Weekend Comedy

I think it may be safe to say that our trip is kind of a comedy of sorts… Friday morning, we slept until mid-morning. Not long after we woke up, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to find the hotel owner, housekeeper, and 2 guys in long black robes. They were obviously some sort of priests, and one was holding a long chain - at the bottom of which was a metal ball containing burning incense. The owner motioned that they wanted to come in. A- I was totally not presentable for company and the room looks about as expected of a hotel room without any dressers or place of organization. B- Not to be disrespectful, but I didn’t think I could handle the strong-smelling incense in my room. The toilet smell is just about all I can take. So, I cheerfully said, “Oh! No thank you!!!” while shaking my head no and gently closing the door. I don’t think it was their intention to give me a choice, and I may have committed some sort of faux paux. For the next 5-10 minutes we heard chanting up and down all the hallways. Brian and I have started a list called “Yeah, that just happened.” This one is definitely on it.

We hung out in the hotel room for the rest of the morning and then headed over to the orphanage to hang out with V*ktor in the afternoon. This time, we played spoons with him and S. It was pretty fun once they caught on that you could grab a spoon once somebody else did! At one point, we were locked in that wing of the orphanage again. Kind of like V*ktor on Thursday, I was not in the least bit concerned - lol! I knew we would get out eventually!

That night, Brian had meetings, so C and I went to eat at the Family Pizza. They didn’t have sprite, only pepsi. No water without gas. I tried ordering juice and she didn’t understand. I tried calling Aleksey but he didn’t answer. I tried ordering a pizza, but she didn’t understand that. Finally, I just left and went back to the hotel lounge to wait out Brian’s meeting. I was super-frustrated and tired of not being able to communicate something so simple! I can only imagine how V*ktor and other host kids feel at times when they are in America. Sooooo brave of them!!! After Brian’s meeting, C and I went up to the room and he made supper for us. He felt sorry for me in all my frustration, and cheered me up. It’s kind of hitting that I will be here on my own in less than 2 weeks, and I’m getting a little nervous. I’ve never been afraid to be on my own in something. I’d like to think I’ve always been pretty independent. This just is a little overwhelming at times. I know I serve a big God, and He will supply all my needs, though. I just keep saying Phillipians 4:6-7

“Be anxious in nothing , but in all things, through prayer and thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Saturday, we were able to have V*ktor out of the orphanage for 4 hours. Since C fell asleep a little before we needed to go get him, Brian just made the walk to get him and bring him back to the hotel room. When they returned, we skyped with Mom, A, and B for awhile. V*ktor played Angry Birds some, and then we headed down to the market looking for gloves and a belt that he needed. Unfortunately, the market was closed already. We had waited too long. Brian and C went back to the room. V*ktor and I headed to get some candy. We hung out at the room a little longer, and then headed out to dinner. There was a restaurant he at first suggested, but realized they didn’t have pizza. This kid orders pizza at EVERY chance! So, we ended up at Kantin@ for supper. It was pretty good! We realized, though, that the food was taking too long and we wouldn’t have him back in time. So, we had Aleksey call us a taxi instead of walking. We made it just in time, and then went in search of a teacher to see how long he could go with us on Sunday. After sorting that out, Brian, C, and I walked back to the hotel.

Sunday, we got ready much earlier than normal since we were picking him up at 10. After some confusion trying to pay for our room in American money and her not realizing that we understood the conversion and just needed change, we finally headed out in the snow. We walked really fast and made it right at 10 (but without the water bottle I had misplaced in all the confusion). We spoke to a teacher (aka - Aleksey talked to her on the phone) and it was approved for us to go the 25 km to the big town where we originally arrived on the train. So, we were picked up by a taxi and headed to U! First stop was the castle and museum. We walked through it enjoying the displays but, of course, unable to read them. Poor Brian carried heavy C through the whole thing. We didn’t realize how long it would take to walk, though. Every time we thought about doing the moby wrap, we kept thinking we were almost done.

After the castle, a slew of totally confusing and unnecessary cab-rides ensued. There was a lot of frustration, but we also had lots of fun, too. We told V*ktor we were going to look for gloves and a belt again. They have a huge open-air market that we had heard of and wanted to check it out. It’s not like a garage sale. It’s new things - anywhere from auto parts to food to clothes and whatever else you can imagine. So, we called Aleksey and told him where we wanted to go. A cab picked us up, and I was pretty sure V*ktor was telling him something different. I couldn’t be sure, and he probably hadn’t understood where we wanted to go. So, I sat back for the ride. By “sat back for the ride,” I mean I held on tight through all the crazy swerving around potholes. There are soooo many potholes, and these are the kind that would rip the bottom out of the car, not just give you a jostle. The drivers swerve into the other lane pretty regularly to avoid the potholes. It’s just part of driving in Ukr@ine! We arrived at a shopping mall. Not really what we had in mind, but we were kind of hungry. So, we found a restaurant and ordered the MOST amazing food yet! Brian and I shared a Lavosh that was awesome, and we also had some Mexican food. V*ktor, of course, had pizza. We found a belt that he liked and bought that. The belt he was wearing had been tied together in a knot… We couldn’t locate gloves. I thought I had adequately communicated to V*ktor that we wanted the open air market, so he got a cab and away we went. A few blocks into the trip, the cab broke down! I was trying so hard not to laugh because I didn’t want to upset the driver, but it was just so hilarious! So, we sat on the side of the road in the broken down cab and another one soon came to pick us up. We weaved around all over the place and ended up at… a grocery store. V*ktor looked everywhere, but they did not have gloves. So, I bought a few pounds of the world’s best chocolate for my friend B, and we actually found TUNA! So, I got a few cans of those (which I will shortly be enjoying for lunch). Then, we called a cab again only to walk outside and get the same guy. V*ktor had kept mentioning this big castle place that he said was for kids. I asked “like Chuck E Cheese?” and he agreed that it was. So, I thought he wanted to play there, and I had given up on the open air market. This time, the cab took us across the street from the shopping mall we had just visited. Oy! The wasted cab rides! We went into the place only to realize that he wanted to let C play. He was so sweet in thinking of her. This wasn’t for him at all. Unfortunately, she was asleep, so there wasn’t really any reason to be there. It was a restaurant, but we had just eaten. V*ktor and I got something to drink and I used the wifi at the restaurant to communicate that we still had a little time for the open air market. So, another cab ride and we finally got to the original destination - lol! A lot of the booths were closing up and I would venture a guess that many of them hadn’t even been open at all since it was Sunday. However, we found some perfect gloves for V*ktor, a little snack of cookies, and I got my matryoshka doll! We weren’t able to find any souvenirs for A and B, but hopefully I can find something soon. There really were not a lot of booths open at this point, so we decided to head back to our hotel. We found a waiting cab and headed back. At the hotel, we were all wiped out. We ate cookies, V*ktor checked his vk (Russian face book), and Brian did word puzzles. When it was time, Brian walked V*ktor back to the orphanage. I was sooo tired I took a short nap. Later, we had ramen noodles. Then, of course, C woke up and I didn’t think we were ever getting her back to sleep! We skyped with Aunt M. Then we skyped with Grandma, A, and B. Whew! What a weekend!