Ground Hog Day--Bonding Day 8

The swimsuit model pose.

Much like the movie Ground Hog Day, our daily routine varies little from day to day. The boys are up about 7ish and are responsible for either reading or writing in their journals before breakfast. Breakfast starts at 8am, and generally consists of yogurt, fruit, omelets, cream of wheat, breakfast sandwich, and fruit juice. Then it’s back to our room where they boys enact civil disobedience over the fact that their homework just won’t go away. Some days have been pure torture. Fortunately, the groove is getting deeper and it not as easy to climb out. The consequences are also getting more severe. Cade finished his keyboarding assignment yesterday while the family swam together. It was good lesson for the girls as we explained why he was unable to go with us.

By the time the homework ritual is over it’s time for lunch. We’ve done everything from eating the goods available at the local outdoor market (this can be risky) to eating at a nice sit down restaurant. Sitting down takes time and a lot more money. There is a version of American fast food in town called the Doner Café, short for McDoner. The nice part is the menu has pictures which makes ordering very easy. We walk everywhere we go and some days log several miles which has also caused contention with the boys at times. Cry me a river!

The girls generally show up sometime between 2:30 and 3:00. We review the alphabet and numbers and feed them a snack. This seems to be a highlight for Olia. She loves the fruit, yogurt and is always asking about the little chocolate candy, M&M’s. Yesterday we told her she would need to wait until another day. She made a cute pouty face.

Yulia and the "3 musketeers."

We swam in the hotel pool today and discovered the girls really enjoy swimming even though neither can actually swim. The swimsuits we brought fit perfectly and they loved the goggles. Yulia is confident enough to stay in the shallow end and tries really hard. With a few lessons she will be just fine. Olia, on the other hand, is scared to death of the water and will not let go of you or the pool floaty. I made her share the pool floaty with her bothers to which she responsed with a small tantrum. I guess the honeymoon is finally over and she earned a few minutes in timeout at the side of the pool. It was funny; she really wanted to jump back in but couldn’t by herself, making the same cute pouty face as she served her time. The pool is chilly and we warmed up in the sauna, discovering the showers in the pool area are much better than the shower in our room. Guess, I’ll be swimming a lot from now on. By 5:00 the girls need to be headed back to the RBS which gives us enough time to rest and get ready for dinner at 6:00.

Wet hair and cold bodies.

Dinner isn’t as yummy as breakfast but it’s still very much eatable. Lots of heavy bread, chopped beef and Russian salads. There are 2 other sets of Americans staying at the hotel. A couple from California is adopting a 6 month old baby girl from the baby house. They, along with their 5 year old son Ben, have been here a week longer than us. Two ladies, April and Laura, are involved with the Antares Foundation and arrived a couple of days ago. They spend their days going from place to place delivering gifts and supplies to all the different orphanages in North Kazakhstan. Dinner is the time we share our adventures for the day. Afterwards we head back for a quick movie or relaxing and get ready for bed. I don’t think the boys have made it past 9:00 pm yet.

We paid the bill for the hotel today. As the translator said, "You can buy a car with that money!" They have flat fee for the room and one person and offer a discount of 15% if you pay for over 20 days. Which we did. Then add a upcharge for each person, offering no breaks for the kids. Add a reservation fee, laundry service and internet connection by the minute and Voila' $463,050 Tenge. I let you do the math while I lick my wounds. That may leave a mark.

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