Day 37, Valentine's Day in Kostanai Last night we went to dinner in the hotel restaurant with our friends Laura and Brett Watrous, who helped us to find the Medeo Hotel and served as guardians of our things while we were in Almaty. Upon arriving at the restaurant, we saw that it was going to be a big celebration! This was the first time that we had seen the place packed with people, and there were dancers, singers and other entertainers scurrying between the main room and back stage. We ordered dinner and settled in to watch all the evening's entertainment. First, a lady with a very lovely voice entertained us by singing current Russian hits with soundtrax type of accompaniment. Following her was a very handsome young blonde man, who looked like he could have been Luda's brother, who played several selections on the flute, again to the same type of accompaniment. There were young dancers who added gracefulness and lithe beauty to the evening. The lady who was the MC at the Russian New Year's celebration again was in charge of the events. A very dynamic woman, since we first met her, her hair has been blonde, red and now an interesting shade of purple. We ran into her one time downtown, and she was very friendly and gracious--even though we can't understand each other! The MC lady was entertaining the crowd throughout the evening, and periodically they would erupt in laughter. We would just smile, and look a bit silly, I am certain. After a bit, she took Valentines around to every table and asked us to  write what we would wish for our family and friends. We put our heads together with Laura and Brett, and put "love, health, happiness and good fortune". She collected the Valentines from all the tables, and then brought out several large, heart shaped cookies. To our surprise, she came to our table and took Luda by the hand and down to the stage area, calling over one of the young servers who speaks a little English to have him translate. We had no idea what she was about to say... I went down to the stage area to get some photos of whatever was about to unfold, and she called me down to the floor to join the three of them. She then got the crowd's attention and began to speak into the microphone, directing her speech to us, but allowing the young man to speak.  Her comments were something like this: "This beautiful young lady named Luda is a member of an American family that has been living at the Medeo Hotel for the last few weeks. They have sharing meals with us, living with us and have become a regular part of our lives. The staff of the hotel and I want them to know that we have have grown to love them very much. Please take this cookie back to your table and share with your other American friends. May all your wishes for Valentine's Day come true." The young man, all the staff and the MC lady were just beaming at us with the brightest smiles I may have ever seen. They gave us big hugs. Speechless for a moment, I barely recovered enough to say into the microphone "We love and appreciate everyone at the Medeo too!" We are extremely appreciative of those who work at the Medeo and who clean our rooms, fix us dinner and then chose to give back to us in such a kind way. This is a country of amazing extremes...such wonderful hospitality and goodness by many to thankfully balance out the harshness of a few.

Day 38, Friday We have returned to our familiar routine of living at the Medeo, breakfast in the morning, home schooling, boarding school visitation, reading for an hour afterwards...then it is time to update the website while listening to a little music on the ipod, followed by dinner. The weather is a little milder today, so we are headed out to one of the local restaurants in just a bit. Our visit at the boarding school began in the group room, in conversation with Mama Tanya regarding what type of gift would be good for the girls. While they have a television, they don't have a video or dvd player of any sort. We think that this will be our gift, along with some clothes, puzzles and games that involve stimulate the intellect. We will also prepare eleven gift bags of personal accessories for the girls to enjoy, such as shampoo, lotion, hair ribbons etc. We moved to the classroom so that we wouldn't disturb the girls as they took their afternoon nap. In typical female fashion, our coordinator Dinara and I had to spend a little time psycho-analyzing the judge while Luda, Lily and Kevin played cards. We explored many theories--perhaps she is unhappy, or a control-freak, or just mean-spirited, or most likely, doesn't consider how she affects people...the law and rules are her life and she is incapable of understanding the emotions involved with adopting a child, or the pressures of living in a hotel so far from home, for so long. Dinara said that in this culture it is a "secret" activity, that all adoptions are done in seclusion. Interestingly,  Dinara and I saw the scenario in very much the same light...so despite our very different life experience and culture, we see the world in a similar manner. We decided to just feel sorry for the woman and leave it at that.  :)  Made us feel better anyway... After our discussion, Dinara left to speak with the social worker and I joined the gang for one last card game and jumped in for more coloring and puzzle solving.  It was a fun day. While we miss our "Losers" (our four mutts), family and friends tremendously and would like to be on the first airplane home, we have reconciled ourselves to staying for ten more days. Luda has begun a "countdown' and we are going to try a few new restaurants and activities. Thanks for the emails and postings of support. We appreciate each and every one of them.

Day 39, Saturday Very cold here in Kostanai. Reportedly getting close to 40 below at night and the high for the day was 18 below C. We ventured out to the closest shopping mall to purchase some tennis shoes for Lily, a CD for Luda and colored pencils, drawing pads for both girls. It is the type of cold that the first few breaths seem to take your breath away, until you adjust to the temperature. Today the girls did a wonderful dance recital for us, complete with clothes change and back ground music from the ipod. It is remarkable how they can figure out dance moves and communicate with just a limited vocabulary. They have developed a bit of a hybrid language, that is interesting to follow. However, the non-verbal language of children seems to transcend the spoken word. Our new neighbors and kind couriers of documents, Chris and Jen Mullins and their six year old son Ryan, joined Laura, Brett and the Wilners for a social time in the hotel room, followed by dinner in the hotel restaurant. We spent some time comparing notes on the adoption process, the differences and the similarities from agency to agency. It was so nice to have adult conversation, and we enjoyed their company immensely. When the hour started to grow a bit late, we decided to go downstairs for dinner. To our surprise, there was some sort of celebration--a wedding, anniversary, something that involved wine, chocolate candy and lots of dancing. The kids formed their own dance circle, right next to the one the adults had created, which resembled something from "Fiddler on the Roof". A large time was had by all!

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