Summary - Still in waiting in Kyiv and hope to travel Sunday night to arrive at the first orphanage on Monday sometime.

Details -

Well it's a sunny Saturday in Kyiv! I am still in the waiting mode here, until we hopefully hop a train tomorrow (3/17) for the region the orphanage is in called Donetsk.

So I got adventurous and took the Metro alone into the downtown this morning (Carl you would be proud of your sister taking public transportation). The fare is about 9 cents per trip. The subway system is fairly clear to understand, though I had to memorize a little Cyrillic to recognize which stops I needed. I was a little nervous, but it all worked out.

I visited the Russian Art Museum which had some beautiful paintings from the late 1800's, also a special exhibit on the human body in art or something (I have never seen so many nude paintings, sculptures etc. in one place!) Then I visited the Fomin Botanical Garden which was a wonderful break from the cityscape. Downtown Kyiv was lively this afternoon with street musicians and folk dancing etc. There was a huge line of college-age youth carrying blue and yellow flags which I assume have something to do with the elections coming up next week. They had www.ng.us.org on the flags, so I hope to look up what they were all about. It was exciting to think it might be a protest or some other thing that is new in this emerging country.

I enjoyed Taras Shevshenko Square which is a monument to the "national poet" whose poems are memorized by every school child. It was a quite European scene with old men paying chess in one corner of the park, college youth hanging out by the University Bldg (painted blood red by Lenin in response to student protests in 1917, I guess he was trying to intimidate them) and a wonderful childrens playground on the east side of the square.

Although I enjoy being a tourist, and am glad I can learn some about this country and the friendly people, I will be happy to move on to the main event in the next day or two. We plan to take an overnight train from Kyiv to Donetsk Sunday night and go to one or both of the orphanages on Monday.

I am having a great time.

Love,

Ruth