Diddles in Ukraine :: 30 Sept 2006

[] Diddles in Ukraine Sunday | October 01, 2006 30 Sept 2006 30 Sept, 2006 – Saturday We were greeted today with light rains and gray skies. The skies stayed cloudy all day and hid the sun entirely. Of course, today is laundry day, and at the close of day, our damp laundry is still hanging on the lines. We did two loads of laundry. The secret next time is to bring light weight clothes that will dry quickly. I am glad that I do not have to wash the laundry manually like the MacBeth family that visited in March. I am glad it is not the middle of winter; hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow. Maybe we would not wash our clothes weekly, but monthly! Natalie when earlier to the school to assist in a phone call from the Solderberg family. Unfortunately, they were unable to connect. Natalie returned around 1030 with the boys. With the boys, they taught us a card game called “Fool”. It was fun. The game uses cards with 6 and higher. There is a trump suit. Everyone is dealt 6 cards. Then the lead player passes cards face up to the person to their left, up to the number of cards in the players hand (Maximum of 6) The player then tries to place a higher card from their hand. If not, then the player picks up the cards and the turn is passed to the next player. If the payer wins, then the player takes cards from his hand and challenges the next player. Until all cards are played. Zhenya wanted pasta (Nyet Mama No, Pasta). We went to the store and purchased spaghetti noodles and powered sauce. Lunch was served with pastrami, cheese and cucumbers. They boys quickly devoured the meals. Ruslan did not enjoy the spaghetti as much as everyone else. Ruslan enjoys watching TV. Zhenya helped clean the dishes. The dishwasher here is automatic to a point, ..We automatically clear the table and start washing the dishes by hand. One person automatically will dry the dishes and the other automatically put the dishes away! After lunch, we sat together watching a TV show called Myth Busters. It was in Ukrainian, and the kids enjoyed the show. We purchased a Ukrainian/English story book today. In the afternoon, we reviewed some of the words with the boys. By 1400, we obtained a taxi to take us to the boarding school. Once at the boarding school, the boys got dressed in their physical training clothes. They are doing competition running today. The run is for 1 KM. While waiting for the boys to change, Nadine said she was glad to bring her heavier coat. The wind was blowing and the trees are quickly loosing their leaves. There are still wildflowers around the school in bloom. The children around the boarding school enjoy getting their pictures taken. It is as if to say, “please do not forget me, I am important!” We went to the same park as the previous competition races. The wind was bitter. But Zhenya and other boys stripped down to their short sleeve shirts and jogging shorts. Brrr. Zhenya ran hard in his race. He is very athletic and competitive. He gave it his all today. He collapsed after taking first place as he crossed the finished lines. The teacher gave him some smelling salts and the sprayed water on his face. He came to, and then we walked the exhaustion from him. While waiting for the others to finish their races, Zhenya got on a bike, the only one I think the school has. He rode the bike around the soccer field. We returned to the boarding school. We divided evenly the tootsie roll pops provided by my unit commander. The boys handed them out to their friends. It was great to see the smiles on the givers and the receivers. Thank you Boss! The school provides a minimum of 4 meals a day to the children, Breakfast, Lunch, Snack and dinner. The nutritional value is the best they are able to provide. We went up to the Physical Training Instructor’s office next to the Gym. She showed us the several team awards that the school had earned and how Zhenya has been an important part of the school and team earning these awards! While at the Gym, we played some basketball with Stan and soccer with Tulley (Stan’s brother). It will be good to get these children home to their new parents. These are great kids; all deserve a chance to enjoy freedom We departed the school around 1700L. The boys did not want to go back, and we did not want them to go back, but we must obey the rules, to make for a sweeter ending. Enroute to our house, we stopped for an Internet break. We spent a half hour reading notes and news from home. The cost was less than a dollar for the time on the net. We purchased carrots, juice, water, dumplings, cookies, cake on the way home tonight. 2 photos added to Sumy, Ukraine today Posted by at 19:18 in | Link | Comments (0) Comments Write a comment Name: Email: Url: Comment: Remember info? Search My Advertisement Categories Archives October - 2006 September - 2006 Syndication RSS Atom Albums Kiev Sumy Ukraine Part 2 Sumy, Ukraine Random Blog