The Mother of all Adventures

May 9th & May 10th Mother’s Day

Saturday - We decided that we didn’t want to stay any longer in Kiev. We were only sitting there just trying to think of things to do. When we heard from our facilitator that the passports were not going to be issued this week at all – we really were disappointed. Even depressed. We decided we needed to make a change. Our new Angel, Linda, gave us a few options: Stay with one of her friends in Kiev, or stay with a family in the country. We opted for the second. So we packed up and got in the car and drove a few hours north to a little town called Cherniga. (I’m sure that’s not how you spell it.) Linda & our new driver, “Crazy” and Linda’s good friend Alonya are our new travel companions. We arrived and the family was so welcoming (remember we are now a group of seven.) Mom, Luba, was worried that her house wouldn’t be good enough for Americans. We assured her that her home was great and that we were the ones currently homeless. The couple have two kids almost the same ages as our two here. We also descended on them on a holiday weekend. They were getting ready to have a barbecue with their friends (they call it Shish-ka-bob) So we made ourselves scarce. We explored the town, went to McDonalds for lunch, and went to a small amusement park. Then we went to a grocery store for provisions and later in the evening we saw the new X-Men Wolverine movie. Thank goodness it was an action movie, because it was all in Russian. We did have to cover our little guy’s eyes at a few of the more violent parts. All in all, we enjoyed it. When we got back to the house, we decided to have an early evening and put the kids to bed. Unfortunately, everyone else was staying up late. So Bill & I and our kids went upstairs and relaxed.
Sunday - Because we went to bed early, we were also all up early. Bill took S out for a bike ride so the rest of the family & friends could sleep in. After a slow start, we all went out to town. Our first stop was the hair salon to get the kids haircuts. Next we went to a small Mall and we did a lot of window shopping. Eventually we bought a few housewarming/birthday gifts for Luba. We didn’t want to go to McDonalds again, so we found a little café and had a nice meal. Our little guy is having a hard time adjusting to our new surroundings. We are all trying to be patient with him, but it is difficult. Tonight we were all supposed to go to the Circus in town, but S was not happy about changing his clothes. He ended up staying home with Rebecca, while the rest went on ahead. When they got back we went to a lovely restaurant with WIFI – our lifeline to back home. We are planning on returning to Kiev in a day or so to complete this process at the US Embassy. Everyone wants the ”Magic Passports” before they will authorize anything. Then we will be coming home as fast as we can.