We're killing time in Kiev waiting for an appointment for our second child, so we thought we'd share our list of Things to Know before traveling here. Just some funny thoughts that keep running through our brains....
1. When making plane reservations, choose a plane that has at least two engines, so that if one goes out over the Atlantic ocean, you have one engine to spare.
2. A laser sight might be helpful when using the "old style" toilets. (anyone who has been here will understand. If you haven't been here, you can email us for an explanation)
3. Nose plugs for public bathrooms would have been a really good idea....
4. If they tell you the bathroom is out behind the building, and it's more than 50 paces away, be prepared to close your eyes and hold your nose.
5. Sidewalks are merely overflow lanes for traffic.
6. Rollerblades may come in handy while trying to avoid traffic on sidewalks.
7. When driving on the sidewalk, always use blinker when making a turn around the side of the building.
8. Sidewalks are sometimes smoother than the roads, but not always.
9. One minute in America is equal to 10-12 minutes in Ukraine. For example, if someone tells you something will take 15 minutes, be prepared to wait 1.5 hours in American time.
10. Allow your body 10 (American) minutes to stop bouncing after any car ride.
11. Do not talk during a car ride - you will bite your tongue.
12. Never order the fish soup.
13. Make sure your driver gets more than 3-4 hours of sleep per night. Otherwise, be prepared to wake him up when he falls asleep driving 60 mph down the road.
14. Bring some sort of ground to air missile system to ward off the flies and mosquitoes. These things are huge!
15. If you make friends with an orphan with a pet lizard, make sure to check your bed before getting into it.
16. If you ride in the elevator in the Hotel Kharkov, bring a folding ladder so you can climb out of it when the elevator gets stuck between floors. It is also helpful to make sure that your elevator mates have all showered that day before getting on the elevator. (Yes, this really did happen!)
This is all in good fun - a sense of humor is critical to our sanity here. For the most part, things are going very well and we've met some very wonderful caring people. The director at the internat (orphanage for school age children) has been very helpful and Edward says this is the best internat he's ever been to. We have gotten to know some of the other kids at the camp and they are really great kids. I wish we could bring them all home with us. Some of them have amazing talents and a tremendous capacity for love. They also know how to have fun. Saturday night they had a "disco" which strongly resembled a 9th grade dance. And yes, Vika insisted that we come out and dance, which we did. I was never a good dancer, and I'm still not, but it was fun. We invented a new dance we are calling "The Mosquito" where you move to the music and swat mosquitoes at the same time.
We are holding up petty well. We do have a very nice apartment in Kharkov now, but we've only slept there twice. We ended up sleeping at the camp again on Saturday night, and last night we slept on the train back to Kiev for another appointment for our second child. So this makes like 7 different places we have slept in 2 weeks. I think we could sleep in the middle of I-4 at this point. Boy, do I miss I-4. The roads here are terrible, and the traffic is unbelievable. Greg says it's like riding the bumper cars at the carnival. Everybody is going a different direction on the same road.
We had a new experience the other day. Our driver found a farmer that sold us fresh cow's milk. He took them an empty water bottle and they filled it up. It was really good! Doesn't get much fresher than that!
I think that's it for now. Please keep praying for the court date, we will hopefully find out tomorrow. Thanks for your prayers and we will try to write again soon!
Blessings,
Sheri & Greg
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Ha ha the Mosquito Dance. That's funny! Blessings to you!
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