We made it! We arrived in Almaty around five this morning. Our trip was pretty uneventful with the exception of an aborted landing in Almaty. That was a little scary but they later told us it was just because of strong tailwinds. And surprise, surprise, our luggage made it, too! We had a seven-hour layover in Amsterdam so we weren’t too worried about our checked luggage.

We’re in a different apartment this time. We’re just about one half a block from where we were last time. We didn’t have hot water when we first arrived, but we took a little nap and the hot water had magically appeared when we got up. The apartment is on the top floor. That’s five flights of steps. At least we’ll get a little exercise. We’re on a very busy, loud road so I doubt we’ll sleep well. No A/C again, but we do have a working fan this time. Well, it works if you rig it right. It’s a little warm. The apartment is nice but it’s a bit of the handyman’s special. All of the window handles fall off when you open the windows and the sink faucet in the bathroom has a broken cold water knob. And the toilet seat, well it’s not exactly attached. It’s got character, I guess.

Now for the disappointing news. The director of the Baby House doesn’t want us to come see Robert while we’re here because he was very upset when we left last time. We thought we’d be able to see him every day but it looks like we’ll only be able to see him for one visit. She doesn’t want us to visit him for four days and then be gone again. Hence, no picture of him today. This is something we really didn’t expect but if it’s easier on Robert then I guess it’s best.