Friday, May 10, 2013

Some cultural observations

When it was raining our first day here and I told Alex to wear her rain pants when we went to the hospital, she wanted to take off her skirt and just put in on when we got there. I had to tell her in America kids don't wear just their panties in public places even if it's just while taking the rainpants off and putting the skirt on.

People are way friendly in America. Every place we go there's someone who wants to talk to Alex. I am amazed and relieved that when I talked with her about it, she said it's OK. This is a kid who is fastidious about her personal space, so I've been worried about future tours in most of the rest of the world where people are more intrusive than in Russia. The part I don't like is they all tell her she's pretty, which she is, but I don't want her to learn to define herself that way.

The garderobe phenomenon in Russia has become so ingrained I was actually indignant when the hospital didn't have anywhere for us to leave our wet raincoats and the stroller. Same with the Franklin Institute (well, just the stroller. It was a hot sunny day)

We've been worried about her losing her Russian language skills. While we've been here she's read half a book and talks and sings in Russian every day. It certainly may still happen, but I think we'll be OK until we get her to Russian afterschool care or a babushka babysitter.

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