Waiting: Days Four and Five

Saturday was a Waiting Day Four for us and we would not be able to see dude. Our day centered around a trip to the mall and grocery store. If you were following us on Twitter you saw a few funny pictures from the toy store in the mall. In the model car section there were all sorts of Russian military vehicles. I also noticed the "Lego" set that featured the Kremlin. The mall itself was quite large and had at least three dozen shoe stores. I would estimate there are a few thousand pairs of shoes and boots at this mall. Some storefronts sold coats and all sorts of clothing. The food court was small and not exciting. The mall connects to a grocery store and we stocked up on essentials. We always fill up two hand carts with groceries and get weird looks and whispers from the locals. Russians just don't buy as much as we do. They must either go to the store more often or eat less. When you go to the grocery store they will always ask you first if you want to buy a grocery bag. Unless you brought your own the answer is always a nod or a Da.

Sunday we awoke to a dripping in the kitchen. I could not find it so I went ahead with my reading of Psalm 119. When N woke up to use the bathroom she noticed a leak. From the ceiling. Our apartment was leaking from the ceiling in the bathroom and the kitchen. After a quick look for buckets we called our facilitator for help. She was on her way back from the airport after picking up another adopting mom on trip one and would arrive within the hour. S, our driver, arrived first and went to the floor above to check things out. Apparently a pipe had leaked above and was dripping down on us. Y and S said it was fortunate for them that the apartment was being used otherwise they would not have known of the leak. They stopped the leak and we were on our way. At one point during the ordeal we had packed our bags ready to move out. Later in the day they had to come back because we were having flushing problems with the toilet. All resolved, we're still happy we're here.