To Market To Market--Bonding day 6

Today we ventured to the market to get some shoes for the girls. The market is probably very similar to others in other countries. At this one they sell everything from clothing and shoes, to makeup, toys, material, fake and real fur, car and bike parts, school supplies and etc. There is an inside portion and an outside portion. The prices inside are quite a bit higher. Some of the merchandise is a little better quality, but Nadia says that it is because they pay more to be inside. Each booth is only about the size of a small walk in closet and crammed with goods. Some serious knockoffs going too. We got a pair of shoes for Yulia that were a knockoff of PUMA and instead they said RUMA. They were about $6 and pink! For a while, little Olia was a little stressed because we kept walking around and not buying shoes. She didn’t understand that we had to find the right size, which was really hard, and something cute that was also sturdy so they could play in the gym without slipping. They had a ton of really cute women’s and girls dressy shoes and boots I will say. Just cross your fingers that one of those cute pairs of black boots will find its way back into my luggage and goes home with me.

Yulia's "ruma's"

As was typical, the price doubled when they realized we were American. It was really cool that we had Nadia with us. She would get mad at them and remind them that they had already told her that the price was half. Then they would get aggravated and relent. It is just hilarious that it is all so predictable (in many countries.) Nadia also reminded us to keep a sharp eye out for our money so nobody would pick-pocket it. We all have on pants that have velcro and zipper pockets, so we are good. Then on our way out some Kazakh looking middle age man came up to Guy and started smiling and talking Russian really fast. When Nadia caught up she said that the man had never seen an American before. So this man shook Guy’s hand and was just so excited. Guy just stood there looking terribly non trusting and wondering if he was after something. Apparently not, because he walked off smiling just glad to meet an American.

Typical market

On the way back from the market, the kids got ice cream. We have to walk everywhere so the mile walk to the market by the time we came back was getting hot and long. And poor Yulia had missed her snack so she was starving. The hardest thing for me right now is really not knowing what they are feeling without an interpreter and also that they, especially Yulia, won’t say if they need something because they don’t want to complain or whine. But you could definitely tell by the look on Yulia’s face that she was not doing well. Poor thing. She got a hot dog snack as we left the market and of course the ice cream helped, too. We also discovered that Olia is a messy eater like Denver. And likes food just as much.

Deb

Olia digging in to the ice cream