Days of Elijah Day 4



Sunday, December 5, 2010

Since we’ve had very limited internet access, I wasn’t able to verify the church service times. Well, relying on my memory is not necessarily the best thing…We got there at 9am. Thankfully, someone was there (that spoke English!) and she told us the deaf service was at 10am and the “regular” service was at 3pm. Our bus goes right past the church on the way to the orphanage, so we caught the next one and went to visit Elijah instead. We were actually early, so we took time to explore the markets right by the orphanage. We were very surprised how extensive they were! Pat even found the Fleet Farm section (automotive parts). Of course, he didn’t need to buy anything, but enjoyed it nonetheless.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned the weather here yet, have I? Remember the day we left the capital city the high was 10 deg F or something? Well, today, I wore a long sleeved knit top and a sweater. That’s it! No coat! (I did regret that on the way home though as cool front with misty rain moved in.) But it’s been pretty nice so far. Reminds me of mid-late Sept in WI.



Our morning visit with Elijah was outside and we had fun as usual outside. We encouraged him to climb up the little ladder thing to the slide today instead of just picking him up and setting him at the top of the slide. Good therapy for his legs and better for our backs!

Signing MAMA for the camera!  He learned this in just a couple visits, as I don't think we even taught him the first day.



Elijah can walk ok on his own, but this sidewalk is pretty uneven.  My biggest fear is that he is going to do a face-plant on the ground right in front of the nannies and we'll be in big trouble, not to mention I don't want him to get  hurt of course!



On the way home, we stopped at a different market area and got a new bag for myself. While I love the backpack and will use it on the flight home, it is very obviously American. When Pat leaves, I want to blend in as much as possible, so I got something black with a design on the front. But actually, if I wanted to REALLY blend in, I would need black boots or shoes with 4” high spiky heels and a very tight, very short black mini-skirt. Since neither one of those things are happening, I’ll start with the bag. LOL

Lunch at this place…



A very reasonably priced pizza place w/ Wi-Fi no less.



We were able to worship at a wonderful little Baptist church here in this city. We really enjoyed the service, and the message really hit home for me. The hymnals were in Russian and English, so that was fun too. I recognized the tune of the hymn the choir sang, but I couldn’t get out the name or the lyrics. It was bugging me big time! After church, we chatted with one of the 4 American missionary families based in this church. Anyway, they clued me in after church to what the name of the song was. :-) I had a nice chat with one of the missionaries after church. We exchanged cell phone numbers and they said to be sure to call if we needed anything. That is very reassuring. Maybe we'll be able to get together sometime this week.



Sarah, can you figure out what this says? I have no idea how to pronounce it, but I figured out what it means. The picture will help you. :-)



This was across the front of the church. Literally translated it means the "Birth of Christ" (I think), but it is the equivalent of "Merry Christmas". Again, no idea how to translate it!