Back Again, Back Again

I meant to post a couple things in between trips so that every post wouldn't be in Ukraine. But there just wasn't time. So, here we are again.

We left for San Francisco Friday night, flew from San Fran to New York, New York to Paris, and Paris to Kiev, then drove the 4 hours to our son's city. It's been a very long couple days. But, the weather was sunny and beautiful so we got a whole new perspective on this beautiful country.

 The clouds during our drive to San Francisco were particularly beautiful. It was a lovely way to start the trip.

A few observations during our drive in Ukraine:

Sunflowers are my favorite flower. There were miles and miles of them.

The hills are beautiful. Remind me a little of home.

The fields and crops seemed strange to me and I couldn't figure out why. Then it dawned on me. We saw mile after mile of huge never-ending crops. But no farm house in sight. No irrigation. No machinery or harvesting equipment to be seen. It looked as if these neat little rows of crops just popped up spontaneously. So different from home.

It would seem the livestock and pets are a bit smarter over here. There is no fencing to be seen. The cattle and goats graze right up to the edge of the freeway. During both of our trips I have not seen a single dead dog or cat or other animal on the roadside. But I have seen about a half a dozen dogs and cats strategically jogging alongside the freeway waiting for a break in traffic before attempting to cross. I guess Natasha's adage about pedestrians applies to the animals too: There are only two types of pedestrians in Ukraine; the fast and the dead. They've got some clever animals over here.

Brad and I both struggled to stay awake during the drive. It was a strange feeling to wake up and feel good for about 5 minutes before involuntarily passing out asleep again. I know I was sleeping with my mouth gaping wide open at least 3 separate times. Awesome.

Tonight was pretty abbreviated since we arrived so late. Justin met us at the hotel about 30 minutes after we arrived. We went to dinner. Then we came back to the hotel and spent about an hour showing him his suitcase, playing cards, and practicing English with Rosetta Stone. 

We went to a fabulous little Italian restaurant for dinner. The owner is actually from Italy. Such good pasta! Justin had never tried lasagna before. I was impressed to see him order a side salad for himself and eat every bite of it before his lasagna arrived. For the first time since we've met he refused dessert after dinner. He said he was too full. Success!

Our boy was super excited to see his very own suitcase stuffed full of clothing, toiletries, and shoes. He went through every pocket of his backpack. The thank-yous were continual. And he seemed genuinely pleased to have his "own" stuff. He kept saying, "This for me?" and "This mine too?"

Justin told us on the last trip he likes the card game "Uno" so we made sure to bring it this time. We invited him to play and it was the longest game of Uno ever. It would not end. But it was fun.

After cards Brad showed Justin the Rosetta Stone program. Justin speaks a good amount of English already, so it was easy for him. But he still mixes up plural and singular so he eventually got a little tired of wrong answers. It was nearly 11:00 by then so we encouraged him to set it aside for tonight and hit the shower.

Before bed we asked Justin to join us for family prayer. He willingly knelt beside us and I heard the "Amen" from Justin after Brad's prayer. It's moments like that when I long to have him home. We are so close. 

Now to try and sleep the whole night through...