Friday I asked the Filipino teachers if they could watch Sophia while I shopped for a present for her birthday. So Saturday after lunch we counted how many flights of steps there are between 3 and 12, and I dropped her off at the Filipino's apartment with a bookbag full of activities and DVDs. They were quite excited to be getting a load of English-language DVDs.
Artyom had had plenty of toy stores, and so I went there. I took this alone-time opportunity to pop into the market and pick up a warm turtleneck for me. I also got some ultra-warm long underwear for me, and picked up 200 Tenge wool gloves for Sophia. I also bought her some snow pants (from the woman who thought I was French). I really felt that I should be bargaining, but the prices were so low, I didn't really want to! 1000 Tenge ($6.67) for warm snow pants is a bargain.
Then I wandered the huge mall of Artyom. Artyom is a maze, and not only could I not remember where the toy stores were, but every time I saw one, I could not remember if I had already been inside. I even forgot what floors they were on! I price-compare, so in the end I visited several stores more than once. I bought her the cheapest over-sized stuffed animal that I could find, a Ben Ten art set (the girl-y ones were twice as expensive), and a lego kit that included horses and miniature people. Seeing as I might be the only one getting her gifts, I wanted to get her more than just one thing.
As it was Christie's birthday, I bought her some fake flowers in a jar (much prettier than it sounds) and bought two birthday cards. I also found a store that sold cheap towels. I don't know how much towels cost in the US, but spending $8 on one towel sounds ridiculous to me. So we've been doing with very few towels. I only bought a small-ish towel to keep on the bathroom floor, as the shower leaks. It was 500 Tenge (under $4).
At this point I was tired of shopping and HOT. The mall is heated, and I was wearing my autumn coat over a light zip-up sweater and short-sleeved shirt. I was carrying far too many bags to also take off my coat, but I had unzipped my coat and sweater and was sweating. I hurried to find an exit and stepped outside.
Whoosh! The cold air felt good for about a minute, maybe. I realized that while a scarf makes a great hat, it requires two free hands to do it up like that. My head remained cold.
I realized that I hadn't saved Lynn's mobile number. But I checked previously received calls and found one unknown number from around the time she had last called me (two weeks ago). I texted her--"Is this Lynn's number?" She texted back, yes, and as I was writing another text to explain that I was waiting for the bus to come home, she called me. I answered and Sophia started asking about how big her present was. Just then, my bus pulled up, and I got on, carrying a load of bags and shouting into a cheap mobile phone. I got plenty of looks. I quickly said good-bye and stood the long way home--it's about a half hour ride. The bus never emptied enough for me to maneuver to a seat, and I never was able to zip up my jacket or fix my scarf-hat.
I stepped off into the cold and texted Christie, could I come over to hide Sophia's presents? Except, she texted back, that they were on their way over, to celebrate her birthday. I realized that my wardrobe has a top shelf that's pretty much hidden from Sophia's eyes, so I hid the presents there.
Then it was onto Christie's apartment to celebrate her birthday.
I learned that they had watched DVDs the entire time--Finding Nemo and The Black Cauldron--and were about to put in The Last Unicorn when I returned home. The said they would be happy to watch Sophia and more DVDs any time.
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