have been having some internet connection problems so I have not been successful logging on today to post or email. It is Tuesday, November 28th and this may be retroactively posted once I get a connection.The hotel is quite the happening place and my floor is very social. We have a group of basketball players here and there are a few Americans on the team. Late at night they can be found playing Nintendo in their rooms with their doors open. I have also discovered that the maids sometimes clean unoccupied rooms at 3 am. In addition, there are now several businessmen staying on our floor who meet in a meeting room at the end of the hall. The unlocking of doors at all hours of the day and night can be disruptive. If I didn’t love my room so much (see picture) I would consider moving. I will be moving on Friday to accommodate the two other members of my family who will be joining me Saturday morning.
The social side of things has really picked up. A new gal came into town and we are all enjoying each other. Yesterday, three of us were together from 4pm in the afternoon until after midnight. We hung out on the king size bed in one of our bedrooms, went to dinner and had gris salad, and then came back and hung out some more. We watched adoption video clips on YouTube.com. The gris salad is a greek like salad with feta cheese. The feta cheese is the best we’ve ever had. It’s very smooth and not as salty as what we have in the US. We all swore we would have to order extra on our salads next time (which I think is tonight) if we could figure out how to say it in Russian. (Update - they were out of feta!)
I am establishing quite a routine and am rather enjoying it. I am not minding it being too cold to leave the hotel and find it all rather restful. I get up in the morning without an alarm, each day it gets later and later because of the night antics. Today I woke up and thought, it must be 3:30 am, who is making all that noise, only to discover that it was 8:30. Yesterday I woke after 9 and nearly missed the breakfast buffet. The buffet goes till 10:30 and includes rice, broccoli, some meat, some egg thing (soufflé like), some curds wrapped in pancakes, hard boiled eggs, some cream of rice or oatmeal, meatballs, fresh vegetable salads and apple salad. Bread, juice, tea and coffee is also available. I usually have the hot cereal option, apple salad and a hard boiled egg or bread. I also like the meatballs but they are not often available. They also have yogurt which I take to the room to eat with cereal later.
After breakfast I get ready to go to the orphanage as I have a driver meet me at the hotel at 11:30. It takes about 35 minutes commute time each way and then I am usually there visiting between one and two hours. I arrive back at the hotel around three and then have some down time, eating a snack in the room, checking email, resting or reading unless someone asks me to visit. Then we decide where to have dinner. Lately, it has been so cold that we are appreciating a few places to eat that are close to the hotel.
The orphanage does not disturb me the way it once did. I have discovered one of the little boys in Helena’s group, I met in September, is being adopted by a couple that is staying in another hotel. I met them last week and I believe they are in Moscow with him now. They have FOUR other children between two and eleven! Another child in her group left with a lovely couple from Spain this week. The new gal in town is at my baby home so it is great to see her there visiting another boy from Helena’s group. I do feel better seeing that these children are getting forever families. I am enjoying greeting the caregivers and have even learned how to say “how are you” to each of them. Its sounds like Kag de la! A local told me my accent is pretty good, which somehow isn’t much of a compliment given I can only say about five words.
So while I am tempted to indulge in the idea that you may think I am so brave to be here alone, I can tell you I am not suffering in the least, now that I have found some good community and adjusted to the time difference. I will say that I miss the boys, and I bust into tears every time they send me an email. The picture of them I received yesterday was especially joyful and tearful at the same time. I actually feel a little sad at the idea of leaving Perm. I think there are many things in the city I would enjoy seeing, it’s simply too cold and icy to go further than the market, three blocks away.
I will leave with the mention that this is a very joyful day for my friend, L, who has been trying to have children with her husband for close to a decade. Today her adoption was completed and she picked up her beautiful little boy from the orphanage. I was honored to be the first at the hotel to spend time with him. He is well-nourished and just magnificent. He looks similar in size to Helena but when I picked him up it helped me to remember that most little boys really do have inexplicable, invisible weights in their butts because he felt a lot heavier. He has the capacity to stay in one place for several minutes at a time, which of course I was a little envious of and I know you are rolling your eyes now. He wouldn’t go to sleep for a nap due to his new surroundings, so we decided to take him to the market up the street. He wore the snowsuit I bought at the MOPs sale and promptly fell asleep on her shoulder. I was terrified she (with him) would be run over or slip on the ice, and I was not shy about shielding them, but we made it safely. I haven’t yet discussed the driving techniques used in this country, nor the fact that drivers and people are pretty much constantly skidding around on sheets of ice! Let’s just say coming into contact with cars as a pedestrian or passenger is about the most dangerous aspect of being here!
I don’t think I am quite connecting to the fact that there will be a baby in my room in three days, because when I saw the baby food in L’s room last night, it all seemed so premature and then I thought, oh my gosh, I guess I need to get some baby food in the room!
I hope everyone is well back home. Thanks for reading and das va danya!
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