Tuesday November 13, 2007

On my way to the Internet café this morning, I snapped some pictures. Some of these consisted of the underground walkway used to get across the busy intersection. These are not lighted and I would not consider using these in the evening. They are a clever idea, if you can get past the smell of rancid urine, yet like anywhere in the world, these tunnels seem to attract the wannabe artists with cans of spray paint.


Outside our Apartment on my way to the Internet Cafe


Shoe Shop and Bottle Return Outside our Apartment


Crepe Shop Where We Had Crepes The Previous Night



Shops On My Way - Walking to the Internet Cafe


Entry/Exit to Underground Walkway



Underground Walkway Between Busy Intersection (By Internet Cafe)



Graffiti in Underground Walkway


Internet Cafe

Yesterday Natalie (our translator) told me she was going to purchase a birthday cake today and share it with everyone as today was her 30th birthday. The tradition here in Ukraine is to purchase a cake yourself on your birthday and share it with everyone. I forgot to inform Cheryl of this small detail and was embarrassed I had all but forgotten about this myself. I was up at the Internet café when Cheryl called to remind me of Natalie’s birthday. I arranged to meet Natalie, Cheryl, Roman, Nadia and one of her friends at the Internet café where we would then go have lunch.


Nadia and Her Friend, Sneezhana

To celebrate, we had lunch at a pizza parlor called The Underground. It was well named. To get to the doors, you had to walk down probably 50ish stairs to reach the café. This was a new restaurant we have never tried, located right around the corner from the Internet café. It was quite a nice place and seemed to attract more the college-type crowd. Nadia brought along a friend of hers, Sneezhana. After she was introduced to me, Cheryl leaned over to me and told me how to remember her name: “remember ‘sneeze – on – ya’”). The visual image worked and I never forgot her name during our entire lunch.


Lunch at the Underground Cafe


Lunch at the Underground Cafe


Cheryl - Lunch at the Underground Cafe


After lunch we walked to town and got pictures taken of Roman and Nadia for their passports and other necessary procedures (medical examinations, US embassy, Nadia’s visa – required for her as she is 16 years old, etc.). We then went shopping for gifts. It is customary for the children to give gifts to their favorite teachers and friends prior to leaving. We ended up purchasing an obscene amount of chocolate, even for U.S. standards. When we went to the check-out counter, I was even surprised we ended up spending almost 225Ugr ($45) on chocolate.


Micky Dees - Sumy Ukraine

On our way home, we picked up a few items. Nadia purchased some Sparklers. She borrowed a lighter from her new friend at the shoe repair shop and lit her sparklers off. In America, these would be a lawsuit waiting to happen. The sparklers have no handle – you just light them and about 1” before they finish burning, you throw them away so you will not burn your fingers. Anyway, they were a fun diversion and an appropriate way to celebrate Natalie’s birthday.


Nadia Lighting Her Sparklers In Front of Shoe Repair Shop


For dinner, we celebrated Natalie’s birthday with a dish of cooked cabbage mixed with sautéed carrots, beef chunks, and onions – Ukrainian style. This was served with rice which I was able to cook. (Thank heavens rice is an international food I can cook – two measures of water to one measure of rice). Natalie provided the cake which was a most unusual, but delicious cake. It was a combination of white cake, chocolate cream, and a layer of meringue baked right into the cake to provide an almost crunchy texture. The cake was covered with a chocolate frosting. After we sang happy birthday to Natalie, we sang it international style at Roman’s request – Roman sang in Surgic (a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian), Cheryl and I in English, and Nadia in French.


Birthday Dinner for Natalie, Our Translator

After dinner, Cheryl gave a dreaded English lesson. To make it interesting, she played a variation of hangman. Nadia, Roman and Cheryl each had a hangman’s noose. Cheryl would then ask questions such as “what is the name of your new school?” or “write down and repeat your complete address”. Of course, all answers had to be in English. She then prepared a page of facts about our family such as names of her and my siblings, where we worked, etc. She would then give each of them about 30 seconds to look at the page and then ask a question such as “give me the names of two of your cousins” or “what is the name of one of your aunts?” Each correct answer would put a body part on her noose, each wrong or incomplete answer would go against Roman or Nadia.

This time I’ll have to say that I was quite impressed with Cheryl’s method and her imagination. Although, so many things have happened on this trip, i.e., bright ideas - flashes on inspiration – the incidents that a skeptic may deem as coincidental. I have been humbled many times as I gratefully acknowledge these small “tender mercies of the Lord” in blessing our endeavor to adopt these wonderful children.