P.S.

I feel compelled to offer a postscript on yesterday's entry.

Today I brought Lilia with me to pick up Jio. When those little girls from yesterday came out of the classroom, they shouted "Lilia!" and then came over to talk to her. They were extremely friendly and curious. I even taught them a little sign language. Whatever the teacher said to them was effective. I'm really glad that they seized upon that teachable moment.

Some older girls came up to Lilia, too, and said "kawaii," which means "cute," and is much better than "kowai" ("scary").