HAPPY BIRTHDAY NADIA!

Nadia and her Auntie Mel enjoyed lunch at one of our favorite pizza places in town in honor of Nadia's 10th birthday. Just happened that we were number 10 waiting for our pizzas to be served to us.
A fun day out!

HUM - HOW FIRM IS THE FOUNDATION?!

Good question! One way to discover the answer is to see what happens when the water pipes under the builing burst filling the basement with knee-deep water. Having just arrived home from a trip after and overnight train ride, how I was looking forward to a shower! With our water schedule the water is usually turned on again around noon. Noon came - but no water. I saw commotion going on outside with some of my neighbors which prompted me to go across the hall to my neighbor, Nina's to ask what was happening. To my dismay, I learned that we would be without water for several days as the old pipes under our section of the building had given way. Unfortunately,
this is not an uncommon occurance here. The good news was that we have people in our building who immediately took responsibility for seeing that the problem was resolved as quickly as possible - which, sadly, in many cases doesn't happen. However, though the water was shut off within a few hours after the flooding was discovered, it was long enough for the building to settle causing some damage, directly under where my apartment is located. I confess, initially I was a bit nervous about what might happen and wondering how much more the building might settle.This is the first floor apartment, two floors below me.



My apartment - the second balcony above the ground floor apartment, hidden by the trees. My kitchen window us just to the right of my balcony.

FIRST BELL - SCHOOL BEGINS

September 1st always marks the beginning of the new school year - in Ukraine known as "First Bell" - a wonderful and special celebration of the first day of school. With the beginning of the new school year, was the beginning of a new Sunday School year at Kherson Church of the Holy Trinity.

Cindie Pike together with her interpreter, Maxime, are shown introducing the children to their Bible lesson. Thankfully the weather was great for that first Sunday, since, as sometimes happens, there was no access to the key for the room in which they were to meet. The woman dressed in black standing next to Maxime is one of the supervisors, Olya, who brought the group of children who come each Sunday from a nearby orphanage.

SUMMER'S END

This scene is just two blocks up the street from my apartment building - the corner where the market begins.

Yes, those are watermelons - some of the last for the summer. A very common sight in Kherson during the summer months. Thanks to those who guard them 24 hours a day, I imagine you may purchase one at 3 o'clock in the morning if you have a fancy to do so! Very tasty!







Look at my new red bag, Ma - I got a deal on this one. The lady wanted 85 hrivan ($17.00)for it, but she took 60! Wow, isn't it great?!




One of our most recently wed couples - Ira and Yuri (coming up on their one-year anniversary in October! Still pretty hot in Kherson 'til the end of August - in the 90's. You would think that with the advent of all the new and large western type supermarkets we have now, that the market would lose business. Note, however, that this doesn't seem to be the case - and you can find just about anything you might want.