We're Still Here - Wednesday, Feb.25th

Sorry we haven’t written, but there hasn’t been much to tell. We have been going to the orphanage every day, reading, cooking, and watching Soprano’s. And the last time we went to the Potato House, we didn’t meet anyone new. It is still really cold.

We have been waiting for the judge to give us our court date. We had high hopes for a date by the end of February, but we are out of luck. March 10th. We are disappointed, but not surprised; everyone has warned us not to expect things to go as planned. Galya is hoping to talk to the judge tomorrow morning to see if there is any chance of an earlier date. If she can’t, we have to decide whether to stay, knowing that we have at least 4 more weeks here; or spend the money to come home for 7 days. It would not be so bad to stay if we could take Elona out of the orphanage during the day. Hanging out at our apartment and going to the market is a lot more fun. Anyway, we will make our decision after we hear from Galya tomorrow.

There are a few things about Sevastopol that we have not told you about.
Dried fruit is really big here. The photo’s show the beautiful colors at the tables in the market. I have been sampling different cookies each time we go to the market. Most of them have some kind of fruit inside. They also have wonderful coconut macaroons. A lot of the men here carry purses. Not the shoulder-strap man-bags you see in the U.S sometime. These look like miniature doctors bags, but with more buckles.

The fashions here are similar to Kiev, but a lot less black, more color. Still lots of boots. And on warmer days (there have not been many), boy the skirts are short.

You ask any of the English speaking guys what the best thing about the Ukraine is and they will all say ‘the cheap beer’. You can buy it everywhere and anytime. You can drink it walking up the street at 8:00 in the morning and we have been told you can even drink it on the bus, though we have not seen anyone.

There are lots of music videos on TV and they are really bad and really trashy. They have stuff like Animal Planet and Discovery with Russian dubbed in over the top of the English.

One of the funniest things that happened was a day that we were waiting in the government building waiting for some paperwork. A very tall, very blonde woman comes out and asks Galya a question. Galya laughs. It seems that this woman had read our home study and saw that my brother Frank was divorced. She wanted to know if my brother was interested in meeting a nice Ukrainian Girl. So, there you go Frank….let me know if you in the market.

Well that is all for now. Who knows….we might be home this weekend. We will let you know.

Kelley and Roger