Mariupol Marathon Day 3 - Draw

It didn't rain today, so props to Mariupol! And the sun even peaked out (not even in a taunting kind of way - more like a 'don't give up on me' kind of way) every so often. So there is hope yet!

Maybe even more important than the promise of sunshine, today is the first day of May. Under normal circumstance I really like the month of May (by May in NC, the reappearance of cold weather isn't really a threat anymore - I like that!) but this May (2011) is the month I will return to the US with my family!! Psychologically (for me anyway) it’s BIG for me that it is no longer “next month”! So maybe my tolerance level for Mariupol was a bit elevated today by my otherwise influenced good mood.

When we headed out this morning, we saw lots of people walking with flowers (mostly red tulips – which are in full bloom here now). Today is a holiday in Ukraine (as is apparently tomorrow & Tuesday) & it seemed as though people were going to visit gravesites. It was cheery to see (well, the flower part; not necessarily the gravesite part).

We enjoyed a nice visit with Henry. Yesterday I showed him Mariupol and Odessa on the map and told him we are in Mariupol & Nastia is in Odessa. Today he said, "Nastia Odessa. Momma, Poppa Mariupol." and grinned from ear to ear. I'm not sure if  he just was proud to recall for me what I had told him yesterday or if he likes it that way. So I got out the calendar & showed him today (May 1^st) & confirmed what he had just told me, the 9^th when Momma, Poppa, & Henry Valeriy go to Odessa for Nastia, and the 18^th when Momma, Poppa, Henry Valeriy, & Nastia go to America! I don’t know if he understood or not. I kind of think so because just like we do, he started counting the days!!

I have something favorable to say about Ukraine (I know...unimaginable coming from me!). The food tastes better here. So much of what they eat here is not what we eat in America. But the foods they eat that we also eat (mostly I’m referring to fruits & vegetables) taste better here. And having traveled the countryside of Ukraine as I have and seen farmland upon farmland upon farmland, I am convinced it is because of the soil here. It is dark & looks so rich (and we get to see it up close a lot because they do not use mulch here). Every time I walk by it I have to resist the urge to put my hands in it (it’s a gardener thing)!

We were blessed to connect with another American family also currently adopting from another orphanage here in Mariupol (a very nice couple & there Ukrainian-adopted 3-year-old daughter who was adopted about a year-and-a-half ago). It was wonderful to get to know them a little & to SPEAK ENGLISH!! We met for dinner @ the “Mexican” restaurant downtown that is called the “Potato House”. Now do you see why I am in a constant state of confusion? How much of the typical Mexican cuisine consists of potatoes??

And then I see this graffiti which is in English but still doesn’t make sense…

And then we come back to the apartment (this is the view of one of the smoke stacks from the steel mill billowing smoke on a holiday)...

…and for the second time today my husband watches a Star Wars movie on TV in Russian. He doesn’t watch Star Wars in English! But somehow it is more interesting to him in Russian?? I miss my predictable, understandable life...

Anyway, today in Mariupol was good enought to call it a draw! And leaves me hopeful for tomorrow!

PS: I just realized there was a commercial on TV in English. It caught my attention (as everything in English does). It was for condoms. More head shaking from me...