happy anniversary to us...

the beginning of the parade

we liked seeing the kids.

good to be OUTSIDE today, although Ivanna likes the camera as much as Shona.



Well, after supper last night, Darren and I went to the store to find some dessert (we managed to find a very yummy Napoleon Tort) and went home. We sat, ate dessert and watched Mike Myers - “The Spy Who Shagged Me”. Not normally my kind of movie but I will admit it did make me laugh a bit and certainly got our minds off the day. This morning I was awake at 5 am for some crazy reason (and so Darren was mostly awake then too – I’m not exactly calm and peaceful when I wake up and want to be asleep). We got a couple of wonderful phone calls this morning (from JP/Tanis and my mom and dad) to wish us a happy anniversary. Who would think 9 years would go by so fast? Kind of hard to believe! Anyway, we got up, ready to go and walked down to Kreschatyk -- pretty close to tSUM (for those of you who've been here). The day started out lovely as we walked but soon clouded over and got colder. The parade was not exactly what we expected. We were thinking there might be some old tanks, trucks, etc… which would be neat to see. Nope. The parade was basically a parade of people walking (or parading, if you will) by, interspersed with a few of marching bands. It was an honour to see the few actual veterans going by, and it seemed as though the different groups included veterans, spouses and even extended family. But then the end of the parade consisted of big groups of several of the political parties. (D -- it definately looked like politicians were trying to co-opt the day a bit. It was a bit strange, especially when I thought I saw a man carrying a photo of Stalin and a flower. I didn't think that he had many admirers. Hmm) We left then as it had also started to rain a bit. Overall – not really worth seeing, but who would have known (not us). Anyway, we’ve decided to stop at home to write this (and have a little snack of Napoleon), have a little nap, do a little reading (Shona) and writing (Darren), then head out to visit our daughter for a little bit. We’ll go out for dinner (and try to post this) later.
Paka for now.
Later…so we’re just back from our very brief visit to the orphanage. Happily, Ivanna came down the stairs dressed in a toque and snowsuit (no it’s not THAT cold, but they like to keep the kids warm when outside). Yup. YAY! We got to go outside today. It was lovely (other than the weather was very grey). Ivanna was pretty subdued today, but continues to show more initiation in what she wants to do when she’s with us. She would get up and look back for a hand and when given to her, would lead the way. We spent some time having a snack, walking around, looking at the chickens next door and then when I asked her if she wanted a cookie (maybe she’s starting to understand some English?) she led the way back to the little table where we’d left our stuff (and chose a ‘vaffly’). Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, the weather got worse and started to rain quite steadily with a little thunder and lightning. So, we headed back in. Once there Ivanna took my hand again and headed off in the direction of the stairs to her rooms, but at the bottom of the stairs made a valiant attempt to hang a left and go investigate the rooms in that direction (the forbidden corridor mentioned previously). Darren then got a little snuggle and we took her back to her group. We are unified in thinking/feeling that it’s much better to have a short visit than none. We sure love our time with her.

(D) We got pretty soaked on our walk back to the train platform, but thankfully, the rain had pretty much stopped by the time we arrived. The train was fairly busy, so we just stayed in the entrance. A young man tried to strike up a conversation with us. Shona tried saying, “Ya ne gavaru pa Ruski.” (‘I don’t speak Russian’) So he turned to me and started talking. I said the same thing, along with ‘I don’t understand’ (in Russian – likely poorly pronounced). It didn’t really seem to matter. Eventually, a group of three teenagers came in, and the young man asked the teenage boy something about English. He then starting chatting a bit with me (What country are you from? What are you doing in Ukraine? How is Ukraine different from Canada?...). We chatted for a while as his two female friends smiled and giggled a bit (they were probably 16 or 17). Eventually, the three friends went to sit in the train and the young man continued to try to talk with us in Russian. We tried to get what he was saying for a while, but eventually resorted to just smiling. He kept talking for a while and then gave up. We think he may have been trying to get us to give him money, but we’re not really sure. It was nice to talk to a stranger wanting to try out his English, but kind of uncomfortable talking with the other fellow. He was always friendly, and would come close and tap our arms when telling/asking us something. We just could not communicate.

Now we are heading out for our anniversary supper (guess where). Hope you are all well and continuing to enjoy our adventure.