Lovely Odessa

5/6/11 

We are enjoying a beautiful day in Odessa.  We had to get up early to head to the passport office.  Unfortunately they are closed on Fridays.....We would have had to wait until Tuesday to submit it (Monday is a national holiday in Ukraine), but the nice lady somehow agreed to do it today.  She said they won't mail it until Tuesday to be processed in Kiev.  It will then be mailed back here to Odessa (hopefully) by Friday.  At the latest Monday.  Then we will travel by train to Kiev for his physical and Visa appointment at the American Embassy.  We are on track to return by the 20th.

Brandon & I in front of the Odessa Opera House

It is very nice in Odessa.  I like it better even than Kiev.  Our apartment is right near everything.  We can walk to anything we need.  Roman, our translator, will leave on tonight's train.  He will return on Thursday.  I feel it is very safe and I am fairly certain I can find anything I need.  I hope to walk along the boardwalk.  It is a very quaint, stone road with café’s and it sits along a river way.  There is also a beautiful park in the center.

A view of the quaint town

This morning we walked around, had a lovely early lunch (Brandon ordered a 6-inch chicken sandwich with lettuce, mayo, tomatoes and chicken AND a plate spaghetti!!!!!!).  We brought home the spaghetti and will eat that for dinner.  His eyes were bigger than his stomach. :) Then we went to the mall (which is bigger than some malls I've seen even in the US).  I had to get Brandon a suitcase.  I chose red over black so it's easier to locate at the airport luggage pickup.  He liked the red best as well.   We went to the supermarket to buy milk, cereal, oranges, juice and yogurt for the apartment. We loaded the groceries in the new suitcase.  He had the best time "driving' the suitcase all the way back to the apartment. He quickly figured out on his own how to steer it over curbs and put the handle up and down.  It probably weighed 25-30 pounds with all the groceries in it and he insisted on carrying it up 8 flights of stairs to our apartment bedroom....It's the simple things that he notices and enjoys so much.  He loved the escalator and the clear glass elevator we rode at the mall.  He liked pushing the buttons!  He is SO much fun to hang out with.  I love my son!

Our translator has to leave so today Brandon and I will be on our own.  I am only panicking a little.  I remember when I first left the hospital with our baby Katie, I had a similar sensation.  I thought to myself, "Are you sure I can take her?  Unsupervised?  Where's the instruction manual?"  Somehow she's still alive 9 years later...even without the instruction manual. 

Along the Black Sea River Walk

Today I have been talking to him on Google translate on my laptop.  We are doing okay with that.  He also understands my gestures and I understand the basics of what he is asking.

Architecture in downtown Odessa

When I first got up today I had Brandon shower and I took his clothes and washed them.  I also did a load of my own clothes and hung them on the nifty clothing rack to dry.  I am so thankful for the washing machine this hotel even if it is tiny and can only fit one or two outfits at a time.