June 1

Today, I stayed in bed 'til almost 10 a.m.! tsk tsk! It was lovely since it had rained in the night & cooled things off to a more normal Russian summer temp. Today it's almost frigid inside, but a welcome relief to 90's outside. I shower with real hot water today only to come out to a boxing match between Patrick & Madeleine. Ethan & Megan act as the judges of their match & in the end the champion is unanimously agreed upon as Madeleine. You've got to see this to believe it. They box with pillows tied with rope to their hands. It was pretty heated.

I get to veg & read my Blue Like Jazz most of the a.m.--nice, Seth! He makes me laugh with his real language--Donald Miller, that is. The kiddos make breakfast french toast--again, complete with an intro by their creative genius called the Breakfast Band. Then they play Wii--new rules established by the parental figures of how much time can be daily spent playing this amazing toy. Then I finally figure out some of this blogging mystery so we can add pictures of our happenings. We have many more pics, but just chose a few great shots to share daily with you.

Around 3:30-ish, lunch is served--a Russian style ravioli (basically a nice sausage meatball wrapped in the pasta shell--Pelmeny (pel-main-y). Then Christy, who I think is the ultimate in tour guides, gives me plan A, B, or C to choose from & I choose plan B: taking a marshrutka (a rented van thing) into a nearby historical town (Noginsk--Naw-geensk) to walk & look at sights & buy ice-cream at the cool McDonald's there. We got off & took a few pictures of the plaza area while Christy & Madeleine & Megan went to a small pet shop to look--mostly guinea pigs, mice, & rats. Then on farther into the plaza where they were painting the fountain pools so we'll have to come back in a week or so to see the water in action. Instead of fountain gazing we help a rousing game of tag--even a small little girl joined in our fun, but she wasn't ready to quit when we were. We did hit McD's before leaving & Madeleine had her first cherry pie there--she lives a very sheltered, protected life with me as a mother. She loved it while the rest of us ate sundaes & Mcflurry's. It's pretty cold today so we have jeans & jackets & are still shivering a bit being outside, but it's good sleeping weather when that time comes along.

We're back home, but we took the bus to & the marshrutka home with a "hit" man to sit next to. I'll call him a hit man just because he kept hitting on me & shooed Christy off when she tried to explain things. So much for not knowing the language & acting "dumb!" It's 7:30-ish p.m. & we're just hangin' & will probably do everyone for themselves for supper. We need to plan our day tomorrow since we need to go into Moscow to pick up the new Quest; we also need to pick up our ballet tickets & Mad's & my visa registrations. We will try to do a couple of fun, touristy things, too, since we'll already be in the city.

Our day ended with late supper at 9-ish (it's actually on time, just late for our traditional American day of meals). But before we fended for ourselves I caught Christy gawking out her bedroom window. She explained that the kid she was watching had just got beaten up 2 times & was staggering to stand. He was probably drunk cuz she had been watching him quietly for quite some time & he never could quite hold himself up even before his beatings. The rest of the evening had the kids running back & forth from the windows to watch the real-live drama unfold. Patrick informed me this was the fun they often witness in their city. Christy told me that the scary thing is that if she reported an event like this to the police, they would be pulled into a large mess of bureacracy that would be easier just to avoid. The kid was around 14-ish & his "friends" who beat him up came back later to spend time with him & finish out the night with him. He still wasn't standing great the last time I checked in on him--it's going to be a long night for him in the city. Many things that we hold so dear & as security in America are unfortunately corrupt in much of Russia--not just in Elektrostal where my brother's family lives. I feel safe while I'm here, but I rely totally upon my brother to let me know if there's something I should/shouldn't be doing & I dont' venture out all on my own to explore. Sad that the world is the way it is, but . . .

Off to bed at 11:28 p.m.--it's only been dark for less than an hour.