4/21/04 6:45 PM

OOPS—Just noticed that when we upload several days at a time they are in reverse order on blogger---sorry..I’ll fix that when we get back--

A great day today.. The chestnut and apricot trees are in bloom—Forsythia are in their full glory in every yard. No wind, lots of sun, temps in the upper 60’s. Optimism (despite no court date today) is in the air!

We spent a wonderful afternoon in Kyiv. Turnabout is fair play, Max! (he was stuck in Ivankiv working on getting a speedy (too late for that?) court date while we were enjoying the big city.)

Kyiv really comes alive in the spring. Sidewalk cafes, street performers A bustle, but at a comfortable pace—this is a grand city!

We needed an “American” fix and dined at TGI Fridays under the American flag. The menu was similar to the US. Prices were about the same as home (high by Ukrainian standards, but we got skins, A couple of bowls of soup a burger and a club sandwich plus 2 cokes each for just over 100uah—about 20USD.) Food quality was great—The only difference I noticed was in the bacon on the potato skins—It was closer to German bacon than American- But still yummy.

From Friday’s to the Internet cafй (it’s right next door) and we decided to splurge and both get a computer. It cost an extra 1USD (but hey, we’re worth it) Nice to get caught up—I’m able to check all my mail except work email—So if someone is trying to reach me at clearchannel.com—sorry it does not like being accessed from the IP address at the Internet cafй. Thanks for all the hits—please pass along the web address to anyone you might know who’d like to follow along.

We walked up to Independence Square, stopping for our fave treat—a 1 UAH McCone—My Ukrainian is getting better- I was able to order and not have them answer back in English. Stopped off at the Mall to look for something to read—nothing looks good in the English section—Kyiv Post won’t come out till tomorrow—and my Ukrainian is not ready to stray from the English section-- oh well.

We were getting set to take a cab back to Shevchenka Square when Mary spotted the bus stop. We scanned for a bus going our way—and found one! Hey, we’re getting the hang of this—even in Cyrillic. Climbed on board the mini bus for 1UAH (Cab costs between 20 and 40 –depending on if they peg you for a tourist), then transferred onto our minibus to Ivankiv—This is easy!

Get back into town and decided to head to get a phone card for us and some fruit and kefir for the kids. We ran into Tanya, Dima and Max at the phone card store—that doubles as the passport photo store and computer repair shop. It was wonderful to see the kids again—and a joy to see how their faces lit up when we walked into the store. Max likes to have PLENTY of photos, so after 8 front view and 8 right ear view for each we bid Max farewell and head to the market for treats for the kids. Bananas, Kefir, some soda and Dima conned us into some “bacon rings” Think bacon flavored Funions--Ummmmmm.

We headed back to the orphanage for the 90 minutes or so before dinner. Tanya and Dima are in great moods too. We talk about everything including—(I almost forgot) WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!!! Locked in stone we’ll be before the judge at 3pm Kyiv Time Friday—Set your alarm for 5am (PST) to say a prayer for us. FINALLY there is a light at the end of the “Tunnel of Ukrainian fun”! More on that in a bit.

Tanya is very excited that we are nearly ready to go—I’m not sure Dima understands it all. We talked about Friday being her last day at the orphanage. We plan to all leave to Kyiv (assuming that the 30 days is waived) Friday early evening. We may need to come back up here on Monday, but we really want to get them into our family and get all of us to Kyiv. Hopefully we can get their check up for the US Embassy on Saturday and be ready for an appointment at the Embassy Monday afternoon or Tuesday Morning.


Okay—I’m rambling now—

Tomorrow, Mary and I celebrate our anniversary. We are going to get up early and go to Kyiv—do some shopping, eat an early lunch and be back here to meet Tanya after school at 3 and walk with her to pick up Dima from Kindergarten at 5—We should be able to update daily from here on out---


Jim and Mary