Kemerovo- day 17

Today was the most beautiful day we have had yet as it was probably in the mid 70s with sunshine. At times gusts of wind kicked up lots of dust but we enjoyed spending time out walking around. We went to a new restaurant and the waitress was very helpful in that she brought out a translation dictionary. Chad’s pork chop and potatoes were better than my grilled chicken with mixed vegetables. He has been cleaning up my leftovers as usual. After lunch we walked over to the park along the river which is really close to our hotel. There were many families with children out on the rides. The park has a couple of small roller coasters, a tilt o whirl, bumper boats, carousel, and similar kinds of things. I imagine at night it is all lit up. There are certainly quite a few people we see strolling there and back in front of our hotel. Our coordinator was supposed to come to our hotel today at noon to have us sign some papers for the birth certificates. We waited around for a couple of hours but she never showed. The other couple traveling with us called her and she said she missed the notary but was going to try and come later today around 3. We waited outside on the park bench and talked with the other family for a couple of hours but the coordinator was a no show. Chad and Robert had some beer while we talked about old movies. The other couple is just a few years older than us (I am guessing between three and five years older) so we share many things in common generationally. The guys still think it is weird to be able to drink beer out in the open in public. Everywhere you looked in the little park in front of our hotel people are sitting quietly on benches drinking beer or wine. It is also common to see young women pushing their babies in strollers while taking a swig from their beer. I think in the US they would be reported to the DCFS! The interesting thing is that people are very low-key and don’t get out of hand or appear to be drunk. Maybe they just hold their liquor really well. I hope to be able to report more tomorrow about the plans for picking up the boys next week!