Day 12 - Grocery Store and Big Fun in the Big Room*

*This post was updated with photos and additional info after adoption

So this will probably surprise most of you that shopping at the grocery store here is a bit different from shopping at home. For one thing, you can buy horse. Like Mr. Ed. But probably not talking horse. That would be gross. I'm actually dying to try some more weird foods that we don't have at home.

Instead of Mr. Clean, the bleach-like cleaning substance is called Mr. Proper. My guess is that the English word "clean" must be some racial slur in another language and so they made it Mr. Proper so that it wouldn't offend. But yeah, let's keep the bald guy cause that's our identity. Bald cleaning men must be their target audience I suppose. A friend we've met here said that she saw a cleaning liquid called Barf. Wouldn't that be sweet. "My little Timmy spilled ketchup all over the floor, but I just poured some Barf on it and in minutes I forgot all about that silly ketchup."

Other cool products: Kosmostars. Come on, that's cool. Who would win a fight between the Kosmostars bear and Tony the Tiger? I think my money's on a bear trained by the Soviets for space travel.

One thing I saw here (and I remember in Costa Rica they did this, too) that really has got to be implemented in the States is paying a rental for your shopping cart. There is a chain device that is attached to all the carts and you can't release a cart to shop with until you slip a coin into a little slot. Then when you return the cart, you get back your coin. If we did this in Utah, the parking lot wouldn't be full of friggin' stupid lazy people's shopping carts. (If after reading this section you feel a little guilty about a previous shopping trip, just promise me that you'll never do it again. This is a previous grocery store employee telling you now that every cart you leave behind in the wrong place becomes someone else's problem and no they aren't happy about having to clean up after you.)


Time in the room
Saturday is the day where the baby house is a little more relaxed. We got two little "treats" today that we usually don't get a chance to do. First, in the morning, we asked if we could play in the "big" room with all the other little kids. The weekend caretakers (to be honest, they are our favorite ones so far) allowed Jamie and I to spend time with Sash and the other kiddos. It was loud and hectic and crazy and really fun and we got great photos and video of Sasha playing with her friends from the baby house.

Then, in the afternoon, we got a chance to tour a little more of the baby house. During the week, things are so busy and official that we just stay in our little room, but it was fun to take advantage of the quiet weekends to see some of the other public rooms. Teacher Ben (and our Ben for that matter), this photo is for you - check out the mural of the Gran Rippon, just like the book that Aunt Sarah sent!

Prayer request: We are on the cusp of finishing our 14 day bonding period and will start the next round of administrative work soon - petitioning for a court date, pre-court, court, etc. Please pray with us that everything is in order, that our paperwork is completed correctly and in a timely manner, and of course that the judge agrees that Sasha should be ours forever!