Vasilly had picked up Nikolai and Maria before coming to us. They had another tooth/mouth restoration in the coming afternoon. This morning we were having another blended family experience; we were all going to have a pysanky lesson at the museum together. The kids piled into the VW van and off we go.
It took all of two minutes to reach the museum. It occurred to me that this may be the first museum Maria and Nikolai have ever visited. The setting must have been awesome for them. To reach the museum, which is in a church refectory, you walk under centuries old, very large, gold-laden onion-domed cathedrals, brilliant white walls with exquisite golden trim around the murals of saints and angels. All around are pious worshipers in various postures of religious experience. Around them are various groups of tourists, assembled by language and led by a guide.
The museum director’s assistant met us and we all pitched in to move tables around to accommodate our larger than expected group.
The children seemed very happy to be doing this again.
Olya's egg had a plant with hearts as flowers on one side. The other side of the egg said Family Egg. I thought this was a very appropriate egg to make the day after court.
Nikolai and Maria sat at the opposite end of the table. (To their credit, they have not yet shown any parental possessiveness to either child; they have been very deferential to us. They chat and smile with Andry, but we’ve yet to see a single touch or brush of lint off a shirt.)
WE’RE GOING TO BE ON UKRAINIAN RADIO
Towards the end of the lesson the museum director came in with a young woman from a Ukrainian radio station who had asked if we would agree to an interview. Sure, why not?
In very halting English, she asked Pippa a series of questions focused on why Americans were taking a pysanky lesson. She asked about Miami Ad School. And our opinions of Ukrainian folk art. We avoided any mention of Maria and Nikolai and one of the other important reasons we were taking egg decorating lessons.
When the lessons were over, Maria gave her egg to me. Nikolai had tried to decorate an egg but we don’t think his hands were made for this kind of delicate skill. We took Maria and Nikolai upstairs to the museum’s collection of folk art, beginning with their extraordinary pysanky collection. This was the first time the couple had ever been in a museum.
As we were leaving the cathedral complex, Maria asked if she could have her picture taken with Pippa in front of the cathedral, an elaborate edifice of gold leaf and exquisite religious wall paintings. Why would she want such a photo and why in front of the cathedral? Go figure.
Vasilly dropped us off at the cinema/internet café and took Nikolai and Maria to their next dental restoration appointment. We finished off the day with a kid’s internet session of Grand Theft Auto and then we took in the latest Die Hard movie. I tell you that Bruce Willis is really tough when he is speaking Russian.
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