Back to our Story, Already in Progress...

We left off at Monday, so on to Tuesday. That was a rather quiet day as Galya had to take a few physical exams. We spent the day hanging around the apartment, and walked down to a local market across the highway from campus. The girls played outside a little bit, but the wind was a bit brisk so they didn't play long. In the evening, we went over to our friend Olga's apartment, and shared tea with some people I knew from the English Intensives in the summer (Andrew, Tanya and Nazar, along with Tanya and Nazar's mother Natasha.) Tierney and Amissa hit full sleepy-silly mode during the visit and provided no end of amusement.

Wednesday was a bit busier. We started with a walk down to another local store, called Victory, to pick up a few more items. Shopping is more piecemeal for us this week it seems. In the afternoon, we went down to see Galya again, this time bringing some coloring books and white boards. The visit was MUCH quieter as the girls spent time coloring together. Galya was much taken with the girls' digital camera, and about filled up the memory card taking pictures of people who didn't want their picture taken. Some things transcend cultures I guess. Coming home from this visit, Angelina informed us she was heading back to Kiev for a few days to file more paperwork with the Ukrainian government. If the Ukrainian railroad offers frequent rider miles, I'm sure she's in an elite class. So, in the next few days we'd have to arrange other transportation for visits to Galya. We came back to campus, and Lawrence came down to invite us up to their apartment for dinner Thursday night. It will be nice (he says using future tense to pretend he's not writing this long after Thursday night already happened) to spend Thanksgiving with a couple of other Americans. The evening was spent reading with the girls, and trying to keep up on their homework. The girls have been really good about that while we're here, and both were able to email their teachers on Tuesday. They're even doing well without any television to watch!

We also found out that our court date is set. We will be in court next Wednesday, December 3. That should be the time we are deemed to be Galya's family, and this is followed by a ten-day waiting period where anyone can appeal the adoption. This rarely happens, but the waiting period is also rarely waived. We're hoping it can be this time so we can return home ten days sooner, but it's up to the judge. So we pray and hope, and we'll see what happens.

Thursday, Thanksgiving day. This was the most unique Thanksgiving in my memory. We went downtown to do some sightseeing. We visited Lenin Square, Pushkin Boulevard and the downtown Donetsk McDonald's. Yes, we are experiencing culture everywhere!

We started our time downtown with the girls playing on a playground on Pushkin Boulevard. For those who haven't been there, Pushkin is a pedestrian boulevard with playgrounds, benches, walking paths, flowers, sculptures, cafes and fountains. If I were to live in Donetsk, this is where I would spend most of my free time. From there we went to Lenin Square to meet Deanna and Sean Riccardelli and their daughters, Elina and Liza. Elina and Liza were adopted from Russia, and so we had something in common right away - daughters adopted (or about to be) from behind the old Iron Curtain. We adults chatted while the girls all chased pigeons. The Riccardelli girls both caught pigeons, and Amissa was able to hold one. It was fun, albeit something we wouldn't encourage back home. I'm not sure the pigeons liked it either, but they were being fed so they didn't leave. We were introduced to the Riccardellis through Olga Zaitseva here at DCU.

After a time talking, we split to different restaurants for lunch. The girls had to have McDonald's, so we headed over for our chicken nuggets, chicken sandwiches and fries. Following a typical Ukrainian, er, American lunch, we walked over to a souvenir shop - and ran into the Riccardellis again. Small world, this place. Leaving the shop, we returned to the bus for the ride back to campus.

The buses here run on electrical wires hung above the street. Which the girls found interesting. We stopped at Amstor to pick up a desert to bring with to our Thanksgiving dinner. We got home shortly before 5 and headed up for dinner at 6. The Gingerys are wonderful folks, missionaries serving here at DCU for a number of years. Olga Z. joines us as well, and we sat down to a "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner of chicken, potatoes and all the trimmings. The cranberry sauce was superb, as was all the food really (we have been eating well; the bread, especially, over here is tremendous.) In the middle of dinner, though, the power went out. This doesn't happen here as much as it used to, but we ended up having dinner by candlelight. It was rather nice, and we had good conversation. And, we had dinner theater when Amissa and Tierney started doing shadow puppets with the flashlight. All in all, a great Thanksgiving.

We did miss family and friends, though, and cannot wait to see you all when we get back. We are truly thankful for all of you; for your support, your prayers and your love we are most certainly grateful too.

This catches us up to two days ago. I'll try to get caught all the way up tomorrow, assuming we have electricity. We are planning a quiet day around the apartment before another busy week. I think the girls need it.

Now off to watch Tinkerbell. Shannon surprised the girls today with news that she picked it up before the trip. They want me off the laptop so I can put the movie in. So...until tomorrow,

God bless!

Ron