Saturday, January 10, 2004

Happy Saturday!

It has been snowing nonstop since yesterday morning. I was trying to figure out how many inches (or feet) of snow but you can't tell because there is nothing to compare it to. Snow covers everything! They just kind of pack it down and walk on top.

I have had 2 more visits with Abby since my last post and they have been sooooooo wonderful!!! Each visit I get more laughs and smiles out of her. Today I asked if I could feed her cheerios and they said yes. She loved them!! Her little feet would just kick as she ate. It was really adorable. We played more with the blocks and just basically did baby stuff. I could kiss those big cheeks all day long. They have the radio on while we are in the music room so we dance a lot too. She is quite the little dancer. :-) Every visit too, she makes more eye contact with me and loves to pat my nose. It is really funny. I still have not seen her cry yet but towards the end of our visit this morning she was getting sleepy and started snuggling against my shoulder. It was the most precious thing.

So, let's see what else to tell you about life in Uralsk. Several of you have asked what I do to entertain myself between visits. Well, the afternoon is not bad at all. I go to the internet cafe (where I am now) or shopping (which we did earlier today) but the evenings are a bit longer. If it was not the dead of winter and so cold outside, I would probably venture out more on my own but it gets dark at 5:00pm here so when they drop me off at my apartment, I basically stay in for the night. I have 3 books with me and am reading The DaVinci Code right now. It definitely keeps me entertained!! I am trying to pace how much I read though because I don't want to finish the books too early and be stuck without.

I have tried watching some tv but here in Uralsk I only get about 4 channels and they are all in Russian. Last night I think I was watching some kind of circus. I also think I may have watched a Russian televangelist. It was a man dressed in a blue suit yelling and crying a lot. I have no idea but it was pretty funny. I have watched a few Russian soap operas too. These seem to be on at any hour and are full of many angst filled expressions by the stars as well as dramatic pauses. It is even better than the soap operas on the Spanish channel at home. Oh, and I saw a commercial for Murder She Wrote in Russian. The funny thing is Angela Lansbury's character is dubbed in Russian by a man. It appears as though Angela is quite masculine. :-)

Today Assia and I went to the Big Market. Yes, I finally bought a bigger blanket for Abby so she can crawl more. This blanket is so funny. It is very, hmmm, how do I say, fuzzy?? I wish I could bring it home but it is so thick I doubt I will have room. I also bought a tiny radio so I can listen to music at night. I love the music here - very cool dance type music. Igor always has it on the radio and it is great. I will leave the radio in the apartment for the next family to stay here.

My trip to the market today was interesting. Assia needed to get a few groceries. Last time I was there I did not go near the meat section but today we did. This is the first time I nearly got sick here. The meat is not covered in any way and the smell was really hard for me. The Big Market truly sells everything. Everything from meat to furniture and all in between. It is almost like a bazaar with different sections. When I bought my radio they sold it to me without a box or anything. Oh, and it cost next to nothing.

For those of you keeping score in the Shower vs. Gayla, after today the score is:
Shower 2
Gayla 0

I'm holding out hope I will be victorious tomorrow.

I have had several of you ask me about the time difference here. Well Uralsk is 9 hours ahead of Eastern time. So, right now it is 12:47pm and there in the East coast it is 3:45am. When I go back to Almaty the time difference is 11 hours.

The snow is really incredibly beautiful. Yesterday I mentioned the lines on the streets? Well today there are no lines and I can barely tell where there are streets at all. I have seen many people outside with shovels but it seems to fall as fast as they can shovel.

My driver Igor is absolutely wonderful (as is everyone here). He speaks about as much English as I speak Russian but we somehow do just fine. Yesterday he pointed out 2 different "oops". Oops, in case you are wondering are car accidents. When I saw the 2nd one, I said "Oops?". He smiled and said "oops".

Also, for those of you who asked, it is harder every day to leave Abby after our visits. I swear they fly by. Each time Assia sleeps while Abby and I play but she somehow pops up exactly when it is time to leave.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Mine will be pretty much like the weekdays with Abby visits and that is the greatest way to spend any day. I'm not sure if the internet cafe is open tomorrow but if it is I will be here to post. :-)