Random

We found the perfect snack to entertain Miss Mia....cheerios in her little cups




First she shoveled them in by the handful, until she realized we weren't kidding when we said they were for her and we weren't going to take them away
Then she delicately placed them onto her spoon and then put them in her mouth with the spoon




Could a girl be any happier with a cup full of cheerios?
We can't get over how cute it is that she sits with her arms folded in her lap


She was really interested in trying on some new shoes




As we were visiting with Mia saturday night, two of her caregivers, Luba and Marina, walked outside on their way home and she went running to them. So we convinced them to get a quick picture with Mia.Now when we take Mia back to her groupa they have to bribe her with candy to get her to leave us.


Saturday night we went to dinner downtown. We went out on a limb and tried a new place to get some variation from our usual 2 options. Whenever we see a restaurant with an english name we figure we have a better shot at finding an english menu. This place was called Sun City Pizza and we were happy to find that their pizza was not covered with mayo. It was actually pretty descent.

Then we sat here and did some good people watching.....can't you tell by our "people watching faces"?



And we ended the evening enjoying some delicious ice cream...YUM!


Some random tidbits:

-The supermarkets here have at least 4 full aisles of beer, liquor, and vodka. And they have an entire aisle of chocolates...too bad I can't read what they are, or I would be in heaven. I have tried a few kinds and they were good.

-a lot of the markets that have grocery carts make you pay to use them and you have to pay for grocery sacks

-they don't like giving change around here. Even at a big store we were at the other day, we bought something that was 177 grivnah and we gave them a 200 grivnah bill and they were bugged and had to call a manager to get change for us....I am not sure how you are supposed to know what exact change to have but they seem to prefer not giving change.

-kids stuff here is quite expensive. We have been looking everywhere for just a little cheep umbrella stroller to take Mia home with and we can't find one. The cheapest one we found so far is $70. The carseats we have seen are like $400-$500 us dollars. It is crazy! I guess that is why people don't have lots of kids because how could you afford it?

-the ladies here wear stelleto heels with EVERYTHING! Seriously, they all wear them and they wear them with shorts, skirts, pants, dresses...you name it. Plus they walk everywhere so I don't know how they manage in their major high heels.


-If you are coming here soon:
-you might find a little flashlight useful because the power seems to go out a lot.
-You also might find these items useful....extension cord, small fan, small mirror, and
a wireless internet router.
- we are finding that we need more money than we thought we did....suddenly there are more fees that were not covered in the facilitation fees, but apparantly that varies by region.
- If you learn the greeting phrase "Strasvitcha"( I have no idea how to actually spell it but that is what it sounds like-the s at the beginning is faint and it almost sounds like a d ) you can greet anyone. We sometimes just say it fast and slightly mumbled like they do and it seems to go over well. We learned "privyet" as hello before we came but it turns out that is the greeting only if you know the person and are friends. So "strasvitcha" can cover all the bases.
- definitely bring travel toilet paper to carry with you because many of the bathrooms don't have it.
-bring more movies than you might think you would use. Since we don't live close to a lot we have watched a lot of shows at night and we didn't bring enough to last the entire time here.