Out of internet time!

Our card ran out of time so we're having to go purchase another one this morning. It is so cold here we didn't venture out last night. JJ called about 8:30pm our time – we've loving those nightly calls! Then we were trying to watch some episodes of WAT but between the two of us I don't think we saw one full episode – so we can watch those again! I slept pretty well last night, Brian not as well, but we are adjusting after almost 1-week here. We got a call at 6:30am that a taxi would be here for us at 7:30am so we got ready quickly. We went back to the bigger hospital that we had done our different tests at the other day and we waited in the lobby while Alex got the paperwork completed. We're on our own for the rest of the day now – he said he will call later once he hears what happens with the H's in court and also to confirm plans for upcoming days. He is doing some running around yet with the papers/stamps for these medicals but nothing he needs us for. He needs to talk to Andrew and find out when we can plan to go to the BH again also and visit Nathan Genya. We need to get better pictures of Brian interacting with Nathan Genya – I will have to be taking some these visits!

So we're going to head out into the cold (-25c) and explore the town some! We have a dinner invitation for tomorrow night from a missionary family living here in Irkutsk (found them via Kathy Friend!) so will connect with them later to confirm. I'll continue on the report of our day once we return with more time on the dial-up card!

We ventured out into the bitter cold – with a wind – and were numb within blocks – but we pressed on. First stopped at the office supply store Kirsten gave me direction to for some coloring books for Nathan Genya at our next visit (he said last time he liked coloring books) and we bought a cheap book of paper to make paper airplanes next visit also. We then went to the "Fiesta" for lunch – Brian had a sausage with noodles and most of my borsch soup as I had a piece of chicken with lemon on it and a side of boiled potatoes (along with the borsch). The potatoes started barely warm and were cold by the end of the meal so I left a lot of them but the chicken was good if not completely tender. But it was overall a good meal – I think we ate there in 2004 and we'll go back again. Then we went on to the shopping mall and got Brian a woolen scarf to keep the wind off his neck and face as needed. Nice clerks helped us. Then I stopped and got some face cleaner and we headed out to the cold again. Snapped a few pictures of the frog picture nephew Justin sent with us so will have to figure out how to download those! Then we went grocery shopping – it's not as easy without the translator along. I was able to make sure I was buying chicken and the rest we bought pretty much by picture – we'll see what we got! Honey Nut Cheerios is the same English and Russian lol Walked back to the apartment and now we're just hanging out happy to be able to be "online" again – and also waiting to hear what happened with the H's hearing today.

These Russians are tough – we're not weather wimps but we are bundled up and we look cold. They run around with their beautiful fur jackets (I would take just about ANY of them!) but often with just tights on their legs or maybe not even zipped up – and their faces aren't all red like ours gets! That probably gives us away as foreigners if nothing else does!

So we'll say "da zvedena" (goodbye) for now!