Day 18 and 19……………………….. Sevastopolitan Saturday! Strikes, Spares, Slippers and Splits!

Computer problems seem to be as common as lack of power and heat. We’re connected again, but unable to upload photos until Monday……

So many of you have commented on our natural and eased appearance……. We really feel fortunate that the bond has been strong and gets more relaxed each day. We’re not sure if it’s us or the fact that she is so hungry for a family….. either way, it’s great and we feel blessed. Angela does know quite a vocabulary of English words, so with that, sign language, jesters and our Russian/English dictionary we’re getting along quite well. We’re obviously spoiled when we have Galya with us, but the times when it’s just the three of us are preparing us for our journey home and so far we handle it with laughter and continued attempts until we figure out what we’re trying to say……

Today we went bowling with Wendy, Chad, Sergie and their daughter Katya. (Andrei wasn’t able to come along). It was great fun! (picture to follow) She asked for a “Coca Cola” when bowling, and Mama told her, through Sergie, that this would be the only one for the day, so she could have it now or later. She opted for juice. :) At lunch, Papa bought her water….. a choice was not offered. She drank it agreeably and we later put an “A” on the lid and told her it was her bottle that we’d have with us all of the time….

We headed back to the apartment after stopping to buy Angela a pair of slippers (it’s amazing how cold your feet get here) and a DVD. We watched the movie and made “popcorn”. She had never had popcorn and she LOVED it! Yeah, finally a healthy snack!!! We put on some funky music and danced… she showed us how she can do the “splits” and she did a Whirling Durbish, (Ukrainian folk dance) similar to that seen on “dancing with the stars”….. !!!

Later she asked for her water bottle --- another good sign that she is learning the ropes! :)