But I was thinking what I lack in volleyball skills I make up for with ping pong skills. Sadly that was not the case today. Malvina and I had our first ping pong match, and I was feeling like I was holding my own pretty well for the first 30 minutes. Then one of her girl friends walked in, and Malvina suggested I hit with her for a while. She was only about 4 feet tall and had an obvious disability of some sort with a hunched up shoulder --- but a huge smile. I tried to be gentle and kind as I hit the ball across the net to her. That was a big mistake! I never even saw the ball come back and felt very lucky it hadn't seriously wounded me. That's pretty much how it went for the next 30 minutes.
The real treat of the day was watching Malvina hit with a man who was either the teacher or owner of the club. WOW! She's gone pro. It was amazing to watch the two of them spar with each other. I realized how merciful she'd been with me.
In the afternoon we went shopping for parting gifts for her friends. Her best friend, Nastia came with us. We chose deodorants, nail polish, shampoos, aftershaves and finally a nice vase for Tamara, the director. When we couldn't walk another step, we stopped to eat a pizza together. There was way too much communicating on the iPhone with google translate, and I can hardly til we never need to use it again. We looked at family photos and pictures of trips while we waited for food. It was a very nice day, and it was good to have Nastia with us so there weren't long silences.
Nastia made a rose with her paper napkin.
Typical apartments
The view of the sea on the walk home from the orphanage
A typical sidewalk scene
Typical houses
The outsides of buildings look worse than the insides.
Yea for good days. :) She really is quite good at ping pong. Awesome. :)
ReplyDeleteLooking at your pictures really makes me miss Ukraine and the great friends that I made while I was there. It was such an emotional and intense time, I would love to go back and just enjoy myself... It also makes me wonder how these kids handle the homesickness they feel. I mean, if I feel longing for a country that I was in for only two months, I can't imagine how they must feel at times. And ping pong!! Oh those were fun days!! What fun it sounds like you are having:)
ReplyDeleteWow! She is some ping pong player!
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't look so cold there now. I was there the same time three years ago and we were done with our wait and working on passports. I loved how everyone was working in the yards. Even if it was just a little mow strip.
Hope time flies for you.