Its been three days since my last blog. I was hoping i would have news of a court date today but no such luck. Since we arrived in Berdyansk last Wed. Things have been sort of a routine.(Kinda)
The Children go to the beach @ 10am and 4pm Sometimes. Sometimes they are not allowed to come to the beach and the reasons have no reason or logic. So it is a Russian roulette game as to weather the kids will be at the beach or not. The first couple of days tested this to the Max as we marched the mile trip for Beach to camp multiple times with our 100 lbs of beach gear.
If we are at the camp then it is non stop games from Ping pong to Soccer. The other day we played two straight hours of soccer. Holy Cow! I am out of shape. Luckily I watched some of the World cup this year so I wasn't completely clueless as to what was going on. I may not love the game but you have to respect what kind of shape you have to be in to play. With a limited diet and calorie burning workouts to rival Micheal Phelps no wonder these kids have a 0% body fat.
When we are at the beach its like WWE RAW with Iliah, Vladic and a couple of other friends. Its a 4 to 1 wrestling match to the death everyday for two straight hours. I must say I can't remember the last time I have been this exhausted. I need a massage, a hot tub and a sleeping bag full of bengay! I got bits and parts hurting I didn't know I had.
We spend from 10am -noon and from 4pm - 6pm everyday with Iliah and his brother and sister.
Actually everyday it seems we add one more child to our entourage. They are friends of the siblings and come over to hang out. We walk down to the beach and as we walk through the orphan section they all just start following behind a couple more each day Like the Pied Piper!
We are up to about 6 or 7 most of which refer to us as Mama and papa.
In the evenings we go to Dinner with the Dipiazzos and perform an episode of SNL as we try to order off menus that have no English with a waitress who understands about as much english as I do Russian. My favorite is when Lisa Dipiazzo wants chicken and starts flapping her arms or when I wanted pork and made a pig nose and snorted.
After dinner Heidi and Jackie's entertainment consists of people watching out our hotel window to the Bar across the street as people dance, sing and vomit.
We have about 5 more days before the church apartment opens up and it should be just in the nick of time. The walls are closing in and we are losing our minds!
we walked along the boardwalk last night. what a sight. some beautiful, some odd and some disturbing. It was similar to an American boardwalk with snacks, games, rides and of course the beach but the differences were astounding. Live animals to get your pictures with. Snakes, Turtles, parrots and Alligators. Filth, Filth, Filth. Dilapidated buildings and trash everywhere.
The amusement rides had 17 layers of paint on them and it seemed to be the only thing holding them together. Characters of Spongebob Squarepants, Homer Simpson, Mickey and Minnie Mouse and various other Disney characters. Somehow I don't think Walt has given the copy rights to the Ukraine boardwalk for the use of these characters LOL!
One thing that was amazing was the artists, Great talent. their ability to draw portraits of people were amazing. It was something to watch.
Lets talk a moment about child nudity. Yes I know a touchy subject in the states but not here. They are everywhere. OK so On the beach any child under the age of 2 is naked. even if they are crawling over the seashells Ouch! But on the boardwalk we were just minding our own business when out of nowhere come a naked toddler pressing herself up against the window in her apartment. She was just tickled with her self, proud as a peacock. Earlier that same night we were at dinner and another, this time a boy in his birthday suit was running around the restaurant. No Shoes, No Shirt, No service? What about the PANTS!
The Children go to the beach @ 10am and 4pm Sometimes. Sometimes they are not allowed to come to the beach and the reasons have no reason or logic. So it is a Russian roulette game as to weather the kids will be at the beach or not. The first couple of days tested this to the Max as we marched the mile trip for Beach to camp multiple times with our 100 lbs of beach gear.
If we are at the camp then it is non stop games from Ping pong to Soccer. The other day we played two straight hours of soccer. Holy Cow! I am out of shape. Luckily I watched some of the World cup this year so I wasn't completely clueless as to what was going on. I may not love the game but you have to respect what kind of shape you have to be in to play. With a limited diet and calorie burning workouts to rival Micheal Phelps no wonder these kids have a 0% body fat.
When we are at the beach its like WWE RAW with Iliah, Vladic and a couple of other friends. Its a 4 to 1 wrestling match to the death everyday for two straight hours. I must say I can't remember the last time I have been this exhausted. I need a massage, a hot tub and a sleeping bag full of bengay! I got bits and parts hurting I didn't know I had.
We spend from 10am -noon and from 4pm - 6pm everyday with Iliah and his brother and sister.
Actually everyday it seems we add one more child to our entourage. They are friends of the siblings and come over to hang out. We walk down to the beach and as we walk through the orphan section they all just start following behind a couple more each day Like the Pied Piper!
We are up to about 6 or 7 most of which refer to us as Mama and papa.
In the evenings we go to Dinner with the Dipiazzos and perform an episode of SNL as we try to order off menus that have no English with a waitress who understands about as much english as I do Russian. My favorite is when Lisa Dipiazzo wants chicken and starts flapping her arms or when I wanted pork and made a pig nose and snorted.
After dinner Heidi and Jackie's entertainment consists of people watching out our hotel window to the Bar across the street as people dance, sing and vomit.
We have about 5 more days before the church apartment opens up and it should be just in the nick of time. The walls are closing in and we are losing our minds!
we walked along the boardwalk last night. what a sight. some beautiful, some odd and some disturbing. It was similar to an American boardwalk with snacks, games, rides and of course the beach but the differences were astounding. Live animals to get your pictures with. Snakes, Turtles, parrots and Alligators. Filth, Filth, Filth. Dilapidated buildings and trash everywhere.
The amusement rides had 17 layers of paint on them and it seemed to be the only thing holding them together. Characters of Spongebob Squarepants, Homer Simpson, Mickey and Minnie Mouse and various other Disney characters. Somehow I don't think Walt has given the copy rights to the Ukraine boardwalk for the use of these characters LOL!
One thing that was amazing was the artists, Great talent. their ability to draw portraits of people were amazing. It was something to watch.
Lets talk a moment about child nudity. Yes I know a touchy subject in the states but not here. They are everywhere. OK so On the beach any child under the age of 2 is naked. even if they are crawling over the seashells Ouch! But on the boardwalk we were just minding our own business when out of nowhere come a naked toddler pressing herself up against the window in her apartment. She was just tickled with her self, proud as a peacock. Earlier that same night we were at dinner and another, this time a boy in his birthday suit was running around the restaurant. No Shoes, No Shirt, No service? What about the PANTS!
hahahahahahaha! Thats really funny. Well I miss Ilaih even more now that I see pictures. His brother and sister are cute. Wish we could take them all home. Love you loooootttttts and can't wait to see you. Bye
ReplyDeleteLove the pics. It's hard not to want to bring the whole group of them back. That's how we all became advocates for the ones we had to leave behind. Looks like you guys are having fun. It's like stepping out of life for a short time. Great how God works that out for us isn't it? Hope you will get word about a court date soon. You will love the church apartment and I think Heidi will be quite comfortable there. Miss you guys!
ReplyDeleteI think your athletic-acrobat son might own you in P-90x, Jeremy...just saying ;-) Thinking of and praying for you guys. Your new home town is great, but the drivers are scary!! Looking forward to reading more about your journey. --Erica (& Michael)
ReplyDelete