Friday morning we awoke to no power still, and Colleen came down to tell us there was an accident at the power plant. It affected all of three locations, so it wasn't exactly a high priority fix. Fortunately, we'd enough cold cereal to get the girls through breakfast, and us 'Sotans are used to enough cold that Shannon and I were able to wash our hair in frigid water. The power came back around mid-morning, so we were able to get the girls a warm lunch (these little hot dog-esque sausages and fried potatoes. That's quickly becoming Tierney's favorite lunch, and she's now cooking it herself.) After lunch, we went to the orphanage to visit Galya again. This time we were completely on our own as Angelina is still in Kiev. Andrey from DCU drove us over, and unannounced we walked in and asked for Galya. There was another family there, but we did not get to talk with them. There are apparently a few families in the adoption game about now.
We colored and drew pictures with Galya and showed her some games we'd brought. She didn't have any overt interest in learning how to play the games, but enjoyed looking at the pieces. We also had two happy meal toys (or as they spell it here, xeппi miл) which she couldn't put down. Unfortunately, the toys made noise. That doesn't bode well for quiet, but then our girls aren't that quiet anyway. Galya will fit right in!
The visit wasn't terribly long, although long enough for Galyna to use up a bit of camera memory card again. It was a good thing I downloaded all the pictures and videos before we went over! This girl may have a future as a photographer.
We returned home via Amstor, and think we're finally caught up on groceries. They didn't have belts in Tierney's size (she didn't bring one; oops!) so we tried dog collars that (a) looked like belts and (b) were almost the right size. I think the dogs here get rather large. Shannon also found some broccoli - which was very welcome to my veggie-starved wife - and I picked up something I thought was popcorn, but turned out to be something like sugar-coated white-cheddar puffed Cheetos. I really need to pay more attention.
Saturday was a busy, busy day. We started by attending a little theater production on campus. There was a Polish group which presented some children's theater, which was good fun. We could follow the basic stories, which appear to be traditional folk tales, despite the language differences. There was also a professional poet laureate from a nearby town. He did some dramatic poetry readings, and in one of them gave gifts to various audience members. Our darling little Amissa got a mirror. Made her morning, that. Part of the program was also dedicated to a puppet show, and it was very well done. The puppet show was put on by members of a local church, many of whom are affiliated with the Shelter of the Good Shepherd in Makeevka. I will speak more of the shelter in a future post. It was a very clear presentation of the Easter story and forgiveness, which was cool to be able to pick out. Apparently dramas translate well even without words being understandable.
After the puppet show, which I neglected to mention we watched with the Riccardellis, we met up with Andrey (a boy I'd met the past two summers at the Good Shepherd Shelter, and who came to DCU with the Riccardellis) to head into downtown. We made it halfway via bus when the bus driver kicked us off to turn around and head the other direction. So we waited and caught another bus. Eventually, we made it downtown and walked to the artist's "colony." This is an area where local aritsans sell paintings, sculptures and various souvenirs. We picked a few up, but I won't say what they are in case the recipients are reading this blog. We then went to a restaurant called "big belly hut" or something like that. It was a buffet restaurant with Ukrainian food. It was tasty, especially the solyanka. Shannon has since looked up many recipes online, and will treat you to it someday if you'd like.
Oh - almost forgot. Between the artists and the dinner, we stopped at Lenin Square where the girls rode some pedal-powered cars. I'm surprised Amissa didn't run anyone over, but it was quite amusing to watch. It was less amusing to watch the guy running the amusements keep telling the girls to keep driving when we were paying by the time, but it all worked out. The Riccardelli girls and ours are getting along quite well. I'm rather proud of our daughters, who have proven adept at making friends with, and playing with, children over here - not least of all Galya - despite the language barrier. Two little girls from our apartment building just showed up at our door one day and the four of them played and had a great deal of fun.
We got home, then, and the girls watched Tinkerbell. They liked the movie so much they watched it this morning again before church. Fortunately, church started at 10:00, so we had plenty of time. We went to the church here on campus, which Sergei (the rector of DCU) leads. The girls went to Sunday School and were pleased to know one of the songs they sang. We also met a couple from Kyrgystan who are studying here at DCU and speak pretty good English. They "knew" us before we even arrived as they're part of a Monday night prayer group which Olga Z. hosts. Guess with all the prayer in two countries, we can't be surprised things are working as they are:)
So that catches us up to the moment. There are a few things I will talk about in future posts which put more color to the stories so far, as well as pictures. I'll post the pictures today, but along with narratives the following topics will (God willing) appear in the blog this week:
- Donetsk and Ukraine
- The girls and their adjustments and observations
- DCU
- The Shelter of the Good Shepherd
- And last, but certainly not least, Galya's Tale itself
So stay tuned!
God bless,
Ron
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