We still do not have water. Actually the water has been on twice, both times for very short periods of time. We went upstairs today to ask Nina if she knew what is happening and she explained it this way:
The repairman was called. The first day he came and looked at the problem (this was the 2nd because the 31st and 1st were a holidays). Our guess is that he turned on the water for a few minutes so he could see for sure what the problem was and then turned it off again. As soon as we heard the water in the pipes and found it was strong enough, we both took fast showers, filled our filtered water bottles and the unfiltered barrel of water back up. The water went off within minutes of finishing. The second day he went shopping and bought the “details” (parts) that he needed to fix it, came in and put them all together. He then turned on the water again to see what was happening (we think). The water was on all of maybe 4 minutes and has been off ever since. Nina said that tomorrow he will buy the glue that is needed for the parts and come back and glue them all together. Now tell me – why could he not have bought the glue at the same time he bought the parts??? Grrr.
We have been blessed this holiday season to have another American couple here, a pastor from our denomination and his wife, but from a different part of the United States. They are here to adopt a little boy. Several weeks ago they were told by the Ukrainian government that they HAD to come at this time if they wanted to adopt or forget about it. I cannot even begin to understand why. This time of year everything shuts down completely or slows down so slow it looks like it’s shut down. Ukraine has begun celebrating Western Christmas in an unofficial way, but New Year is the biggest holiday of the whole year. Kind of like Christmas, New Year, 4th of July, Halloween and your birthday all rolled up into one huge gigantic celebration. People start drinking days before New Year’s Eve and the party continues all the way through the 12th of January when Old New Year happens. It’s pretty amazing, actually.
So, this very nice young couple are here, waiting patiently for the process to very slowly creep and crawl along. They are hoping that their new son will be able to come home from the orphanage to stay with them permanently on Friday. They have to stay here for another 10 days or so to complete all of the Red Tape involved, but at least the bonding process will begin in earnest during that time. All through the past three weeks or more they have been missing their four biological children, left at home with relatives who are caring for them while they wait for their new little brother to arrive. My heart goes out to them all – I know this has been a very difficult time for the whole family being apart for so long and over the holidays. But it has been a blessing to us.
On New Year’s Eve Mel and I went over to the flat they are renting for dinner, a movie and to stay around to watch the fireworks at midnight. About 10 minutes before 12 I started getting really antsy – I wanted to be outside! Finally we all got our shoes, coats and hats on and headed out the door, down the stairs and out the entrance – only to discover that it was lightly raining. I wondered if that would make a difference in the celebration.
Nope. No difference. We were told a couple weeks ago by a Ukrainian that the New Year celebration is getting bigger every year and I believe it. About a minute before midnight a few fireworks started going off around the city. We were in the center of the city, just a couple blocks up from the very heart of the city – and I could hear the fireworks going off but we couldn’t see anything. And then midnight struck.
It sounded like a war. Fireworks everywhere. Hundreds of them shooting up into the sky in every direction. Every kind imaginable. Booms. Pops. Cracks. Fizzes. Sparks lighting up the clouds in red, blue, gold and white. Loud! Oh my! I felt like a little kid, wanting to run here and there around the building to find the best views, clapping my hands and shouting in joy at the spectacle. I don’t think anyone heard me – it was too noisy to be heard without shouting at the top of my lungs. Oh – I loved it! After about half an hour everyone else wanted to go in, but I would gladly have stayed out another hour, just watching, listening and enjoying the show. I love these excessive kinds of things!
We went in and celebrated with a little glass of Odessa Champaign, toasting each other and the New Year. A little while later Mel and I put our coats and shoes back on, gathered up our stuff and headed home. Although the rain had stopped, it had cooled off quite a bit and the sidewalks were beginning to ice up. Even so, we walked home, about 1.6 miles, because we knew it would be almost impossible to get a taxi. Fireworks were still going off in various parts of the city the whole way home. We arrived home around 1:30 and went to bed quite soon after, listening to the echoes of fireworks in the distance. Even today, two days later, fireworks are still being set off every once in awhile. I have become quite accustomed to the sound now, don’t even blink when it sounds like a gunshot went off just down the street. That’s kind of scary…
So, it’s a new year. We are enjoying our time with this American couple and will miss them greatly when they head for home. We are hoping that the water will be back on tomorrow. And in this new year, 2007, I’m planning on hiring someone to whitewash our ceilings and hopefully put up new wall paper. There is a lot of water damage in the bathroom, toilet room, hall and even some in the livingroom – a good excuse to finally get this all done.
I can’t help but wonder what this year will hold for us. Every year at New Year I try to remember back to what we were doing 5 years, 10 years or even 20 years ago. So much in our life has changed. When I think about where we were and what we were doing – and compare it to where we are now and what we are doing – I can’t help but wonder … where will we be 5 years from now, what will we be doing? Oh my! How thankful I am that God holds us in His hands and directs our steps. We can rest in that – but it sure is interesting and exciting!
Happy New Year!
