Dear Friends,

Well, we have made it one week into our trip, and things are going
well.  We continue to have good visits with Elena, and she warms up to
us more each time we see her.  We are anxious to have her with us all
the time; only one more week to go.  We will not see her for three
days – there are no visits on Saturday and Sunday, and Monday is
Russian Woman’s Day, some kind of national holiday.

We were talking the other day about how interesting breakfast foods
are in different cultures.  The breakfast bar at our hotel is included
in the price of our room, so we sample Russian breakfast everyday.
Rather than turning our noses and saying, “ewww,” we figure it is
better just to dive right in (well, mostly) and enjoy what they
enjoy.  They do have hard boiled eggs and a coffee machine that grinds
the beans just before it sends the coffee to your mug, so we have
those things everyday.  Other items that we have seen on this
breakfast bar: sausages, porridge, beef goulash, mashed and boiled
potatoes, meatballs, slaw and mayo (they put mayo on everything, ok,
maybe that’s an “ewww”).  Jenny has even eaten green beans for
breakfast.  Russians also love to drink a soured milk-like substance
called “kefir.”  We have not gotten up the courage to try that yet,
but we both have decided that we will before we leave!  It is
supposedly very good for digestion.

Today we are going to an open air market with an American missionary
and his family who have lived in Russia for about 10 years and
Krasnoyarsk for about three years.  Jenny has lost her gloves, which
is something one really needs in sub-zero temps, and they say this
will be the best spot to find some.  We were “e-introduced” to him by
some other adoptive parents who we met here on our first trip.  They
will also take us to church with them on Sunday.  What a blessing to
get to spend some time with this family.  Another couple arrived here
last night from Florence, SC (of all places!).  They are also on their
second trip, so it will be good to spend some time with them too.  We
will spend most of our weekend working on filming the sermon which
will be put together and shown at the Cathedral services on March 14.
Tim, the missionary, is going to suggest some good locations for
filming, and hopefully, Jenny can learn effective camera techniques
really fast.  This should be a fun project for us to do together.

That’s about all from Siberia.  We will send another update soon.  We
miss everyone so much and are anxious to get home, but we are trying
to make the most of this special time with Elena before her little
world changes so profoundly.

Love,
Jenny and Peet