Day 2.1 Settling In

Good morning USA! Well we've been in our apartment for 24 hours now and we're ready to get our first task done in Kiev tomorrow. I can't tell you how excited I was to hop in bed last night and get a chance to sleep without a) thinking of all the things that need to get done/packed before we get to Ukraine b) waking up to go work out (sorry Chuck) c) waking up to catch a flight d) the list could go on and on. The sleep was welcome, even if it did come at the expense of sleeping on a mattress where you can visually count the springs. I could go on about the differences in the 'comforts' we are blessed to call home as Americans, but as I start the process I begin to realize much we have that isn't necessary and take for granted.  For example, who thinks about towels and washcloths, I surely don't (we have 1 of the first and none of the second)! Yet this morning I recall that just last month we sent Marina home with a towel because she only has one.  Just a little perspective, eh?   Perhaps some fodder for a future post.

This morning we had breakfast at the apartment.  I had a chance to go to the market last night and get some milk, cereal and bananas.  We are holding off on doing any larger scale grocery shopping until we relocate to Oleksandriia on Friday.  This afternoon we visited a coffee shop next to our apartment.  It was a great time to get out of the room and do some quiet time and talk with my best friend.  Karin had a hot cocoa and I had a large cappuccino, which only cost us about $5USD total.  Overall from the places we've visited we're seeing that the exchange rate is advantageous for an American couple on an adoption travel budget.

Oh, and the wifi - what a blessing.  I know that I've said how thankful we are that we have it. Skyping with the girls is priceless, but on top of that, the Internet is faster than many of the places that I use in the US!

Well, that is all for now. More to update later.  Have a great day back home!