Jan 12th- Back in Kiev!

We are back!  I finally made it to the West Coast after quite a lot of travel chaos late on Christmas Eve.  My adorable brother Andrew picked me up in San Francisco and we drove to Reno early Christmas Morning to be with sister Molly and her husband Tucker (who are both ALSO adorable).  I spent a relaxed week there hanging out with the crowd, shopping, baking and generally basking in the glorious sounds of the English language.  It is remarkable how truly isolating it is to be in a country where no one speaks English and even the alphabet is completely foreign.  India, though arguably a more "foreign" place in many ways, felt more comfortable for me mainly because I could count on being able to communicate with nearly everyone.  So, even after only a month in Kiev I was starved for English by the time I landed at SFO. Andrew hosted me for two days in San Francisco at the end of my time in the US. I had such fun roaming around and collecting things I needed in Kiev like a MUCH warmer coat, baking powder and cinnamon...and, of course, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups!

New Year's Day I flew to Italy and was so happy to see Paolo and Gio, who was remarkably not mad at me for "abandoning" him for 9 days and instead wrapped his meaty little arms around me.  I of course, melted.  We drove up to the Alps to meet the Bernese Mountain Dog breeder we are hoping will be able to give us a new puppy this spring. We met their HUGE 6 month-old puppy Nick, who was at least 90 pounds already.  Apparently these Northern European Berners are huge- males get up to about 140 pounds.  Wow.  We are really going to have a challenge getting a crate big enough to bring him home to the US....and, well, bags big enough to pick up his poop....  But I digress.... We also met two of their females who they expect will be pregnant soon.  The names alone had us smiling, but their personalities completely sold us.  Socks and Lunchbox (yes, those are their names...along with another female named Onion!) were affectionate and remarkably gentle with Gio.  If all goes as planned we will have a new puppy on our hands by Paolo's birthday in early May.

meeting the "puppy" Nick....all 90 pounds of him.

Lunchbox...perhaps the future mother of our puppy!

And Shoes...another expectant mother.

After the dog visit we headed to Castelnovo to spend the rest of the week with Paolo's family.  There was quite a lot of ice and bad weather which gave us plenty of time to indulge in lounging and eating all of Zia Luisa's wonderful meals.  Gio spent most of his time following around his two 11-year-old cousins, who were remarkably tolerant, even putting him down for his naps and showing him how to fly paper airplanes, a past time that has, in typical Gio fashion, now become a full-blown obsession.

So, now we are back in Kiev.  Our movers arrive tomorrow with a 20-foot container of stuff that I am not sure is really going to fit in this apartment.  Pictures will follow of what was once a spacious, empty place filled with boxes and piles and a harried me trying to find a place for it all. I hope all of you, my (few) faithful followers had a wonderful holiday.  Christmas continues full force here in Kiev, much to my great annoyance.  Christmas music is blasting in every store and cafe, and Santa is in every window.  Granted, Ukraine celebrated Christmas just last weekend, but it seems like maybe it is time to move on... PLEASE!

Gio took this shot himself!  What raw talent.

My scarily crowded bedside table...quite a few books to read.  That's my Kindle in the middle which includes at least 20 more titles.  Notice the "Potty Training in One Week" book in the background.  So so optimistic.

A final shot of our empty living room...and Gio who is simultaneously flying his paper airplane AND eating playdough.  Ah, 2-year-olds.

Gio's garage....

...and his Play-Doh snack.