Yesterday and today we have spent preparing for classes next week. We have finished now except for a few finishing touches. It has been a very enjoyable two days. The weather has been beautiful, about 45 degrees today and the prediction is it will be in the 50s later this week.
We have slept later than we usually do, eaten breakfast after the children have gone to school, visited with Alex and Lucia, and returned to our room to work. We have taken time out for Genie to do some cross stitch and read a novel and for Preston to take a nap!
Monday and Tuesday nights we had movie night again. We moved the furniture in their family room around and made a theater and used our computer and projector to show movies. We have watched two movies each night. Lucia always comes up with fruits, cheese, cookies, and drinks. Some of the kids watch with us and others come in and out. It has been a lot of fun!
Tonight we went to Oleg and Natasha Turlac’s for dinner. Oleg is our official host at the college. Vitali, who is driving for us, is Oleg’s brother so he went to dinner with us. When we got to their apartment building and opened the door to the building there was absolutely no light! It was so dark you could not see your hand in front of you! We could not tell where we were or what direction to go in. Vitali opened his cell phone for light. It did not do much good as we stumbled up a few stairs and ran right in to several (we couldn’t tell how many) people who were coming down the stairs! We turned a corner to a very small elevator that the three of us could just get in. It was very dirty with trash all over the floor but it did have a small light. We got out of the elevator into a small hall. Vitali unlocked a door and we went into another hallway. He opened another door and we were in another hallway. He then knocked on a door and Oleg came and let us in. It was an adventure just getting to the apartment!
The apartment was very nice. It had a large kitchen and a rather small living area. They had put a table in the middle of the living area for us to eat. They have a baby, Roman, that is 3 months old and Natasha’s mother came here from the U.S. to help with the baby. She has been here since the baby was born. She is from Moldova but lives in Minnesota now. She and Natasha had cooked dinner together they said. We had mashed potatoes, a beef dish, a salad of tomatoes, olives, and cheese and some cheese balls.
Roman cried most of the time we were there so we didn’t get to visit with Natasha very much. Both she and her mother were trying to get him settled. But we had good conversation with Oleg about the partnership of the School of Social Work with their college. He is an administrator with the college and has a great interest in making this partnership work. He has spent several years in the states so he has a good perspective on U.S. colleges and of course knows his college well. He presented some new ideas for possibilities for our continuing to work together. We are to meet with the college president, academic dean, and dean of social work later this week to discuss the partnership further.
Our departure from the apartment building was about as adventurous as the entrance but at least it wasn’t a surprise!
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