Today was a sad day for us since we didn’t get to see our little Katie. Instead, Dinara took us all to the cultural museum for a brief education of Kazakhstan’s people, history, and, as you probably guessed, culture. The museum was filled with preserved clothing articles, tools, jewelry, and furniture. The most impressive displays were the full-size Yurta (the traditional tent that nomadic Kazakhs used to live in) and a recreation of the gold chain mail worn by a mythical Kazakh figure.
The other fun part of visiting the museum was the affordable gift shop in the lobby. We had previously been waiting to buy some items for Katie because Erken told us that this gift shop had the best prices in town. We bought a set of wooden stacking Yurtas, traditional baby shoes and a cute Kazakh doll with donkey.
The other main event of our day was going shopping at the Eur-asia market. Before heading downstairs to buy our groceries, Dinara showed us around the upstairs portion which was filled with small shops and storefronts that mostly sold clothes and shoes. We had fun window shopping and buying ice cream before the regular chore of purchasing our food for the week.
Although it was nice seeing the museum and the shops, we can’t wait to visit Katie again tomorrow. We miss her lots and want to be with her whenever we can. We are also hoping our court date comes soon after our 15 day “bonding” period (which ends on Friday). Jen and Jesse are still waiting to hear when their day will be since they finished their 15 days on Monday. Please join us in praying for them to get their time in court as quickly as possible!