A Day of Rest

3/29/2009

Today is Sunday, and we took the day to listen to a sermon from Dallas, sleep in and hike to the grocery store/mall. It was a good day, but we missed our visit with Nina. As we walked back to our apartment at the end of the day, Jordan looked up as we passed the baby house and said, "Hi Nina!" She, of course, couldn't hear him, but it was a sweet thought. The lights were on inside the baby house, but we could not see anything.

The extra sleep was so good for us. We feel refreshed and alive again. The fatigue was overwhelming. Jordan suggested going for a run, and I declined. I miss running, but I feel the drain of the experience. In lieu of a run, we walked for an hour to a mall which also had a grocery store. We sat for coffee first, then shopped. We didn't really buy anything except a few movies (in English.) The guy in the movie store spoke a few words of English--a very rare occurrence. We appreciated his help and input about the movie selections. Then, we went to the grocery store, but we had a bag. So, Jordan had to wait for me outside while I shopped. Many people checked out my basket as I went through the store... I guess popcorn, pizza and potato chips are not very common purchases here! FYI... you are charged for the larger shopping bags from the store. I tried to exchange my large plastic bag for the small one (always trying to save money.) My translation from the sales clerk is that she had already charged me. I even tried to put it back, and she would not allow that. So, I ended up paying for the larger bag. Ugh! I learned that you must ask for the "malenkiy" bags at the start of check out... so many things to learn!

It was starting to get late, so Jordan and I began our hour walk back to the apartment. As dusk set in, we started speaking Spanish on the street to confuse any passersby. This was fun only due to the fact that I know more Spanish than Russian.

We used the washing machine and hung our clothes out to dry. We also used the stove to heat up our pizza, which was different from Pizza Hut but still tasty, "kosna."

We met a family on the airplane on our way into Kiev who were from Florida. They are visiting with children here in the Ukraine. Please pray for them: the Perry's.

We talked to the stateside kiddos today. Jordan and I miss them bunches. Thanks again for prayers and for loving on our kiddos back home.