Just Another Adventure

Obviously having fun!

Like I've said before, plans keep changing over and over again or things not going as planned, it's just all a normal day/week here in Slavutich. We went on a field trip to Kiev this last weekend with some American families, Ukrainian and French students. We were up by 5:30 am for our 3 or so hour trip. Our first stop in Kiev ended up being our first "short cut", as we got to see some back country on a one lane dirt road with old fashioned wells with buckets for collecting water….yep we were lost, although we had cell service, I would challenge anyone to describe where we were such that we could be found. It's a good thing we had Alex and Helen along (locals), to ask directions and get us to our destinations. We went to an outdoor folk museum and learned about Ukrainian lifestyle and history in the different regions of the country and time periods, it was very neat. Some of the houses are still houses found today in the local villages. After picnic lunches the bus took us to our next destination, I believe without getting lost. Thanks to Marci (my sister-in-law) and some teenagers on the bus we had enough camp songs to endure another hour on the bus. We waited for nearly another hour waiting in line at the water museum but it was well worth it. We had an interesting and fun tour, played with bubbles and actually pet fish! Back in the bus... and 5 circles around the city center we made it to the zoo. Of course, the rain started. We split off into groups and our team, team Madagascar (the four of us with a couple of teenagers) headed off on our self guided tour. We saw flamingos, yaks, storks, ostriches, bison, porcupines, red deer, a few African planes animals, tigers, lions and a rhino that we were so close too we could almost touch it. It was quite comical, every time we went to take a picture, the animals were either trying to mate or going potty; even a human couple looked like they were deep in courting season! We had to make a twalette (toilet) stop and let's just say that it was so awful that I can't even write how bad it was. They took care of the animals’ quarters much, much better than the human ones. Once we finished our tour, with the kids mostly wet and cold; we got back on the bus, we had yummy sandwiches and juice for dinner (thanks to Helen) and headed home. Of course, as a normal part of our life, at our first potty break, the bathrooms at the gas station were out of order. The driver stopped a little further down the road and the restroom there worked; although, the lights did go out briefly (for about 3 minutes….they went off automatically at closing time) while some of us were still…..well, using the restroom, and when the lights go out, it’s completely dark! We managed to get home safe and sound around 11:00pm and had a fun day of sightseeing!




Petting the fish



Yes, she can almost touch the rhino!



This is our 3rd week of school and it’s still going well. Our schedule for extracurricular activities has already changed, so we will be adjusting to that schedule. I expect it will change a few more times before November. Oh well, we are just going with the flow; there’s nothing else we can do. Meals and grocery shopping will probably always be one thing or another. This week I actually planned a meal for every day (keeping in mind what is usually easy to get at the store). Ry and I made a quick stop at one store during Ellie's ballet and after we were home for a while I noticed a “rotten egg smell” when I went to the fridge. Later when I pulled our newly purchased meat out and opened the package, it was quite clear where the bad smell came from, I nearly gagged. I even debated whether or not the meat was actually good (but I was hungry, it was after 6pm and I had to go to exercise that night, I was looking forward to a MEAL)! Instead I had a bowl of cereal (something that pretends to be Cheerios, and milk that tastes like dry milk and canned milk combined); not very satisfying or enjoyable to say the least. Don’t worry, Tony made the rest of the family eggs and toast while I went to exercise (in a bit of a huff). Sadly the next store trip was not any better, two of the meals I planned called for red peppers, which was wilting, rotten, and somewhat bug infested. So much for choosing something that I thought I could rely on, uuugh. Sigh, I think the meal stuff is the one thing that will actually frustrate me while I’m here, most anything else is no big deal!



Striking a pose for me :)



Hey, on the brighter side we will be going to Egypt in a couple of weeks! We are all looking forward to a break from our very busy weeks and the girls are looking forward to seeing in person what we have been studying the last couple of weeks.

Walking to one of our many activities!

Getting Used to the Unusual

It is beginning to feel normal here; that is, normal for Ukraine! Of course it is not like Tri-Cities, it's just that we know what to expect around here. What is that you ask? Pretty much we expect all plans not to go according to plan, the funny thing is, it continues to work out and we always seem to have a good time. We learn to let all the nuances and inconveniences slide on past. For example, you scheduled a delivery with all the help you can get in English or in Russian, and of course it gets delivered in an hour instead of in 3 days like it had been planned. The bus and train rides are always an adventure, but it would feel odd now if it wasn't. The last bus trip we took was so crammed with people that they were standing in the isle the length of the bus for the hour long trip. To start this fabulous bus trip a live spider landed in front of me right on Ellie's hair (can't decide if I prefer the live or the dead bugs landing on me)! Ellie had to sit on my lap so many parts of my lower appendages were numb. Rylie was on Tony's lap and we were both shoulder to shoulder, they don't make the seats for fat Americans. Getting off the bus is never easy, it's always in a rush, and of course it's the Ukrainian way. At least the temperature was reasonable and the smaller bus on the way home from Chernigov offers the ever fabulous whole body bouncing therapy! Not only does it put you to sleep, it bounces you awake and is sure to put bruises into various muscle groups. A day in the life of.....right?!



Taking a break on our tour of Chernigov, beautiful September day!


The girls are doing great in school.  They still sing about going to school in the morning even though lining up for class is in our hallway outside of the dining room/classroom;  they are so cute.  At one point Ellie raised her hand and called me "Miss Mom".  We join other American kids and some French children for an occasional science class and P.E.  The girls are in gymnastics and piano, and Ellie is currently taking private lessons in ballet!  Last week we made Roman pillars out of cookie dough, and then we ate them, yummy.  This weekend we are going on a field trip with Ukrainian, American and Russian kids to Kiev to see some of their folk museums, a water museum and a zoo!

The girls are picking the walnuts from the tree in the front yard.  This requires tree climibing, always fun to do.  Their hands are stained a horrible brown color from removing the husk and I cannot get it to come off!  Even having them wash dishes isn't doing the trick; I could always try bleach (tee hee)!

First Day of School!

The girls were very, very excited for their first day of school!  We practiced some lessons last week and that went well. This weekend Tony and Ellie put together a desk and a bookshelf for school.  Ellie sat at the finished desk on Saturday and asked if we could do school right then!  Earlier we walked to the stationary store and bought a binder for the girls to hold their math work and we bought a pencil holder for Ellie's new desk.  They carried all these items in their backpacks so proudly; there's nothing like buying new school supplies!  I picked out outfits from their bins to wear on the first day of school and the girls squealed with delight when they saw them!

I was nervous about the first day of school because and I didn't want to dissapoint the girls; they were so looking forward to their First Day!  The day started with an orientation to our "classroom" and I came up with a couple of craft ideas to go along with their regular school work.  We fumbled through the lessons (I'm still learning the K12 stuff, it has a lot of things to learn); I think the girls had fun, they seemed excited to tell dad all about their day!

The end of Summer

On the train with friends!

Waiting for our bus after a tiring day of walking,
swimming, & perusing the market

So here are a few pictures of the last few things we did this summer.  Just ordinary stuff.  The weather cooled off a little so we have gone from the miserable & muggy heat to pants and jackets in a matter of a week or two.  It's a comfortable temperature out now, hopefully it will stay like this for a while!

Backyard fun, Babooshka Anna cleaned her with the hose!

The girls started a gymnastics class.  It is mostly fitness and learning trampalene work.  Their coach, Konstantinovich is showing our weak American children how to get fit and they are learning that there is no cheating, not even for 5 year olds!  Between the solid Russian/Ukranian training in gymnastics and the P.E. class that the girls will be taking with our former MI6 agent; we are pretty sure the girls will be getting quite fit and well trained!

Our last trip to Chernigov we went to the movie theater to watch Despicable Me, of course, it was in Ukranian.  We expected that, but we knew it would still be funny despite not understanding a single word.  Ellie must not have gotten the memo, after a few minutes into the movie she leaned over to me and said, "Mom, I don't understand anything they are saying."  It took her a little while, but I think she evenutally started enjoying the movie.  The funniest part was although we laughed at all the visual and physical comedy, we looked pretty dumb just sitting like silent statues while the rest of the crowd was laughing at something that was said.  I almost began laughing with the local people just so we wouldn't stand out!

Rylie, Ellie and Faith in front of the Chernigov train station.