Birthday Adventures

Went on a birthday adventure to celebrate Annie's Birthday. Yes... in the blizzard. Mike got quite a workout pushing that thing through 6 inches of snow with a layer of solid ice underneathe. As you can see, the locals were still out and about doing their business.

Strollers were not meant for snow travel. We came up with an idea for a great invention- ski attachments for strollers! Maybe they are already out there somewhere... Solomiya quite enjoyed her ride and was warm and dry.

пицца. пряный кетчуп. зеленый чай. Соломия. (Pizza. Spicy ketchup. Green Tea. Solomiya.) Annie used her birthday money for a special lunch at 'Mrs Greenwich'. As you can see from the decor, this restaurant is very 'American' looking. The pizza kicked butt. Annie had piles of spinach on her pizza (that is what the green stuff is).

Mike and Solomiya inspecting his cheesecake. It was tasty and very different from NY cheesecake. The cheese they use is called 'Farmer's Cheese'. It kind of has the consistency of a non-watery ricotto. They use it in SO many recipes.

Annie's chocolate cake with some kind of fruit filling in the middle.

All 3 of us!

It's snowing again today...

Lovely blizzard-like conditions today...

Solomiya is very excited about the snow! She just woke up from a long morning nap.

On snowy days, Solomiya enjoys reading газета (the newspaper)...

... or her favorite книга (book).

Valentine's Day Eve

We had a bit of warm weather today! This afternoon it was about 30 degrees F, quite a big difference from the past couple of weeks. Wow, how nice to walk to the bus stop without wearing 2 layers of gloves. We did still keep on our coats, hats, scarves, boots, etc...
The bus stop- or marshrutka* stop- is only about a 7 minute walk from our apartment. It costs 2r to ride (about 25 cents) and is quite an experience.

This is what the marshrutkas look like (The big ones, at least. The No. 3, or "troika", that we often ride is about half the length and 2/3 the width of this one).

We take the marshrutka into the center of town where we have our language lessons. Mike also frequently takes it to attend various events at church and the Life English classes. It is quite a production to take Solomiya on, because we have her diaper bag and chair (so she can sit in something while we have our lessons) to carry along with her. The marshrutkas get PACKED with people and it is hard to get on/off when you see your stop. Solomiya and I (annie) had a misadventure on one of the marshrutkas because there were SO many people packed into it.  We now know to get off at the stop before our road because the marshrutka does not loop around and go back to it. If you do not get off there, you will find that the marshrutka goes back to the marshrutka garage and the marshrutka driver will ask you why you are still on his marshrutka. But, hey- that's how you learn, right!
We had our lessons with Marina today. She is having Mike focus a lot on translating passages from English to Ukrainian and vice versa, both orally and written. With me, she is focusing on vocabulary and dialogue that I will need and/or encounter with my patients. She is a very smart tutor to think of this. Today, I learned the names of various body parts and illnesses.
Last Friday, we were able to visit with Andriana and I had a short occupational therapy session with her. I have seen her for therapy before when we visited on short-term trips in 2009 and 2010, but now that we are living here, I can actually follow through on some long-term goals for her. For this session, I assessed how much independent movement she had in each extremity, what her passive and active range of motion was, and how her joints were doing (looking for hyper/hypo flexion/extension and contractures). Praying that God will give me wisdom and show me what I can do for her. Right now, I am thinking of switches/ECU's (environmental control units) to assist her in independently accessing her environment (turning the TV/radio on and off, communicating with her caregivers, etc...). Any therapists with assistive technology experience- send me some ideas of how to make stuff from scratch! I'm pretty sure I could make something with the materials available here, but not sure how to yet!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and my birthday (Mike gets 2 for the price of 1 ;) ) and we are going to take the marshrutka into the center of town where Mike will take his girls out for pizza at "Mrs. Greenwich" (yes, that is what it is called). There is nothing like corn-topped pizza with spicy ketchup to dip it in.

...

to annie

*Mike can fix my spelling if needed, but pronounced: mar- SHRUT- ka

A day at the Drunken Market

Our kitchen on a bright and sunny afternoon.
(Note non-functioning microwave oven, soon to be discarded. Who needs a microwave anyway? You'd be surprised what you don't really need when you don't have it. We're going to buy a toaster instead)

Diapers drying on the clothesline on the balcony.

Our friend, Alla, came over for a cup of tea.

Can you find a Solomiya?

On the way to check out the bazaar.
Shout out to Richard & Anya Vandiver, for leaving their "kalyaska" behind, and to Oksana Stoyanova (Anya's sister), for loaning it to us until their new baby arrives!

Is there a Solomiya in there?

Yes, there she is.

Used furniture and shoe area of the bazaar. This is by far the most wide-open area. Everywhere else is a very tight squeeze with the stroller.

The beginning part of our local bazaar, known locally as "п'яний базар" or the "Drunken Market". No, it isn't full of drunks or bars, but - according to our friends here - the market acquired its name in the wild early days of Ukrainian independence* as a place where after-hours sales of black market vodka and cigarettes took place. The presence of both run of the mill Ladas and an ominous-looking black Mercedes tells you that this is a place where everyone goes to shop.
*the early 1990s

Buying bread at the bazaar...

Yesterday, we had our first language lessons with our tutor, Marina. She majored in the Russian language at University and currently works as a librarian and a Russian tutor for children. She will be tutoring Mike in Ukrainian and me in Russian. She is very sweet and patient!
So, it looks like we will have lessons Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays for an hour each. Marina charges only 35r an hour; this is a little over $4! I think we will pay her more though.
Yesterday, Marina focused on finding out what level Mike was at with his Ukrainian so she would know where to start and what to work on. Mike is definitely at an Intermediate level. I, on the other hand, am pretty much still at the beginner level when it comes to speaking, though I can understand quite a bit when people are speaking to me. I just need to be more confident in trying out words I know on the locals. Which leads me to the next topic: The Bazaar.

There is a bazaar (open air market) about 10 minutes away from us (by walking). You can buy ANYTHING there: Food, underwear, shoes, appliances, napkins, tools, etc... There are different stalls set up for each local vendor. One area has all of the clothing vendors, another the meat vendors, another the candy, etc... (I will take some pics soon!)
Today, I went on an adventure to check out the bazaar. We really want to buy our food and other things here because (1) it is much less expensive and (2) we would be buying and supporting locally and (2.5) it is much more fun than going to the store. Also, we want to get to know and become friends with these people!
I spent about 40 mins checking out the whole bazaar and seeing what looked good. I made myself use some Russian to buy a loaf of bread! This bread is amazing and it cost 50 cents! I saw one man selling carrots, garlic and onions that he grew. Many women selling milk and cheese from their cows and eggs from their chickens. Also, lots of people selling their own apples. We are really looking forward to making this our grocery shopping destination and getting to know the farmers!

Today, Solomiya and I are going to spend some time cooking and studying Russian while Mike is in town at the Life English classes. One thing we have found here is that if you do not want to live on bread, cheese, and kielbasa, you need to cook. Pretty much all of your meals need to be made from scratch. This was something I had anticipated, but had not realized how time consuming it would be!

If anyone has some recipes you would like to share, send them on over! ahallenback@gmail.com
These are the foods currently available at the bazaar:
potatoes, cabbage, beets, carrots, onions, garlic, apples, mandarin oranges, sausage (kielbasa), chicken pieces including feet, some kind of fish that I probably won't buy, bread, cheeses, yogurt, eggs, and milk.

it's really cold here...

A run-down of (almost) everyday since we came:

Saturday, 1/28: Oksana toured us around the grocery store that is down the street from our apartment. She advised us on good things to buy, and bad things to NOT buy (the breaded chicken legs are a no-no). In the evening, Hope & Life, gave us a welcome party at their office! It was so nice to reconnect with old friends and meet new ones. One woman we met, Nadia, has a daughter named Sulomita!

Sunday, 1/29: We went to New Testament Church. Pastor Volodya has been to Changepoint Church a couple times, so many of you would recognize him. We felt very welcomed and had a great time! The majority of our friends here in Uzhhorod go to this church, so we were able to reconnect with so many people! We were invited to come back that evening by our friend Victor to attend a 2-year anniversary celebration of their drama team. This drama team is a ministry of their church that was started by his wife, Alisa. They minister through performing Christian plays in the community and by inviting non-believers (mostly university students) to perform with them.
Solomiya is awake from 1am - 4am. Ahhhhh!!!!!

Monday, 1/30: Mike and I decide to go grocery shopping. Just before leaving, Jim & Laurie (fellow American missionaries) call and tell us they want to drive us to a large grocery store and pay for our groceries and any other items we need for the apartment that we forgot to bring. What a help that was! Thank God!

Tuesday, 1/31: Mike attends his 1st Life English class since we arrived. Annie & Solomiya continue unpacking.

Wednesday, 2/1: Mike attends the Life English Advanced Conversational group. Annie & Solomiya continue unpacking.

Thursday, 2/2: We attend a fellowship and prayer group that meets at the Hope & Life office every Thursday. Great time of praying and receiving encouragement. Mike meets a friend for an informal Ukrainian lesson. Annie & Solomiya continue unpacking and organizing therapy equipment.

Friday, 2/3: Walking adventure in the bitter cold! 1st we looked for the post office and walked and walked only to find it was located 1 apartment building behind ours! We had to go there to pay the monthly elevator maintainance bill (about $4). I'll pay it, but I won't ride in it. I'll take a picture of it sometime... Mike currently attending English class. Me and S are updating our peeps and this blog.

the washing machine

These are the directions on the washing machine. Settings 1,2,3,5, and 6 involve a chicken sitting in a basket. Settings 4 and 7 have something to do with stirring the water with a leaf. Setting 8 is obviously washing your knitting needles and yarn. We have confirmed that the spiral indicates the spin cycle. Any other information anyone has would be greatly appreciated.