Lead Time

Still waiting on part two of the criminal clearance (mine). Hopefully that one will be done correctly.

A little more intimidating, yet encouraging, we found out that the lead time people have been getting to travel is approximately five days for this region. While this will be a problem if things aren't ready when the letter of invitation comes, we can't wait to travel.

So we're trying to pick up our study of Cyrillic letters, and some basic (and I mean basic as in "where is the bathroom", "hello", "please", "thank you", "excuse me") Kazakh and Russian. My latest task is trying to find a clear, easy to understand chart of IPA transcriptions. I need to see exactly how a few of the specific Kazakh letters sound in English- like the g with the little thing under it. And then there's that ng sound.

And of course there's the issue of presents. I don't mind buying presents, and I appreciate the fact that Kazakh culture is a gift giving culture. But it's very hard to buy gifts for strangers. Of course everyone has suggestions, but how many day planners, silk scarves, "better" fragrances and make up, "good" pen sets can one person use in a lifetime? And what does "better" mean? Better than L'oreal? Does that mean Lancome? Estee Lauder? And what is a "good" pen set? With limits on what you're supposed to spend (no more than 20 on the more expensive gifts) can you get anything "good" or "better" for that?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.