Diddles in Ukraine :: October 1, 2006

[] Diddles in Ukraine Monday | October 02, 2006 October 1, 2006 Oct 1 st , 2006 – Sunday. The wakeup alarms were set for 0700L this morning. The skies were clear of storm clouds. It was great to see the sunshine! It had rained through the night. As you look out the window you cut see a lot of standing water. Breakfast for me consisted of scrambled eggs, bread, orange juice, a mandarin orange and a banana. Nadine had her Quaker oats hot cereal which she brought from the states. A tall glass of cold chocolate milk would be good now. We left the apartment just before 0900L. We took a taxi to the school. The taxi waited while we gathered the boys from their dormitory. The children at the school get up at 0700L on school days, and 0730L on weekends. The children at the boarding school are scheduled today to go to a sports arena to play soccer with a head trainer. When given the option, the boys stated they would go with us. When we arrived at the school, Zhenya was ready to go. Ruslan did not wake up until late today. Ruslan said the dormitory parent started a Harry Potter Movie #2 at 2030 last night. He was up late! We returned to the waiting taxi as quickly as we could. The taxi driver took us to the church building which is located in the center part of the city. The taxi only cost 38 Grinvyas. Previous visitors, who have come to Sumy to adopt, had the luxury of a dedicated driver. In order to save money we decided to take other means of transportation such as taxi’s , train and subways. If calculations are right, we may save a few hundred dollars to pay off the loan we left behind. There is a little inconvenience with not having a dedicated driver, but we are able to spread the money around in the economy, instead of just one driver, we share it with many drivers. The Church started at 1000L thus the reason for us getting up so early. When we arrived at the chapel, there were 2 sets of missionaries there. The local members left the front seat open for us, however, Nadine quickly moved to the 2 nd row. The missionaries (from Pleasant Grove, Bountiful, Washington State and Indiana) sat in the front row. The boys upon entering the church building mentioned how tall the missionaries were. There was no primary meeting. The boys had a young lady name Tanya teach them a lesson. Strangely, the members leave their children at home. We left the church building just before 1300L. We attempted to catch a bus, but they were all crowded. We decided to walk to a place to get some food. Along the walk we saw children walking with “grandparents” picking up the fallen chestnut leaves. The trees are quickly loosing their green foliage. We are told that by the time we depart Sumy, the trees will be barren of leaves. We stopped at the Potato House for lunch. I must agree with our translator, the food is okay but service is lousy. Nadine and I had potato wedges and the boys ordered steak and chicken and a salad and a baked potatoe. . Dinner for 5 was only 80 grinvyas. The boys did eat all their food. Ruslan was a little slow. Zhenya encouraged him to eat all the food and not to waste any. He has a lot of wisdom! I wonder if a restaurant, with the same theme would work in the states as a business. Need to have a good supply of IDAHO potatoes! After leaving the Potato House, the option was given to the boys to go for a walk in the park or go back to the apartment. They wanted to go the apartment. On the way back to the apartment, we passed a store that had ballons out and playing loud music to attract customers to the household items they were selling. We also passed by several fountains that no longer were working. At one time, someone had a beautiful dream to layout the apartment and landscape. The buildings have since aged and turned a dirty gray and the basin with medal works remains of the flowing fountains. A lot of overgrowth exist, with trash laying about and stray dogs running to and fro. When we arrived, Zhenya asked about the spaghetti that was served last night. . We did have leftovers. I heated the spaghetti up on the gas stove in a cast iron skillet., since we have no microwave oven in this apartment.. Zhenya ate the big plate of spaghetti, several slices of salami, and a huge serving of grapes. I wonder if he is going through a growth stage. It is good to see his kind manners and his appreciation for the food. He mentioned he would eat my food anytime over the restaurant food. We ate out as a recommendation to help the boys “Enjoy” themselves. Now I see they would enjoy home more, so now I need to learn how to cook with the Ukrainian food that I can not even pronounce! The boys played computer games and tried to study a little English. Their attention span was very limited today (to study). Nadine enjoyed her Sunday afternoon nap. At 1700L we sadly left the apartment and caught a taxi for a return trip to the boarding school. The adults noticed that it was a much quieter return trip. We returned from the boarding school to the internet café. When we entered, it was very crowded with youth playing internet games. I was surprised at how crowded it was. We were lucky, two terminals suddenly came open. It may have been since we were paying customers. However, the internet was very slow. With all the graphic games going on the network, it was easy to understand why. It took 45 minutes to upload the Sept 30 th posting as well as two photos. Nadine checked and responded to email. We returned home for a quiet supper which consisted of fried potatoes and omelets with cheese and red bell peppers. It was simple, and very delicious and filling. When we went to get the cookies for desert, we realized there was only one left. Before the boys came I was positive we had a full bag! If dessert, is something to leave you satisfied after eating, then seeing the boys eating and being happy was plenty of dessert for us. (Less calories to burn off!) We played the card game “Fool” again. An hour before we go to bed every night we go through the ritual of writing down the day’s event, uploading the latest photos and balancing the budget. So far we have average about $85 (US) a day since we arrive, to include food, transportation and lodging. This next week we will be buying clothes for the boys so that will definitely break the budget. Nadine did check the clothes on the clothes line. The clothes are still damp, after two days. Today was even a sunny day! It is now time to read some scriptures and turn out the lights. Dobre Noche or Good Night! I added several photo's today for the Soderberg family Posted by at 12:38 in | Link | Comments (1) Comments 1 - Dan and Nadine, Just read your entire blog. I was captivated by your experience and appreciate the "blow by blow" detail you have provided. I was sorry to here about Dimetrio, however, it seems the Lord in his goodness has provided you with Ruslan. We are excited to see Roman, who will be traveling with the other children in about three weeks to come over here to Utah. We are looking forward to traveling to Ukraine in 2007 to pick up Roman. Any information you can provide to us about Roman would be appreciated, however, I know your schedule is very full. There will be time to chat when you get back home. God bless you in this most worth wihile endeavor. Calvin Wendelboe ( Comment this ) Written by: Calvin & Cheryl Wendelboe at 2006/10/03 - 03:37:15 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