Kemerovo- day 10

Today began as the last few days have begun. Chad slept in and I got up to head to breakfast. I didn’t feel much like eating so I talked to the other family for a little while and then brought back my leftovers for Chad. Last night I slept all night (for the first time since we left home) but was still tired after breakfast so I took a nap until we both woke at noon. I think it may be better to try and stay on Moscow time anyway since we will be returning there anyway.
We got up and showered and decided to head down to Lenin square. It was warmer and sunny which was a definite nice change. Lenin square was about a fifteen minute walk. There are several military and government looking buildings around the square with a statue of Lenin in the center of a large concrete area. There was a modern playground and basketball hoops adjacent to the square. This was the first playground I have seen with modern equipment since arriving in Kemerovo. The equipment had concrete at the bottom, so all I could imagine was Ruslan and Pasha getting hurt. I am not typically one of those overprotective moms but would really like to get the boys out of the country without a trip to the hospital! We have already noticed they are pretty fearless with things.
We sat on a park bench for a while and shortly after sitting a security guard came over and spoke to us in Russian. Since he wasn’t a policeman I wasn’t nervous about it but I just told him in Russian, “I Don’t understand” (this is a nice phrase to memorize as it at least shows you are trying). He then motioned for us to move on and motioned towards the police barricading off the square. So, we got up and wandered down the street farther in search of the open air market the other family had told me about at breakfast. After walking around a bit more we noticed the sky was getting really dark and it was getting colder so we headed home quickly to avoid getting rained on again. I really think it may be in order for us to buy an umbrella.
After resting for a bit we headed back out for a lunch/dinner at one of the restaurants we enjoyed earlier in the week. This time the waitress (she was different than the one earlier in the week) brought us ice with our pop. I thanked her profusely as this does not normally happen, and they often serve pop warm (YUCK!). Thus, we left her a tip which we haven’t done regularly as we have been told this is not an expected practice here. I hope we get her again. After our meal (which by the way you can never get in and out of a restaurant as they don’t hurry around like Americans do) we headed down to yet another small mall we had found. Chad needed a belt as his jeans kept falling down and he didn’t bring any sunglasses either. He found both in a small little boutique shop. We then decided to head “home” again and agreed to return to the little mall as I had found some nice gifts for the girls there. I also found a Hello Kitty belt that I really liked but didn’t think it would be a very practical purchase for myself.
We have slipped into a familiar daily schedule that has become comfortable. We are also getting used to the bed as well. At night there is an American movie that plays on one of the channels. You can’t always catch all of the dialogue as it is dubbed over with Russian. Many of the movies are from the 80s and early 90s. Last night we watched Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man. Mickey Rourke was still pretty handsome and young. We wondered how Don Johnson rode around on his motorcycle without his cowboy hat falling off; we then decided it must have been stapled to his head.
We will head back to see the boys on Tuesday which is four days away. Someone sent me an email asking why we had to stay so long after court and why we were staying so far away from the boys. The answer to why for the lengthy stay is that the Russian government has had a 10 day waiting period in place after an adoption is finalized before the parents may pick up the child/children. It had not been regularly enforced until about two years ago in this region. We have the American adoptive parents whom did not complete their postadoption reports and such for that (I think). The reason why we are staying in Kemerovo during this period is that Americans are only allowed to stay in certain hotels. The city we stayed in last time is closer to the orphanage (about an hour drive) but it is a smaller town and there is not much to do within walking distance. Kemerovo has many more restaurants and the hotel room is much nicer. Thus, we stay in Kemerovo (which is also the capital of the region of Kemerovo) as this is where the court proceedings occur and there is much more to do during the ten day wait. We ended up having a longer than ten day wait as May 9 is Victory Day here so it extends our wait. The tenth day is actually May 13, so I am not sure why we have to wait until the 16th to pick up the kids but think it may be best as I am not sure we would be very equipped to care for them in the room we are in now for four days before heading back to Moscow.
Tomorrow begins our first weekend here so I will post again tomorrow. We really enjoy reading your comments. Please know we are thinking of our family and friends often; we are definitely thankful to be here but ready to come home.