Moving Day Continued...

Well, it sure is nice to be in our own place! We can listen to music or walk around a bit and not feel like we don’t have a little private space. Not that we did not have the best host and hostess – but trust me, it’s hard being in someone else’s home in another country. I thought you all may find a few of the following things interesting – I sure did. Mary and Jason – this is your Thursday night of Survivor!  Just think, you buy a nice bottle of wine to relax and OH NO! No cork screw. Shucks, what do you do? Well, we don’t know what anyone else would do but we used a pair of scissors. It worked like a charm. And for all the domestic Goddesses in the audience – our washer is also a dryer. Even our facilitator was perplexed when we told him we dried our clothes in the washer. But remember – our apartment owner also lives in America and must have the scoop on needed necessities in Ukraine. We bought groceries today, another interesting cultural experience. While the food is usually found in the store all paper goods and washing products are in an entirely different store upstairs. But everything we bought was very comparable to what we would find at home – we even found TIDE to wash our clothes. The tradition here is to also take off your shoes before entering a person’s house. I sure wish that would become a tradition in the Brooks’ home. Everyone walks here where ever they go – and so their shoes get dirty – hence – they take them off at the door.

We went walking around the town this afternoon and learned why the town was called Gorlovka. It was named after an engineer, Gorlov, who discovered charcoal here and made it one of their major resources. A picture with his statue will be included with today’s entry.

Well, that is all the news we have for today. Our apartment is in front of the playground and we have the pleasure of hearing children playing and running around. It sure is nice to hear them having a good time. Kostya says that tomorrow is the day to get serious and begin our journey. I cannot even imagine what it will be like. We sure covet your prayers for our trip to the children’s respective orphanages and just the general things surrounding the day. Jeff and I both have no idea what to expect – besides the fact that Elizabeth is in a remote area and it is maybe not such a well populated city. I guess as far as taxi’s and buses it will take a little patience to get to and from. Pray for our first meeting and for us to take one step at a time.

And my sweet boys, oh how we love and miss you. We prayed for you both before dinner. This is a hard time for you I know – but you hang in there and know that this experience is good and we know it will be awesome when we return. You two are in our hearts every minute of the day!!!!!!!XXXXOOOOOOOOOO