Our Quest for Spaghetti with Red Sauce.....

We have been craving a "real" pasta meal for a while. Last week we went to this German restaurant--it was bavarian type decor. It was recommended to us for the pasta and pizza. They had pizza on the menu and no pasta. We ordered the pizza and it was pretty good.
A few days later we decided to try a place called the Spaghetti Bar for lunch. We ordered the Spaghetti with red sauce. They did not have meatballs, just ham. Well, it wasn't what we expected. The sauce was tomato but it was like a broth rather than a thick hearty tomato sauce. We even requested extra but it did not help.

Convinced we were not going to get the craving satisfied unless we made it ourselves, we set out to the grocery store with our translator. We found just plain tomatoes (stewed) and some tomato puree and bought all the spices and other ingredients to make everything from scratch. We even got hamburger and pork sausage to make meatballs. We made a great meal and invited our hosts and translator to join us. We even had Italian wine! Craving satified...Plus leftovers!!!

The hot water has returned and we have had hot showers for the past 3 days. Wow, what a difference. The little things can really make a big difference to our sense of well being. Five weeks away from home "roughing" it can take a toll. The weather is still holding out and we have been able to take Connor outside on walks around the orphanage. He loves going outside and looking at the birds, cats and dogs. There are strays everywhere. Atleast he is used to seeing dogs so it should help a little when he meets Zu Zu.

We are counting the days until we pick Connor up for good. It will be Friday evening or Saturday. Then we will travel back to Kiev where Connor will have his doctor appointment. The next day we will go to the embassy and get his visa. We aren't sure on what day we will be heading home. We are hoping to fly out on Wednesday the 19th (I'm not sure that is the correct date--no calendar in front of me).

Counting the days until we step foot on American soil with our Connor!!!
Christine and Darren