Day out at Independence Square

Ukrianian Flag in Independence Square



Our first day in Ukraine was spent exploring Independence Square. We walked through the under ground markets where they sell just about anything from flowers to Ukrainian shirts, watches, cell phones etc. The under ground markets are also under ground malls, actual stores with clothes, jackets, and sometimes a food market.

Underground Markets

In order the cross the street the safest way you walk through the under ground markets/malls to get to the other side of the street. Pretty smart if you ask me. Our apartment is about a 10 minute walk to Independence Square. We got some of our money changed at a money exchange and the rate is actually better for us this time rather than last time we were in Ukraine. For every one U.S. dollars in Ukraine exchanges to 5.83 Ukrainian grivnas. Last time we were here in 2005 we received 5.4 grivnas for every U.S. dollar. Alla said that in recent past the exchange rate was down to 4.3 grivnas to every U.S. dollar.



We found a free internet café located in a restaurant not far from our apartment. So around dinner time we came back for some Ukrainian borsch soup (warm beet and cabbage and beef soup with a dollop of sour cream on it) and sent a message to our family and updated the blog. That internet was much faster than our connection at home. The soup was wonderful, just like we remembered. I liked the way we could get the internet within the restaurant since it gave Andrew and Robert something to do while I updated the blog and checked our email. It was much better than using the internet café where the computers needed a thorough cleaning and there was nothing else to do but go on the computer.

Independence Square Buildings


Fire Twirler

The weather here is around 45 degrees Fahrenheit, clear with no wind or precipitation. A little brisk but not bad. We went out after dark for a quick walk to find a market to buy some more yogurt, water and bread for tomorrow. As we were looking for the market we came across a street entertainer that was twirling a baton that the ends were lit of fire. After twirling them around in the air and under his legs he then put some alcohol in his mouth to get the crowd excited and he spit the alcohol toward the fire to see a burst of flame coming from his mouth. After that he took his bottle of vodka and drenched a rectangular piece of card board with the vodka and lit it on fire as well. He then in his bare feet walked across the board several times until he put the fire out. Andrew said that “I bet his Mom wouldn’t want him to do that, Not Good.” After the show was over and as we were walking home Andrew kept asking us, “Why was that guy walking on fire?”. We explained to him that was his way of making money, however, it was very dangerous and that his feet are probably sore with burns on them, as well as that is not a good thing to do because you could get seriously hurt or even die.



We had a wonderful day out on the town and when we got back to the apartment we explained to Andrew that tomorrow is a very important day where we will meet with Alla, Valentina and some other ladies who will show us pictures of different children that we could possibly adopt. I told him how important it was to keep quiet while the ladies tell us all about the children. We all are looking forward to tomorrow and are wondering what child God has in store for us. We are believing for a girl that is healthy and is as young as possible, preferably younger than Andrew(who is 4 almost 5 years old). Please stand in agreement with us for God to reveal to us and make it ever so clear the child he has for us. Thank you and love to you all.