If it's Tuesday, it must be Almaty

So, the dreaded drive from Bishkek to Almaty went just fine. Carolyn and I shared a car together and we had lots of room for the children to lay out. Jack was awesome and enjoyed looking around when he was not asleep. This kid enjoys seeing the sights and checking things out.

We have one more appointment tomorrow and then we are cleared to come home. There is an interview with the US embassy staff around 3pm tomorrow and then we immediately jump back in the car to drive back to Bishkek. There had been some concern about obtaining a new visa for John, Debbie and myself, but Sergei worked it all out and he is supposed to pick them up this afternoon. Today consisted of a very quick medical exam. They took some blood (finger stick and no crying from either Jack or Daniel) for an AIDS test and then a physical exam by the doctor. Our doctor was a very nice man from South Africa who said he thought Jack was just fine. His orders were for some good old American food to fatten him up a bit. Nice guy.

We are staying at the Intercontinental hotel here in Almaty. It is pretty expensive but is very nice. The food is really good and is a nice change from what we have been eating. It is a needed break from the past week or so.

It is hard to believe that we will be leaving for home soon. Everyone is so excited to be getting out of here, it almost seems like we are being paroled from prison. I probably won't really relax until I board the flight from Atlanta to San Francisco, but I will feel better once we have begun our journey. Our 5 hour drive helped to give me a little confidence that we might be fine. No guaranties, but there is at least some reason to be optimistic.

Rita and Sergei found a whole new reason to be excited yesterday upon our arrival at the hotel. It is beautiful here with a vast open lobby that stretches all the way to the top of the building. Glass elevators shuttle people up and down from within the lobby and the view is spectacular from the 7th floor where we are. Downstairs is a fountain with small live turtles swimming around in it. There are restaurants, bars, shops and areas to sit and enjoy each others company. Naturally Rita and Sergei desire to experience all of it as quickly as possible and it has caused a few moments of exasperation from their parents. New environment equals new adventures. To be honest, I kind of want to do the same thing, but I am supposed to be an adult and set a good example. Bummer!

This is likely to be my last post until after I arrive back home in San Anselmo on Thursday night. Tomorrow we will be driving to Bishkek and won't arrive until later in evening. From there, we will wake up early Thursday morning and leave for the airport around 4am, which does not leave a lot of room for posting to the website. I really do appreciate everyone taking the time to write to Jack and I. It meant a lot to have emails waiting for me each and everyday from my friends and family and it made my trip much more pleasant than it could have been otherwise. I hope you enjoyed reading about the ongoing adventures of Jack Slagle as much as I did writing them and I think I can speak for him when I say he looks forward to meeting all of you personally.

Thanks again and see you soon,
Scott and Jack