Passport Picture Already!

As usual, we left at 10 am for our visit with Jill. What was unusual was that when we got there, we took her off orphanage property, in the van, to a photo studio to have her passport picture taken!!! That was good news for us. I don’t think that Jennifer, Mandy or Catherine got their children’s passport pictures taken until after the 10 day wait, but I may be wrong about that. Anyway, we say, the sooner the better! Now, as soon as we have the other documents we can fill out everything we need for the passport and hope that it comes quickly! She did surprisingly well in the van. She clung very tightly to me as we walked out of the gated grounds and looked back at the orphanage, but as soon as one of her caretakers joined us, she loosened up a bit. In the van she sat on my lap and looked out the window. She didn’t seem scared, and was very calm despite the extremely bumpy ride. At the photo studio they sat her on a chair and the lady took many, many shots trying to get one where she was smiling with her mouth closed. Because of her congestion, she doesn’t close her mouth much. She does enjoy the camera though, so she was smiling in every picture, but with her mouth open. Finally she got one with a closed smile and was satisfied. I was surprised she went to so much trouble; I didn’t think you had to be smiling in a passport picture-I know Wade isn’t smiling in his! Oh, I forgot to mention the bow! I guess when the caretakers found out she was getting a picture taken, they put a big bow on her head! Wade wanted to take it off for the picture, but I think that it’s a pretty standard thing for dressing up kids here. I’m sure they put it on her just for this occasion, and with one of the caretakers there I thought that it may offend her to take it off. It really turned out to be a great picture-too small ruffled dress, big white bow and all! While waiting about 20 minutes for the pictures to be ready, we walked up and down the walkway in front of the building. She just took it all in. Planes flew overhead, she saw several kids ride by on bikes, and a girl walking a dog. She climbed in the van for awhile, so we got in too and read her her favorite book. Voloya, the driver, would peek in at her and smile, she’d laugh, then he’d move away so she couldn’t see him, then he would pop back where she could see him and smile again, and, she’d laugh again. They did this over and over. She really liked him. It was very cute to watch. We got the pictures, then went back to the orphanage and walked around and around the grounds. We were going to take a picture with her group leaders, but only one was out with about half of the kids. The other was in ‘washing children’ she said. So, hopefully we can do this another day. We found out that there are three shifts each day with two caretakers working each shift for 13 children. I think that is a pretty good ratio. Then she had to leave early because it was her turn to be ‘washed’. She really didn’t want to go. I don’t know if she doesn’t like baths, or doesn’t like the person who came to get her this time, or what. Usually she goes very willingly because they tell her it is time to eat. She didn’t throw a tantrum or anything, but needed some coaxing to go.
After the visit we walked to the Horseshoe Restaurant over by the Azimut. They don’t have an English menu, but I remembered what my dad and I ordered the two times we went. Unfortunately they didn’t have the Borscht today. Maybe they don’t carry it in the summer. But, they did have the beef goulash which is like beef stroganoff with a thinner sauce than I make when I cook beef stroganoff. It is served with mashed potatoes (homemade) too! It was excellent! Just as it was the first trip. For dessert we ordered the blinis with icecream and honey on them. They were excellent as well! Just as they were the first trip! Later we went to the open market and got more cherries. I guess the strawberry season is over because the strawberry lady was not there, and no one else seemed to have strawberries. I sure am glad we got them when we did! One interesting thing we saw was a guy with two crates full of live crayfish crawling around. They were packed full and he had to keep knocking the ones that were climbing out back in! We also bought Jill a hat. All the kids here wear stocking caps in the spring, fall, winter and ‘ball caps’ in the summer. Hers is white with bright aqua, pink, blue, and green flowers on it. It ties in a small bow in the back. I really love it and think it will go with all of the outfits we brought for her!
The kids in my last class know that I had a list of books to read this summer. I brought a few of them with me and have read two (my husband even read one-Hatchet). At school, whenever we read a book, we write a book review to share with the class. So…I have written book reviews on these two books to share with any kids out there that are interested! If you happen to be a kid who may be in my class next year, pay attention to the type of information I put in these reviews as you will have to begin doing this in about 8 short weeks!!!

Book Review #1
The Tale of Despereaux
By Kate DiCamillo

I have wanted to read The Tale of Despereaux for about two years, so I chose to read it first. I started this book on the airplane and finished it in just over one week. I could have read it faster, but, to be honest, it did not capture my interest as much as I thought it would. It did pick up the pace quite a bit when it went from “Book the First” writing about the main character, mouse, Desperaux to “Book the Second” when she introduced Chiaroscuro the rat, and picked up even more during “Book the Third” with the character Miggery Sow. I liked the Miggery Sow “book” the best, probably because it was about a person. I have never been a big fan of the fantasy genre, so the mouse and rat tales were just “OK” for me, but I became much more interested when the girl, Mig, was introduced and much of the story took place in the castle with the princess, king, servants, etc… all characters that were people. Now, I have to say “Book the Fourth” did make the overall book very good, tying everything together in an interesting and entertaining way. I hate when I read a book and the ending is for one reason or another not satisfying, and this book does, without a doubt, have a satisfying ending. Therefore, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. A slow start for me, but it picked up nicely and ended well.

Book Review #2
Shakespeare’s Secret
By Elise Broach

A girl soon to be in eighth grade recommended Shakespeare’s Secret to me during the book fair in January, and then a few girls in my class read it and recommended it as well, so I put it on my list of “books to read while in Russia”. I am so glad that I did!!! This is probably the best book I’ve read since reading Under the Same Sky by Cynthia DeFelice. I would put it in the realistic fiction category which is by far my favorite genre of book, but it is also a little bit of a mystery. I am not a huge mystery fan, but as I said, it is just a little bit of a mystery; in my opinion, “just enough”. The main character’s family moves to a new town, something her family does often. It never goes well for her making friends and this time is no different. But she befriends the elderly neighbor and a popular eighth grade boy. The neighbor and boy tell her that there is a secret about the house her family has moved into, and together they solve the mystery finding something the previous owner had hidden in the house. A second mystery is solved involving the families of the neighbor and the boy. I figured this “secret” out on page 148. Sometimes I figure things out too early in a book and it ruins the rest for me, but there was enough more to happen in this 243 page book that it kept me flipping page after page after page. I enjoyed it so much I stayed up half the night reading last Saturday. I finished this book in two days! I rate it 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to everyone; boys and girls alike!

More Book Reviews Coming Soon….
Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac (A novel about the Navajo Marines of World War II)
Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech (twin orphans, taken in by an eccentric older couple who take them on mysterious, magical adventures)
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (boy and pilot flying through Canada; pilot has heart attack, boy takes over plane, crashes, boy survives alone in the Canadian wilderness with only a hatchet)

Book I wanted to bring, but couldn’t find in my classroom: Nowhere to Call Home by Cynthia DeFelice (If you have it, please return it!!!)