Today I was really hoping to hear from Ksenia that we could go to the bank and withdraw Sergei's money. I did not hear from her all morning, so just before lunch I called. She had not been able to get through to anyone at the bank. She said she would keep trying. I was disappointed, but not surprised. We did not have much to do. Yarik and I decided to go downtown to buy a few more gifts. His friend, Sasha Z. met us as we left the building. We took a bus downtown. Got off past the stop we should have and had to walk part way back. We checked out the open air market to see if they had any souvenirs available today, but evidently Mondays most of the regular vendors are not open and they have kind of like a giant yard sale with lots of second hand clothes.
Yarik had wanted to buy a soccer book for one of his friends, so we went to the bookstore. After that, Yarik had expressed interest in a haircut, which Darren and I had suggested weeks ago. So we went to the salon where I had gotten my hair done. Sasha decided to get his cut as well. There was no one at the salon when we arrived so the boys sat and waited. I knew there was another shop with souvenirs that Anika had showed me that was not far from the Salon, so while the boys waited, I went and got a few gifts for my family.
Soon after I got back, several girls went into the salon. They closed the door and had not said anything to us, so we were not sure if they were back open, or still on a break. As time passed, I figured they should soon be ready, so I told Yarik to ask how soon he could get his hair cut. He was too shy, but Sasha poked his head in and they said to come right in. There were two of them, so both boys started at the same time. Meanwhile, Vitalli was also on his way and when Yarik was about half way done, he arrived and decided to get a trim as well. Yarik finished first and Vitalli took his spot. When all three were done, I paid and we walked back to the apartment. Vitalli showered first and then later Yarik. They all had little pieces of hair still on them. The open arms gals had invited us for dinner that evening, so we were looking forward to joining them.
This morning I had woken up with almost no voice. Sergei thought it was quite amusing. It did not hurt, but I sounded awful. Since we had some time before we had to leave, I tried to take a nap. I texted Anika to find out about the bus number and texted Ksenia to see if she could check on passports. I got the bus numbers and then a response from Ksenia...no passports yet.
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| Chelsea with a couple of the guys they minister to |
After a short rest, I wanted to sort through the things that I did not want to take back to America. I packed up one bag of things to give to the Open Arms gals and tried to organize the rest of my stuff. If we do get to leave the next day, I want to be ready! Once I was done, it was time to catch the bus. Sergei did not want to go. I told him he had to go and we did not have to stay long. The bus was super crowded when we boarded. It did thin out closer to their stop so we got seats for the last few minutes. Sergei had not been there before, so he was curious about where we were going.
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| Anika and Melissa cooking |
We got to their building and took the elevator. The girls welcomed us and the place smelled yummy with dinner cooking. We exchanged greetings and I gave them the bag of goodies. They were thankful for the contributions to their apartment. It was nice to visit and talk about lots of different things. The new Visa rules meant they could not stay in country as long as they used to be able to. They would have to return to America in another month and they hoped to return after Christmas, but it depended on when they could get Visas again.
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| Our soup! Yum....and mayo for the Ukrainians to add |
We had some chicken noodle soup and garlic bread. Then the boys started playing on the Wii. The girls had put in MarioCart and it was so fun to watch Sergei's face as he raced. Both boys really got into the game. We had been there about an hour and a half, so I asked Sergei if he was ready to leave. By then he realized it was not so bad and wanted to stay. Next they put in Just Dance 2 and the boys took turns challenging different people. Sergei played several rounds in a row and had sweat all over his face. They really got into it. We had fun, but they were getting tired, so we said our good-byes and went back home.
After we got off the bus near our apartment, we went in to the grocery store to get some eggs. They have been eating them by the half dozen and we were out again. As we passed the fruit, the boys wanted some plums and kiwis, so we got those, the eggs, some yogurt and then some chocolate.
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| Playing Wii |
Back at the apartment we ate some fruit, Yarik wanted to Skype with Katya's older sister who is studying in America for awhile. Sergei and I watched some soccer on TV, while Yarik talked to his friend. After Yarik was done, I chatted with Darren and then called his cell phone as he and TJ were driving home from visiting Pappy. I was wiped out from being a little sick and from a busy day. Sergei had already fallen asleep and Yarik was ready to go to sleep as well. So we called it a day once more. Praying for good news the next day.
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