OUR DAY

We thought we'd provide everyone with some insight into our daily routine and our life here. The three photos are of the outside entrance to our apartment and the stairs leading up to our apartment door. Not exactly a pretty sight, huh?











This is typical though. The owners of the buildings don't do much for exterior upkeep. However, the owners of each apartment unit do a lot of work on the inside. The owner of our unit has refurbished the apartment and rents it to people like us. We have a small family room with satellite TV (over 1,000 channels), a bedroom with a double bed, a small kitchen, and a nicely done bathroom. We have air conditioning and a washer. Overall, the place is quite clean and "nice," but very small and definitely not a place you would consider from the outside. There are no bugs running around and we feel quite safe. (Again, once you get inside.)




Stephen is in heaven here. Our apartment is directly above a grocery store and right across the street from a flea market. We also have a bank, post office, and several restaurants within a couple of hundred yards of the apartment. We are extremely pleased with our living arrangements.

Each morning we get up and go to the orphanage for a 9:30-11am visit with Alexis. We are very fortunate to have a car and driver just for us, which makes getting to and from the orphanage easy. We return to the apartment about 11:15am. Stephen usually has fresh bread, meats, vegetables, and cheeses for making sandwiches. We do not get to return to the orphanage until 4pm so we have most of the afternoon off. The typical afternoon consists of picking a direction, take off walking, and stopping to poke our heads in every store/business we come to. Pam has come across some wonderful bakeries that way.

Our visit to the orphanage in the evening is from 4 to 6 pm. Afterward, we stop at the local post office and call the boys. (We can'twait to get home and see you, Darian and Trevor. We love you very much!!). We then have dinner out somewhere. At many restaurants, we break out a small travel book and point to the Russian/Ukrainian versions of such terms as chicken, ham, beef, etc. We then have "dinner surprise" and we have yet to be disappointed. The people here are genuinely wonderful and most anxious to acommodate us linguistically challenged Americans.

We then buy whatever we need for the next day (Alexis' stuff for the orhpanage, fruits and pastries for breakfast, etc) and head back to the apartment. Going up the apartment stairs at night requires a flashlight. We usually hit the sack at 10pm or so as our day is very exhausting.



That's all for now. Again, thanks for all your comments, prayers, and support. We do sincerely appreciate them. Alexis sends her love. She can't wait until we arrive home and has a big party to meet all of you.