water was frozen. Seven seconds outside could leak to frost bite on your cheeks. He said he would not want to stay in Kaz long term due to the bad air and water quality. Also male’s life spans here are short.
A gal came up to Charlotte and I in the lobby and asked if one of us was Michele. I said me and she introduced herself as Anita Cotuna. I was so glad to “find” her. Charlotte and I had been talking about her the day before during the van drive. We still do not know what agency they are with, or who they are using here in Ust. They had a horrible experience. I love Inna and Frank Foundation even more. First Anita and Theo Cotuna were trying to adopt from Romania. Theo is Romanian. They have a referral and in fact have visited with them at the foster home (can’t remember if boy or girl). Romania shut down adoptions. Their in-laws got a tape of two children in Sunye (sp?) orphanage (near Ust). There was a third child on the tape. They inquired about her and decided they would adopt her. Did all the paper work for Kaz and the day they received their LOI the adoption agency called to tell them the little girl had been visited and could no longer be adopted, although they had been told she was a foundling. They told the Cotunas to come on to Ust and they would do whatever they could to find them a child. gets shifty here too. On their 171 form the agencies social worker had written child between the ages of “0-5” instead of what they desired “0-3”. And gee, when they arrived they were taken to the child house not the baby house and shown siblings 5 years and up. Hmmmm. Anita and Theo did decide on a sibling group boy and girl 3 ½ and 4 ½ . The Cotunas were in an apartment (get outta here) for the first two nights until the landlady constantly banged on the door wanting more money since they were Americans. They were at our hotel for two nights and were charged an insane amount. Ye Gads. Hopefully we will keep in contact while here. Poor Souls.
I degress to yesterday. Todd and I were eating lunch on the 2nd floor (sweltering) of the Pancake House when from the table behind Todd a guy said, “Why are you in Ust?” in a total American voice. Turns out even weirder, the guy got his MBA from IU and lives in Bloomington, Indiana. Twilight Zone music please. He is here as part of a volunteer business program to help Kaz businesses. It was just so bizarre. He told us there were 205 thousand people living here in Ust. He said there was very little snow – Mentioned Indy probably had more snow, but that it was super cold, 40 below for weeks on end and that every molecule of water was frozen. Seven seconds outside could leak to frost bite on your cheeks. He said he would not want to stay in Kaz long term due to the bad air and water quality. Also male’s life spans here are short.
A gal came up to Charlotte and I in the lobby and asked if one of us was Michele. I said me and she introduced herself as Anita Cotuna. I was so glad to “find” her. Charlotte and I had been talking about her the day before during the van drive. We still do not know what agency they are with, or who they are using here in Ust. They had a horrible experience. I love Inna and Frank Foundation even more. First Anita and Theo Cotuna were trying to adopt from Romania. Theo is Romanian. They have a referral and in fact have visited with them at the foster home (can’t remember if boy or girl). Romania shut down adoptions. Their in-laws got a tape of two children in Sunye (sp?) orphanage (near Ust). There was a third child on the tape. They inquired about her and decided they would adopt her. Did all the paper work for Kaz and the day they received their LOI the adoption agency called to tell them the little girl had been visited and could no longer be adopted, although they had been told she was a foundling. They told the Cotunas to come on to Ust and they would do whatever they could to find them a child. gets shifty here too. On their 171 form the agencies social worker had written child between the ages of “0-5” instead of what they desired “0-3”. And gee, when they arrived they were taken to the child house not the baby house and shown siblings 5 years and up. Hmmmm. Anita and Theo did decide on a sibling group boy and girl 3 ½ and 4 ½ . The Cotunas were in an apartment (get outta here) for the first two nights until the landlady constantly banged on the door wanting more money since they were Americans. They were at our hotel for two nights and were charged an insane amount. Ye Gads. Hopefully we will keep in contact while here. Poor Souls.
# posted by demicmic @ 10:50 AM 
