Жизнь в чужой стране ~ Life in a foreign country

To give you a glimpse of what it's like to live in a foreign country...

Just a little over a week ago, I was in Dnepropetrovsk with Victor Dantsev to sign for my Ukrainian temporary residence permit. At the bus station I gave some money to the driver to get on the minibus for the 2-hour drive back to Krivoy Rog. Instead of giving me my change, he told me that I had not given him any money. I told him that I HAD given him 50 UAH, but he insisted that I hadn't and said that I had "deceived" him. I was upset, but I needed to get on the bus, so I handed him ANOTHER bill, he gave me the change and I took my seat.

I fumed in my head during the trip home, irritated that I had been taken advantage of and had to pay twice for my seat on the bus - EVEN THOUGH it was only the equivalent of about $6! But by the time I arrived, I realized that it wasn't worth being upset about and that there are far worse situations.

I'm still not sure why the driver did that, but maybe he thought I was a rich foreigner or something ... oh well, I will probably never understand, but it's not important.

On a side note, I now have an official Ukrainian ID that looks very much like a passport, which should make purchasing train tickets and some other things easier.

A lack of understanding also goes with the territory...

The other day we were at a facility that used to be a rehab center with a program to help street kids, orphans and kids from troubled homes. It's more now of a transitional home where they can stay while the directors try to find foster homes for them. We did a little program there and then played with the kids for awhile.

At one point I had a little guy named Женя (Zhenya) sitting in my lap and he must have tried about 3 times to tell me something, but I didn't understand the words he was saying and I finally had to say, "I'm sorry, I don't understand." Извини, я не понимаю.

It didn't bother him too much, and we just carried on. It's a process and it is getting better, but there will still be times when I don't know what's going on...that's just part of life in a foreign country!