Bonding Day 10

Admiring her boo boo




Wishing we could go outside!

Loving on Oxana (our interpreter)

So today we had to play inside. Aidan has a little cough and then this afternoon it rained for about an hour. The kids LOVE to go outside and we tried to sneak out this afternoon after the rain but we got “caught” by the doctor. Things are a bit different here so we just try to go with the flow. We thought we would share some things that are different here. Not bad, no complaints, just different than we are used to at home.

At the pharmacy you can buy most any drug that you think you may need. No prescriptions needed for the most part. Most people walk or take the bus everywhere. No fountain sodas. Right now our water is brown and the hot water heater is about 10 gallons, but this is a hot item around here. No dryers, not even in the store where you can buy them. No dishwashers either. The baby house is under construction and those workers are working hard. No nail guns or fiberglass/aluminum ladders for those guys. The military came to paint the wooden playground equipment and the paint was for sure oil based and smelled like gasoline (maybe lead?).

There are no can soups at the grocery store. However, the bakery is phenomenal. Nothing like at home, all fresh. A very limited section of cereal and the boxes are very small. Milk is in a cardboard box and does not need to be refrigerated until opened. Milk fat % goes up to at least 8% and so does the yogurt – boy is it yummy too! (the yogurt that is, haven’t tried the fat milk).

Everyone drives really fast here. There really are not painted lanes except for dividing the two sides of the road. You just kind of drive and pass others at will. They drive on the same side of the road as at home, but some cars are driven from “our” passenger side. There are Mercedes, Toyotas, BMWs, Lexus’, and the typical Russian “Lada”. The police for the most part will stand on the side of the road and point people to pull over for a traffic stop. At home people would laugh and keep driving. Their police are very well respected here – as it should be at home.

The internet……hmmm well, it is just slow. And the dial up is somewhat frustrating. The time of day seems to make a difference with how well it works – or should I say whether or not it works in our apartment. The wifi is also slow but it is more consistent with actually working.

Oh yeah, and thanks to Jamie and Steve for the heads up on the couch – we did not know it folded out like that and we tried it today – boy were we excited!!! And Marla – the kid is still running around upstairs!
We have our social worker meeting tomorrow. Please pray that it goes smoothly for us.