March 4, 2009 Wednesday

Last night we woke up and decided to go to dinner. We called Yulia and she suggested an Italian restaurant called De Mario. We didn’t really know what expensive was, but because it was dark out and we would have to walk and it was just around the corner, we decided to try it. It was delicious!




She suggested it because they had both Russian and English names and descriptions on their menus. I had spaghetti with a bolognese meat sauce and Paul had Chicken Kyiv! Andy and Nathan - while it was nothing like the Chicken Kyiv that you are used to with the exploding center, it was by far the best your dad has ever eaten! I also had an apple juice which was delicious. I had heard how good their juices were and I was not disappointed. It was like drinking a wonderfully fresh apple right out of a glass. We shared a pear and nut strudel dessert that was fabulous. It looked like a crepe folded over with fresh chunks of pear in a raspberry sauce mixed with nuts. It also was warm. The price was comparable to going to an Applebees or TGIF back home.

Afterwards we went back to our flat and watched the movie “Taken” which we had on our computer. Thank you Evan for making this suggestion. It was really entertaining. We tried to get on the Internet again to talk to Evan but have found that it is near impossible to do in the evening.




That night we went to bed around 10:30 pm. I don’t think I ever went to sleep. I kept struggling so I began to pray. Sometimes when I have conflict about certain situations, none of which have to do with the adoption, I don’t sleep well. I kept feeling as if God wanted me to get up and read His word. Because I knew it wouldn’t hurt anything if I did, I got up around 12:30 went in the small Ukrainian kitchen and began to read where I left off the day before. Again, I feel God spoke and allowed me to know how I should pray.

Psalm 123 "Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us, for we have endured much contempt. We have endured much ridicule from the proud, much contempt from the arrogant."

Psalm 124 "Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth."

Psalm 125 "Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever."

I know that God is our help and promises to keep us strong in all situations. I will trust in Him for the outcome. I went back to bed and fell asleep around 2:00 am. I didn’t realize that Paul also didn’t sleep well. He woke up not long after I went to sleep and went to the little Ukrainian Kitchen to read his Bible. This morning we shared our stories. He too woke up feeling as if he should get up and read his bible and pray for the same issue that I did.

We both had coffee, got read for the day and decided to go for a walk around the town.

We walk basically in a square pattern. I wanted to say that on many blogs people had said that the girls have to have stiletto boots. Well, I must say that a lot of girls have boots that are heeled, but not all spiked like stilettos. There are many different styles and I saw many that were low heeled or even stylish flat ones. I think if you are going to travel here your best bet is to get black boots that cover your calves, almost to your knees. The more stylish the better. Bring a black coat that is mid length or longer. They wear all fabrics, like leather or pleather or even the puffy nylon kind --- but most have fur style collars. They were a lot of fashion type jeans, black dress pants or even short skirts of all varieties with leggings. They do wear makeup, but most were tactful. The guys wear black leather jackets mostly in all styles. Stocking caps and European shoes. You don’t see many tennis shoes unless they are the very fashionable type. People also walk very fast. Especially when crossing the street.

For all you Oklahoma folks or others interested in Route 66 we didn’t realize that it came this far. We will download a picture regarding this.
We also noticed Paul’s favorite pastime as we walked along the street….Craigslist Ukrainian style. It was little pieces of advertisement that extended at least 1 mile on a wall along the street. I recognized many that said “flat” with the little tabs you tear off like on a bulletin board at the grocery store. Paul's thinking of hiring a data entry person and getting it all online and naming it "Sergeslist.com".
We walk as far as, what we think is the train station. I took a picture of the inside.

Some man said something about the camera. I didn’t know if he was saying he would take a picture of us or to turn the camera off….so I put it away and then left quickly. It was a great walk.


Felt really good to get out in the sunshine……yes!!! I said sunshine! This is a gift here. It has been shining most of the day!

We went back to the flat and again took a nap. Now we wait until 5:00 pm for our appointment to get the referral for “D”. Paul prayed last night that we would see a miracle about “A”’s referral. We are hoping that God will show us grace and speed up the process, so that we can stay on our timeline of 5-6 weeks. This would mean that He would have to work something out with the government because it is totally out of our hands. After the referral we will go back to the flat and pack everything up and get on the train to the orphanage town. We will arrive there in the morning. We may not have internet after this, but are praying that we can keep you updated.

Thank you for your prayers…they are working…it has been a blessed trip!