The Ukranian Circus Starring.....None other Than SHAWN!

Tonight we went to the Ukranian Circus. Oh where do I begin? The show was amazing. It was 3 hours long and tons of kids sat through the whole thing without a peep! Way different than America! Some of the songs were in English and it was comforting to hear some English after hearing mostly Russian and Ukranian since we’ve been here. I told Shawn we will have to buy some Russian kids CDs for Zoya to listen to. One of the other families who adopted from our orphanage suggested this as a way to comfort her when nothing else will work. I can see how this would calm her down, since hearing my native language after not hearing much of it, was comforting to me. We are learning some words and trying to use them. When we can’t communicate by using their language, pointing and our own form of sign language work pretty well. Many people here know some English (the people behind us at the circus were singing-in Russian accent-“I wear my sunglasses at night.”) LOL.


My second favorite part of the show was the chimpanzee who was riding a scooter, riding a bike, and doing flips. I took some videos of that and many other parts. NOW…what you’re waiting for….my first favorite part of the show! While Shawn and I were doing our best to try and fit in and not be noticed as Americans, “BoBo” the clown (since I don’t know his Russian name) came up the stairs to our seat and pulled SHAWN out of his seat! At first I wasn’t so surprised, as this happened to him when we were in Jamaica! Except in Jamaica he got pulled on stage by a Drag Queen (instead of a clown) and he was the star of the show. It also happened in the Bahamas with a large Bahama Mama who made Shawn shake his booty and do the “four corners” (that’s a story for a whole other time…also on video!) Anyways, so the clown pulled him down the stairs into the ring! My heart was racing because the clown got so close and if you know me, you know I am deathly afraid of clowns. After my heart slowed down a little, I remembered to pull out the video camera to catch it on tape. I will only charge $5.00 per viewing (all proceeds go to Zoya’s fund! Haha). So Shawn became part of the “Norwegian Men Lifting Heavy Logs” act. The clown (and Shawn) made the act pretty funny. Everyone was cracking up and cheering! I can’t take him anywhere! So much for trying to not to stick out in a foreign country!

Here is a picture of Shawn and I before he was a Ukranian Circus Star!

Here is the outside of the circus building.

Those of you who are coming soon for your adoptions, you have to go to the circus! It was so much fun and relieved a lot of stress too! If you’re traveling with kids they will LOVE it!

Oh and I can’t leave this post without telling you that I had my first experience with a Turkish Toilet, better known as a “squatty potty.” Let’s just say I am glad I had some toilet paper in my purse! I think I now know why Ukrainian women have such toned legs…from all the squatting!

(Squatty Potty I used...eeewww...Nancy I'm pretty sure this beats the toilet picture you posted!!)

On a more serious note, our appointment with the State Department of Adoptions if tomorrow at 6am U.S...OOPS I mean 5 am U.S. (thanks Nancy the Great!...see daylight savings time screwed me up!). It will hopefully be quick and after that we will know if we are going to take the night train to Dnep (Zoya’s region) tomorrow or Tuesday night. We’re hoping to meet Zoya Tuesday or Wednesday. That’s all for now. I hope I sleep better tonight because I am TIRED!


Some pictures of our apartment surroundings...See why I said I was shocked that the inside was so nice?

Here is the stairwell on the way up to our apartment.  We are on the 4th floor.

Here is the ally way that leads to our apartment door.

Here is the view from our other apartment window:

Thanks to all for your comments and emails...it makes it a little less lonely here and I love every single comment and message! Keep them coming:)