Love Ukrainian Style

Another cold and dreary day. We saw Pastor John again at the Coffee Life (Coffee As Life Style). He was alone this time and we chatted briefly before we left. I was still pretty tired from the weekend so after lunch I did a crossword puzzle and had a little nap. What an old fart I'm becoming!

I got to the orphanage by 3:00 and found the kid. He was tired, too, but asked right away about getting food at the store. I wanted to wait for Jessica, who arrived after a bit. Kai was interested in watching some movie; I think he just wanted to chill. Jessica had to teach from 4:00 to 5:00 so we had a few minutes to kill. I suggested we go worship for a while. Jessica had brought some music and we went to the old, tinny, out of tune piano in the foyer and made a joyful noise. Kid's came and went, listening to our offering and trying to understand what we were saying.

Jessica left at 4:00 and Kai and I went to the store. There were no friends around today and Kai wanted to save the food for tonight at bed time, so I pulled out my books and said we will have an English lesson. As usual, he chose Hop On Pop, and read about half the book before claiming profound fatigue. He does this every time, and I encouraged him to read along with me. I read and soon he joined back in and finished the book. Then I offered to read Go Dog Go to him and he was game. He seemed more interested as I read, and when some kids came in and I implied that I would stop reading now, he insisted I finish the book.

Then he pulled out the tin whistle I had given him last summer and I asked him to play for me. He got all shy again and wouldn't. Andrei wanted to try but gave up quickly. He asked me to play something so I started in on a few jigs I know. I was just getting into the 3rd and loudest jig when he told me to be quiet. I said Why? And he pointed out that it was 5:00 and study hall had just begun. My bad. He told me he wanted to stay for study hall, play soccer with his friends, eat dinner and go to bed and have food with his friends, and that I should find Jessica and go home and see Kevin and eat and sleep. Basically, he was getting rid of me, but I was okay with that. He told me to tell Kevin that he loved him.

Jessica had one more meeting so I went to the lounge area and listened to my iPod, ate chips, and played solitaire. When Jessica was finished we talked briefly. It seems the 5th grade class has been attempting to do a little match-making. Some scooter-riding guy named Sasha came around offering to play soccer with the kids. They told him certain times when he could come by and play...they were all the times when Jessica would be there. I guess the teacher and the kids are very concerned that Jessica is 27 and not married. Well, little did we know what was in store for us tonight.

We decided to go get something to eat but had not decided what or where. Just outside the gate, waiting by his scooter, was Sasha. He was tall and sandy-haired, thin and Ukrainian-looking. Really kinda cute. I was introduced and he wanted Jessica to get on his scooter and go with him. Jessica said there was not room for 3, and besides, it was freezing out. His English was limited and all of the sudden Jessica's Russian seemed to escape her. What a mess. It was finally decided that we would all go for coffee at a Coffee Life near the Intourist. Excellent, then we would be near my apartment. And I could chaperone this little first "date".

Jess and I hopped on the #70 bus to the Ukriane mall and he followed on his scooter. He left his scooter somewhere and we took another bus together. We passed our Coffee Life and 2 others before we got off and walked to one down a side street. I asked what was so great about this one that we had to pass 3 in order to get to this one, and he said that there was an upstairs section where there was no smoking. Well, yes, that does make a difference. The smoking is a discomfort at these places. The European cigarettes are much stronger than in the US and the second hand smoke is pretty strong, too.

Sasha bought us all tea or coffee and also a pastry for each of us. We set ourselves up at a table near the window and he realized it was 7:00. He said he had to meet someone to give them money at 7:00 and it would take 20 minutes. He said we should have our tea/coffee and wait for him to return. He left and Jessica and I passed the time happily eating, sipping, and chatting. It was probably 7:30 by the time Sasha got back. Jessica had gone to wash her sticky hands and I took the opportunity to grill Sasha while she was gone. I first asked him how old he was. He seemed coy about telling me but confessed to being 26. Well, that's definitely in the ballpark. Then I asked him what he does for work. Jessica returned as he was pulling out a laptop to show us pictures of what he does. Apparently he hangs from scaffolding and does exterior repairs and painting on buildings. (Kinda reminded me of Sharyn.)

Then he showed us pictures of him hiking in exotic locations in Crimea and such. Also he showed pictures of him participating in another one of his favorite pasttimes, bridge jumping. I mean really! He had time-lapse pictures of him leaping from a bridge over the river. He said it was not bungee jumping; the rope is not elastic. I was incredulous, but he explained that it is set up like a swing in order to absorb the shock. Hard to explain as it is to imagine. Then we talked about how he like also to parachute out of airplanes. We concluded that this guy must be loaded by Ukrainian standards. He had 2 cell phones, a laptop, a scooter, can afford to go papachute jumping, and can treat 2 Americans to coffee and treats. I said, "Thank you, Jesus." Jessica was like a deer in the headlights.

It was 8:30 and he said he had an appointment to look at a room to rent somewhere in town. He called for a taxi and said that we should go with him and then he will drop me off at my apartment. On the way, he pointed out a dance club that he likes and asked if Jessica dances. Then he talked about how he likes to bike ride from 2:00 to 4:00 am because the roads are deserted. I said I liked to sleep from 2:00 to 4:00 and I don't care about the roads. Jessica was trying to figure how she would extract herself from him and I said for her to use me as an excuse as much as she wanted. But we ended up driving to God-knows-where in a rickety taxi with a GPS. We imagined he was taking us somewhere to use us as ritual sacrifice or something, but when we finally found the place he was looking for, he had us stay in the cab.

He returned after a while and asked for the address to my apartment. I have no idea what my address is, but Jessica described it well enough that the cab driver found it without a problem. We had decided that she would come to my place, have something to eat, and hop the #14 back to her apartment. We gathered he had other plans. Jessica said she was going with me, which threw him for a minute. He paid the taxi and came to talk to Jessica. I was waiting for her but he said I should go on ahead without her. Kevin let me in and I waited. After a few minutes, Jessica buzzed and came up. She said he was waiting for her. Oh, gosh! He said he would ride the bus with her back to her apartment. I told Jessica to do what she was comfortable with and not to be railroaded by this guy. She said it is hard trying to figure out what guys are up to in a foreign place. They might be just interested because she's American and therefore kind of exotic, or perhaps to practice their English. I said to keep the relationship with the orphanage kids at the center and just see what eventuates.

Jessica left and I relaxed and had something to eat. Before I knew it, it was 10:30 and I needed to go to bed. I figured I'd worry about Jessica unless I knew she was home safe so I called her. She said they talked about "everything" on the bus home and that he wanted to come up and make omelets. I said, "That's a new name for it." She refused his offer and said she was glad I called. Her roommate was around so she didn't want to talk, and we arranged that I would come over early the next day to get the gory details. Talk about an adventure!