Monday, 4 June I spoke too soon about the rain. And the heat. And if there’s not much to do except go to the park on days that are hot and sunny, there’s even less when it’s cold and rainy. We spent another quiet morning reading, writing, going through photos. We received calls from both Sveta and Kseniya to coordinate our driver to pick us up at noon, but when noon rolled around, there was no driver. At about 12:15, Kseniya called to tell us that they couldn’t find our driver and that they were looking for another driver to […]

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Sunday, 3 June For the first time since we landed in Ukraine, I uttered the words “I’m cold.” Outside. The day dawned with the promise of sun and heat; I dressed as usual in lightweight capris and a camisole, knowing that we would be outside most of the day; I gave up carrying the contingency sweatshirt weeks ago. But clouds began to form late in the morning. We picked Masha up at 11:20, and sat on a park bench outside the orphanage to share with her the plans for the next couple of weeks so she would know what to […]

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Saturday, 2 June We will go to the sea,” proclaimed Kseniya. So we went to the sea. This time, we found a spot a little futher down the beach, away from the seaport and nearer to the giant, blow-up water slide. We are learning that while there aren’t a lot of different places one can go in this town, all of them are equipped with rides of some sort. And all of them cost a grivna or two or three to ride. And, of course, children are addicted to them. We packed up a bag full of towels and toys […]

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Friday, 1 June Since we arrived in Ukraine, there’s been much ado about the upcoming “1 June Celebration.” Finally, the day has arrived! The kids, workers, and sponsors have all been working very hard to make sure everything is perfect, and when we arrived at the orphanage a few minutes before 10:00 this morning, we saw that their work had paid off. Streamers and helium balloons hung everywhere, the courtyard had been transformed into a marketplace for crafts the kids had made, and people filled the area. Kids dashed around in their costumes, greeting visitors and tending to last minute […]

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Thursday, 31 May 2007 Last night, as we were hanging around the house, Mark asked me if I smelled something funny. Now, this town always smells kind of funny, so I said “Well, no.” End of story. (and you’re all thinking, Hmm, that’s really not worthy of my time to read…just wait, dear friends). This morning, we woke up, had a cup of tea, chatted on the phone for a few minutes, and then noticed that the battery was close to dead. So we put the phone on the charger. Again, really exciting, huh? A couple hours later, Mark asks […]

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