First Week

This has been a busy week for us. Oleg is still in summer mode and wants to swim every day. We have been to the Palm Bay Aquatic Center twice. He loves the diving boards! He also loves the beach and wants a boogie board. Twice we had Sergey over. He is the son of good friends of ours. Sergey is Russian and has been a big help translating for us. He has also taken Oleg on a bike ride and spent time with him. 

Oleg starts school on Monday. There is a good ESOL program there. We are hopeful that it will help him learn English quickly. We can tell that he is understanding more every day.

Having a teenager in the house has been stressful. Becoming a first time mom at 57 is not an easy thing. I am learning that teenagers argue and want their own way. It is hard going through that with a language barrier. We are trying to institute an allowance if Oleg cleans his room and bathroom. We will see how that goes. He does like US dollars so that should be motivating.

This afternoon we met a couple who adopted two boys from Russia two years ago. The boys are now 15 years old. It was so helpful to talk to someone that has gone through what we are going through.

We have been to church twice with Oleg. He is used to Ukrainian Orthodox. Our church is not what he is used to! Tonight at church we met a Russian woman that came to talk to Oleg. Also, a friend of ours, Oksana, who is also from Russia, came to talk to him. He was very happy to be able to speak Russian with someone. Next Wednesday Sergey is going to go the the Jr.high youth group with Oleg to translate for him.

I will post next week to tell you how school is going.