Day Two in Sevastopol - Friday, Feb. 13th.

Happy Birthday Cathy – Roger’s sister-in-law Cathy is a life saver, she is staying at the house with Ben while we are away. Thanks again Cathy.

Roger and I had great anxiety over our first introduction with Elona, she looked so frightened. Galya is picking us up at 4:00 and showing us how to take the bus to the orphanage.
In the mean time, I will try out the washer/dryer and we will go walk around Sevastopol for the first time.

Still cloudy and light rain for time to time, Roger is really ready for some sunshine. Again it seems that our new apartment is close to the middle of everything. Last night Kostia and Galya dropped us off at ‘The Potato House’, a place that Pam and Len recommended for pizza. It is located right on the water (the Black Sea) and it was no more than a 5-10 minute walk home.
Today we walked up the main street and to the ferry. From there we could see the sea. It is very nice and the water is clean. There is not the smell like you get in most large ports, no salt air, no fishy smell. We walked back towards our apartment and headed for the market.

The market has everything here in small kiosks all packed together is long rows on both sides. There are plumbing fixtures, cleaning products, boots, clothes, souvenirs and more. Around the corner there is a large building. Inside is the fresh food market. Tables and tables of fresh meat, some tables have chicken and eggs, some pork and others beef, all cuts and sizes. At one table are whole skinned rabbits, we can tell because the fur is still attached on the feet. Along another row are cheeses. One woman is giving samples to taste so I step right up and she gives us 4 different Swiss cheeses to try. They are delicious and we pick sample number 3. Something for Roger to eat with the pepperonis we brought from home. Back outside we walk by all the fresh fruits and vegetable stands. We pick up a few more things and head back to the apartment

Back at the apartment I work on catching up on the blog…..got behind a couple days. You will have to forgive me, but this is as much a journal as a blog. Now we are waiting for Galya. She is late because of traffic. We take off finally about 4:30. The bus stop is less than a 5 minute walk. Galya says is comes by often. We are only there for a few minutes when but 109A arrives and we get on. We have the same traffic problems. Normally it should take about 20 minutes. We get off at the stop – we walk up the hill about 1 block to Orphanage #2. It is after 5:00, we will not have much time.

We are shown into a small cozy room with a sofa and some small school desks. Soon Elona comes in, she is all smiles, she has with her the same white stuffed dog we gave her the first day. She runs back out and comes back with the picture book that we had sent her back in January with pictures of our family, our house, the pets, Grandma, Robbin, Cathy & Steve, Frank and Trevor. We are relieved to know that she received it and was a little familiar. Galya translated a letter from Ben to his new sister. She listens intently and then smiles at the end. Good job Ben. She runs and gets some drawings that she has done, to show us. This is all good, she want to impress us. I brought with us one of Ben’s ‘I Spy’ books and all four of us start to play. This is great; we have a good time laughing together. Then she must go to dinner….she asked if we will wait. Galya says no, we will be back tomorrow at 2:00. She smile and waves good-by.

We feel so much better. We get home – work on the blog and then walk back down to the Potato House for dinner and toast to our new family with beer and orange soda.

New adventure tomorrow – we take the bus alone and we visit Elona without Galya. Yikes!