The sweetest thing...

So I spent my usual Tuesday morning at the children's center. I had four kids today! Whoohooo. Two of them played, one colored and Volva who always enjoys talking with me in English sat with me for a while and we talked about weight lifting and fun things to do in America. We played UNO today as well. He didn't understand exactly how to play during the first round so I found myself taking so many cards in order not to win. I basically had the whole deck in my hand. I am thinking next time I will pring the rules in Russian and take them with me. He really enjoys playing chess so I told him we would play that next time I saw him. It really is amazing what these kids have to overcome in their lives and how much passion they have to keep going. I couldn't help thinking about that today when we were talking. And he knows English on top of it. He is such a joy to talk to. He is so patient with my Russian. He helps me sometimes but at this point he knows what I am saying before I finish.

I am so glad that I have settled into my site. I am finally seeing everything for what it is. And when I get homesick I can pop on over to the "Beverly Hills" Cafe! (pic to be added later) I went to see the WWII memorial that we have here. I am supposed to go there with the ladies at the Jewish Center at some point but I had to go see it. I recently found out where it was and it is not far from my work. I had originally thought I would have to take a long marshrutka ride there but in fact it is right around the corner. It looks like they are doing some repairs to it. In fact they are doing repairs to most things right now. Hmmm. Anyway it really is something else to be living in a country with so much history. I know I mentioned this before but it really is very powerful. All the stuff that I used to read about never prepared me to be engrossed in it. It really feels good to live here and be a part of this even if only for a short time. I had such a passion for this time in history. Read so many books and saw so many movies about WWII and now I am here in Ukraine living life where most of that history took place. Who would have thought.

I will post some photos later.