March 21, 2009

Another eventful week in Irkutsk has come to an end. Ah, how good it feels! 

Lena too has had an eventful week. Last Friday she started to process of remodeling the kitchen and today it is “finished.” But, of course, like any home improvement project, much still remains to be done :) But what a difference! Before the kitchen was filled with a random assortment of furniture and 30+ year-old appliances. Now she has countertops, cupboards, “railing” (which she pronounces with an exaggerated, rolled r), new appliances, new flooring, and tiles along the wall!  The workman today had quite the time installing the cupboards, as the angle in one corner is ever so slightly obtuse and one wall is not perfectly flat. That’s a Khrushchev apartment for you: built quick and built to last, but lacking in craftsmanship.

Most of my week was spent trying to accomplish two tasks: first, mail Jacob’s birthday box, second, find all the supplies for my craft time at the orphanage. I thought the latter would be the harder of the two tasks, but boy was I wrong! It’s a long story, so I’ll try to be like concise.

I bought Jake a random assortment of goodies from the local market and the candy store (^^), wrapped everything in newspaper, tied them up with string, decorated the inside of the box, made him a little collage from the Russian equivalent of National Geographic, and wrote him a letter. Lena keeps extra Declaration forms, and I filled out the required three in Russian before taping up the box and heading to the neighborhood pochta.  This post office, however, is unable to process international packages. I was on my way to class, so I brought Jake’s package with me to the university and to my 1:15 ecological problems class.  I actually didn’t have a class that day, but rather an “excursion” to see some local manufactures and heavy industrial sites with Julia, whom I had already met through Paul (another contact by way of Paul….) After explaining why I had a bright blue “POCHTA RUSSII” box in my hands, Julia offered to take me to the post office before heading out on our excursion. Julia is utterly pleasant to be with, and I know God’s hand was in this, because I definitely would have died (well, figuratively) that day at the post office without here running interference for me. Like most post offices, the lines are long and move very slowly regardless of how quickly the workers work. Also, Russian queues have a culture of their own, something that I still do not quite understand. Lines don’t really exist, and if by chance a line has formed behind the counter, this line can be disregarded by anyone who walks right to the front of it. Go figure.  Upon reaching the counter, I learned the *correct* way to fill out the declaration forms and received a slew of instructions, including recording the exact weight of each item using a scale at the end of the counter. Julia and I set out to complete these tasks, and, feeling like they had been accomplished, jumped back into “line.” The forms were accepted, the lady stamped the box, opened it up, and gave me a long look. Starting from the very top, she began to take everything out of the box, informing me (and everyone in the post office) what was wrong with each item. First thing wrong: the letter I had laid on top didn’t have an envelope. Second, the collage didn’t fit into any category, really, and therefore was not acceptable. Third, packages cannot be wrapped, and I had wrapped *everything* in newspaper. Fourth, I had grouped chocolate and candy together on the forms when they are completely different items. Fifth, the extra newspaper that I crumpled up and used as packing material must to be declared. She really seemed puzzled by the extra newspaper, holding the wad in her hand and looking inquisitively at it and then me. Julia took my side. “No zachem??” she kept asking as I put all the pieces of Jake’s Birthday Fun in a Box back, remembering to get my extra newspaper back. Julia was ready to unwrap everything and try again. But after an hour and half in the post office, I was ready to take everything home and try again later. So I did. Well, first I walked to my favorite bakery stand, bought myself a meat filled pastry and a piece of cake, and took a stroll along the Angara to clear my head. Cake and fresh air can do that.

The next day, I received a slip from that very post office informing me that I had a package from Prague waiting for me. So back to the post office I went, and this time I had great success!!! :)  It appears that I can receive packages without any problems, but sending them is an entirely different matter. But not to worry, Jake, I won’t give up!!

In other news, we’ve had a few days of big, fluffy snowflakes. It is still in the 20s during the day, though many have already switched to their spring attire. I, however, am still dressing like I did upon arrival :) Not until I see the temperature hit 50 degrees will I shed my cream-colored cocoon. This is already a very long post, so I will call it good :)

Poka from Irkutsk!