The UNO Card Shark

Today Boris and Almira arrived right at 11AM. Jon and I had been sitting and playing Uno until they got here. Almira immediately came in and wanted to see. Jon and her played several hands and she beat Jon a couple of times. We didn’t visit for long, maybe 45 minutes and then we left to go shopping. The first stop was the Iceberg to exchange money. Then we headed to the big outdoor/indoor market. I couldn’t get over the shopping there. Outside there are just tables or booths where the goods are laid out. Everything you could imagine. One of the first things I saw was power tools. Then another table had underwear and another bras. Then lots and lots of booths of shoes. Then you walked inside and there were these glass cubes that were like 10 x 12 feet. I could not believe everything that was packed inside these little cubicles. There was enough room in there for maybe 4 people and the sales clerk. Some were a little larger and other seemed smaller. We went in a shoe store that was about the size of a nice closet. Almira wanted to buy nice clothes for court. She wanted serious clothes. She wanted black dress pants and a plain white shirt. We found these and then we went to look for shoes. I thought she would pick some black shoes that were young and cute, but she picked the most matronly plain black shoes in the cube. She likes sensible shoes. It won't take long for Sarah to work on her about that. Then we shopped for something fun. She said she would like to have a pair of jeans with a jeans jacket. So we went in search of a pair of jeans and a jacket. We finally found a really cute pair that fit with a matching jacket. She is so thin and has long legs, so it is difficult to find jeans for her, actually her pants and her jeans were too long. I have a sewing kit with me, courtesy of Mom, and I will hem her pants later. We then found her a cute shirt to wear with her jeans.

Boris had been working on her English this morning. She was able to tell me, “I’m hungry”. So we headed in search of roasted chickens so I could make jambalaya. Almira picked a pea salad at the grocery that she liked. I made jambalaya and Jon added shredded roast chicken to it. I also had a small loaf of French bread that I cut pieces and buttered it and heated it in the oven, just like home. Almira loved everything. She had never had hot buttered bread before, at least not that I could tell. Boris even seemed to like it.

Later in the afternoon Almira tried peanut butter for the first time. She really seemed to like it and kept nibbling on it for a while. I'm glad she likes it.

Afterwards we played Uno for about 2 hours. It was so much fun and good for Almira. She knows all her colors and numbers in English. I think she knows more English than she lets on. I think she is so self conscious that she just doesn’t speak it. Sarah and Mom called this afternoon to talk to Almira and check on things. Sarah and Almira talked for just a few minutes, then Almira handed me the phone. I think she is overwhelmed and nervous about her English. Then Mom got on the phone and talked to her for a couple of minutes. She got really teased and shy. I told her what my mother was saying and Boris translated. She just smiled and blushed. I’m sure she’s never heard I love you and can’t wait for you to come home. We’re going to have so much fun this summer.

Today was just a wonderful day and I couldn’t thank Boris enough for doing this for us. We can’t wait to see Almira tomorrow afternoon at the orphanage, back to our regular visits.