Peek - A - Boo!

Last night when leaving the internet cafe we got caught in a thunder and lightning storm. Boy when I tell you that when it rains here it REALLY rains. When we were about to leave the internet cafe it was pouring buckets of water and since there is no drainage in the streets, the water has no place to go. We waited in the cafe until the rain slowed down to leave. Once we left and walked home to the hotel, we discovered that a few cars were up to the hood of their cars in water and they were still plowing through it. We were amazed that the car didn't stall out on them. The streets were flooded out, however the sidewalks were pretty much dry to walk on.

This morning our taxi driver, Sasha was a little late picking us up to go to the orphanage due to the water in the streets from the rainstorm last night. Since he only speaks a bit of English, it has been interesting how we have found to communicate with him and his partner Dima. Sasha when he arrived at the hotel to pick us up put his hands together like he was praying and asking for forgiveness for him being late this morning. We told him no problem. Yesterday morning it was funny when we got into his cab I said good morning to him in Russian as he said good morning to us in English both at the same time. I think we surprised each other that we were speaking each others language. We all laughed and went on our way.



When we arrived at the orphanage to visit with Andrew I went into his room where his group lives and Andrew was ready to go, however all of the other kids were on their pots going potty or sitting their until they go. It's funny to see them sitting on the floor at such a young age (18 - 24 months) going potty on their pot. If they try to get up off of their pot they are put right back on it and told to stay their and do their business. It's funny to watch them all stripped down to nothing sitting on their pots bare naked and just sitting their looking up at you with a blank stare. If they see something across the room that catches their attention, they scoot themselves while still sitting on their pots across the floor to their destination.



Today we played peek-a-boo with Andrew and got him on film laughing. As I held a baby wipe up in the air I would put it on Andrew's head and leave it there. He would then go to remove it from his head and as he pulled it off he would laugh. Robert made a video clip of it which we will try to attach. Hopefully it will work. It will really show Andrew's personality and playfulness. He has really been giggly these past couple of days and really bonding well with both Robert and I. We have been having some issues with uploading pictures recently so hopefully soon we can add some.



I also wanted to add that many people in Ukraine (both Kiev and Dnipropetrovsk) have stopped me on the streets to ask me a question. I guess I fit in well here. It must be the red tint to my hair. Many women have red hair here. When these people stop to ask me a quesition, I just tell them in Russian that I don't understand and that I speak English. They must understand me since they nod their heads and say OOOHHH!! The night before we had court, I went down the hall of our hotel room to use the hotel iron to iron some clothes for us to wear to court. Well the light was on and the door was open to the room I was in and 2 different men at different times came up to me to ask me (I think) if I could iron their pants. They must have thought I worked at the hotel or something. I told them the same thing that I've been telling everyone here that asks me a question that I don't know, that I don't understand and I speak English. I guess I fit in well. Not many people ask Robert for anything. I guess he looks like a tourist. Anyway. got to run and see if I can upload some pictures for you all.