Off to Kiev!!!

Well it's been a long wait but in about 2 hours we will board the train and Ana will spend her last few minutes in Mariupol. Both of us are so excited to get on our way. Not sure what tomorrow will be like, I just hope that it will go smoothly and we will finally feel relief. It has been a long and strenuous journey. And I also know that this is just the start. I'm sure we will forge a lifetime of memories and this will just be a small part in God's grand scheme of the adventure. We are packed and ready to go and have about an hour before Kostya gets here. So, I think we will head out for a walk to the local bakery and exchange some money so we can leave.

Yesterday brought confusion and laughter. We have been communicating fairly well with google translate, itranz (app for the iphone), and hand gestures. But, yesterday was pretty funny. I called Kostya to translate for me that I would take Ana to the park that she had been wanting to go to since we arrived in Mariupol, however I had no idea how to get there. Ana would have to take me. So he translated that and she called us a taxi, and we were off. When we drove by the amusement park I looked back at her and she just looked at me funny. So I went with it, because she said she knew where we were going. At last we came to the park that we had been to before for the Azovmash basketball game. Now I was really confused. I paid the driver and we started walking. Right up to the Ice Skating Rink. LOL!!!!! She wanted to ice skate the whole time and couldn't figure out how to tell me. So we had an hour and a half to blow before we could skate. We walked around the park for a while, went to the Azovmash ticket window to see if I could buy her a shirt, watched 7 brides get their pictures taken, and then went skating. I thought she was going to be a good skater since this was the place she wanted to go. Boy was I wrong! She only fell 5 or 6 times and didn't let go of the wall for anything. I thought I was going to be bad, since I haven't had hockey skates on for over 20 years. I looked better than 90% of the guys skating and didn't fall once. It was a lot of fun and we laughed sooo hardd!!

We came back to the apartment and did our nightly stroll out to the store for ice cream. Back for dinner and off to bed. Oh and some skyping with Karina and we skyped Michelle and the kids 3 times yesterday.

So now to the next part of the trip. I might not be able to update you for a while, but, stay tuned and pray for us!!