Fire away!

As it turns out, we did not watch the Fox children last night.  Some Ukrainian men the Foxes have met found a heater for them, so they all slept well and warm and all at their apartment.  This proved to be a good thing, given the events of the morning.  I was first to go take a shower this morning.  Just as I was getting ready to get in, I heard Libby say, oh dear . . . . Oh Dear! . . . . ANDY!!!!  The tone of her voice was more urgent than her words, so I burst out of the bathroom in all my glory, and saw smoke rising from the corner of the room where she was standing.  Just as I got there, the towel she was standing over started burning.  Libby was not quite awake when she started to make her coffee today. She put water in the pot, plugged in the heating element, but left the element under the towel.  It apparently heats up pretty fast.  I took the water and dumped it on the fire, trying not to ruin the television which was right next to the fire.  We successfully saved everyone's life in the building and kept the inferno from spreading to the next city block.  I wish I had taken a picture of the towel.  It was neatly folded into fourths, so there were 4 burn holes in each quadrant of the towel.  We are fortunate we did not generate enough smoke to set off the fire alarm - it was cold today and I'm sure people would not have appreciated the crazy Americans forcing them outside early in the morning.  

We are now in the third day of the national notary computer shutdown, so we are at a dead standstill.  I am trying to work through another paperwork glitch with my immigration documents.  Andrew invited us to his apartment to use his computer, printer and scanner.  It was a huge help in moving us in the right direction.  Libby was excited to visit a real Ukrainian home.  Apartment complexes here are funny - the stairwell and entrance can be pretty ratty, but the homes are nice.  This apartment was very pleasant, spacious, and nicely taken care of.  Andrew graciously made us tea and served homemade cake his mother had made.  We saw Julia for about 1-1/2 hours today, with Svetlana, and explained what is going on and what is about to happen.  The stress of leaving her friends is starting to get to her, and she had a seizure today.  It would be real helpful if we could get through this current stage and get on to Kiev and then home.  To end the day, Svetlana and we had dinner with the Foxes.  We had Ukrainian fish prepared for all of us in a very small kitchen, and everything turned out great. Tomorrow is their big day in court, so they are both nervous and excited.  We are watching their youngest for them during court.