Court Day

Today, I was scheduled for a court hearing at 12:30. Now, did you ever read a book or watched a horror movie or two about an unsuspecting tourist who goes into a foreign court and ends up in a dirty, miserable jail cell, infested with rats, for the next 20 years for a crime they didn't commit. Ok, it may have been a fleeting thought in my mind and I may have an active imagination….. but I digress! Anyway, back to the story….. I had court today. It was fairly quick and painless. I had my interpreter with me who translated the proceedings to me. I was asked a few questions by the judge and prosecutor, I had to make a speech and then everyone got up and started walking out. I asked where everyone was going…. To Lunch. Are you kidding me?? In the middle of my case? The judge was hungry….So, after everyone went to lunch (my stomach was in knots waiting for the decision), we met again. Well, the end result is that in a quiet courtroom, without any pomp and circumstance: Juliana and I became a family! YEAH! Her name is officially Juliana Aruzhan Lambertson. There was a lot of happiness and well wishes from my team here. I now start my final countdown to going home. I have to wait out a 15 day appeal period. Then, we can prepare Juliana’s documents to leave the country. I am hoping to be home by Easter.

I have to say a word of thanks to my team. They are the best and I couldn’t have survived to this point without them. My coordinator is Alma. She has amazing connections and can get things done. She figured out the name dilemma and made Aida disappear and Aruzhan reappear (still don’t want to know how she did that). She is so kind and warm. She worries about me all the time. I must be a mess! My interpreter is Zukra. She is my English connection to the rest of the country. She is fun to talk to. Her job in court was to distract the judge (I will do whatever it took) We had her wear red lipstick and a short skirt to show some leg. I guess it worked! The judge was a young, single guy-very handsome (we were trying to fix them up). My driver is Cyan. I give him props for driving in this crazy city. I used to close my eyes and hope that the crash wouldn’t be so bad; however, now I cheer him on! He speaks as much English as I speak Russian, but somehow we can communicate. It is amazing how two people who do not speak each others language can have a conversation (mind you, not a deep meaningful one).

Speaking of conversations…. My neighbor heard me coming out of my door and she came out to talk to me~ of course in Russian. She was going on and on about something. I was on my way to meet Cyan, so I just said my usual….Ya ne ponimayu (I don’t understand you) ~ sorry and left. Well, she kept at it every time I saw her. Finally, I called Zukra and asked her to talk to her and find out what she wanted. Turns out she wanted some of my chairs…. So, I let her in my apartment and told her to take her pick of my HoJo chairs and she made off with two of them. Don’t know why she wanted them or if I will ever get them back because no one asks questions. What a strange country this is! However, I am making friends with my neighbors. I want her to teach me how to make borsch ~ chairs for a cooking lesson! It works for me...

Ok, enough of that~ nothing else to report here. Juliana continues to develop new tricks each day. She can now go from crawling to sitting and vise versa. I know everyone thinks that their kid is amazing, but come on... 2 weeks out of her brace?!

I hope everyone is well at home. Thank you for all the comments~ I love every one of them. We will see everyone soon!

Dobryi Vecher
Good Evening