Uzhhorod's Birthday

Uzhhorod celebrated its birthday way back in October and this blog post has been suspended in the virtual world since then.

As you can see, it was a lovely day.

Bozhdoski Park

Wow- this was in October. This blog was suspended between reality and the virtual world, but I rescued it today!

This is an awesome park in Uzhorrod. As you can see, you can visit Baba Yaga's house, go on a variety of rides, enjoy the trees or watch humongous dogs.

Don't know who Baba Yaga is??? Well- she makes her appearance in a few Ukrainian fairy tales: http://www.oldrussia.net/baba.html

Dunkin' Donuts in Uzhhorod

Last Sunday, we decided to walk down this here street after church to investigate a new cafe that recently opened. Why, you ask???

Because of this: Sweet Donuts. It looked eerily familiar to us. Yes, that's right. That font is strangely similar to Dunkin' Donuts, eh? So, of course we needed to see what it was like. And, of course, to investigate if their "donuts" were actually donuts, or just a distant cousin.

We sent our chief investigator for this mission.

He ordered what appeared to be 'donut-like' creations.

Solomiya couldn't decide on which donut she wanted to test. Mike was trying to explain to her that all donuts were created equal and she shouldn't pick one based on the outward appearance.

The donuts were all filled with a chocolate-like substance. Our littlest chocolate lover could not be fooled and refused to eat anymore after one taste. She is just into the good stuff, like Roshen chocolate. Shout out to the president.

They were very much like donuts. Super light and fluffy, perhaps baked a day or two before.... not the freshest. The coffee was super strong. My spoon was standing up in it and it walked away twice.

This donut was labeled 'Tiramisu'. It tasted like... a plain white donut with sugar and sugar on top. Topped with a little extra sugar for that sugary sugaressness. If you're looking for a good time in Uzhhorod, we can recommend some other cafes. If you're looking for an okay time with a coffee buzz that lasts for 2 days, Sweet Donut is the place to be.

Paying the Bills in Ukraine

We have alluded to the process of paying the bills in past blogs, but we thought it was time to give you all an in-depth and detailed post exclusively pertaining to this subject.

The bills that arrive each month are for electricity, gas, the elevator, phone (land line) and maintenance of the areas around the apartment buildings. Bills for garbage and water do not arrive each month, but need to be calculated monthly by the apartment owner/renter and paid just like the others. The -bills- are these white slips of paper pictured above. They are brought to our mailboxes by representatives from each department (gas company, phone company, etc...) every month. Speaking of mailboxes... our very secure-looking mailbox is pictured below.

There we are, #22. At least we have a working "door" on ours. The fact that we receive these delicate slips of paper in our box each month is really quite a miracle. We learned early on that when you have mail in your mailbox, take it out immediately, or someone else will. Needless to say, we check the mailbox multiple times a day because the post lady is not the only person who delivers things to our box and we never know when something will be inside.

So, by the 19th of each month, you need to gather and calculate your bills, grab some money (and your cutest child) and walk to the post office. You can also pay some bills at various banks and machines located throughout the city, but at the post office, they accept all bills and do not charge a processing fee. Our nearest post office, #9, is located on the ground floor of the building behind us: very convenient, but they do close everyday between 1-2pm for lunch. DO NOT arrive at 12:50pm with a handful of bills to pay. It will not happen.

This is the first of two secret photos I took inside the post office. I do not know for certain, but something tells me that the post ladies are NOT into posing for the camera. If they knew I took these pictures, they most likely would have asked me to delete them. Anyway, after you enter the post office (and if you are lucky enough to be first in line) ask the lady if you can pay your bills. She will always ask you to wait until she is ready. She may be doing other things like counting money, stamping papers, painting her nails or smoking a stogie. Your job is simply to wait until she is ready. Place your bills on the counter and wait. This is when having your cutest child with you (or one you pulled off the street) comes in handy. You will usually receive immediate service, have a most pleasant post lady who keeps cooing at your child and, if there is a long line, other customers will plead with you to go before them. Ukrainians love children (this is my personal opinion and does not express/represent the views of every Ukrainian in Ukraine).

 

When the post lady is ready, she takes your bills and begins processing them on her magic computer. A receipt (adhered with a glue stick) and an ink stamp goes on each bill to confirm that it has been processed through her computer and paid. At the end, she will tally up the total and you can pay her in cash. This process goes rather quickly, but while you are waiting you can always amuse yourself with looking at all of the interesting things you can buy at the post office. This is secret photo #2: What You Can Buy at the Post Office. Need sunflower oil for that cake you're making later? How about a box of chocolates or perhaps some seeds for your vegetable garden. Or maybe just the latest copy of your favorite magazine and a small packet of paprika.

If everything went according to plan, you will leave the post office with your bills looking like this.

 

Life in a Ukrainian Kindergarten: Part 1

 This is the locker room outside of S's classroom. Each classroom has their own locker room and each kid their own locker.

This is S's locker. Translation (Hallenbeck Solomiya).

When the kids first arrive for the day, they have to change into their "school shoes" and put their street shoes in the locker. Kind of like on 'Mr Roger's Neighborhood'. They can also hang up their jackets and backpacks inside.

S insists on changing her own shoes every morning we are there.

The menu for the day is posted downstairs by the kitchen. These kids get 3 hot meals a day. Made from scratch. How awesome is that!?

Breakfast is usually a hot kasha (like oatmeal), freshly made rolls with butter and hot tea.

Lunch is always soup with bread, along with some kind of meat and potatoes and a salad. And also freshly made compote: a drink made from boiling fresh fruits.

Supper is either a different type of hot kasha or soup.

Ukrainian Pre-School Update

I must say, I was nervous about sending S to pre-school, but it has been a great experience for her.

The #1 best thing: she is speaking SO much more Ukrainian. Granted, she will only speak to Tato (aka Mike) in Ukrainian, but her vocabulary has increased by 100%- no kidding. And... It has only been 4 weeks. And... she doesn't even go every day (and when she does go it is never more than 2 hours and 45 minutes). Amazing. 

I need a Russian pre-school to attend.

Fedya and I getting ready to pick up Solomiya while Mike is at work. I use the baby wrap because we take the bus home. Much easier than making a 3 year old walk home after a busy morning!

Fedya is ready to go- protected from the sun. Yes- it was 80 something degrees that day, but if I had not put a hat on him, I would have been stopped by every babushka I passed asking where his hat was...

He sleeps by the time we get to the school.

After school photo shoot.

It continues. But, it does give you an idea of what it looks like inside.

And- riding the bus home. There is one bus stop right in front of our apartment building and only one bus that stops there: the #7. Convienently, the #7 also stops next to S's kindergarten! So, we pay 3r (about .23 cents) to ride the bus for less than 5 minutes from her school to our building. It is awesome. Unfortunatly, we cannot ride the bus to school as it does not travel in the opposite direction.

Somebody's Birthday...

This little girl turned 3 years old on the 31st of August! She helped me make banana chocolate chip cupcakes. And she is wearing the purple dress that Chrissymasi brought her from America!

She also picked out these red paper plates to use at her "birthday party". 

Birthday portrait!

Blowing out 3 candles on her cupcakes!

Independence Day!!!

Thoughts on Kids + Working

To say that adding a new baby child to the mix has been a challenge would be an understatement. It has been challenging x2.

It has also been amazingly fun and a huge gift. This little guy has the sweetest personality and it has been so cool to see how Solomiya interacts with him. (She LOVES him.)

At the same time, I have had to completely stop my work in OT at the present (and pretty much everything else) and this has been hard. 

For the past couple of months, the question of "What am I doing here?" has been looming over my head every day. Feeling guilty b/c I should be involved in ministry and helping others through providing occupational therapy; and feeling guilty b/c these 2 little kids need me and I shouldn't think about leaving them to help others; and feeling guilty b/c we are held accountable for how we spend our time and money here. 

I was venting my frustration to Mike and he reminded me of a passage from a book. This woman (Dr Margaret Brand) was a medical missionary in India and raised 6 kids: 

"The psalmist says that children are a heritage from the Lord and a reward from Him (Psalm 127:3-4). A heritage is a gift we haven't earned. We don't earn our children, nor do we own them. They are the Lord's. His to give for a while. His to use in His kingdom. As a parent, I was aware of the awesome responsibility of my temporary assignment in nurturing them for the Lord- getting the right balance of toughness and love, of teaching by word and by example."

So- I've been pondering on these words for the past couple of weeks. 

I don't own these kids, but God has made me responsible for their upbringing. 

That is a scary thought. I don't want to screw them up.

This is a daunting task. 

This definitely looks like a daily ministry right there. 

But, I struggle with missing my old schedule.

I think I miss it all so much b/c it was easy. It was comfortable. It was definitely challenging at times, but I loved it. 

Being a mom 24/7 is hard. Being a good example 24/7, in my words, in my actions, is even harder. Being patient 24/7 is freaking hard. Oh my goodness. 

God is definitely using this time to show me all the areas I need to work on. 

When I told my almost 3 year old, "You need to speak to people nicely even if you are tired/hungry/mad etc...", I heard God say, "Interesting! You should do the same thing, right?!".  

So... we move on to a new phase in our lives here. 

Uzhhorod Timelapse

For those interested, this gives some great views of the city where we live:

I cannot get the video to embed within the post here, but if you want to see some great footage of our city, it's worth taking the time to open up a new web page :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm3yF4H3l88

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Walking Around Town

Greek Orthodox Church

Hotel Zakarpatia

Taking a walk with Fedya around the pond.