October 13,2005 We've been here a week already!

We moved on Tuesday morning to our new apartment. We were only in our old apartment until the people who were in the regular adoption apartment left. So we moved clear to across the Dnipor River to east side of Kiev. Our new apartment is really nice. Something like a really fancy hotel. There is even a washing machine, although no one here has a dryer. We really like it. The outside looks like a slum but inside is nice.

On Tuesday afternoon, we met our translator and driver. Our translator is Oleana and she brought her seven year old son Max with her. The driver is Oleana's uncle. His name is Sergey and he doesn't speak much English. But I am entertained by watching him talk to Jeff. They took us to the Holy Assumption Monastery and Lavra. It is a religious complex that was build in the eleventh century. It is absolutely beautiful (I will upload pictures when I can figure out what I need to do it). Everything is gold leaf. The Lavra are underground catacombs with the mummies of saints and the prominent people of the age. I was scolded by a guard for not holding my candle in my left hand. I don't have any idea why. Then we went to the Statue of the Motherland. It is very similar to the Statue of Liberty except that she is holding a shield and a sword, and the statue is silver in color. There was a camera crew there filming a music video with dancers and all. Underneath the statue is a World War II museum. It was closed but outside of it is all kinds of machinery from WWII.

On Wednesday, Oleana was busy so we stayed in. Which was fine because it was cold and rainy. We watched movies and read our books. Angie- Jeff says you tricked him into reading a love story. He says he wouldn't have started it if he had known, but now he is hooked. We cooked both our meals in. We had something that reminds me of parogy(sp?). They are something like little turnovers filled with potato and onion. They aren't bad if you dunk them in ketchup. We also had corn and broccoli.

Today we went with Oleana, Sergey, and Max to the Cherynoble Museum. It was very interesting and sad. They also took us to the St. Vladimir Cathedral. It is huge and gorgeous. Oleana told us how to get to the Square using the bus and Metro(subway). For 50 kopeck (10 cents) we can get there safely. Then we picked up a pizza and went back to the apartment to eat it. After that we ventured out on our own to attempt to get to the square. We did fine except we missed our stop and ended up one stop past. Actually we ended up near our old apartment so we weren't even lost.

We still haven't heard anything from Sasha about a second appointment. Some friends of ours from the October Travel Group had their concillium(appointment at the NAC to ask for a second appointment). They said it was a bit intimidating but they are expecting a second appointment tomorrow or Monday. They requested a second appointment last Friday so we should be hearing something soon. Keep praying for us!