May 3, 2009
Today we attempted to go to church with the new kids. We found a Lutheran Church across the street from our apt. That is the good news. The bad news – the service was in German & Russian. Well, at least the kids could understand half of what was going on. We said Alleluia and Amen, but the rest was a guess. I think the kids heard some things that they never heard before. They were respectful and attentive – we couldn’t have asked for more.
Afterwards, we took a long walk and explored more of the capitol. We went up a hill to the Arch and overlooked the river. Parts of this City real are quite bautiful but we had never been able to see any of them in the past because of the extreme cold (and they were buried under ice and snow!) There were a few rides set up and we went on the bumper cars and a whirly-gig thing. Then we walked through a park and past the president’s house & maybe the supreme courthouse? We didn’t have a guide or a translator with us. We just winged it. Remember, today is a holiday, and a Sunday, so no help was forthcoming from our facilitators. Then for dinner, we found the TGI Friday in town. It was so great to read about familiar foods on the menu. My mouth was watering just reading about real fajitas and burgers, and milkshakes. Typically, the kids both had chicken fingers and fries. They are fitting in already!
We are all tired from our long walk today, and we are having a quiet evening playing cards (instead of hearts/spades/clubs/diamonds – we have Cherva/Beeka/Glist/Boobna) We taught them how to play “Crazy 8’s” and they like it - as long as we speak Russian.
Thanks to you all for your suggestions on places to see here. We will need to go exploring again somewhere tomorrow. All in all, the four of us are getting along pretty well with a phrasebook and a lot of pantomime. The kids are 10 years apart in age and we have to keep thinking of different things for each of them to do. We have “skyped” with our US kids and shown our new kids our home and pets. They think it all looks “Dobray” (Good).
Today we attempted to go to church with the new kids. We found a Lutheran Church across the street from our apt. That is the good news. The bad news – the service was in German & Russian. Well, at least the kids could understand half of what was going on. We said Alleluia and Amen, but the rest was a guess. I think the kids heard some things that they never heard before. They were respectful and attentive – we couldn’t have asked for more.
Afterwards, we took a long walk and explored more of the capitol. We went up a hill to the Arch and overlooked the river. Parts of this City real are quite bautiful but we had never been able to see any of them in the past because of the extreme cold (and they were buried under ice and snow!) There were a few rides set up and we went on the bumper cars and a whirly-gig thing. Then we walked through a park and past the president’s house & maybe the supreme courthouse? We didn’t have a guide or a translator with us. We just winged it. Remember, today is a holiday, and a Sunday, so no help was forthcoming from our facilitators. Then for dinner, we found the TGI Friday in town. It was so great to read about familiar foods on the menu. My mouth was watering just reading about real fajitas and burgers, and milkshakes. Typically, the kids both had chicken fingers and fries. They are fitting in already!
We are all tired from our long walk today, and we are having a quiet evening playing cards (instead of hearts/spades/clubs/diamonds – we have Cherva/Beeka/Glist/Boobna) We taught them how to play “Crazy 8’s” and they like it - as long as we speak Russian.
Thanks to you all for your suggestions on places to see here. We will need to go exploring again somewhere tomorrow. All in all, the four of us are getting along pretty well with a phrasebook and a lot of pantomime. The kids are 10 years apart in age and we have to keep thinking of different things for each of them to do. We have “skyped” with our US kids and shown our new kids our home and pets. They think it all looks “Dobray” (Good).
We are trying hard to get our facilitators to understand we want to move this process forward quickly and get home (as in this week!). For those familiar with the cultural concept of "manana," it seems in an odd way part of Ukraine culture as well. We are hoping that hearing us complain about our need to get home becomes more motivating than the cultural pull of just waiting to see what tomorrow brings. Planning is not really done here.
Thanks for another updates. Talked to Casey last night, and it s sounds like things are going well at home. It sounds like things are rolling forward, however slowly, and we're so glad to hear that!
ReplyDeleteD
Thank you for the update. Can't wait to meet Sasha and Tanya. :)
ReplyDeleteGod is good!!!