Here Comes the Sun

We were beginning to think we’d not see the sun at all while here. It only took 22 days for it to finally come out! What a beautiful sight - it instantly perked us up!!

On Saturday we went to the orphanage. We were able to ask the driver to stop at a couple places for photos on the drive there, and unlike last time he actually understood!

Nicholas has his numbers 1 through 10 down pat. The Wise Director asked us to teach her the days of the week and she will work with Nicholas on those when we’re not there. She is the best! Nicholas tried a yoghurt drink for the first time and he really likes them - which is great as I think he needs quite a few doses of calcium!

As we were leaving the orphanage there were a group of boys out front sliding on the ice on the road. We stood and watched them while the driver finished his cigarette. The boys would run as fast as they could on the snowy part of the street and then when they hit the ice strip they would stoop down and slide down the street. They were having a blast. Mike was the first to say “I hope they don’t fall or they’ll crack their head”….he’s officially a Dad now!! :o)

On the way home we stopped at the FoxMart. We got lunch at the mini-cafeteria at the front of the store. They have a prepared sandwich that Mike and I both like. It’s like fried corn with chicken and a mustard/mayo sauce with lettuce. It doesn’t sound that good - but it tastes great!

After lunch we went shopping - we got some shoes, shirt, undies, and a hat for Nicholas. We also found some Christmas presents for him (and not just oranges, Richard! :o) ). We went to the check out and our total was quite big. Mike handed the money to the cashier and she ran the bills under the black-light to make sure they were not counterfeit. Then an alarm went off at her register! I didn’t hear the alarm but poor Mike was convinced that we had bad bills and was imagining us being hauled off to jail. An employee then came up to us and was talking to us in Ukrainian. Mike was so panicked he said “Sorry, we don’t speak English!”, which was an odd thing to say. She turned bright red. She put her hand on the back of our cart and led us to the customer service (this is when Mike told me about the alarm - and now I was freaking out). We got to customer service and the employee handed us a bag with sunflower oil and mayo….then we realized that the alarm was for the “Lucky Shopper”!! :o) Wow - too bad we didn’t have video of that as I bet we were quite a sight!

We got home and watched the Eddie Murphy movie “Coming to America” in Ukrainian! :o) Somehow it just seemed more funny!

Today we went out for a walk. The sun was out and there was some fresh snow, but it was bitterly cold. We saw a sign at the gas station which said the temperature was -5 C (23 F). Which doesn’t sound that cold but the humidity was 77% and it bit right through to the bone. We found another outdoor market but frankly it was too cold even for me to shop (although I did try)! We stopped off at a café and had an espresso to warm up. Then we carried on walking and decided to finally try the pizza restaurant near our apartment. It’s called New York Street Pizza - and it was actually pretty good. We asked the cashier if she spoke English and she grabbed a guy who turned to us and said, “Have a good day” and seemed really pleased with himself. Unfortunately it was all he knew, but he was a funny guy. We laughed along with him and he pulled out a piece of paper with the pizza toppings in Ukrainian and English. With lots of pointing, and more laughing as Mike still tried to order by needlessly butchering the Ukrainian words, we got a ham and mushroom pizza - and it was great…and actually cheap! :o)

Tomorrow we’re off to the orphanage.

Thanks for all the comments. You have no idea how much we appreciate them and they get us through the days!

Love to all…