First Time Outside

On the 14th of November (day 4 of us knowing each other) we were allowed and encouraged to take Lauren outside for the first time. At first she was not crazy about the bright sun or about the cool air on her face. She made quite a grimace! But given five minutes outside she was all smiles again. Not bad for a baby who has never been outside before!
Once on Fox Island, being outside will be a part of her daily life. It is really hard for us to be so confined to the apartment or the orphanage while here in Ust-Kamenogorsk. Any outing we do is in the company of our driver and our translator. They are great --- the type of people we would love to know as friends for the rest of our lives. That would be easier to accomplish if it wasn't for the great distance between us geographically. We plan on staying in touch with our translator, Lena, via phone and e-mail. She will be a great resource when or if Lauren decides she wants to visit the place where she came from. We are trying to take in as much of the culture as we can, but hopefully Lauren will still want to see it first hand rather than just hearing about it from us.