Visit Number 5

Several people has commented or asked about pictures. I guess everyone has a different view or opinion, but I personally feel more comfortable waiting until my 10 day waiting period is over. Then I promise I will post pictures. At this point I am scheduled to pick up Natalie on Saturday. This morning I went for my 5th visit. I had not seen her in 2 days and I know for some families it is sort of like starting over again. But Natalie came in and we picked up right where we left off. Today we were pretty much in the room by ourselves so she was talking more and trying a lot of English words for me. Towards the end of the visit she noticed some cookies and she asked if mama could give her one. One of the coordinators was in the room and translated and told me it was fine. So I gave it to her. She then said something else, which turned out to be, that mama should get one for herself too!! Every day it seems I am picking up more Russian words which is good for both of us. Today when she left I reached out to hug her. Usually she just stands there while I hug her. But today she actually hugged back and told me good-bye and waved quite a bit. Every day she melts my heart more and more. Tomorrow I will go back to see her in the morning.

Today I went to lunch with Nancy who is a missionary here. We went to a place where you fill your bowl with different meats, fruits and vegetables and they then stir fry it. It was quite tasty. They have a Subway and Kentucky Fried Chicken here, but I have yet to visit those places. Nancy also took me to another grocery store a bit further away, but with a lot more variety. Another missionary joined us who had been in Romania and we shared "war" stories. I have been really blessed to be able to experience so much of the culture and to learn more about Krasnoyarsk from people who live here. All this has helped make the time go by much quicker.

A typical day for me is getting up and going to the breakfast buffet which is included in my hotel stay. The choices vary from hard boiled eggs to a cottage cheese, carrot, and cabbage dish. There was macaroni today and another day mixed vegetables. There is always cheese, cold cuts and pastries and today we had home fries. It is a great way to start the day. Most days I have gone to the orphange from about 9:30-12:00 and then have a light lunch in my room from items purchased as the grocery store. The hot water in the water cooler is hot enough to make Ramen type soup. There is also a refrigerator so I get things like yogurt, juices and other items. In the afternoon I either go to the orphanage from 2:30-5:00, visit with other families, walk around, shop or just work on my needlepoint. In the evening I meet us with some other families for dinner and I treat myself to a DVD. There is a German channel that every other hour has news in English and there is an English station that is all about financial news. Every day I hear how bad the dollar is. Mmmm. I feel like I am learning a lot in the international finanical world.

For those of you reading the blog, please drop me an email and let me know how you are doing. I love hearing from everyone!! That's it until tomorrow.