header-photo

Wandering around

Walk through Independence Square: check

Eat Ukrainian food: check

Get our luggage shipped: check

Get a good night’s sleep: nyet.

Ok, some things take time I guess, but we’re hoping it’ll be better tonight. It was a cold day today, overcast and windy. Everyone was bundled up in jackets and scarves, looking in awe at my wife and I as we wandered through the streets of Kiev in shorts and T-shirts. It was great to be walking in the city and seeing so many other people hustling and walking around through the sounds of motor vehicles, horns and false car alarms all mingled together.

It took us a while to find the Van Nice family in front of TGI Friday’s. In fact Brigitte was instructing me over the mobile phone to slowly turn left…a little more…a little more…until I saw someone frantically waving! We just didn’t have our bearings because when we passed the same point last evening, we were tired and didn’t have a true picture in our head of what the city looked like. So we went through the underground pedestrian crossing to the other side and connected with them. We had lunch at a good Ukrainian cafeteria (swore not to eat American food while we’re staying here) and chatted about various things: the adventures we go through while gathering our dossier documents was the central topic. Finally we had a good coffee at an adjacent coffee house before they left to pack and headed to the station to board the overnight train.

Olga did some shopping for us today and we chatted for a while in the afternoon while visiting. She answered our questions regarding tomorrow’s appointment, checked on our luggage with British Airways and translated the words on the washing machine. We’re now comfortable with washing clothes without risking serious damage to those delicates we brought with us (not!!). We ended the evening chatting on Skype with my parents and a video chat with our friend O from Texas. Yes, Lori can be quite moody when she’s having a bad hair day. Hopefully her luck will turn tomorrow, although things are stacking up against her as it’s raining tonight.

2 clicked here to comment!:

The McEacherns said...

Glad to hear that you made it there. It's a great time of year to be in Ukraine. We are praying that you get some good rest and that your SDA appointment goes well. Blessings!

Dave Baldacchino said...

Thanks guys, seems like the praying paid off so far, except for the sleep part! In fact I'm really tired right now but decided to stay up past 12:30am so I can finally sleep longer than one 3 hour chunk. Lori is doing the same. We'll see if that works!