October 2012

As we stated in our last entry, the month of October has been quite busy for all 3 of us. Hence, the lack of current blog entries...
So, we'll give you a run down of our typical weekly schedule.

Sunday:
We leave for church around 10:45am. The service is from 11am - 2-2:30pm. Sometimes we grab some coffee with friends afterwards, a bowl of soup at 'Crazy Rocky's', or attend a seasonal festival/political rally/karaoke/or a local dance studio holding outdoor recitals in the city center (the last one we saw that made quite an impression on us was a group of girls and boys, maybe 6-8 years old dancing to 'Barbie Girl' by Aqua).
We usually get home around 4-5pm and chill for the rest of the day. (Chill  = cook, clean, play with Solomiya, grocery shopping, Skype calls, lesson planning, therapy session planning, etc.).

Monday:
Russian lesson 10-11am for Annie. After this, Solomiya and I walk to the bazaar (outdoor market) to buy food for the week. We lug everything home and spend some time cooking enough food to last 2-3 days.
Mike teaches his Advanced class from 6:30-8:30pm, so he spends the majority of his day planning lessons, correcting tests, etc...
Solomiya hangs out in the kitchen with me or tries to break into the room where Mike is working. We also try to convince her to take a nap at some point.

Tuesday:
I leave around 10:15am for an 11am OT sessions with a little girl. I leave her house around 12 or 12:10pm and have a 12:45pm session with an older woman who had a stroke a few months ago.
Mike has a teacher's meeting at 12pm, so Solomiya hangs out with him at the English school. I usually meet them there afterwards and we walk home together.
In the evening, Mike usually goes out to the church for a men's meeting or prepares for the Wednesday night conversational group or his Thursday night class.

Wednesday:
10-11am Russian lesson for Annie.
1pm all 3 of us visit with our friend Andrianna. She is bed bound due to some type of neurological disease. We have a short OT session, talk with her and pray with her.
After this we head back home, have an early dinner and Mike goes to the weekly conversational English group at the school from 7-9pm. This is a free class offered at the school where the students/non students can practice their English in a more relaxed atmosphere. Once a month, we have it here at our apartment and I will make some type of American dessert (favorites so far: PB cookies, chocolate chip cookies, brownies with vanilla ice cream).

Thursday:
10am-2pm we meet at the Hope & Life office/English school for a weekly meeting/prayer time. Hope & Life is the non-profit we are joined up with here in Ukraine: http://hopelife.info/?lang=en/ ; http://hopeandlifekids.org/
Mike has his Advanced class from 6:30-8:30pm and I prepare for my OT sessions the next day. Solomiya sometimes has a Skype call with Grandma or Chrissymasi and Sophia.

Friday:
OT day for Annie 10:15am-2:30pm.
Mike and Solomiya hang out at home while Mike tries to prepare for his evening Beginner's class. Mike teaches it here in our apartment from 7-9pm.
S and I watch silly Russian cartoons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYniUCGPGLs&feature=related  (this one is our favorite).

Saturday:
This day varies quite a bit. It sometimes involves OT sessions with new clients, going to dinner at a friends house, doing some shopping at a larger bazaar about a 15 minute walk away, cooking, Skype calls, blah blah blah.

I am sure you all found that quite thrilling.

More exciting news, is that my sister and niece are coming to visit NEXT WEEK! Yes, they will fly out Monday evening and arrive in Uzhhorod, Tuesday evening. We are so excited.
I think, nope, I know this is the longest I have ever gone without seeing my sister: 9 1/2 months. Crazy.
Solomiya is going to be so excited to have Sophia to play with for 2 weeks!