Home Again and Waiting

[Phil]
Just wanted to briefly update the blog. We got home last Tuesday night and have been playing catch-up ever since. We haven't received any news about our return trip to Ukraine, but I don't really expect to anytime soon. My uneducated guess is that we'll be returning in October or November, but of course a lot depends on the outcome of their September election. A change of leadership could cause delays or it could improve things in the long run adoption-wise. I just don't really know much about it.

You might wonder why I posted a photo of a Ukrainian chocolate bar. I'll let Robin explain:

[Robin]
Anne had told us that she had encountered clerks/salespeople that were unwilling to sell her something that was clearly available. She theorized that they didn't want to sell their last item--to keep it for display purposes. We thought this story was amusing, but then on our last day in town I went down to a little store near our apartment (the espresso machine at Kofe Khauz was broken and I couldn't get my latte--humpf) to order a coffee. I noticed that they had the very same chocolate bar displayed that I had wanted to get as gifts for my staff, etc (the "Olyonka" bar pictured above). So, I asked in very rough Russian if I could buy "that" and pointed at the bar. The woman shook her head and said "no" and pointed at another bar. I had to keep myself from laughing. I shrugged and then just bought the coffee. Needless to say, we only brought a few bars back. They were judged to be "yummy" by Helen and Tina (Dad, yours is saved in our fridge).