Where have I seen this guy before?

Laurie and I had an interesting shopping experience earlier this week. As we were going to our friends place we noticed a big supermarket. After our visit we were in no big hurry so we took some time to explore 'Boom' that's the name of store. This is where we found Mr. Proper. The store was very modern and nice. Laurie called it the Donetsk Superstore. It also had some interesting security features. On the expensive items like cans of caviar and new items like salad dressing they had fairly large magnetic security clips on each item much like you would find on clothing items in Canada. Laurie burst out laughing when she saw this...a little different from what we are use to.

Last Friday we invited some of the students who are staying in Donetsk for the summer over for Borscht. As we were out shopping for the ingredients Laurie suggested that maybe we should invest in a new chair. Earlier this month I broke one in our house and have still been using it but very cautiously since one leg is extremely loose. We found out chairs are quite cheap so on the way home we stopped by a store and bought one that matches our broken one exactly. We were still about twenty minutes away from home however so I had to carry the chair home. I haven't gotten so many looks in a long time. I guess it is not normal to carry a chair on the street.

We had fun with our guests, played lots of uno and then taught them a new game which they loved, Ukrainian Manners. I'm not sure if that is the official name but thats what we call it. The goal is basically to write to a hundred as fast a possible, but there is only one pen and everyone takes turn rolling a dice. If you roll a six you take the pen from whoever has it.

We served strawberries for dessert but I gave Bogdon some sour cream and sugar. Earlier he was telling me how he loves sour cream and especially sour cream and sugar. So I wanted to see and taste this dessert. Here he is showing hows its done. It actually tastes pretty good, like sour yogurt. Dema did the same except he squished some strawberries into his too. That was really tasty.




The room we renovated last Monday is looking a lot nicer. They also have new furniture so it is much cleaner and more modern now. And the new table is large enough for all the children to sit around comfortably. On Thursday Bogdon and I will be painting the floor and radiator in the room. After that it should be all done.


The next few weeks for us are going to be quieter and less busy for us. Many people are gone on holidays and so many of our students and friends will be away. We hope to use this time to work on our Russian, study the Bible and work on my assignments for my History course. I am happy with our Russian progress. Of course we still have a long way to go but Laurie and I now can have simple conversation with each other totally in Russian.

I am learning that knowing the native language is extremely important if you really want to impact peoples lives. For example for the past two weeks we have been going with Bogdon to a lady's home after the Sunday service to visit with her and have communion with her and her son. This lady is a sweet grandma who can no longer go to Sunday services because her knees are too bad, and her son is restricted by a handicap. As we, or I should say, as Bogdon visits with her and her son I can tell they appreciate us and enjoy our company. I think this is a good ministry and hope in the future that our Russian may be good enough to speak more freely.