Day 7

Well, here we are again waiting for our afternoon visit. We were told yesterday by Larissa "There is a *itch here." They don’t want her to know we are here because her questions are unpredictable. It makes sense. We don’t want to risk our adoption. After she leaves everything will return to normal again. Even though we only see Bobby once a day, it still counts as twice a day.
We met with the doctor yesterday and then asked questions of the caregiver.
Yesterday we played in the group playroom again. It was hard at first because the other children wanted to play with us too. So the caregivers took the other children outside which made Bobby cry since he couldn’t go. I rocked him until he calmed down and then we had to warm him up to us again. Two more times like this and then we return to twice a day in the playroom.
Our electricity went out last night and the internet servers have been up and down. It was difficult finding someplace to eat yesterday because of the lack of electricity. We went to the bazaar in the morning which is basically a giant flea market. You can buy just about everything there even raw meats! The meats are sold inside a huge 2 story building and the smell was tremendously awful. At the other end of the building are fresh fruits and vegetables. You can buy a salad like at a buffet. You choose the pieces, they are weighed separately, and then you combine them. We didn't try that but we did buy some fresh bananas. Larissa helps us pick which vendor to buy food from. We also bought a hat for Bobby. Our travel information said to always have a stocking cap, not ball caps, on your child so I didn't bring the caps with me. It turns out, hats are necessary and caps are acceptable. We also bought a small amount of yarn. It was made in China which is typical of everything at the bazaar. You feel kind of silly buying clothes there since you could probably find the same items at Wal-Mart or Dollar General. They are very cheaply made, maybe too cheap for even Wal-Mart.
Tuesday we went to the zoo and ate at a café near the Russian border. The café was about 30 minutes away. They only serve pork ka-bobs, bread, & raw onions. The ka-bobs were very good.
Driving around town is like going 4-wheeling. It's even worse when the electricity is off because our driver, Posha goes the back roads to avoid the traffic jams. It's quite an adventure!
Today we have someone coming to give us massages at the apartment and then we will go back to the bazaar without Debbie and her daughter, Chana. Michael calls them the Seattle sisters. Larissa said that Michael will be more comfortable shopping with only one woman, not three. He agreed completely!
Things we didn't need - shower shoes
Things we did need - a couple of travel TP (just in case)
A couple of packages of travel Kleenex (there seems to be something in the air that makes our noses run!)
There maybe more as we stay here longer but for now that's all A wonderful gift idea for our translator, Larissa, is seeds of all sorts. She has a summer house where she gardens and grows flowers. Maybe some bluebonnet seeds, wildflower seeds. Seeds that are native to Texas or at least USA.
Love, Kirsten

PS - I have tried to post some pictures from the zoo and the bazaar but they are going through. I'll try again another time.