Karpatska Villa Ivano-Frankivsk

We have Talia!!!

Hello everyone! We were busy yesterday from 7:30am until we picked up Talia from the orphanage around 6:30! Sorry we weren't able to post anything until now. It is around noon on Saturday and Scott and I made it through our first night with Talia! I am here in the post office by myself though. It feels so weird without ...

It has been 4 weeks today since we left Columbus! It feels like forever!

Anyways, only one day left until we can get Talia from the orphanage! Yay!

Yesterday afternoon when we got to the orphanage Talia came running towards me calling out, Mama! She tripped on the rug and ended up tumbling to the ground. She started crying and...

Hello again loyal readers!

Yesterday we went back to Pasha and Roselana's house and took naps! We got up around 4:45 and went back over to the orphanage. Talia was in a very good mood last night. We walked around the orphanage and sat on the couch for a bit. We played with puzzles and flash cards. Then we gave her a mini cream puff tha...

Back at the "Post Office" today...the internet connection at our cafe we were going to with the wifi was screwy the last two days, so we bailed for now. I miss my daily coffee over there already!

Last night, we headed back to the orphanage for our evening visit and what a relief! Talia was back to her old playful self, running the hall...

Hello again! We are in the internet cafe and the internet isn't working as well as before. Hopefully we can get our blog finished before it kicks us off! We also had a guy quickly run to the back today before two men walked into the restaurant. One man has a crazy huge black mustache. Scott thinks they might be part of the Ukrainian mafia and we...

Swine Flu has landed in Ukraine...

And it is full panic mode! Zhenia called Friday night to inform us that there was a sickness going around and to be careful when we are out and about. Turns out the rumors are true, H1N1 has taken off here in Ukraine finally (via the USA, of course!) In the last week, there have been some crazy number ...

By next Saturday we will be waking up with Talia! Yay!

Yesterday Scott and I quickly found out that this little cafe does have food! You will see in the pictures that the waiter convinced him to get fish, and it was a whole fish on his plate! Little did he know that Scott will take on any food that is placed in front of him! I don't kno...

Donna and I have spent the last few days ensuring our failure of any imminent drug tests. You see, we've become rather attached to these pastries with poppy seeds filling them. Sure, they get stuck in our teeth and make us look dumb, but that's the beauty of travelling with someone else; they're there to tell you this. Kolomyya is a town a mere ...

Last weekend I made a short trip to the Carpathians with some friends to 1. climb the tallest mountain in Ukraine and 2. to avoid the forcasted craziness of the Ukrainian elections. We took the overnight train to Ivano-Frankivsk and then a marshrutka to Vorohta and later yet another car to the sports' base at the bottom of Hoverla (the highest p...

It all started at 3:30 in the morning last Friday. I had decided to go to the Carpathians with Andriy, his wife Olya, and some of their friends. I convinced Regine to go with me, and there we were getting ready to meet the bus at 4:40. We got to the designated pick-up point a little early... but just in time to greet the drunks going home from t...