Stardate: Thursday, Sept 20, 2007

Kate and Patrick Reynolds’ Ukraine Journal
August 2007 to May 2008

Thursday, September 20, 2007
Changes are Occurring
Update:
1) We still do not have a working washing machine. I’m taking to wearing one pair of jeans for something like 12 wears…They are practically alive. My skin crawls when I even think about the fact that I have to wear them because I’m otherwise out of clean clothes. The washing machine just doesn’t work, no matter what we try. I think I may start hand washing. I wish I had a liquid soap though…hm.

2) We do have hot water now! Yeah! It was a god-send that the repairmen came and showed us how to use the 3 different water valves to turn on and shut off the city water and the flat’s private hot water heater. We just couldn’t figure it out, and to our defense, the landlady had shown us the wrong ways to do it, so we had been losing hot water, when we could have had it.

3) We still do not have internet at the flat and there is no telling when or if we will. I’m getting seriously frustrated by the lack of internet though. It is even more tedious than wearing smelly, dirty clothes. I just can’t get any work done. I feel out of control and disconnected to the world, even though we have the internet café. We go there daily, but can only stay for an hour or so. Maddy is usually with us and cannot sit still longer. Or I have materials at home that I need.

4) Patrick has started his job Sept 14th. He is working for a company called the International House. It looks like he will be working with a private client who wants Business English. He has observed 3-4 times this week. He really likes working with the advanced proficiency students, because they can talk more about politics, etc, into which he can really delve and lose himself. We’ll know more about his classes as soon as he finishes his observation period.

5) Patrick and I started Russian classes with a teacher at my school. She is giving us lessons for free. I have no idea why. It is some deal that A worked out for us. She is a traditional grammarian and is hell bent on correct pronunciation (without meaning associated) and cursive hand writing. She would not let me take notes in English even! I was totally appalled by her approach, but since it is a freebee and she is being kind to us, I cannot do or say anything about it to her. Alas…perhaps I will learn some vocabulary.

Maddy’s Third Birthday
We celebrated Maddy’s third birthday on Sept 18th in the morning with her school class and later with Antonina, Vladimir and Vasilisa. At school, we brought the teachers boxes of chocolate and the kids each were given a chocolate egg with a small toy inside. Maddy actually gave them out to the kids herself. We also heard them singing happy birthday in Russian. Her teacher gave her a little porcelain doll and a chocolate coin.

In the evening, A, V & V came up and brought a lovely “mocha” cake and a balloon tree. Maddy was given a little Russian bear, a primary-colored plastic dump truck, a plastic boat with penguin and canoe for bath time, and some paints, brushes, and paper. Maddy was happy—overly excited, so it was stressful for us. We had cake after she blew out the candles and we sang her happy birthday in English. The guest left after about 1 hour. It wasn’t much of a going concern, but Maddy enjoyed it.

Plans
Friday at 5:30pm
I’m going with Oskana from work to a ballet class for Maddy. They are going to do some dancing and singing. It is for 3 year olds and up. I hope she likes it. Later, we are going to dinner with Peter on Friday night to a traditional Ukrainian restaurant. At 5:30pm on Saturday, I am going with Antonina and Vasilisa to the swim club for some laps. I’m looking forward to this. On Sunday, he will take us around the city to show us some of his favorite places. In the near future, Antonina will help me find out the train station schedule so that we can obtain some prices and tickets for trips to Kiev, etc. I also need to do this for the airport. I should probably find a
travel agent here who speaks English.