Waiting

Today, we are waiting.  We are supposed to hear from Olga, "in charge on the ground in Moscow" when we can go on our first visit to the orphanage.  The last instruction we received from them was "wait for instructions" -- Apparently, she  started to call the Ministry of Education this a.m. to see if  we can have permission to go to the orphanage -- sometimes, she informed me, it can take all day.  She did not make it sound like the first visit was going to happen today.  Needless to say, it's very frustrating, but I am starting to understand that there is not a whole lot I can do about any of this stuff.  So we are waiting. 
We did go inside the Kremlin today -- it was snowing, and cold, bitterly cold.  The Kremlin is really just the name of the complex -- once you get through the "gates", it's like a "castle district' -- several of the buildings are active government buildings -- tons of police officers are guards everywhere -- you could also see the Russian government vehicles -- black Mercedes with sirens on top -- rushing by -- they are, of course, the only vehicles allowed inside the Kremlin complex.  In addition, there are some gorgeous Cathedrals inside -- there is a whole square with 4 beautiful Russian Orthodox Churches  -- with glistening golden domes -- each has its own unique history -- one of them houses the grave of Ivan the Terrible, who is buried along his son Ivan, that he killed.  Nice.  Another one of them, had a whole new chapel built on the side by -- whom else, but Ivan the Terrible -- b/c under Orthodox church law he was no longer allowed into a church.  Ironically, not b/c he killed and torture a bunch of people, or even b/c he had the "Festival of Torture" -- a weeklong event torturing people.  Nope, he was prohibited from entering churches b/c he was married 4 times.  So, he built this little annex to the Cathedral, so that he could sit there and watch the services -- presumably to get some praying in before going back to torturing people.
Anyway, the Kremlin complex is absolutely gorgeous , and it was very magical and very "Russian" in the snow.  Unfortunately, the bitter cold, the biting winds and the snow did not make for great sightseeing weather, so we didn't wander around as much as I would have liked to. 
And now, we wait.  It's 4:45 now, I wonder when we are going to hear, and when we get to go to the orphanage.  Trying to stay Zen.