We're Back!

We arrived in Kiev yesterday, and same as last time, could not find anyone who'd been sent to pick us up at the airport. No problem. We knew a Marshrutka would take us from the airport to the train station where we could take a subway to our apartment--if we could just find out which apartment had been booked for us. We weren't getting through to Natasha on our phones, but finally reached Oleg. We were booked at a familiar apartment near Independence Square. I couldn't remember for sure which metro stop, but with Eli's help we guessed pretty close. It was a half mile walk, pulling suitcases in cold, windy weather, but we finally arrived. The boys were anxious to call their relatives so we bought minutes for our phones at the first MTS booth. Alex had brought only a sweatshirt and had an infected "finger" on his foot, and Eli was wearing shorts, so they were especially happy to find our apartment. I told them to pack light, but I didn't mean that light!

Our landlord had been told we'd be there in 20 minutes instead of the 2 hours it took us to arrive. Needless to say, she did not give us a warm welcome, but it was a warm apartment, and it felt great.

Today I had my appointment at the SDA, and all went well. It was still windy, cold and snowy, so the boys didn't want to leave our apartment. They're not interested in sightseeing and think Kiev is boring because they don't have any friends here----but they had a great time talking all day on their phones. I went shopping and provided "room service" for them.

Tomorrow evening we'll take the 17 hour train ride to Simferopol and then catch a bus for the final 2 hour ride to Feodosiya. It takes just as long to get from Kiev to Feodosiya as it does to get from Salt Lake to Kiev, but I enjoy the overnight trains much more than the overnight planes.

I can hardly wait to see Malvina on Wednesday. I'm sure she'll be relieved to see we've actually arrived after canceling at the last minute last December. It's been a long wait for her to finally have a family. She's an only child and her mom died in January. She'll turn 16 in June.

The timing worked out well because it coincides with the boys' Spring Break and school trip. They'll miss the last 4 weeks of school, but we'll be doing plenty of studying in our apartment.

My son, John, received a mission call to Sydney, Australia (Cantonese speaking), so we need to be back by June to help him get ready for his July 5th departure.