Waiting

Slept pretty well last night. Went to bed at around 11:30. Woke up at my usual 4 am, but went back to sleep. Woke up again at 6 and finally decided to get up at 7. I wrote down my list of questions to ask N's caregivers. What are her favorite foods? What kind of cup does she drink out of? Do they give her white bread or brown? Do they give her flavored Kefir or plain? What fruits and vegetables has she eaten? Does she fall asleep easily or fight it? Does she wake up quickly or slowly? Does she like water and getting her bath? Do they give her a sponge bath or put her in a tub of water? What are her favorite toys? Do they have a nickname for her? What are the names of some of her friends? What phrases do they use to tell her no or to encourage her? It saddens me that I don't already know these things about my baby. Mommies should know these things. I suppose I'll start figuring it out soon enough!

It's almost 10:30 and Nastya is picking me up at 12:30. We are going to the mall where I can stock up on diapers and baby food and then we will go get N. I will also get some cakes/sweets for the workers at the orphanage and I will probably buy some extra supplies as an orphanage gift. I'll have to see what the store has to offer.

It is windy, cold, and rainy today, but the sun came out a little while ago. I am prepared with three layers of clothing for N, as I don't want the baby home director to worry about her well-being in my care. On our last visit, the new mommy did not bring tights and this was a subject of much consternation...and it was not as cold as it is now. I have a long-sleeve onesie, tights, baby leggings, socks, shoes, a long fleece dress, a fleece hooded jacket, and a heavier jacket. And two hats...one is an earflap hat that I knit on the way here and the other is a gift sent from one of my Ravelry friends, Kesten. I can double-layer the hats if necessary. And a warm fleece blanket (that Tasha gave us). N is used to being warm. They really dress their babies warmly here and I will be dressing her warmly for a while, too...she is accustomed to it. But they also probably keep the baby home cool to keep down heating costs. Although if you've ever been on this journey in the fall/winter, you know as well as I do that the Russians have one heat setting: full blast. Most buildings are very warm inside which is why I brought short-sleeves and light weight long sleeves for myself. I am wearing a tee-shirt weight 3/4 sleeve top right now and am too warm. I was in the business center an hour ago sweating.

I've had internet access issues, but we seem to have fixed it.

Some observations about the Russian experience:

* I think I mentioned last April that the Russians seem to be REALLY into tomato juice. It isn't served at the breakfast buffet here, but on planes, it is a very popular request. Yesterday on the way here I was surrounded by tomato juice drinkers and the gentleman next to me ordered tomato juice and coffee. Now, I am NOT a coffee drinker. Hate the stuff, but I can't imagine tomato juice with a coffee chaser is all that appetizing.

* The cold. Russians appear to have some very definite ideas about the cold. For one thing, they blast the heat indoors in winter and as I mentioned above, babies are dressed very warmly, even in summer. I think I read that you will not see a Russian sitting on cold concrete, like a bench or stone wall, without a blanket or coat under them, and even then maybe not. They appear to believe that cold surfaces/being cold can really adversely affect their health. Which we believe, too, to some extent, but I've never thought sitting on a cold stone wall would do me any harm other than maybe be uncomfortable.

* The language. I think the language is pretty. Not as fluid and floral as french or Italian, but certainly easier on the ears than German or Dutch. Very difficult for me to master, though. I can't roll my r's (seriously, no matter how hard I try...impossible), so this limits me in many languages, including Russian. Thank you is pronounced spai-see'-bah. Please is pra-jahl-oost'-nah best I can tell. Yes is dah. No is nyet. Mama is mama here. Daddy is papa. Grandma is babushka. Grandpa is dehdushka. And now you know as much Russian as I do. Which is why I have a translator with me everywhere except past the security check-point in airports, where I am on my own.

* The alphabet. It's fun to try to figure out billboards while getting from point A to point B. Their H is our N. Their P is the Greek pi symbol. F is a lot like the Greek phi symbol. Their B is our v. Their p is our r. We all have T and M in common. There are a lot of letters that don't look or sound like anything we have, and they have a backward R and a backward N that are yah and ee respectively, unless you put a loopy thing over the N in which case it might be oy/ay/i or ee.

It's 11: 15. I suppose I should double-check the diaper bag and I think I am going to knit for a few minutes. I started a new sock on airplane Sunday morning. It may be a few years before I manage to finish it. Socks tend to be my "emergency knitting"...knitting for those times when I'm just waiting or standing or sitting around with empty hands and nothing else to do. I think it might be a while before that happens much again...