Museum Day

We are running out of streets to explore, stores to shop at and cafes to eat at (say it isn't so!) so we had to find something to occupy some time today. We went to the Museum of Natural History on Karl Marx St which has plants and animals from the Irkutsk region. It was okay but nothing great. There were remains from the Mammoths and some other interesting stuffed animals. They did have signs in English so we at least were able to read some information about this area. We were greeted by who I think was the Curator (spoke to us in English) and told us to ask if questions. We stayed probably only 30-45 minutes. There was another area that had "live animals, mainly fish" but we would have had to pay more to go in there and we figured we had paid enough already! I was Genya's first museum experience (I'm sure) and he wanted to touch everything so Brian mostly was on "no touch" duty!

Then we walked to the supermarket to pick up a few things and then walked to the deli by the stadium to get dinner. Along the way Genya almost picked up a broom but when we were saying "no" the guy who was using them said it was fine and spoke to Genya some. He was trying to ask us something but we were not able to figure out what it was – he was very friendly tho! Two times today we were first asked if we were "Deutsch", then we say "no, American"… I'm sure our German heritage, as well as the fact they usually have visitors from Germany rather than the USA, lead to these inquiries!

This morning we had a whole bunch of phone calls! I guess everyone is starting to figure out how to call us now that we're near the end of our stay! Keep those calls coming! We also worked some with the fuse beads – you can see the fruits of our labors in the pictures.

After we returned from our walk we watched some cartoons and played. Also talked to Tami J for awhile! Nice talking to her again! Alex stopped by with some ointment I asked him to get for Genya's nose. I think it was too dry in the apartment and he maybe had a bit of a cold but he irritated the heck out of it and it really looks sore (boina=it hurts)… All I had was my facial cream and that just wasn't working! A few doses of it already and it seems to be healing. Alex said they did stop by the passport office today but they asked them to come back tomorrow – so tomorrow we might hear something about when we can leave here. I'm not pinning any hopes on this yet.

Oh, funny thing – this morning Elena called and talked to Genya. When I got on the phone she said "I have something surprising to tell you!" (Oh no, I thought!) "Genya thinks that he already is in American and where he is is his new home!" So she told him that we have to go on a big airplane to fly to America! He also seemed surprised when she told him his brother doesn't speak Russian! And he wants a bicycle – I told JJ we probably have to trade with Jack again and get JJ a new one for his birthday and JJ thought that was all a good idea! When Alex came by I told him about Genya thinking this was America and he said "oh, I'm not surprised – we've had others who think that!"

Dinner tonight was the "mock chicken legs" from the deli, shell noodles with cheese and broccoli. We also tried a new salad which was good but not our favorite. Then Genya got his bath, his nightly snack of yogurt and yet another banana and some movie. We watch Cars in English so much – Genya loves it and we enjoy it too…it's funny because he says "ca-chow" and "ca-chink-a, ca-chink-a"!! I bought some different wines to try – tonight I'm drinking a Bulgarian wine and the other one I got I'm trying to figure out yet where it is from—might have to Google the only English words on the bottle to investigate!

I have been reading the Psalms to keep me focused on Who to trust during this waiting and I want to share this one that is helping greatly:

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills- where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip – he who watches over you will not slumber;

Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand;

The sun will not harm you by day nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm – he will watch over your life;

The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

 

I have been enjoying reading the Psalms and picking out some verses to post once we finally hear travel news – stay tuned for those!!

Last night's movie "The Star Chamber" was nothing too memorable but we did make it through the whole thing without it stopping. Guess we hit all the bad ones at the beginning! We're doing our best to weed out the problems from the apartment and either leaving notes or tossing out things that are just clutter (broken VCR tapes I mean!) There are a few movies yet we will work our way through in our final days here!