Alan said that he took a few pictures of Chloe holding the Kamatahvel. With each click of the camera, she took it upon herself to announce, "It's not real chocolate!" I guess it's not just a happy coincidence that the letters of "Chloe Costa Baker" scramble into "Baker's Chocolate!"
I'd like to set the record straight on the milk fat fiasco ("Miscellaneous stories"). Hey, I studied in France. I know that Europeans use commas as decimal points!! So I am not ignorant -- just inexcusably dumb! I think my reasoning was, "Point zero five times something gives you five percent of it... yum! Super-rich fatty milk!" I was also shamelessly taking my cues from other shoppers. Let me give you the picture. It was my second day in Estonia. I'm going, hmmm... that carton has a cow on it... but it says "keffir," and the English-language menu I saw yesterday had listed keffir as separate from milk... so it can't be milk. Maybe it's buttermilk. I'm pretty sure they drink that in Eastern Europe. Remember how Margorzata [my Polish housemate at Cornell] used to leave her milk carton on top of the fridge on purpose so her milk would curdle?? Then she'd drink it down... yes, I think "keffir" is buttermilk -- I'd better not pour that over Chloe's cereal! Oh, here's a little one that says "voor," that's probably cream. Yes, it says 35% -- definitely cream. Oooh, there's another carton with a cow that says "piim." Does "piim" mean milk? Oh wait, that woman just took a carton -- she's got a child and a toddler with her. Yay, definitely a full-fat milk shopper! One for my cart, too -- come to mama, "piim!" Hey, FIVE percent fat? It's even richer than full-fat milk back home! Nice! What's next on my list?
Then there was the time that I signed up for a membership card at the department store. I was filling out Alan's information and had to put his birthdate in digits. Being Euro-savvy (just like with the decimal point) I said, "Day first, then month, right?" which was confirmed. I then proceeded to write "4 - 2 - 1969" -- i.e., the American order of Alan's birthday. Not ignorance. Just plain stupidity! (And maybe exhaustion, frostbite of the brain, and/or pregnancy hormones!) It didn't dawn on me until much later in the day. It turns out (which I did not know when I filled out the form) that the membership card gives a double discount -- 10% rather than 5% -- on your birthday as well as for the 5 days before and 5 days after your birthday. Here I was disappointed that I the date was Feb. 3rd, six days after my own birthday -- and then a little mystified as to why we were getting 10% off when using Alan's card, but 5% off when using mine. Then I realized what had happened -- and we were thrilled, as we had a ton of shopping to do to stock up our apartment!
I understand that it has been unusually cold this week in many parts of the northern hemisphere. I have heard from family and friends that there have been over two inches of snow in southern England, where it very rarely snows; temperatures well below freezing in New England and even in the Philadelphia area, where we usually live, and where winter is usually (to me) almost disappointingly mild; and bitter temperatures in the American midwest even equal to or below what we are experiencing here in Estonia! For about a week the highest daytime temperature has been around 15 or 16 below zero (C), i.e., low single digits in Fahrenheit, descending into negative Fahrenheit temperatures at night. Our landlord, who lives upstairs, came down the other day to make sure we were warm enough (he's cute that way), going from room to room and making sure each space heater was up to its maximum. He said that there is usually one extremely cold week each winter, and he thought this would be it. He did add, though, that Estonians don't usually say it's "cold" until it's 25 below (C)!
But I have never personally contended with weather this cold. I am learning some things. Like that my black suede gloves are way too inadequate for exposure to this kind of air, e.g. while pushing a stroller. My hands get numb within a minute or so of walking, and the skin on my hands is like sandpaper. I finally got the chance today to get to the department store -- outings are minimized and made as brief as possible! -- and got fur-lined mittens to go over my gloves. I also bought slippers for myself and Alan (Chloe already had nice warm LL Bean doggie ones -- thanks, Midge!) which have made us much warmer inside our apartment. My old down jacket is perfect for this weather, though, and Chloe is very cozy during our brief times outdoors in her snowsuit (ditto, M,!)
Another thing I have learned is that wearing my contacts while outdoors is much better wearing my glasses. The bespectacled among us are well familiar with the phenomenon of our glasses fogging up if we breathe into a scarf on a winter day. Because of this, we usually keep our nose and mouth uncovered. I tried that when Chloe and I ventured out earlier this week. For the first 30 seconds I was ecstatic that we were out of the house -- and then the severity of the cold hit me. My throat and lungs ached from breathing the arctic air, and yet I could not cover my face. Each step was excruciating! The 15-minute walk felt like an eternity, and I questioned my wisdom in thinking Chloe needed a change of scenery. But we did enjoy lunch with Alan and time at the playspace. We were just utterly wiped out when we got home. And didn't go out again for two more days!
So now I wear my contacts. The only drawback is that my tears freeze in tiny crystals on my eylashes by the time I get into town. I am learning lots about physics!
Here are a couple of pictures showing how Chloe feels, and how she keeps busy, after a few days indoors.
Until next time! - sac
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