The day after we picked C up from the orphanage in Russia, we all had ice cream to celebrate. There are ice cream stands everywhere in Krasnoyarsk during the warmer months (their version of summer- although it certainly wasn't very "summer-like" to us!). Now, it is important to explain here that just about all food in Russia is served at room temperature. Even dishes that are expected to be piping hot here in the U.S. are served in Russia luke-warm at best. The hot dishes would actually take an eternity to be served while we were dining in restaurants there because the staff allowed quite a bit of time for the dish to cool off before bringing it to our table. On the cold end of the spectrum, there is no ice in Russia (guess they don't really need it, if you think about it). So, for example, if you get a soda at a restaurant, the soda is lukewarm with no ice. Certainly a big difference from what we here in America are accustomed to... none of the Russians seemed to be bothered by it, though.
Anyway, the day after we picked C up from the orphanage, we got an ice cream cones and Caleb insisted on trying some. We was fairly certain he had never had ice cream before, so we were prepared for the absolutely awful face he made after he tasted it! He scrunched up his entire little face in absolute displeasure and his entire body shook with what was obviously the heebie-jeebies. It was quite funny!
Since returning home from Russia, watching C's reaction to very cold and very hot foods has continued to be entertaining. He STILL struggles with this aspect of our American culture. The cute thing is, he tries so very hard to be like our other kids. Take ice cream, for example...
we all love it, and C tries his best to tolerate it. There is an ice cream place near our house and we go there as soon as there is even a hint of warmth in the air. With that said, we have already been there several times this year. The other night, we announced it was time to go get ice cream. Just like the other three, C jumped up and down and squealed with delight. We usually eat our ice cream at the picnic tables at the ice cream stand, but on this particular night, we brought it home and ate it at the bar in our kitchen. After about 2 minutes of ice cream eating, C blurted out, "Mom, warm this up". Perplexed, I said, "What, honey? Warm what up?" C proceeded to point to his ice cream and then tell me to put it in the microwave. We tried to explain to him that ice cream cannot be warmed up because that would ruin the very nature of the ice cream. There was no convincing him, though.
Hmmm... guess I learned a lesson... never let C eat his ice cream within eye-shot of a microwave. On the other hand, if C prefers creamy puddles of sugar over ice cream, why not?
2 comments:
Hi,
I linked here from another site about adoption. Your story is so neat to read. My wife and I have talked about a Russian adoption, but we are getting older (both 50 this year) and may have passed the time. But, we, with our teen daughter, are wanting to go to Russia to work with orphans there. I'm also trying to learn Russian, but it is hard to do alone and with a book. Anyway, thanks for sharing the story of your care for the orphans. God bless.
Wow, that's awesome! I also have a huge interest in doing orphan missions work in Russia! Russian is SO hard to learn through a book at home! I tried it and only found slight success. Sure was a lot easier to learn during the monthe we lived there!
May God richly bless and use you!
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