I thought it would be fun to take you on a tour of our trip to Vera's baby home each day. I am trying to journal everything here as much for you as I am for me. For us. I want to remember every detail to share with Vera someday. I want to share everything with Jacob, Caleb and Abbi since they can't be here with us. I'm trying to remember all the things I can't share and my brain is overloaded. Which is probably why I had such a pounding headache for several days last week.
Anyway...we leave the comfort of our beautiful apartment and step out. To get the full effect, imagine a very strong odor of cat urine as soon as you open the door. I know it's gross, but you really want to be here with us, right? So there you go.
We go down a few flights of stairs...
And end up here.
We walk down this path...
And veer off to the right...
And head down this sidewalk.
We end up at our little bus stop here.
Where we wait for one of these.
We watch down this road for #44. There are 4 buses that would take us to Vera's.
But we always wait for number 44 because it's the cheapest and easiest to pay.
It costs about 40 cents (US) for both Jon and I to ride the bus.
This (below) is the open market across the street from our bus stop.
We went here a few days ago to find a lighter to light our gas oven.
We went back to the same place where we bought bubbles and batteries.
They have a wide assortment of things there.
The couple there seems amused by us instead of annoyed.
They smile and laugh at us and are very helpful.
We like them a lot. I hope to take their picture soon.
Anyway, the third stop is where we get off.
Then we walk down this road...
We make a left turn and go this way.
Then we veer off to the right...
And walk by this playground.
We imagine Jacob, Caleb and Abbi playing on it.
Then we turn down this way...
And enter this gate.
We make a left turn onto this path...
The path to Vera.
And so many others.
We admire all of the gorgeous flowers on the grounds.
It really is a beautiful place...
In the summer time anyway.
This is the playground where Vera's group plays each morning and afternoon.
Can you see the little picnic table on the right?
That's where Vera was when we met her for the first time.
Vera's building.
We enter this door and go down a long hallway to the right.
Up these stairs...
And we end up here...
at Vera's door.
This is the little entry way where we sometimes play.
Vera's locker is the middle one.
And around that corner to the left...
Is Vera's group room.
The little tables are where they eat.
Today each table had a vase with fresh flowers in them.
The door you see on the left leads to the bathroom.
You can also see an open door on the right wall.
I think that's the bedroom, but I haven't seen inside it yet.
And there you have it!
Every day when we get back to the apartment, I always say,
'Home, sweet home.'
And Jon always says, "Yep."
Great pictures! So smart of you to do this--you are right you will be happy you did this and Vera will want to see these one day and it's so great for the kids at home to see where their sister came from.
ReplyDeletePraying for you!
We always joked that that playground was Tetanus funland. :) Have all the teenagers been on it when you walked by yet? One night coming home it was almost dark and I was by myself, it was the day after my husband came home, and there were about 50 teenagers hanging all over that thing. It was the first time I felt scared in Ukraine. But they didn't even glance at me, they were too busy drinking and smoking. LOL
ReplyDeleteI know right where you guys are staying! If you go the other way, not toward the baby house, but the other way and get off at Sovietska, there is a big walking street, there are bookstores and toy stores down there too, and if you walk all the way to the end you will get to the river and will see the Lenin statue by the justice building where you picked up the social worker, and the little Nikolaev chapel, some memorials, etc. Its a neat way to spend the afternoon between visits. The river is beautiful!
This post makes me feel reminiscent. :)
I know exactly where your bus stop is. We walked by it twice a day to and from the market. We also cut through the apartments and playground and through the baby house grounds. Our apartment was in the complex that you can see behind the big playground at the baby house. It was a short walk and we entered through the other gate when coming from the apartment.
ReplyDeleteI would love to return for a visit at this time of year instead of in the snow/ice storm of the decade when we were there. :-)