DONSA number three, thankfully the last for now. I must admit that having this much
unscheduled time is a little hard to deal with, especially today since so many
places are closed on Monday. We started
with a light morning snack in anticipation of a late lunch. There’s nothing quite as eye-opening as
having tiramisu and iced cappuccino for breakfast. Not sure where on the food pyramid you find
that but I’m sure it’s there somewhere.
After our morning snack we jumped on the bus to head down to the water. The plan was to go to the market and see if
we could find a can opener. We have had
this can of pineapple slices since our first day in region; unfortunately we
have this manual can opener that for the life of me I cannot figure out how to
use. Now I’m no rookie when it comes to
manual can openers. I’ve used the ones
on Swiss Army knives, the old Boy Scout knives, the Army issued pocket knife,
the old cartoon tuna can opener, even the old Army P-38 opener, but this thing
just baffles me. I’m almost to the point
of throwing it out in the crosswalk when the huffy red dude is showing and
letting a speeding vehicle pop it open! Even
if that can of pineapple must return with us to the U.S., it will be
opened!!! Well, on our way down we got
the call from Luda that the court proceeding for the day were successful and
that we would be joining another family for a celebratory lunch. She didn’t seem to find it the least bit
extraordinary that we were on a bus heading downtown rather than at the
apartment. I think she has accepted the
fact that after decades of international travel, on both official and
unofficial business, Erika and I are quite comfortable out among the population
and acting like the “natives”. Lunch was
in a restaurant (remember … “Pectopah”) that had won some high acclaim from a
national Ukrainian “food network” type of show.
We get to the table, get handed some English menus (generally a good
sign) and discover that it’s … a breakfast joint!? Good thing Ukrainians eat big for breakfast;
not many places in the U.S. do you find Greek Salad on the breakfast menu. The food was excellent and everyone found
something to satisfy their appetite.
After hearing about the court proceedings and celebrating the transition
of another child’s status from orphan to family member, Luda let us know that
she had contacted the director of the last orphanage from which we had adopted
and that the Director was excited that we were here and would love to see us
again (we had asked Luda earlier if she thought it would be possible for us to
visit). The amazing Luda had done all
the research on the different ways to get there and had a plan for us to go and
visit there this Friday. I know several
CEOs that would give their eye-teeth to have someone as competent and proactive
as Luda! Well, the other family had to
run off to catch the train to begin their journey home so we walked down to the
river again. While there wasn’t a sequel
to “Superman”, I did see a bunch of swallows that seemed to be tearing up a
swarm of insects right above a park bench.
I dragged Erika over and we had a seat. It was AWESOME!!! The closest thing I can compare it to would
be floating in the sky in the middle of an airshow. The swallows where zipping by at incredible
speed, making these seemingly impossible changes in direction. Some passed so close to us that you could
hear the feathers vibrating in the wind and feel the air from their
passage. Watching them it was very easy
to understand why man was inspired to master flight. When
the show was over we went back to the shop where we had bought clothes for the
kids and got another shirt in a different size for Caleb. We still have no idea of what size he may
wear so we thought it best to bring a couple for him to try. On the way back I came to a disturbing
realization. Since we have been here we
have noticed that a lot of the guys seem to be very secure in their manhood
since they were holding their wife/girlfriends purse as they walked around in
public … or so we thought. There is a
thing here straight out of a Jerry Seinfeld routine that can only be described
as a “Murse” (i.e. a Man Purse)! Now we
aren’t talking some big leather bag worthy of a National Geographic exploration
team, oh no, we are talking about a
small, delicate, highly decorated shiny leather bag in a variety of
colors … complete with a “spaghetti strap” handle to throw over your
shoulder. Just being next to one of
those things makes you start thinking pink may be an ok color for your next
pair of slacks! It really looks odd when
one is being carried by some guy who looks like he may have founded the Russian
Mafia. I now know why all the statues of Lenin here
look so angry!
We get to resume visits tomorrow. Can’t wait!!
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