Life in Kherson

We have gotten into a routine here in Kherson. We get up and eat breakfast, and then Jacob starts on his school work. We have about realized that we will need to go to the market almost every day. This is not bad, because it gives us a chance to get out. We do plan out our meals for eat day but we also do not want to buy too much because we have to carry it back to our apartment, up four flights of stairs. One of the things we run out of the fastest is beverages. Richard loves Cola Light, which is similar to Diet Coke, and since he is a diabetic it is working out for him. Since it gets dark here by 4:30pm we don’t want to be going to the market after dark. This city is a port off the Black Sea and there are all kinds of people, such as sailors here. Our translator told us not to venture out after dark. We all want to be on the computer to email (mother is the email queen), blog, play a game, make phone calls, etc. So we are trying to work out different times of the day to get on the computer. Our translator has gone back to Kiev to submit documents to the SDA. She should be back here in Kherson by Saturday or Sunday. She made arrangements for a taxi driver to pick us up every day at 3:00pm and takes to the boarding school. Then at 4:30 he comes back and takes us to our apartment. Our new boy is always excited to see us. We usually bring him some candy, puzzles, coloring books, toy etc. We end up playing with the PSP most of the time. Our translator said that this is all very new to him and to let him experience it for now. After we get back to our apartment we fix supper, like last night we had chicken spaghetti, peas, bread, and hot tea (our designated drink for each meal). After supper one of us is back on the computer (which is hardly left alone), we read, watch a movie or play cards (uno or hand & foot). Mother has brought her knitting and has about completed half of a baby blanket. Then to bed we go to start another day.

Our Apartment
Our apartment is fairly nice. We have two bedrooms, kitchenette, living area, balcony to hang our laundry and bathroom. We have windows in everyone room that open up. Our bathroom is one of the nicest we have had since we have been here. It has a toilet(that does not run all the time), a bath tub with sprayer (so we can stand up and shower), a large water tank (in case the water is cut off by the government) and our new addition a washing machine (directions in sysmbols). The men brought the washing machine yesterday and today the plumbers came to hook it up. We had to hand wash things for the last few days. There are radiators in every room except the bathroom, which really keep the apartment warm. They are also wonderful drying machines Ha. You can put a damp shirt or pants on the radiators and in 3 to 4 hours they are dry. We have put things on the clothes line on the balcony but they have been drying very fast. The hot water we have is not just hot it is like have one of those hot water dispensers on your sink for hot drinks. Mother and I believe it is almost boiling when it comes thru the faucet. I have scalded myself several times and maybe I will learn eventually. There are two front doors to the apartment. They both have two different types of keys that I have not seen before but at least we feel safe. There is also a metal door to enter the building that has another type of key, but since every time we are going or coming it seems to open. There are numerous dogs and cats here in Kherson. Most of the dogs are friendly, I believe because they hope they will get a hand out from someone. We have seen a couple of people feeding them. The dogs are out during the day and the cats come out at night. You can hear the cats at night howling and some dogs barking. This morning we had the windows open and you could hear the roosters crowing.

People
Most people are walking or riding a bus. New cars and even used cars are just too expensive. A used car would cost them $30,000. So you see people walking to the market, shopping etc. The Ukrainian people also like things to be clean. There are always people sweeping the sidewalks with these short corn brooms. They even sweep the leaves with theses brooms. They don’t use a mop but a thin towel or cloth wrapped on the end of an upside down T. Then they take the towel off the staff and dunk in the pail of soap water ring it out and put it back on the staff and continue to mop. When we go to the boarding school it seems there are more people cleaning and taking care of the place than you would see back home. Also there seems to so many workers in the market, in the shops or where you go to shop ready and willing to help you. It seems that we always have to wait in line back home because of the cut backs of workers. Most of the older women always are wearing a skirt or dresses, while the younger women are wearing slacks or jeans. There are many people selling fruit, food, or flowers on the sidewalks.
Well that is all for now. We are praying that our wonderful translator can get us an appointment with the judge on Monday, so we can start counting the days to come home.

Thank so much for the emails of support. It really means a lot to hear from you back home.