More Fun with Jay and Martha

As far as I know, Jay and Martha are the only ones still in Odessa continuing on this adoption journey. This is their latest news regarding New Year's in Ukraine:

Happy New Year to our Ukrainian adoption family!  We wanted to be the first to welcome you into 2009 and to make you aware of a wondrous, merciful blessing God gave you and you didn't even know it: YOU MISSED NEW YEAR'S EVE/NEW YEAR'S DAY IN DOWNTOWN ODESSA!  What a nightmare!  We had been somewhat prepared for revelry and noise and fireworks and all the trappings of a New Year celebration; however, we were NOT prepared for the extent of all that celebration.  We walked down to the promenade by the Black Sea to see the sights and lights.  Deribosavskaya street was almost dead - the stores were closing around 9 PM, McDonald's was closed, and people seemed to be calmly walking around enjoying the sights and sounds.  We stayed up until 11:30 - a stretch for us - and at midnight...  A CATACLYSMIC CACOPHONY OF CLATTER AND CHAOS broke out.  There were endless fireworks explosions, yelling and cheering, and general mayhem.  We kept thinking it would eventually quiet down, which it did at around 7 AM.  What fools we were to think the partying would be sensible!   Whew - we survived New Year's in Odessa and we've made a covenant NEVER to celebrate this particular holiday in this particular city ever again!  It was really hard to find a cow to bring back to our apt, cut it in half, and walk through the middle of the animal to formalize our covenant, but we did it!  Now there's manure everywhere, but that's a different story...

We went to McDonald's today and heard a fellow in line ahead of us speaking flawless English.  Jay said, "You speak pretty good English!"

Man: "Hey, I'm Ned (or something else) from Arizona."

Jay: "I'm Jay from New Mexico."

Ned: "We're neighbors!  What are you doing in Ukraine?"

Jay: "We're adopting a couple of teenage orphans."

Ned: "Wow, that's great!"

Jay: "What are you doing in Ukraine?"

Ned: "Getting a wife."

Silence and a long pause...

Jay: "Well, good for you."  

We both wondered about the most appropriate response to someone who has just said that.

Ned: "It's not as easy as it sounds.  I've been here two days this time..."

Silence and long pause...

Jay: "Well then, good luck to you!"  We quickly retreat.

I swear we do not make this stuff up, except for the fact that we can't remember his name so I made up a name for him!  Other than that, it's all true!  We truly walked away scratching our heads.

 

Tip of the Day - If someone comes to Ukraine and decides to make something for dinner, say spaghetti, they should NOT buy mushrooms in a jar.  They should use fresh.  The mushrooms in a jar are pickled mushrooms and could very likely cause the spaghetti sauce to taste pickled.  Just a hint.  No extra charge.