>From baikaltour@gin.global-one.ru Mon Sep 29 08:03:08 1997 Subject: Winter setting in Hello All! This message is unfortunately going to be a short one. Benjamin is giving the indisputable signs of being tired and hungry and it hasn't been such an eventful day either. This morning we woke to gray skies and COLD temperatures. It had rained throughout the night and we weren't sure if our excursion to the Art Gallery and Central Market were to pan out as we planned to walk. But, alas, Valentina didn't give it a thought and arrived promptly at 10:00 to guide us around. Our first stop was the Art Gallery where we learned that the beginnings of the collection were from someone's private ownership. He began the gallery, and the first painting we saw was of him. Throughout the gallery we saw paintings that frequently were shipped from Moscow to Irkutsk and back again due to governmental changes. Often in an effort to hide the paintings they were used as tabletops! As we walked through each room, it reminded us of going through the modern art museum in Pittsburgh with Zack. At that time, upon viewing a painting of a man with a wedge of cheese sitting on his shoulders, Zack exclaims, "Look, Cheesehead!". :) We didn't see any Cheeseheads today. After we left the art gallery, we walked over to the Central Market, a very busy place explained Valentina regardless of the weather. We saw many beggars, including children from the Middle East who suddenly disappeared when they thought they saw the authorities coming. Inside the market we bought cheese, bread, bananas, oranges, and baby cereal. Fortunately, Valentina assisted us in these purchases because there were varieties of everything to choose from. One of the coolest things happened while we were waiting for our traveling partners to meet us after they'd completed their shopping: WE SAW SOMEBODY WE KNEW! Now, let me tell you the utter shock of being in a place where you assume you know no one, and lo and behold you can call out hello to someone! Before, you get too excited though, I should explain that it wasn't anyone from home. It was Olga, the lady from the Adoption Center. She speaks no English, but did smile, point to the three of us, and ask with a question on her face if things were good while she gave the "thumbs up" sign. The funny thing was that when I told Valentina that we'd seen Olga, she asked "which one?". Like, I know more than one Olga. So, after we'd completed our trip, we headed home on foot. By this time it's quite cold and we're pretty far away from the hotel. We hurried as quickly as we could and got back just in time to keep Benjamin from blowing his top due to hunger. Tomorrow we have that special trip back to the orphanage to videotape the children in their music class. That should be fun! Take care, everyone. We miss you all, and look forward to your messages everyday! Much love, Julie and Kevin