Day 2 of 10

We have settled into a routine now in the city of Berdyansk, which is starting to feel like home. We picked up the laundry, had breakfast, shopped at the market and did our usual walk to the orphanage. We brought the boys back to the hotel spent the day just hanging out together. Every night we have dinner with the Bruce’s, Olas and all the kids. The cook’s specialty is a Caesar sald (different than in the States) but pretty good and a killer banana cake (with small cubes of ice cream and raspberry sauce). It is hard for any of us to pass on it. The size of the portion is the same as for ordering wine – either 100 or 200 (grams for cake, ml for wine). I’ll let you guess what size of cake Dave orders.

Transportation in Ukraine:
No Pickup trucks - only old little cars that have seen better days (like the hearse in the picture). There seems to be two kinds of busses – large busses like city buses and overgrown vans that appear to be private ventures. I have seen one or two large buses like tour busses but there were no markings on them. Many of the busses and cars run on LNG – you can see the cylinders attached to the top of the busses, the cylinders in the taxis are in the trunk. Vehicles have the right of way unless you are in a crosswalk – always look both ways before venturing out on the street. Twice I have been a few feet from the curb when the light changed and the car waiting on me honked and started moving toward me – one of the two actually ran into me before stopping with the horn going all the time (it is a little unnerving!!). They will hit you with their car but they don’t want to harm you – that is against the law! I have only seen one cop since I’ve been here. If they stop you for speeding, you give them 10 grivnas ($2) and you’re on your way again. No one parks on the sidewalk in Berdyansk, they only do that in Kiev (pronounced "keve"). Many people walk or ride these very old bikes. It seems to me that all the bikes have about half the tire pressure they really need (maybe because the roads are so bad). Many of the manholes are missing the covers – in these situations, someone has placed some tree limbs or long boards in them sticking up so they are noticeable.