Beautiful Sunday

It's a little after 6 p.m. as I write this, dusk is settling, and here's what I see on the riverwalk in front of my window right now:
- one fisherman
- three men standing beside him
- one woman in a pink car coat sitting all alone on a metal bench
- one man showing his friends what has to be a new camera, given how many times he's made it flash
- a s;ow and steady parade of lovers walking by, hand in hand
- a small tug-like boat flying the Russian flag
- a small child in a blue coat, running out into the open areas, then back to his parents on their bench

I told you it was a gorgeous view, night and day :-)

I had a new experience when I went for my morning walk: I was panhandled. At least, I think that's what was going on. An older woman in a thick coat and a kerchief came up to me, tugging a small boy with a sad face. She said something to me and I replied with my all-purpose Ya nee panemayoo pa Russkie." She said something else, but I repeated my phrase and walked away. A few minutes later, having reached on end of the riverwalk, I came upon her again. This time she spoke quite stridently, alternately pointing at the boy and rubbing her thumb and forefingers together in what I'm pretty sure is a universal symbol for money. When I shook my head, she got rather pissed off at me, or so I assumed from her tone. I kept walking but I confess, I glanced back a couple of times to be sure she wasn't following me, and I walked back a different way so I wouldn't run into her again.

I mentioned it to Vala, who said that this kind of think was fairly new to Astrakhan. She assured me that any money would never have gone to the child, and intellectually, I know that. But still ...

Just one visit today, as it was Sunday. Little Sister trotted out to the entry to meet us, smiled, then made a beeline for the outside door. Oh, was she unhappy when we caught her and brough her back inside! We struggled down to the music room, where she threw herself on the sofa and launched onto a long and heartwrenching period of wailing and rocking herself. I wasn't allowed to touch her for a long time. I had to make do with crouching beside her and singing soft songs to try to soothe her. After about 10 minutes she spotted the bag of Duplos I'd brought, and she sat up and reached for them, but then something set her off again and there was more heartbreak. Eventually, though, she let me rub her back, and then she started to calm. I pulled out the small bag of cookies I'd brought along, and she dug into that. With one in each hand, she finally let me put her on my lap and cuddle her close.

After that, it was all smiles.

She dumped the Duplos, which I knew she would do. That's why I brought them, so she would have something to dump. She went for the little purse again, carefully filling it with wipes and the toy cell phone and a few blocks, then marching around the room with it swinging from her hand. But the real hit today was my little mp3 player. First she stared at the headphones, pulling them apart & then letting them spring back together. Then I turned it on at full volume so she could hear the music even without headphones. Baby's first Elvis!!! She stared at the player, and at the headphones; carefully unplugged the headphones, over and over; bounced to the music; and played with every button to be found. It was an endless source of amusement for her.

She also loves to carry the toybox around the room, setting it down by the little chairs that are lined up for music time, and filling it with the things I've brought. Today she insisted on putting it on the floor in front of the chair and setting her feet very precisely inside. At one point - and remember, this is a SHOEBOX - she scooched her feet to one end, squatted, and got her tiny butt inside, too! I know my feet are big, but they're not large enough that you would imagine a toddler could fold herself up inside one of my shoeboxes, but this girlie did.

She didn't want to leave today - there was a bit more rocking when we had to pick up - but she was easily distracted from it, and happy to know it was lunch time. Today she even remembered to wave goodbye and give me a kiss!

Of course, after such a great visit I was fighting tears all the way back to the hotel, worrying about what might happen in court Monday. But I have to believe it will all work out.

The afternoon was spent figuring out finances, emailing, talking to folks at home, and going for another walk. (No panhandlers this time.)For excitement I went to the restaurant here in the hotel for dinner. It was deserted, so there was no cigarette smoke butting up against my food. I'm glad, because it was really good tonight. I had an Edelweiss salad: cucumber, tomato, green beans, blue cheese, red peppers, and bacon, all very attractively arranged on the plate. Then I had chicken schnitzel, which I also ordered the first night, but this time, the cook remembered that schnitzel is usually fried. Okay, I didn't need the extra calories, but it tasted soooo much better tonight. It came with a grilled tomato and yellow pepper, and a really interesting sauce which I think was sour cream mized with tiny bits of dill pickle. Quite tangy and delicious. Interesting thing here: everything seems to be sold a la carte. So to get rice with my chicken, I had to order it separately. I guess this would simplify things for folks doing Atkins!

So now it's time to change into jammies, wash out my clothes, and do some writing. I won't get a visit until after court tomorrow. I'm praying it will be a joyful one and that we can start counting down the days until we bring Little Sister home.