After having leftover pelmeni for breakfast (the kids had cereal :-)), we went to meet our friends, the Jamisons, and their soon-to-be daughter, Liza, at a local outdoor market. This market was pretty small, but had many varieties of food for sale. I ended up purchasing some lamb sausage which was delicious. We tried many other food samples but I couldn't tell you what they were. One thing I really liked was this juice with floating berries in it. It looked like cranberry juice but they said it was some different berry and it was sweeter.
The kids all decided that they wanted to see a movie so we went to check out the movie times. We parted ways for a little while so the Jamisons and Liza could go pick up Liza's brother at his children's home and come back. We all met back at the theater at the set time and got in line for the tickets. Trying to get our kids to make a decision on which movie to see was like pulling teeth. Christina was holding out for Mr. Bean while the rest of the group wanted to see Spiderman III. The decision was made for us when we found out that Spiderman was sold out. Christina was happy that she won and everyone had to see Mr. Bean.
The Jamison's and I went to a pizza place next door while the kids were at the movie, so we got to visit and compare our adoption stories. We have many of the same issues to face since our girls are the same age. We also walked around the nearby shopping mall and looked around. The prices here at the mall are outrageous. You'll find Nike shoes here for $99.99 LVL which is about $200 US dollars. This is a society of either "the haves" or the "have nots". There is no middle class here. Needless to say we didn't buy anything at the mall that day but it was fun to look around and compare styles and prices.
After the movie was over, we met up with the kids and parted ways with the Jamisons. Olegs, Christina and I went back to our flat so we could relax for awhile. Olegs helped me work on a puzzle while Christina took a nap. Later that evening, our friend, Helen Vipass came over for a visit. We gave her a couple of bags of the donated shoes we brought. Helen is the one who runs the Hope for Children day center. She was very appreciative, so thank you all once again for your donations!
Helen was also able to translate and help me talk with Olegs about his situation so I could make sure he understands what is going on. I had to let him know that we won't be hosting him this summer. It's such a hard decision, but Robert and I really need to focus on helping Christina adjust now. I told Olegs (through Helen) that we're waiting for the court to decide whether he will be free for adoption and we don't know when we will travel for his court date. I also reminded him that other children deserve a turn to come to the U.S. and he's been twice. He understands but you can see in his face that he is very torn. He says that his family here doesn't want him to go. We just want him to know that whatever he decides is okay. It's such a hard decision for someone so young to have to make. This decision he makes now will affect the rest of his life.
We visited with Helen for a little while and decided to go out for dinner since none of us had eaten yet. I told her that the only place we've eaten out has been Lido so I was eager to try someplace new. She thought long and hard and came up with a place called "I Caramba". It was a cute little place near the embassies and a local college. Luckily, it wasn't crowded on this Saturday night. It wasn't your typical Mexican food but was delicious. I got the chicken fajitas which were good. They didn't have as many toppings as we have in America but they had plenty of sour cream and the seasonings used on the meat were perfect. We all left there with "happy bellies."
After dinner, Helen took us on a drive to the port to see if any cruise ships were there. This night there weren't any but there were many smaller tourist cruise boats coming and going. We also saw the remnants of a beautiful sunset over the river. The weather here has been beautiful. I only brought sweaters and I could actually be wearing short sleeves at times. The days are much longer now too which is hard to get used to. The sun comes up around 6:00am and doesn't go down until about 9:30pm. It's nice to be able to stay out later and not worry about it getting dark.
The highlight of this evening was our ride in the elevator to the top of the Reval hotel. Helen took us there before she dropped us off at the flat. The view from the 26th floor is spectacular and you can see all of Riga from there. The elevator is surrounded by windows all the way up so you can see for miles as you slowly rise above the city. I tried to get some pictures but there was a glare on the windows and they didn't turn out. Oh well. It was a fun evening and good to spend some time with Helen.
The kids got their second wind later in the evening so we didn't get to bed until about midnight. I just hate to make them go to bed early since these are their last couple of days together. I'm trying not to think about the day we have to say goodbye. Before they went to bed, Christina asked me to tell them a bedtime story. I am the worst at coming up with stories but I managed to come up with a story about these doggies and kitties that could sing and dance. They formed a band and traveled the world together. They seemed to enjoy my rendition of doggies and kitties singing. They laughed hysterically! I told how the animals traveled the world and had a concert tour and everything since people were so amazed that doggies and kitties could sing. Things changed when the animals got so full of themselves because they made lots of money. People began to not like them anymore because they were too snobby, so they went back to being regular doggies and kitties. They still sang but only for fun and not to be famous. It was very silly, but it satisfied Olegs and Christina. They went right to sleep.
Another thing they love is having their backs scratched. That was something I always loved as a kid. They call it "back massage." They've gotten to where they'll just come stand with their backs in front of me so I'll give them a good back scratching. They both said no one ever scratched their backs before. That was sad to hear. One thing I must say is that it's a great way to get them to calm down if they get too hyper. One good back scratching does wonders. LOL!
It was a great day with good friends!
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