Surreal Sunday

Red Square as seen from our window:









The Bolshoi, next to our hotel, is now being renovated. At first they expected it to be complete in less than a year. The restoration crew now expects it to take longer. I would love to say that I was looking forward to seeing the opera performed here, but being the absolutely uncultured person that I am, I am only sad I won't get to sit inside the Bolshoi. I am fine with missing the opera. Maybe when we do our heritage tour the ballet will be there and I will have something to look forward to.











Chocolate and Banana Crepes, and a creamy praline tasting thingy. We were so consumed by the adoption process last time that we ate McDonalds every day last time on the way to the orphanage. This time, I am devouring all the Russian food I can get. I starved in Prague. Just not my food. England's fish and chips weren't for me either. I was sooo sick of curry when I left India.. but Russians and the French, they CAN cook! Thank goodness we are walking miles and miles each day..




So that was a brief look at last night for us (Saturday night).
Today, Ian went and got us crepes while I slept in. I crawled out of my bed to discover a wet, rainy, chilly Moscow. If it weren't for Ana, I would have crawled right back into bed and attacked the stack of books I brought. We spent 4 wonderful hours with her today. Both of us wonder what happened to the child we blogged about on June 16th. Who was that timid, terrified treasure? We thought she couldn't speak or walk. By the end of the week we thought we had met the real Ariana. Yes, well, not so much! Do you remember Shrek talking about pealing the onion... that is Ana. But she is a sweet vidalia onion. Still, she is very much full of layers. Today, they woke her up and she was surprised to see us. She honestly seemed to be emitting, "can you just leave me alone already" vibes. Other parents were visiting who have left their children in the orphanage while they can not take care of them, and these mothers took the kids outside. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It was wet and nasty, and as much as the fresh air would have done her a world of good, the dampness bothered me. We played in the music room instead. It took a few minutes, but we found our playmate. She "talked" a lot today. She also showed me her first sign of fear and her persistent side. I found a ball pit in the room. A very nice big ball pit that must be for therapy use. I lowered her into it, still holding her safely, and she was shaking a terrified. Her heart beat fast fast fast for probably 5 minutes. I am still amazed that a 5 second experience in my arms was so terrifying. She didn't resist going in, so I don't think she had ever been in it. But she did NOT like the sensation. I bet it is comparable to the reaction most kids have to baths at first. Now, her persistent side came out with a metal box she found. It was on a shelf and clearly a "teachers" box. It had wipes, a bell, and some treats, and Girl wanted it. We played "Nyet-then-distract" for 2 hours! She wanted to see if she could wear us down and get us to change our minds. Sorry Sweetie, your brothers trained us well. We are very good at "nyet" ( and by the way, when you decide to turn on the tears eventually, we will be thrilled to see your normallacy, but they don't work either). The passive little victim that I met in June has melted away. I envisioned a plane ride home snuggling a terrified and silent little girl. Now, I think my mother and I are going to kiss the ground when we land, hand Ana to her daddy, and go to bed. It is time to polish the tira, I think she plans on wearing one!

Well, I am off. Ian is dragging me to the fallen statue grave yard.. I will post photos later.. we are then going to make his obligatory stop at Starbucks.

Paka for now... more tonight!!
Michelle