Tired...

Eleven a.m. came way too quick this morning and we had a difficult time just getting out of bed. We woke at 10 and quickly showered before making our way downstairs to the breakfast buffet. The spread was interesting. Most of the breakfast choices were sweet breads, none of which I recognized (so you know I passed). There were three "hot" choices: rice with green beans and corn, cauliflower with corn and peppers, and some sort of mystery meat hot dog-looking thing. Jerret, of course, tried it all.

We went out shopping at the local mall, which seemed more like a flea market as the stores weren't actually stores in the traditional sense. We bought three bags full of traditional Kyrgyz garb to save for JJ until he is older. Jerret couldn't (or wouldn't) pay full price for anything as he was having pretty serious flashbacks of the Silk Market in China. We were able to negotiate prices for most things, but nothing like he could in China (or so he says).

After the mall we traveled by taxi to the Beta Store, which is the local supermarket. We purchased bottled water and some bread and cream cheese to eat for lunch. We went back to the hotel in late afternoon and took a short nap before dinner. Jerret woke me at 5:00 so I could get around before leaving for the restaurant and I could not function. I literally could not get out of bed. The combination of not getting enough sleep last night and my internal clock being all screwed up really set me back.

We went out to dinner with the two other famiilies from our agency. We at at the Four Seasons (not associated at all with the hotel - darn!). I chose to stay on the safe side and had chicken and french fries. Jerret was a little more daring and went for the lamb kabobs.

A few things I noticed at the stores...People are beautiful here. Not just beautiful, but strikingly beautiful...gorgeous, in fact. The women really make an effort to look nice and pay attention to their appearance. And most people look really young. Even the older people we have seen still have a very young appearance. Only the very oldest people had wrinkles. Another observation, no one paid us any attention here. They didn't care that we were American and didn't treat us any differently at all. Jerret noticed this as well and said that we didn't seem to stick out as much as foreigners do in China.

We met a nice American man outside of the hotel this morning. He is here working on a special project for the US and was happy to hear our stories.

I am really tired right now and can barely keep my eyes open. We leave the hotel at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow and will make the hour-long drive to Tokmok to meet our baby. We still have to get our orphanage gifts and donations together yet tonight and pack our bag full of firsts for JJ, you know - first American diaper, first pacifier, first toy, and his little own version of Old Glory courtesy of my mother-in-law. We will probably be unable to sleep all night, which is a bad idea considering we will be with baby from here on out.

Time for bed!