Monday June 11th Our last full day.  We had recently become less diligent with our “shower whenever you can” strategy; the water hadn’t gone off in nearly a week. However, we woke up to find that our hot water was out again.  We made do, and Lisa arrived at our apartment about 10:30. We all met with Olga, the matroshka artist, and then wandered out to show Lisa the bookstore and a couple of shops near our house.  When we got back to the apartment, we gobbled up the leftover borsch…it was really nice to have a lunch guest!  Lisa’s […]

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Sunday, 10 June Our stay is drawing to a close…and time is running short! Today, we left the apartment at 11, picked up Kseniya and Lisa, and then met the second car at the orphanage where we picked up the girls. Our arrival is becoming a little more routine for them, too. They don’t drop what they were doing and race to us like they did the first couple of days; I think they are feeling much more secure with us, and beginning to trust us. During the summer, many of the kids at the orphanage attend various camps in […]

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Saturday, 9 June We are coming to the realization that we’ll be leaving soon, which is met with both anticipation and panic. We’re not too worried about the “We’re gonna be parents” thing…that’s settling in well. The panic is actually related to shopping for souvenirs and packing them for the trip home. The chances are good that we’ll never be in Ukraine again, so we feel compelled to bring home the entire country in our suitcases. Mark went out first thing this morning for another pass through a shopping area near our apartment. He found several things he wanted, and […]

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Friday, 8 June This morning, I found Nirvana. Or at least as close as possible in this town. Mark and I rode into town around 10:00 this morning, dropped a couple of things off with Lisa, and then started walking around. The plan: buy some CDs, get Mark’s watch fixed, pick up some small gift bags and cards for the gifts we need to give on Monday. The plan was modified when we discovered a Western-style café… I knew I was missing my coffee—tea has adequately provided my daily caffeine fix—but I didn’t realize how much until I spotted the […]

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Thursday, 7 June The cries of a thousand warriors filled the air as darkness enveloped their underground lair. OK, so it was more like about 40 teenage boys hollering when the power went out at Com.bat, the internet café we’ve been frequenting. The first version is so much more poetic, dontcha think? Today’s internet time was nearing its end. Lisa was copying some photos, and I had just finished uploading the last couple of days’ posts (I hope), and I was preparing the email for distribution to y’all when, in an instant, the room went dark. Gone were the sounds […]

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