"Black Nights""

When we were landing in Moscow last Friday night, Nadia looked out the window and said excitedly, "When we came in the summer it was 'White Nights' and now it's 'Black Nights'!" I thought that was a clever observation. For a week in June, St. Petersburg celebrates 'White Nights', when the sun barely sets.

It's been warmer here than in Minnesota, which means we haven't needed our long johns yet, and it's been pretty pleasant walking around. Nadia's mom is really going to miss the cafes, especially because all of the walking makes higher caloric intake quite possible. :)

Nadia says: "I miss everybody! Meera, Travis, Eleanor, Ole, Karsten, Caroline, Sophia, Lydia, Clara, Corrina, Rylee, Alex, Leif, Eli, Carter, Berit, Lars, and ALL of the Chickadees and ALL of my friends!! Russia is not like home at all. We don't have a car here and most people don't have cars. We take the metro everywhere (the subway). We walk everywhere. The coats are different here. We live in a hostel here. We have a room like an apartment and share the kitchen. It's fun because there's always people around!"

Today we really slept in: I woke up at 10:30 when our friend Yeran arrived unexpectedly. My cell phone battery ran out yesterday, and I couldn't receive calls while the phone was charging. She was so worried that she couldn't reach us all evening that she traveled half way across the city to make sure we were okay. That's what a Russian friend is like!

After a slow start to the day, we went to a cafe for an infusion of caffeine and bliny, then to the Leningrad train station where we bought tickets to Novgorod for 21 people. That adventure took a fair amount of energy, so afterward Nadia picked out a new coloring book (one with the Russian alphabet to trace) and we grabbed a hot dog at a "buffet" in the metro. In the old days, there was no snack bar right in the metro! We stopped at a small grocery, the kind with all products behind counters where one has to order everything from sight and pay at different counters.

This evening the students went out to a play and we opted to stay in. After dinner we played the math game that Nadia's teacher sent. The last game involved so many made up rules that mommy had to depend on Nadia to tell her where to put her piece. :) Nadia moved the furniture around in our room and played that the beds were an island, then she made a project out of a book Gaga gave her, and now she is doing a word finding puzzle.

Some of our new friends here at the hostel said good-bye to us tonight, and had many nice things to say about our girl. I could see that having a little person around brings many smiles to many people.