Hair cuts and a Surprise 2nd Visit

Oh, today was a COLD day. The high temperature was suppose to be about minus 13 C, but it never got above -16 C. Like at home though, it was a bright and beautiful day, the sky was a milky blue and there were no real clouds to see.

 

We arrived to MLM's room to see he'd had his hair cut, and quite a cut it is (not that he had really long hair to begin with). Because the play room is so warm, the children are dressed in light t-shirts and shorts, so I have to dress him up before we go to the music room to play. I need to buy him a pair of shoes, at the moment I borrow any shoes that are available.

 

In the playroom I gave MLM a new toy to play with, it's a Leap Frog cell phone that teaches numbers. He Loved it! As far as he was concerned there was no need for another toy for the full 90 minutes. He loved pushing the buttons and he knew how to hold the cell phone to his ear. He would also wave his hand to the music. The toy has a music button and it plays about 4 or 5 little songs. "If you are happy and you know it" is one of the songs and they must teach it at the baby house as he clapped once to the music (there are no lyrics to 2 of the songs, just the music) The toy was certainly a big hit. I'm not sure what made him cry more this time, saying goodbye to me or to the toy.

 

I had hoped to go to the notary today to sign all the papers, but we are waiting for a letter to come from Astana, so maybe tomorrow or Saturday.

 

In the evening I unexpectedly got another trip to the baby house. My coordinator was concerned about the ability of my translator, so this evening I went back to visit with MLM with a new translator. She's never done any professional translating, she just graduated from university in the spring.

 

I learned more about MLM's words/sounds in that 30 minutes than in the past 2 weeks with my other translator. She told me that a sound I'd heard was actually the word 'take' as in take this, and that in Russian they don't say peek-a-boo they say cuckoo. He reacted more favourably to this translator too, though he still acts shy and loves to stick out his tongue.

 

On the drive back, my translator was telling a story about what happened while we were in the baby house (and my translator told me the story - WOW) It seems the doctors have not been able to get their computers working, so my coordinator went in to get them together and working. They have a saying in Russian, that when something doesn't work just give it a push. So as my translator was working on the computer, the doctor said, 'Oh, just give it a push". It was wonderful to know the conversation. I was able to tell them the story about my father and his 5lb hammer he called 'Gentle Persuasion", any time he had trouble with a chore around the house he'd say 'It just needs a little gentle persuasion." They thought that was a funny story. It was also so nice to be able to talk with someone, I hadn't realize how little speaking I've been doing since I've been here. For my friends and family you KNOW that is a huge shock LOL

 

As a result  of tonight, I will have my original translator tomorrow and then on Saturday this new lady will begin. I look forward to it.

 

Well that's all for now, have a wonderful evening everyone,

Ciao