My very dear friend Heather sent us a package here in Russia all the way from England. An adorable winter onesie for baby #4 and a little stuffed rabbit. Kathleen immediately took the rabbit and declared that her brother would not mind if she borrowed it for a bit. How this poor baby is going to suffer at the hands of his big sister!
Last week I got a notice on my front door from security that I had a package waiting for me. I figured it was waiting at the security gate. No. In Russia they do not deliver mail- you have to go to the actual post office in order to pick up any mail. Which really makes no sense to me because who delivered the slip of paper? Why didn't they just deliver the package with it? Our driver took me to the post office on Monday and I posed these questions to him. He said that during the days of communism there was mail delivery. After Perestroika (like my big word?!) there was not enough money for mail carriers so they did away with them. American postal workers- you had better watch out. I just read an article on Yahoo! the other day that said the USPS was going bankrupt. You had better hope no-one in Congress has any Russian in them. You'll be toast!
Anyways, Valeri (our driver) took me into the post office and after we both signed our lives away and showed my passport, we were given the package. I love doing stuff like this in Russia. Valeri gives me little history/cultural lessons and I follow him around like I am still a kid. And if you know me you know I much prefer for others to take care of this kind of stuff. So thank you Heather- for the gift and the opportunity for a little lesson also. And the post office was very nice- clean and completely empty. Russians really do not believe in mail.
The kids continue to do well. Colin has flag football on the weekends and just started swimming games yesterday. I worry about him the most because of his age and I know leaving behind his friends and school was quite difficult. His teacher is WONDERFUL and Colin really seems to like him. I have to say he loves the cafeteria food, doesn't mind wearing a uniform, and really enjoys pe, library time, and Russian language class. He also likes that they do alot of reading in the classroom and he tells me that he writes stories alot also. Everyone knows Colin loves to spin a good tale. On Thursday Colin starts swimming during his pe time and he is super excited about that. He has told me all of the pool rules about 10 times.
Amalie may win the friendliest kid in the neighborhood award. She is always saying hello to kids that she knows from school and the playground. The teachers at school adore her and I have a feeling she has become a big sister to many of the smaller kids at school. She has also found herself a Brendan here in Moscow (Brendan is my nephew and godchild, Suzanne's older boy). He is a little bit younger than Amalie and they are always laughing with eachother and singing songs. We had them at the park the other day and they wrestled for about 30 minutes and chased eachother around. Suzanne- remember the wrestling and play fighting this summer? Same type of insanity and Amalie seems to love it. One of the other moms at school told me that Amalie is always the first face she sees at school. Amalie is always popping her head over the fence to greet any newcomers to school. That little girl cracks me up.
Ahh Kathleen. My baby girl is doing fine. She does not like that I leave her at home when I run errands, but that's what they do here in Russia. Kathleen loves the nanny, though, and is quite happy to play with her. We have had a few episodes at school where she cried and did not want me to leave, but I think that is to be expected. I have watched her at school when she thinks I am not looking and she is fine. She participates and always wants to show her work. Last week I watched her during circle time. The teacher told them to sit quietly and not move while she played some very nice music. Well, Kathleen was like a rock. I was afraid she may have stopped breathing also. That little girl has some military in her!
One last thing- Jesy has been out of town the last few days and when I went grocery shopping on Monday I wanted to pick him up a few treats. I found a Snickers bar and what I thought was a bottle of root beer. I questioned the driver about it and he said "yes, like root beer. Only a bit of alcohol and we give it to kids". I figured it was worth a try. If Russians are giving this stuff to their kids the kids must be intoxicated. I had a sip last night and was blown away. This is not A&W root beer! Live and learn.
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