Saturday, when I went to pick up V*ktor at the orphanage, he came out and asked if his friend Mi$ha could come with us. Uh - OF COURSE! I would love to hang out with your friend! So, they confirmed with a teacher that the director had said okay, and off we went. For about a month before we got to Ukra*ne, V had been asking me to find a family for Mi$ha and his 10 year old sister. Another family was here before me and tried really hard to spend time with him and get to know him. He was completely unresponsive. Even to me, since I arrived, whenever I see him I try to talk to him and say hi. I at least get a hello from him, but that’s usually it as he bolts off to wherever he is going. I had started to think that V wanted a family for him but he must not. I was quite surprised when V*ktor said he wanted to come with us, but I of course welcomed him. As soon as we left the orphanage, he started asking questions (through V*ktor) about America. He asked what I liked about Ukra*ne, what I liked about America, and wondered how far he might be from V*ktor if he came to America. At one point as we were walking, I tried to tell V*ktor about the ballet in Kiev - how I had wanted to go but didn’t get a chance. He didn’t understand the word “ballet,” so I put my hands over my head and did a pirouette on the sidewalk. HUGE smile from Mi$ha and almost a laugh. I started to realize that he may just be painfully shy. You never know with these kids what they’re feeling. Since he was the only kid so far (other than S and R*sa) to spend time with us, I knew that he must be a pretty close friend to V.
The first stop was the candy store where they picked out some candy and I got another bag of “the” candy for my friend back home. Next, we went to our hotel where we skyped with Brian, A, and B. A had a few basketball games, so they were up early getting ready. Mi$ha liked watching them and waving at them. He doesn’t seem to know ANY English, or if he does he doesn’t like to try it out. I must say, it’s kind of funny having V as a translator. It just shows how much English he really has learned. V and M played with C as she crawled all over them. They played some video games on the tablet and computer while eating candy. A part of me was thinking, “Wait! This is my few hours of the day to spend with you, I shouldn’t be letting you play video games.” The sensible part that won said, “This is one of the last few times V may ever get to play with his best friend. Don’t be selfish.”
After awhile, we wandered down to the market. V wanted to buy a gift for his director. The market was closed, but a miscellaneous store was open. He and M looked around and came up with an interesting ceramic snake thing wrapped in plastic. It was only $11 and he really wanted it, so we bought it. I later realized it was a decantur with some shot glasses, but oh well. It’s what he picked out and it’s from him anyways. We also stopped at a grocery store by the market. I couldn’t seem to find jelly and a few other things in the store by my hotel, so we found it there.
Since the market was closed, we went back to the hotel for another 30 minutes before heading out to dinner. The boys wanted…. I know you’ll be surprised…. Pizza. So, we went to “Avenue Pizza” where one of the guys actually speaks English. There we talked some using the tablet translator, C screeched awhile, and we ate pizza. At the end of the meal, V was talking to M and seemed to be quiet (which I thought was kind of funny since I really don’t understand what they’re saying.) Mi$ha looked me in the eye and with sincerity said, “Thank you so much!” It was very sweet and the only English I had even heard him attempt. By this time, the boys had pretty much taken over carrying everything for me and pushing the stroller, so I just went along for the walk. V*ktor insisted that since it was getting dark I couldn’t walk back to the hotel alone. He said it was okay since they were with me but not by myself, so we called a taxi to take me back.
As you have all read by now, Saturday night was quite entertaining. See previous post. I had every intention of sleeping in on Sunday, but apparently C had other ideas and I was actually wide awake by 9AM. We hung out in the room all morning and ate PBJ for lunch. The techno music had started again downstairs by the time we left for the orphanage. I wondered if the wedding was picking back up, but later just assumed it was a different party. Mi$ha and V*ktor met me at the orphanage gates as I walked up and we headed back out. Then, I realized he had wanted to bring his violin to the room. He thought it best to go ahead and bring it. We turned around and headed back to get the violin. He also brought a lot of pictures and important things he has saved. Back at the hotel, we planned to skype but nobody was on. So, we snacked on the pastries from the night before, the boys played video games, then we headed out for an early supper. They had to be back at 6 (instead of 7 like the day before). After eating at K*ntina (where the boys had pizza), we walked to the orphanage. Remember last week how I ordered something, loved it, ordered it the next day and got something different? I ordered the same thing this time and got something ELSE! LOL! I will never figure out how to order here! We walked back to the orphanage (stopping along the way for the boys to get a snack to share with friends), and then we called a taxi for us to head back. I watched movies online, C took some catnaps, we skyped, and I stayed up really late because I couldn’t sleep for whatever reason.
Monday, we made our standard walk to the bank for exchanging money and I had every intention of getting some more zipties at the store (the stroller got crammed in the trunk of a taxi wrong and one of the handles was weakened). It started raining a little, so we went back to the room. C was fast asleep once it was time to start walking, so I elected to take a taxi which would allow her to sleep another 30 minutes. At the orphanage, we were met at the door by V and M. We got into the playroom and I realized I had forgotten water. So, we walked over to the little market to get something to drink (and of course a few snacks). As we walked back into the orphanage, M went the other direction. We didn’t see him again. Not sure where he got held up, but I know he intended to come in there with us. We played some card for awhile. Some other kids came in off and on to visit. I got a video of Sa for his Mom back in America. The other kids had their normal Monday 4pm meeting. V*ktor seems pretty happy that he doesn’t have to go to those anymore. This time, it lasted a half hour, so I didn’t get to take video of the other boys playing soccer. C and I walked back to the hotel where I grabbed my notebook and then we went to dinner at B*lini. There was another customer who wouldn’t stop talking to me and didn’t quite grasp the meaning of “personal space.” The food was good, but I was happy to head back to our room after that. Kartya (the other housekeeper) washed our laundry, so I brought in some clothes to dry in the room.
Today, we ventured down to the hardware store for zipties. The same guy was in there working and got them for me. He helped me put the zipties on and cut off the extra. Funny enough, he was still looking at the stroller with complete disdain for the outcome of my project. I wanted to say - Hey! It lasted 10 days and would have been fine longer if the taxi hadn’t happened! Instead I said “spasiva” and went on my way. While we were down there, I decided another “hamburger” was in order, so we went to that restaurant. They remembered me because I practically didn’t even have to order. When I started looking in the coolers for tea, she remembered which kind I wanted and pointed me in the direction of the correct cooler. I use the term “cooler” loosely. The drinks are all in the refrigerators with glass doors (like at convenience stores), but they are not cold. Back at the hotel, C had her nap. Then we took a walk to the orphanage. A few minutes into the walk, I decided there was no way I could wear my heavy winter coat all the way. It had to have been at least 60 outside! It’s so strange. These people bundle babies in blankets and hats, they all wear hats and heavy coats (even inside) ALL the time!
When we got to the orphanage, 3 of V*ktor’s friends were able to come with us to the restaurant. They all ate a meal and played some video games on computer and tablet. Normally, I do not allow electronics at the table, but I’m not really sticking to that rule here. As we sat there and I watched him with his friends, I was thinking how many teenagers in America take this stuff for granted. It’s not like V*ktor and his friends ever get the opportunity to hang out together at a restaurant. It was nice that they were able to do it. I had some fries and juice, they all had a meal - which was perfectly fine with me! I was happy they could actually have a say in what they were eating. One of the teachers called the other 3 boys back to school a little before it was our normal time to go. They had all finished dinner and dessert, though, so it was fine.
For the walk back to the hotel, I decided the long sleeve onesie, heavy sweater, jeans, and snowboots were plenty to keep C warm. Anybody can tell you (my Mom especially) that I am NEVER hot. I’m always cold when others are hot. The temp was fine to be dressed for a nice fall day. As we walked, I saw the dirty looks I got from person after person. All the kids were bundled up in hats and coats. About 50% of the adults were even wearing hats! Still, nobody said anything for most of the walk. Almost back to the hotel, I came upon 2 babushkas who immediately started blessing me out pointing to their hats and to the baby. I just said “it’s HOT!” and mimed wiping sweat off my forehead. They had stopped as if we were going to have a discussion about this, but I just waved and kept on walking. Sheesh! Now we’re back at the room. Planning to have a red pepper, tuna sandwich (if I can figure out that can opener), and chips!
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
2-23-13 Daddy's Home
After Brian and Aleksey left Wednesday Morning for the train station, C and I slept for awhile. Brian got on a train to Budapest. Partway there, he realized he wasn’t going to the train station we had planned. The “walking” directions to the hostel from the train station would do him no good. So, he arrived and took a taxi, who really “took him for a ride” with the fare charged. It was about triple the printed fare he was given once he arrived at the hostel. Oh well, nothing to be done now. I had packed him some snacks for the trip, so that was good. He got settled in and then found a cheap all-you-can-eat buffet with all different foods, including Hungarian. After filling up, he spent the rest of the day working and getting to watch American television.
We slept in and then went down to the market with Aleksey. It had really started snowing hard while they were on the way to the train station. It took him about twice as long to get back to the hotel as it took for the ride with Brian to the train station. He helped me find a few things at the market, we ate lunch, and then C took a quick nap before heading out to see V*ktor. For lunch, I had a Ukra*nian “hamburger.” It’s basically a chicken sandwich with mayo, lettuce, and tomato. It was really good, and I will definitely be going back for one of those again!
There is a museum at V*ktor’s school. I keep trying to ask if we can see it, but it always seems to be closed. Aleksey asked someone, and they said that it would have to be another day. We went to the restaurant near the school and skyped with Grandma, A, and B. The judge was in there again, and he said hello. We headed back to the school and stopped at the small market. The snow was so ridiculous to walk/plow through that we decided to get a taxi back to the hotel. An ideal Ukrain*an stroller should come equipped with a snowblade on the front! The weather was so yucky we ate in the hotel. I LOVE their borscht! C decided that she did not want to sleep and was up screaming for hours. She didn’t feel good, had a low fever, and was very snotty. I went ahead and started antibiotics.
Thursday, I exchanged money, we ate lunch, and I got some things at the grocery store. I got 2 of the big jugs of water since I still had Aleksey to carry them! He headed out for the train back to Ki*v. He will return when it’s time for more paperwork and picking up V from the orphanage. It was so slick on the packed down snow that iced over! I can’t imagine how people walk on this all the time. It’s kind of a good thing I have the stroller. It sometimes serves as a “walker” to keep me steady on the ice! Since I assumed we would be at the school for the day, I took a taxi and didn’t take stroller or computer. V*ktor met me at the door saying we could go to the restaurant. I REALLY didn’t want to walk all that way and tried to convince him to stay. I know he looks forward to his small time away from the orphanage, though, and from the sounds of it the playroom was locked and nobody had a key. He offered to carry C, but that made me nervous with the ice. I had him carry the backpack instead. Oh did I pay for that! Carrying a baby for a quarter mile in the snow was not a good idea for my back. For the return trip to the orphanage, I had Aleksey call a taxi to pick us up at the restaurant, drop V at the orphanage, and take us back to the hotel. I had no intention of leaving the hotel after that, so I went down to the restaurant and ordered food. They brought it up to the room and we ate in our pajamas J C went to sleep, I took pain meds, and we got a good night’s sleep.
Brian spent the entire day traveling only to get stuck in Chicago because of the snowstorms. A was pretty upset. Wednesday night when they decided to close school Thursday, he cried because he knew that meant Daddy probably wouldn’t make it home. Poor kiddo.
We slept VERY late on Friday. At first I was really shocked I had slept that long, but then I remembered the pain meds. My back was much better, though! I ate PBJ for lunch and made C some veggies with yogurt. We took a taxi to the orphanage. I ended up taking the stroller and computer this time. Even that is a ton of work - trying to get it all downstairs at the hotel through the stairs resembling mountain excavation! I was exhausted by the time I got there, and we took a taxi! As I was walking in the gates, giant clumps of snow kept falling. They missed us each time, but they still seemed a little close. I kept looking around and didn’t see anyone. I thought it must have come from the big tree overhead. Once I was clearly out of the way of the tree and they kept coming, I realized I was being attacked! Haha, just by snowballs. I finally saw the culprits and had decided to go throw a few back at them when V*ktor came outside yelling at them. He didn’t like them doing that to his Mama! We headed over to the restaurant and skyped with Grandma, A, and B. I walked him back to the orphanage and stopped at the little market. Then, a taxi took us back to the hotel. I again ordered food to be delivered to the room. I really wanted borscht again, but they kept saying “no, soup” - so I finally said okay. It was a white broth with potatoes, a few carrots, and a mystery meat I had no intention of touching. C seemed to like it, so I let her eat it. The tables were cleared out of the middle of the restaurant, and the banquet room was all setup for something. I asked the housekeeper L if there was a party and she mimed “letting her hair down” - lol! I was all ready to crash the party later, but I never heard any music. I watched movies and kept awaiting word that Brian finally made it home. After a flight delayed by a few hours, we skyped around 2 in the afternoon (back home). The kids had another snow day. He was sitting with A and B! Yaaa! Daddy’s home!
We slept in and then went down to the market with Aleksey. It had really started snowing hard while they were on the way to the train station. It took him about twice as long to get back to the hotel as it took for the ride with Brian to the train station. He helped me find a few things at the market, we ate lunch, and then C took a quick nap before heading out to see V*ktor. For lunch, I had a Ukra*nian “hamburger.” It’s basically a chicken sandwich with mayo, lettuce, and tomato. It was really good, and I will definitely be going back for one of those again!
There is a museum at V*ktor’s school. I keep trying to ask if we can see it, but it always seems to be closed. Aleksey asked someone, and they said that it would have to be another day. We went to the restaurant near the school and skyped with Grandma, A, and B. The judge was in there again, and he said hello. We headed back to the school and stopped at the small market. The snow was so ridiculous to walk/plow through that we decided to get a taxi back to the hotel. An ideal Ukrain*an stroller should come equipped with a snowblade on the front! The weather was so yucky we ate in the hotel. I LOVE their borscht! C decided that she did not want to sleep and was up screaming for hours. She didn’t feel good, had a low fever, and was very snotty. I went ahead and started antibiotics.
Thursday, I exchanged money, we ate lunch, and I got some things at the grocery store. I got 2 of the big jugs of water since I still had Aleksey to carry them! He headed out for the train back to Ki*v. He will return when it’s time for more paperwork and picking up V from the orphanage. It was so slick on the packed down snow that iced over! I can’t imagine how people walk on this all the time. It’s kind of a good thing I have the stroller. It sometimes serves as a “walker” to keep me steady on the ice! Since I assumed we would be at the school for the day, I took a taxi and didn’t take stroller or computer. V*ktor met me at the door saying we could go to the restaurant. I REALLY didn’t want to walk all that way and tried to convince him to stay. I know he looks forward to his small time away from the orphanage, though, and from the sounds of it the playroom was locked and nobody had a key. He offered to carry C, but that made me nervous with the ice. I had him carry the backpack instead. Oh did I pay for that! Carrying a baby for a quarter mile in the snow was not a good idea for my back. For the return trip to the orphanage, I had Aleksey call a taxi to pick us up at the restaurant, drop V at the orphanage, and take us back to the hotel. I had no intention of leaving the hotel after that, so I went down to the restaurant and ordered food. They brought it up to the room and we ate in our pajamas J C went to sleep, I took pain meds, and we got a good night’s sleep.
Brian spent the entire day traveling only to get stuck in Chicago because of the snowstorms. A was pretty upset. Wednesday night when they decided to close school Thursday, he cried because he knew that meant Daddy probably wouldn’t make it home. Poor kiddo.
We slept VERY late on Friday. At first I was really shocked I had slept that long, but then I remembered the pain meds. My back was much better, though! I ate PBJ for lunch and made C some veggies with yogurt. We took a taxi to the orphanage. I ended up taking the stroller and computer this time. Even that is a ton of work - trying to get it all downstairs at the hotel through the stairs resembling mountain excavation! I was exhausted by the time I got there, and we took a taxi! As I was walking in the gates, giant clumps of snow kept falling. They missed us each time, but they still seemed a little close. I kept looking around and didn’t see anyone. I thought it must have come from the big tree overhead. Once I was clearly out of the way of the tree and they kept coming, I realized I was being attacked! Haha, just by snowballs. I finally saw the culprits and had decided to go throw a few back at them when V*ktor came outside yelling at them. He didn’t like them doing that to his Mama! We headed over to the restaurant and skyped with Grandma, A, and B. I walked him back to the orphanage and stopped at the little market. Then, a taxi took us back to the hotel. I again ordered food to be delivered to the room. I really wanted borscht again, but they kept saying “no, soup” - so I finally said okay. It was a white broth with potatoes, a few carrots, and a mystery meat I had no intention of touching. C seemed to like it, so I let her eat it. The tables were cleared out of the middle of the restaurant, and the banquet room was all setup for something. I asked the housekeeper L if there was a party and she mimed “letting her hair down” - lol! I was all ready to crash the party later, but I never heard any music. I watched movies and kept awaiting word that Brian finally made it home. After a flight delayed by a few hours, we skyped around 2 in the afternoon (back home). The kids had another snow day. He was sitting with A and B! Yaaa! Daddy’s home!
2-20-13 Viktor Phillip Werner
Brian left this morning to start the journey home. Please be praying that he can get home through all the snow and that he is not stranded at an airport somewhere. I anticipate the next two weeks will feel even longer than the previous ones now that I’m here alone, but we’ll see.
Monday was a pretty typical weekday- slept in a little late, played some cribbage, and ate sandwiches. C and I went down to sit with Aleksey when he ate lunch and Brian started work. Then, we headed over to the orphanage for our visit. We were in the playroom again today. We brought the computer and showed V*ktor the pictures and videos of the Valentine program. He played some Angry Birds. I got Sa and J2 to come in and watch the video, too. Sa had lots of smiles getting to watch it, and J2 played with C while they were in there. S popped in for a few minutes to watch the video, but she didn‘t stay long. When it was time to go, we headed outside to the cold! Aleksey keeps telling us it’s spring. Somehow I don’t quite believe him. Brian got to work. Aleksey, C, and I went to B*lini. It was really good - again. I had spaghetti - yum yum! C was not on her best behavior - lots of screeching and squirming. Yes, I had a Mommy fail moment - She wanted to eat and I had a bowl full of ketchup with a tiny spoon. So, I fed her ketchup to keep her quiet until the food came. It worked for a little while anyways.
Yesterday was our court date!!!! Aleksey spent the morning going to Uz to get the documents for court. I was a little nervous most of the morning. We wanted to send back all souvenirs and chocolate with Brian. I have seen tons of “the” chocolate in stores for the last 2 weeks. Yesterday, I found 2 whole pieces. Really? Ugh! Good thing I had stockpiled some, but it wasn’t as much as I wanted. Oh well, guess it will be going in my suitcase. It felt like such a waste to pack a 35 lb suitcase when you can have 50! Brian showed me the tiny auto parts store in case I need to get another cotter pin, we got a scarf for V*ktor, and then we headed to the room for PBJ and cribbage. C stayed awake through lunch, so I was hoping she would sleep through court. I bundled her up and got her to sleep in the stroller just before we left. She slept the whole walk across the street and up the 3 flights of stairs. Then, she woke up just as we started signing in.
We were in a hallway with a table (and bailiff I assume). They needed our passports to check us in. After a few minutes, V*ktor got there accompanied by the school psychologist. V sat with me on the bench, and I could tell he was a little nervous, too. As I sat there, knowing the approximate width of the building, I just couldn’t picture how they had room for a typical “courtroom” in this place. They didn’t. When they called us in, it was basically the judge’s office. The setup was like a conference room. The judge and his secretary sat at the head of the table, Aleksey and we sat on one side, the prosecutor (a very serious looking woman) and social worker sat on the other side, and V*ktor sat at the end with his school psychologist. Two men, who were the jury members, sat behind V. The judge read a lot of documents, which Aleksey translated as he went along. Most all of it was just information about us, our house, salary, kids, family, etc. At one point, he asked if we knew the adoption laws of Ukraine. He was holding a booklet of adoption laws and appeared that he would read the whole thing if not. So, we said yes. We have learned a lot about how it all works, so weren’t sure we would learn that much more - haha! The judge was very serious and no big smiles, but he wasn’t unfriendly. I was more worried about the “prosecutor.” The proceeding continued with the judge asking questions, verifying information, etc. and Aleksey translating. At one point, we weren’t quite understanding the question, so the judge decided at that moment to let us in on a little surprise. He speaks pretty fluent English, so he just asked us the question directly - lol! The prosecutor only asked one question about our plans for school when we return, and the social worker asked how far to the school from our house. The jury-members didn’t ask anything. The judge asked V*ktor some questions about whether he wanted to live with us. He asked if I would make Ukrainian food sometimes, and I told him I already had a good borscht recipe and have made pelmeni. C, who wanted out of the stroller the second we all were seated in the room, did pretty good. She sat in my lap observing for awhile. Then, when she got restless, we started popping Cheerios in her mouth. I was sooooo thankful that her time to fall apart was Monday at dinner and not Tuesday in court! After awhile, they sent us all into the hallway so they could make their decision. I felt like it had all gone fine, but it still has to be officially approved by the judge and jury. So, everything wouldn’t be “good to go” until we got the okay. It was pretty quick and they called us back in. We walked in and I was holding C. I hadn’t noticed that nobody was sitting yet, so I took the seat again. Aleksey said we stand for the “verdict,” so I started to jump back up. The judge, who was also standing, insisted I sit, though. They approved us! The judge said he thought we were a good family and that it was in V*ktor’s best interest to be adopted. Yaaaaaaaa!!!! Big smiles from all of us! I really wanted a picture with the judge, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t okay for me to ask. So, we headed out into the hallway to decide what to do the rest of the day. The director couldn’t be reached, so V needed to return to school. We said we would see him at 3 as usual, then.
Aleksey called a taxi and we headed to the notary. By the time we finished the documents it was after 2:30. So, Brian, C, and I walked across the street to the orphanage, and Aleksey headed to put documents on the train in U. When we came in, the little kids (around 9-10 year olds) were all out in the front hallway with us. They played with C, jumped on Brian, asked for hugs, and tried out a few English words. V*ktor was trying to speak to the director about whether we could go to the restaurant. He came back and said we had to wait until 3. That was fine - we were having fun with all the kids around. We walked down to see the gym which V*ktor had been trying to show us. All the kids followed us down pushing C’s stroller and chattering to us. When it was a little after 3, V*ktor said we could go. Three adorable little boys were playing a clapping game with me and each kept wanting “one more” turn. Sooo sweet. I gave them all hugs, and we left.
At the restaurant, we didn’t have the computer or tablet with us since we hadn’t been to the room since before court. So, we couldn’t skype. We ordered food, talked, looked at pictures on the camera, etc. About 15 minutes before we needed to leave, we saw a familiar face. The judge was there at the restaurant! He came over to talk to us. He said he was really happy for us and that he knew V*ktor would not have the same opportunities here that he would by coming to America with us. He told us that he thinks we are good parents and he is very thankful that we were willing to come here and adopt since it’s such a long process. When I said Brian was leaving and it would just be me here for the 2 week wait, he told me to come see him if I need anything. He said just come up to his office! Wow! How awesome J Because this conversation had gone so well, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask about a picture. He gladly agreed and I got a picture of V with him. I also got a picture of Brian, C, and V with him. He gave me his email address and asked that I send it to him. What a neat experience! It was definitely different than some of the other stories I’ve heard. We walked V back to the orphanage and met Aleksey. On the walk back, we told him about seeing the judge. He was VERY surprised at the picture and everything. Kind of cool!
Back in the room, we packed up Brian’s 2 suitcases and C took a much needed nap. Then, we went down to dinner in the hotel restaurant with Aleksey. After figuring out the train schedule for the morning, we ordered food. The only other restaurant patrons were a big table of about 10 men and a woman. All of a sudden, they stood and started singing (above the quiet roar of techno music playing in the background). It wasn’t a drunken sing-along-with-the-jukebox kind of thing. It was really pretty melody and harmony though I didn’t understand the words. Aleksey said it was some kind of hymn or prayer or something. At the end they all took a shot of something. Alllllright! So random! Oh the experiences that continue to make me laugh around here!
After supper, Brian gave C a bath and I ran over to the grocery store for some yogurt, juice, and ice cream. Brian definitely needed some ice cream for his last dinner here. We played a few last rounds of cribbage and finished packing.
This morning, Brian and Aleksey left at 4AM. If you haven’t been to Ukraine, there are a few things to understand. These people do NOT use lights unless it’s pitch black outside. Hallways are dark, stairwells are dark, and you are constantly wishing somebody would turn on the lights in a dim room so you can really see what you‘re doing. Also, they don’t really have fire-safety around here. Doors may or may not be unlocked. They may or may not open to the outside (you may have to pull them). Stairwells may look like an excavation of Mt. Everest. It’s just different. At 4AM when Brian and Aleksey started to walk downstairs, I remembered something I hadn‘t thought of. Once they know everyone is in the hotel for the night, they lock the giant solid-wood doors. So, you’re locked in. Also, the stairwells are pitch black. C was fast asleep, so I went after them. They were attempting to navigate down a death-trap of a stairwell carrying 2 large suitcases using A’s flashlight from his cell-phone. The light was burnt out on that stairway, but I knew of a nearby light and turned it on. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, it was confirmed that we were, in fact, locked in. Just as I started to call the owner’s son on my cell phone (I had his number for such a time as this), the housekeeper appeared and started talking to Aleksey about how to get out. I figured they had it covered, so I went back to the room. I just had a video call with Brian and he made it safely to his hostel!
Monday was a pretty typical weekday- slept in a little late, played some cribbage, and ate sandwiches. C and I went down to sit with Aleksey when he ate lunch and Brian started work. Then, we headed over to the orphanage for our visit. We were in the playroom again today. We brought the computer and showed V*ktor the pictures and videos of the Valentine program. He played some Angry Birds. I got Sa and J2 to come in and watch the video, too. Sa had lots of smiles getting to watch it, and J2 played with C while they were in there. S popped in for a few minutes to watch the video, but she didn‘t stay long. When it was time to go, we headed outside to the cold! Aleksey keeps telling us it’s spring. Somehow I don’t quite believe him. Brian got to work. Aleksey, C, and I went to B*lini. It was really good - again. I had spaghetti - yum yum! C was not on her best behavior - lots of screeching and squirming. Yes, I had a Mommy fail moment - She wanted to eat and I had a bowl full of ketchup with a tiny spoon. So, I fed her ketchup to keep her quiet until the food came. It worked for a little while anyways.
Yesterday was our court date!!!! Aleksey spent the morning going to Uz to get the documents for court. I was a little nervous most of the morning. We wanted to send back all souvenirs and chocolate with Brian. I have seen tons of “the” chocolate in stores for the last 2 weeks. Yesterday, I found 2 whole pieces. Really? Ugh! Good thing I had stockpiled some, but it wasn’t as much as I wanted. Oh well, guess it will be going in my suitcase. It felt like such a waste to pack a 35 lb suitcase when you can have 50! Brian showed me the tiny auto parts store in case I need to get another cotter pin, we got a scarf for V*ktor, and then we headed to the room for PBJ and cribbage. C stayed awake through lunch, so I was hoping she would sleep through court. I bundled her up and got her to sleep in the stroller just before we left. She slept the whole walk across the street and up the 3 flights of stairs. Then, she woke up just as we started signing in.
We were in a hallway with a table (and bailiff I assume). They needed our passports to check us in. After a few minutes, V*ktor got there accompanied by the school psychologist. V sat with me on the bench, and I could tell he was a little nervous, too. As I sat there, knowing the approximate width of the building, I just couldn’t picture how they had room for a typical “courtroom” in this place. They didn’t. When they called us in, it was basically the judge’s office. The setup was like a conference room. The judge and his secretary sat at the head of the table, Aleksey and we sat on one side, the prosecutor (a very serious looking woman) and social worker sat on the other side, and V*ktor sat at the end with his school psychologist. Two men, who were the jury members, sat behind V. The judge read a lot of documents, which Aleksey translated as he went along. Most all of it was just information about us, our house, salary, kids, family, etc. At one point, he asked if we knew the adoption laws of Ukraine. He was holding a booklet of adoption laws and appeared that he would read the whole thing if not. So, we said yes. We have learned a lot about how it all works, so weren’t sure we would learn that much more - haha! The judge was very serious and no big smiles, but he wasn’t unfriendly. I was more worried about the “prosecutor.” The proceeding continued with the judge asking questions, verifying information, etc. and Aleksey translating. At one point, we weren’t quite understanding the question, so the judge decided at that moment to let us in on a little surprise. He speaks pretty fluent English, so he just asked us the question directly - lol! The prosecutor only asked one question about our plans for school when we return, and the social worker asked how far to the school from our house. The jury-members didn’t ask anything. The judge asked V*ktor some questions about whether he wanted to live with us. He asked if I would make Ukrainian food sometimes, and I told him I already had a good borscht recipe and have made pelmeni. C, who wanted out of the stroller the second we all were seated in the room, did pretty good. She sat in my lap observing for awhile. Then, when she got restless, we started popping Cheerios in her mouth. I was sooooo thankful that her time to fall apart was Monday at dinner and not Tuesday in court! After awhile, they sent us all into the hallway so they could make their decision. I felt like it had all gone fine, but it still has to be officially approved by the judge and jury. So, everything wouldn’t be “good to go” until we got the okay. It was pretty quick and they called us back in. We walked in and I was holding C. I hadn’t noticed that nobody was sitting yet, so I took the seat again. Aleksey said we stand for the “verdict,” so I started to jump back up. The judge, who was also standing, insisted I sit, though. They approved us! The judge said he thought we were a good family and that it was in V*ktor’s best interest to be adopted. Yaaaaaaaa!!!! Big smiles from all of us! I really wanted a picture with the judge, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t okay for me to ask. So, we headed out into the hallway to decide what to do the rest of the day. The director couldn’t be reached, so V needed to return to school. We said we would see him at 3 as usual, then.
Aleksey called a taxi and we headed to the notary. By the time we finished the documents it was after 2:30. So, Brian, C, and I walked across the street to the orphanage, and Aleksey headed to put documents on the train in U. When we came in, the little kids (around 9-10 year olds) were all out in the front hallway with us. They played with C, jumped on Brian, asked for hugs, and tried out a few English words. V*ktor was trying to speak to the director about whether we could go to the restaurant. He came back and said we had to wait until 3. That was fine - we were having fun with all the kids around. We walked down to see the gym which V*ktor had been trying to show us. All the kids followed us down pushing C’s stroller and chattering to us. When it was a little after 3, V*ktor said we could go. Three adorable little boys were playing a clapping game with me and each kept wanting “one more” turn. Sooo sweet. I gave them all hugs, and we left.
At the restaurant, we didn’t have the computer or tablet with us since we hadn’t been to the room since before court. So, we couldn’t skype. We ordered food, talked, looked at pictures on the camera, etc. About 15 minutes before we needed to leave, we saw a familiar face. The judge was there at the restaurant! He came over to talk to us. He said he was really happy for us and that he knew V*ktor would not have the same opportunities here that he would by coming to America with us. He told us that he thinks we are good parents and he is very thankful that we were willing to come here and adopt since it’s such a long process. When I said Brian was leaving and it would just be me here for the 2 week wait, he told me to come see him if I need anything. He said just come up to his office! Wow! How awesome J Because this conversation had gone so well, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask about a picture. He gladly agreed and I got a picture of V with him. I also got a picture of Brian, C, and V with him. He gave me his email address and asked that I send it to him. What a neat experience! It was definitely different than some of the other stories I’ve heard. We walked V back to the orphanage and met Aleksey. On the walk back, we told him about seeing the judge. He was VERY surprised at the picture and everything. Kind of cool!
Back in the room, we packed up Brian’s 2 suitcases and C took a much needed nap. Then, we went down to dinner in the hotel restaurant with Aleksey. After figuring out the train schedule for the morning, we ordered food. The only other restaurant patrons were a big table of about 10 men and a woman. All of a sudden, they stood and started singing (above the quiet roar of techno music playing in the background). It wasn’t a drunken sing-along-with-the-jukebox kind of thing. It was really pretty melody and harmony though I didn’t understand the words. Aleksey said it was some kind of hymn or prayer or something. At the end they all took a shot of something. Alllllright! So random! Oh the experiences that continue to make me laugh around here!
After supper, Brian gave C a bath and I ran over to the grocery store for some yogurt, juice, and ice cream. Brian definitely needed some ice cream for his last dinner here. We played a few last rounds of cribbage and finished packing.
This morning, Brian and Aleksey left at 4AM. If you haven’t been to Ukraine, there are a few things to understand. These people do NOT use lights unless it’s pitch black outside. Hallways are dark, stairwells are dark, and you are constantly wishing somebody would turn on the lights in a dim room so you can really see what you‘re doing. Also, they don’t really have fire-safety around here. Doors may or may not be unlocked. They may or may not open to the outside (you may have to pull them). Stairwells may look like an excavation of Mt. Everest. It’s just different. At 4AM when Brian and Aleksey started to walk downstairs, I remembered something I hadn‘t thought of. Once they know everyone is in the hotel for the night, they lock the giant solid-wood doors. So, you’re locked in. Also, the stairwells are pitch black. C was fast asleep, so I went after them. They were attempting to navigate down a death-trap of a stairwell carrying 2 large suitcases using A’s flashlight from his cell-phone. The light was burnt out on that stairway, but I knew of a nearby light and turned it on. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, it was confirmed that we were, in fact, locked in. Just as I started to call the owner’s son on my cell phone (I had his number for such a time as this), the housekeeper appeared and started talking to Aleksey about how to get out. I figured they had it covered, so I went back to the room. I just had a video call with Brian and he made it safely to his hostel!
2-17-13 Valentine Program
Friday morning Brian headed out on his search for a cotter pin. He took the tablet with a photo on it so he could show people what he needed. Eventually, he found my hardware store from Friday. No luck there (though they did keep showing him zip ties- apparently they remembered me). They sent him on to an auto parts store. It was the size of 2 cubicles from Brian’s office. Apparently, that’s all you need for an adequate supply of auto parts! Hey, I’m not complaining - they had the cotter pin! He picked up some duct tape to finalize my project and headed back. I strengthened the stroller handles and he fixed the wheel. Later, we headed to the orphanage to visit V*ktor. We got there at 2:45 and were surrounded by kids for the 20 minutes until V*ktor came out. They were such cuties wanting to show off any English words they had picked up and giving us big grins. They LOVED the attention. I’m not always the greatest with names, especially if I only see someone for a few minutes. However, I’ve quickly realized how MUCH it means to these kids if you see them again and remember their names. So, I stored away Natalia, Snizhana, and Vitaly in my memory for when I see them again. For whatever reason, the teacher (or whoever) decided that we couldn’t leave the orphanage Friday and had to visit there. So, we didn’t get to skype with anyone as we thought we might. We just played cards and hung out for the afternoon. That night, I went to Kantin@ with C while Brian worked.
Saturday, we all got our baths before the water was unexplainably shut off for awhile - lol! Oh the joys of Hotel Ber*zka. After a lot of cribbage games and some sandwiches, Brian headed off to the orphanage. The last 2 Saturdays, V*ktor has been allowed to come into town with us, so we had assumed/hoped that had not changed and Brian could just bring him back. A little while later, one of the girls from the hotel came up to tell me a taxi was coming. Alllllllrighty, guess they said no leaving today. C and I got to the orphanage and we went to hang out in V*ktor’s room. He and another kid were cleaning everything - sweeping, mopping, dusting. These kids know how to clean! They are effective and fast, too. We played cards and called Grandma, A, and B on the phone since we couldn’t skype them. C crawled all over the room for awhile. V*ktor had asked a teacher if we could bring pizza for supper, and she said yes. So, I headed out to get the pizza. I forgot how long of a walk it was, though, and it was COLD! I got 2 “large” pizzas. They were definitely smaller than what you would normally get as a large at home. Then, I took a taxi back so it would still be hot. As I was heading up to V*ktor’s room, I passed a teacher and a teenage girl. The teacher was not happy to see me. Knowing I couldn’t understand a word she said, she just directed her displeasure to the girl. I had already passed them at this time, the girl asked me “K****?” (V*ktor’s last name) and I said yes. She took off ahead of me and beat me to his room to tell V*ktor something. Oh! Time to go! Apparently this wing was being “closed.” (While I was gone, Brian said a teacher and 2 kids came in for an “inspection” of the room to make sure they had cleaned.) Guess the kids are only allowed in their rooms at certain times of the day. V*ktor stashed the pizza in a bag for the walk through the orphanage. You can imagine what might have happened as we walked passed 50 kids seeing 2 small boxes of pizza. I wish I could buy pizza for all of them! We got to the playroom with the pizza. S & R came in (as they usually do to hang out with us when they are around). Brian and I had quickly decided that if other kids were able to have it that we would just eat later. C had 2 pieces and they wolfed down the rest! You have never seen 3 kids eat pizza so fast. Hmmm - actually, they’re teenagers, so I suppose that’s pretty normal J We played spoons for a little while. I think the inventor of the game wisely intended for it to be played with metal spoons… The plastic ones just don’t hold up to that sort of abuse - lol! If you don’t know how to play the game, I’ll explain at the end to give you an idea. After a good visit, we started the walk back - it was frigid!!! Though I had just eaten there Friday, Brian wanted to eat Kantin@. That was definitely fine with me. I’ll be here a looooooong time and he is leaving soon, so I’ll have lots more opportunities to eat elsewhere. We sat in the room with a burning fire which was nice and toasty. I ordered the exact same thing I had on the previous evening… and got a completely different meat!!!! It just struck me as funny that my Ukrainian is so bad that even if I think I’m saying the same thing… apparently, I’m not. After supper, we headed back to the room, played a few rounds of cribbage, and watched a movie. It was typical Valentines date- with C tagging along. On at least 3 (possibly more) occasions, we have actually eaten dinner at Chuck E Cheese with our kids on Valentines Day. That’s pretty normal for us!
Sunday, Aleksey was arriving on the train to Uz. We had decided that we REALLY wanted to send souvenirs back with Brian for the kids so I didn’t have to lug it with me. So, since he was going to be catching a cab back anyways, we headed out early to Uz. We hit the open air market. Imagine Walmart (including grocery), Home Depot, Toys R Us, and the mall all in one place. Yep! That about describes it. I am not kidding you - we saw clothing (like brand new suits and things like you’d see at a mall all the way to Tshirts, shoes, and everything else), bicycles, hardware, food (including tons of the worlds best candy), toys, paper supplies, perfume, jewelry, even a wedding gown store! I really started laughing when I actually saw a sink. They really do have everything and the kitchen sink!!! We only scratched the surface of that place! We could have spent a whole day there, and I am NOT a shopper. Loved it, though! My Mom and her friends (who love outlet mall shopping) would really enjoy that place, but I think they’d probably have to go in the summer. Those Southern Belles wouldn’t be able to handle the cold J
We located souvenirs, and grabbed a taxi to the train station where we met Aleksey. Brian had seen something he wanted to get at the castle last week, but we didn’t get it that day. Since he hadn’t found anything comparable, we stopped at the castle so he could get it. Unfortunately, the souvenir shop wasn’t open. When asked what time they would open, the response was maybe 5 minutes maybe a half hour. Too funny! So, Aleksey said he knew of good souvenir stores. Away we went in the taxi to a place where I sat with C while they disappeared for about 20 minutes. Once they returned, victorious, we had the taxi take us back to that mall with the AWESOME restaurant. I ordered 2 lavoshes and some Mexican vegetables. Yes, it was a lot of food. Brian thought I couldn’t eat it all - he was wrong. It was the BEST food I’ve had since I got here, and I wasn’t about to pass up and opportunity to eat a lot of it! Besides, I didn’t have breakfast. So, after I finished breakfast (the first lavosh), I ate lunch (the second lavosh and some veggies)- haha. We grabbed another bag of the awesome chocolate. Several people back home have said they want to buy some if we bring it back, so for his extra suitcase room we’re sending chocolate.
Last week, we didn’t have a clue where we were at any moment. This week, we had Aleksey with us, so he was able to ask how to get to City Center. We walked the 20 or so minutes to the center and I am sooooooo glad we did. It was really beautiful. There were monuments, a river with tons of park benches, a big courtyard, and some wonderful architecture. After walking around there for awhile with our awesome tour guide, we decided to catch a taxi back to the hotel before we could go to the orphanage. So, we hopped in a taxi. It drove all through town out to the middle of nowhere and stopped on the side of the road. Aleksey said we needed to get out. I looked at him like he was crazy, and he said the car needed to get gas. We piled out of the car into a grassy patch on the side of the road, and the car drove away down towards what looked like empty carwash bays and disappeared. I could not stop laughing! It sounded absurd enough. Could you imagine if Aleksey wasn’t with us and the driver was trying to kick us out on the side of the road? He said the cars run on propane and it “isn’t safe” for people to be in the car while fueling. Greaaaaat. A little while later the taxi returned to pick us up and away we went on Mr. Toad‘s Wild Ride back to good ol‘ Ber*zka.
We walked to the orphanage four our 2:45 visit time and we went to the playroom. On my way, a little boy ran up to me and gave me a big hug. Oh these sweet, sweet children. Aleksey and V*ktor played a game of Battleship and then we introduced Aleksey to the wonderful world of spoons. V*ktor had told us there would be a “concert” at J’s school in town later and we could go. We thought it was at 5pm, but at 3:55 somebody said it was at 4. So, we packed up and raced out the door on the walk all the way back down to the school near our hotel. We were obviously quite early, but went in and got seats in the back (because of sleeping C) anyway. It’s a REALLY good thing we did. By the time the show started, there were at least 120 people standing in the aisles to watch. The auditorium must have held over 400 to begin with, and many seats were occupied by 2 kids. It was a Valentine show with kids from all the area schools. Sa, one of V’s roommates, was in the show. He seemed nervous (who wouldn’t be with all those people), but he did a great job! They had wonderful costumes, singing, dancing, and lots of apparently funny dialogue. At one point, 10 year olds were dancing to a song in English. It had… shall we say highly inappropriate words in it. Aleksey explained that they had no idea what it said, they just liked the beat. I’ll interject here - because there are not many (if any) copyright laws here to protect musicians, it’s not a booming industry. If you can spend all the time and money to record a song and not get any payment for it, then where’s the motivation? So, they listen to a lot of English music even if they don‘t understand it. TWO HOURS and 15 minutes later, the show came to a conclusion. By that time I was seeing a bit of humor in the situation. We had just sat there for over 2 hours watching a show we didn’t understand. Nice. Actually, we really had a good time and C was great! After the show, we walked V*ktor back to the orphanage and waited at the gate for a taxi. It was so cold that I just couldn’t see more walking. While we were waiting, a little boy was begging Aleksey to find him a family. Talk about heartbreaking. How do you explain to a child how the entire process works and how difficult it is for them to have a family. Their chances are less than 1%. If they’re hosted, the chance increases to about 60%… They have to get the opportunity to be hosted first, though. If you’re reading this, pray about where God can use you to help orphans. It may be a calling to host, it may be a call to adopt, or it may be a call to help other families who are in the process.
Our taxi dropped us at a restaurant near our hotel where we had a late supper. I have been wondering how the restaurants stay open because they’re always dead when I’m there. I realized that people just eat much later here and I have been joining the practically nonexistent “senior” crowd. After supper, we headed back to the hotel and called it an early night. It was a loooooong day!
Saturday, we all got our baths before the water was unexplainably shut off for awhile - lol! Oh the joys of Hotel Ber*zka. After a lot of cribbage games and some sandwiches, Brian headed off to the orphanage. The last 2 Saturdays, V*ktor has been allowed to come into town with us, so we had assumed/hoped that had not changed and Brian could just bring him back. A little while later, one of the girls from the hotel came up to tell me a taxi was coming. Alllllllrighty, guess they said no leaving today. C and I got to the orphanage and we went to hang out in V*ktor’s room. He and another kid were cleaning everything - sweeping, mopping, dusting. These kids know how to clean! They are effective and fast, too. We played cards and called Grandma, A, and B on the phone since we couldn’t skype them. C crawled all over the room for awhile. V*ktor had asked a teacher if we could bring pizza for supper, and she said yes. So, I headed out to get the pizza. I forgot how long of a walk it was, though, and it was COLD! I got 2 “large” pizzas. They were definitely smaller than what you would normally get as a large at home. Then, I took a taxi back so it would still be hot. As I was heading up to V*ktor’s room, I passed a teacher and a teenage girl. The teacher was not happy to see me. Knowing I couldn’t understand a word she said, she just directed her displeasure to the girl. I had already passed them at this time, the girl asked me “K****?” (V*ktor’s last name) and I said yes. She took off ahead of me and beat me to his room to tell V*ktor something. Oh! Time to go! Apparently this wing was being “closed.” (While I was gone, Brian said a teacher and 2 kids came in for an “inspection” of the room to make sure they had cleaned.) Guess the kids are only allowed in their rooms at certain times of the day. V*ktor stashed the pizza in a bag for the walk through the orphanage. You can imagine what might have happened as we walked passed 50 kids seeing 2 small boxes of pizza. I wish I could buy pizza for all of them! We got to the playroom with the pizza. S & R came in (as they usually do to hang out with us when they are around). Brian and I had quickly decided that if other kids were able to have it that we would just eat later. C had 2 pieces and they wolfed down the rest! You have never seen 3 kids eat pizza so fast. Hmmm - actually, they’re teenagers, so I suppose that’s pretty normal J We played spoons for a little while. I think the inventor of the game wisely intended for it to be played with metal spoons… The plastic ones just don’t hold up to that sort of abuse - lol! If you don’t know how to play the game, I’ll explain at the end to give you an idea. After a good visit, we started the walk back - it was frigid!!! Though I had just eaten there Friday, Brian wanted to eat Kantin@. That was definitely fine with me. I’ll be here a looooooong time and he is leaving soon, so I’ll have lots more opportunities to eat elsewhere. We sat in the room with a burning fire which was nice and toasty. I ordered the exact same thing I had on the previous evening… and got a completely different meat!!!! It just struck me as funny that my Ukrainian is so bad that even if I think I’m saying the same thing… apparently, I’m not. After supper, we headed back to the room, played a few rounds of cribbage, and watched a movie. It was typical Valentines date- with C tagging along. On at least 3 (possibly more) occasions, we have actually eaten dinner at Chuck E Cheese with our kids on Valentines Day. That’s pretty normal for us!
Sunday, Aleksey was arriving on the train to Uz. We had decided that we REALLY wanted to send souvenirs back with Brian for the kids so I didn’t have to lug it with me. So, since he was going to be catching a cab back anyways, we headed out early to Uz. We hit the open air market. Imagine Walmart (including grocery), Home Depot, Toys R Us, and the mall all in one place. Yep! That about describes it. I am not kidding you - we saw clothing (like brand new suits and things like you’d see at a mall all the way to Tshirts, shoes, and everything else), bicycles, hardware, food (including tons of the worlds best candy), toys, paper supplies, perfume, jewelry, even a wedding gown store! I really started laughing when I actually saw a sink. They really do have everything and the kitchen sink!!! We only scratched the surface of that place! We could have spent a whole day there, and I am NOT a shopper. Loved it, though! My Mom and her friends (who love outlet mall shopping) would really enjoy that place, but I think they’d probably have to go in the summer. Those Southern Belles wouldn’t be able to handle the cold J
We located souvenirs, and grabbed a taxi to the train station where we met Aleksey. Brian had seen something he wanted to get at the castle last week, but we didn’t get it that day. Since he hadn’t found anything comparable, we stopped at the castle so he could get it. Unfortunately, the souvenir shop wasn’t open. When asked what time they would open, the response was maybe 5 minutes maybe a half hour. Too funny! So, Aleksey said he knew of good souvenir stores. Away we went in the taxi to a place where I sat with C while they disappeared for about 20 minutes. Once they returned, victorious, we had the taxi take us back to that mall with the AWESOME restaurant. I ordered 2 lavoshes and some Mexican vegetables. Yes, it was a lot of food. Brian thought I couldn’t eat it all - he was wrong. It was the BEST food I’ve had since I got here, and I wasn’t about to pass up and opportunity to eat a lot of it! Besides, I didn’t have breakfast. So, after I finished breakfast (the first lavosh), I ate lunch (the second lavosh and some veggies)- haha. We grabbed another bag of the awesome chocolate. Several people back home have said they want to buy some if we bring it back, so for his extra suitcase room we’re sending chocolate.
Last week, we didn’t have a clue where we were at any moment. This week, we had Aleksey with us, so he was able to ask how to get to City Center. We walked the 20 or so minutes to the center and I am sooooooo glad we did. It was really beautiful. There were monuments, a river with tons of park benches, a big courtyard, and some wonderful architecture. After walking around there for awhile with our awesome tour guide, we decided to catch a taxi back to the hotel before we could go to the orphanage. So, we hopped in a taxi. It drove all through town out to the middle of nowhere and stopped on the side of the road. Aleksey said we needed to get out. I looked at him like he was crazy, and he said the car needed to get gas. We piled out of the car into a grassy patch on the side of the road, and the car drove away down towards what looked like empty carwash bays and disappeared. I could not stop laughing! It sounded absurd enough. Could you imagine if Aleksey wasn’t with us and the driver was trying to kick us out on the side of the road? He said the cars run on propane and it “isn’t safe” for people to be in the car while fueling. Greaaaaat. A little while later the taxi returned to pick us up and away we went on Mr. Toad‘s Wild Ride back to good ol‘ Ber*zka.
We walked to the orphanage four our 2:45 visit time and we went to the playroom. On my way, a little boy ran up to me and gave me a big hug. Oh these sweet, sweet children. Aleksey and V*ktor played a game of Battleship and then we introduced Aleksey to the wonderful world of spoons. V*ktor had told us there would be a “concert” at J’s school in town later and we could go. We thought it was at 5pm, but at 3:55 somebody said it was at 4. So, we packed up and raced out the door on the walk all the way back down to the school near our hotel. We were obviously quite early, but went in and got seats in the back (because of sleeping C) anyway. It’s a REALLY good thing we did. By the time the show started, there were at least 120 people standing in the aisles to watch. The auditorium must have held over 400 to begin with, and many seats were occupied by 2 kids. It was a Valentine show with kids from all the area schools. Sa, one of V’s roommates, was in the show. He seemed nervous (who wouldn’t be with all those people), but he did a great job! They had wonderful costumes, singing, dancing, and lots of apparently funny dialogue. At one point, 10 year olds were dancing to a song in English. It had… shall we say highly inappropriate words in it. Aleksey explained that they had no idea what it said, they just liked the beat. I’ll interject here - because there are not many (if any) copyright laws here to protect musicians, it’s not a booming industry. If you can spend all the time and money to record a song and not get any payment for it, then where’s the motivation? So, they listen to a lot of English music even if they don‘t understand it. TWO HOURS and 15 minutes later, the show came to a conclusion. By that time I was seeing a bit of humor in the situation. We had just sat there for over 2 hours watching a show we didn’t understand. Nice. Actually, we really had a good time and C was great! After the show, we walked V*ktor back to the orphanage and waited at the gate for a taxi. It was so cold that I just couldn’t see more walking. While we were waiting, a little boy was begging Aleksey to find him a family. Talk about heartbreaking. How do you explain to a child how the entire process works and how difficult it is for them to have a family. Their chances are less than 1%. If they’re hosted, the chance increases to about 60%… They have to get the opportunity to be hosted first, though. If you’re reading this, pray about where God can use you to help orphans. It may be a calling to host, it may be a call to adopt, or it may be a call to help other families who are in the process.
Our taxi dropped us at a restaurant near our hotel where we had a late supper. I have been wondering how the restaurants stay open because they’re always dead when I’m there. I realized that people just eat much later here and I have been joining the practically nonexistent “senior” crowd. After supper, we headed back to the hotel and called it an early night. It was a loooooong day!
2-15-13 Zip Ties and Charades
I am entertaining people all over this town. I’m serious, people are laughing everywhere I go! Since they don’t understand what I say, I can only assume they’re laughing “at” me and not “with” me! Ah well, at least I can give them something to smile about.
Wednesday we hung out in the room for the morning and ate sandwiches. Brian and I play a lot of cribbage. I soooooo wish we could teach V*ktor how to play, but it‘s hard enough to learn when you know the language. I think we need to get English down before going into such a complicated game. We headed off to the orphanage same-bat-time same-bat-channel and met up with him. He sent us to the playroom while he had to go get weighed (he said they do it monthly - pretty normal). One of the caregivers who loves to dote on C came in and gave an apple to C. Brian was trying to control his gag-reflex since it was not your typical “perfect” apple we see in the stores. The lady stayed in the room, so I figured she was waiting on C to eat it. She had motioned that she washed it, so I took a bite to get it started and let C gum on it a little bit. After she left, Brian said, “I can’t believe you ate that!” It actually tasted pretty good! Then, V*ktor came in and said that we could to to the white hotel again. Actually, first he came in and said “they said no” but the giant grin on his face told us he was kidding. We spent the afternoon teaching him zuma, eating snacks and hanging out together.
While Brian had his meetings, C and I ventured out to the restaurant that I soooo enjoyed last week. This week, the potato pancakes were on the verge of burnt and veeeery greasy. I couldn’t believe they actually served them. Guess they figured I wouldn’t complain. I didn’t know how even if I wanted to! So, I enjoyed the borscht, choked down a few of the pancakes, and fed the rest to C (she seemed to love them for whatever reason). Then, back to the room where she was wide awake until like 11:30 at night. We skyped with cousin E who is getting ready for Disney vacation! C finally went to sleep and made it the whole night in the crib!
Thursday began with a do-it-yourself mission. I am ever so grateful for my awesome friend M loaning me her stroller when mine was left at home. Really, we couldn’t have survived without it. Carrying C everywhere is just not possible with this much walking. I am quite freakishly tall, though, so I have to hunch over some when pushing it. I thought maybe there would be a quick solution to such a problem, so I did what I would do at home. I googled. Turns out, a few zip ties and 2 12” pieces of wood were recommended and voila…. Okay, so I’m in a foreign country, I don’t see a Home Depot anywhere, and I’m not really sure that the term “zip tie” would even translate. I headed down to the town’s open air market. I had seen an “auto parts” section and figured that was a good place to start. I kept doing charades with the man trying to tell him I was looking for something about 12” long and sturdy. He kept trying to ask me what it was for. Though neither of us understood a word, for some reason we kept talking to go along with our charades. I saw a 12” metal something-or-other with a handle that fit perfectly! By this time, he had figured out what I wanted to use it for and kept trying to tell me that it was for a chainsaw. Didn’t care that it was for a chain saw, it will work for my purpose! I couldn’t even get out of him what it would cost, and I figured that maybe there might be a better option anyway. He sent a lady off to get something, but she returned with flexible handle grips. So, I told him I was going back to the hotel for the stroller. While I was there, I google-imaged a “zip tie” and then took the tablet with me. Back at the market, I tried to illustrate how I envisioned the metal rod and handle working. I also showed him the zip tie photo. By this point, I think he thought I was a little nuts, but he very sweetly took me across the street to an actual hardware store. I NEVER would have found this store. I can’t read the signs anyways, and it sits back from the road. Lo-and-behold, first thing inside the door were some wooden hammer handles. Perfect! He explained what I wanted to do, and the 4-5 men in there got started trying to come up with solutions. It was a bit frustrating, but mostly funny! I KNEW what I wanted to do. I knew what I needed. I just wanted to get the parts. They tried taking the stroller apart to put an extra extension handle on there. I tried explaining that it wouldn’t fold up that way. One guy, through charades, even suggested cutting off the handles and then adding longer ones. I couldn’t possibly explain that it belonged to someone else and I couldn’t do that. So, I just said no without explanation why. He seemed to give up helping at that point. Then, I showed the hardware store guy the picture of the zip ties and finally got them to put one of the hammer handles on with the zip ties. I’ll admit, it wasn’t pretty, but I was perfectly pleased with it. He just kept shaking his head and the men kept talking - I can only imagine what they were saying “Crazy American lady! Why doesn’t she just buy another stroller?” Because it’s not necessary. This one works fine! After more head-shaking and obvious displeasure with my choice, I finally convinced him to put the other handle on. They do still turn a bit, but that can be very easily fixed with duct tape. It’s a great solution! For 11 grivna ($1.38) I have handle extensions! The true irony of this is that though the stroller has lasted through almost 6 weeks on the Ukrainian pothole slalom course (3 weeks with M and 3 with us), the very day I extended the handles…. A wheel fell off!! It is very easily fixed, so Brian has a do-it-yourself mission to the hardware store tomorrow morning. Hmmm, wonder if the guys at the hardware store will realize he knows me? J
After I fixed the stroller, we ate some sandwiches, played cribbage, and Brian worked for a bit while I fed C and got her ready. In true Stancil fashion, I had totally procrastinated getting V*ktor’s Valentines gift. So, as Brian and C headed off to the orphanage, I ran to a few stores entertaining people along the way… I mean, uh, getting his gift. Last summer, A bought him a watch for his birthday, but someone stole it off his wrist while he slept. The thieves here are “good” at what they do. He only had one pair of socks when we got here, so we bought him 2 more pair. They’re already gone. He has been asking us for another watch, but we didn’t want it to get stolen so we told him once we get home. Well, they don’t have balloons as I intended to get, and the watches were about $7. So, I went ahead and got him a watch. Maybe he’ll still have it in 3 weeks. I got C a little pink princess wand, and I stopped at a store for peanuts, bananas, an orange, and V*ktor’s favorite candy. I met up with Brian, V, and C at the orphanage gates and we went to the white hotel again. We ordered and gave him his Valentines gift. He was really excited about the watch. The best thing was the look on his face when he realized that I had paid attention last week when he casually pointed to his favorite candy. He couldn’t believe I remembered. It was so sweet. We skyped with Grandma, A, and B while A was getting ready for school. It was so good to see and hear them! I know they’re having fun with Grandma and Grandpa, but they also miss us (as we, of course, miss them). It will be good to have Brian home next week.
On the way back to the hotel was the unfortunate stroller incident of the runaway wheel. While we were talking to B on skype, she saw C’s wand and asked if we got her one, too. Uh… Yes, yes we did. Haha - so I ran back to that store to get B a wand, too. Then, C and I had to leave for Brian’s meeting. No stroller meant moby-time. Honestly, I like the moby. It isn’t too bad. It’s just that the potholes and ice around here scare me that I’m going to fall. I feel a little safer having her in a stroller. We walked to the closest restaurant. Crabby-lady was at the hotel restaurant and I’d rather eat here when Mariana is working. I texted Aleksey what I wanted, and he texted it back in Ukrainian. So, I ordered by showing the lady my phone. It was pretty dead for Valentines Day. At home you couldn’t go into a restaurant without waiting at least a good hour! They had a little kids’ section with a slide and some toys. C played a little with the blocks there. Oh my goodness - I had to majorly contain my thoughts of germs. Ewwwwwww- I didn’t have antibacterial gel because I only grabbed the nursing cover and tablet for this jaunt since I was carrying her. I tried to put all the food in her mouth for her, but pretty sure that plan was a major fail. Her germy little hands made it in there despite my attempts. After all that walking today, I was exhausted, so we came back to the room and I have been sitting ever since!
Wednesday we hung out in the room for the morning and ate sandwiches. Brian and I play a lot of cribbage. I soooooo wish we could teach V*ktor how to play, but it‘s hard enough to learn when you know the language. I think we need to get English down before going into such a complicated game. We headed off to the orphanage same-bat-time same-bat-channel and met up with him. He sent us to the playroom while he had to go get weighed (he said they do it monthly - pretty normal). One of the caregivers who loves to dote on C came in and gave an apple to C. Brian was trying to control his gag-reflex since it was not your typical “perfect” apple we see in the stores. The lady stayed in the room, so I figured she was waiting on C to eat it. She had motioned that she washed it, so I took a bite to get it started and let C gum on it a little bit. After she left, Brian said, “I can’t believe you ate that!” It actually tasted pretty good! Then, V*ktor came in and said that we could to to the white hotel again. Actually, first he came in and said “they said no” but the giant grin on his face told us he was kidding. We spent the afternoon teaching him zuma, eating snacks and hanging out together.
While Brian had his meetings, C and I ventured out to the restaurant that I soooo enjoyed last week. This week, the potato pancakes were on the verge of burnt and veeeery greasy. I couldn’t believe they actually served them. Guess they figured I wouldn’t complain. I didn’t know how even if I wanted to! So, I enjoyed the borscht, choked down a few of the pancakes, and fed the rest to C (she seemed to love them for whatever reason). Then, back to the room where she was wide awake until like 11:30 at night. We skyped with cousin E who is getting ready for Disney vacation! C finally went to sleep and made it the whole night in the crib!
Thursday began with a do-it-yourself mission. I am ever so grateful for my awesome friend M loaning me her stroller when mine was left at home. Really, we couldn’t have survived without it. Carrying C everywhere is just not possible with this much walking. I am quite freakishly tall, though, so I have to hunch over some when pushing it. I thought maybe there would be a quick solution to such a problem, so I did what I would do at home. I googled. Turns out, a few zip ties and 2 12” pieces of wood were recommended and voila…. Okay, so I’m in a foreign country, I don’t see a Home Depot anywhere, and I’m not really sure that the term “zip tie” would even translate. I headed down to the town’s open air market. I had seen an “auto parts” section and figured that was a good place to start. I kept doing charades with the man trying to tell him I was looking for something about 12” long and sturdy. He kept trying to ask me what it was for. Though neither of us understood a word, for some reason we kept talking to go along with our charades. I saw a 12” metal something-or-other with a handle that fit perfectly! By this time, he had figured out what I wanted to use it for and kept trying to tell me that it was for a chainsaw. Didn’t care that it was for a chain saw, it will work for my purpose! I couldn’t even get out of him what it would cost, and I figured that maybe there might be a better option anyway. He sent a lady off to get something, but she returned with flexible handle grips. So, I told him I was going back to the hotel for the stroller. While I was there, I google-imaged a “zip tie” and then took the tablet with me. Back at the market, I tried to illustrate how I envisioned the metal rod and handle working. I also showed him the zip tie photo. By this point, I think he thought I was a little nuts, but he very sweetly took me across the street to an actual hardware store. I NEVER would have found this store. I can’t read the signs anyways, and it sits back from the road. Lo-and-behold, first thing inside the door were some wooden hammer handles. Perfect! He explained what I wanted to do, and the 4-5 men in there got started trying to come up with solutions. It was a bit frustrating, but mostly funny! I KNEW what I wanted to do. I knew what I needed. I just wanted to get the parts. They tried taking the stroller apart to put an extra extension handle on there. I tried explaining that it wouldn’t fold up that way. One guy, through charades, even suggested cutting off the handles and then adding longer ones. I couldn’t possibly explain that it belonged to someone else and I couldn’t do that. So, I just said no without explanation why. He seemed to give up helping at that point. Then, I showed the hardware store guy the picture of the zip ties and finally got them to put one of the hammer handles on with the zip ties. I’ll admit, it wasn’t pretty, but I was perfectly pleased with it. He just kept shaking his head and the men kept talking - I can only imagine what they were saying “Crazy American lady! Why doesn’t she just buy another stroller?” Because it’s not necessary. This one works fine! After more head-shaking and obvious displeasure with my choice, I finally convinced him to put the other handle on. They do still turn a bit, but that can be very easily fixed with duct tape. It’s a great solution! For 11 grivna ($1.38) I have handle extensions! The true irony of this is that though the stroller has lasted through almost 6 weeks on the Ukrainian pothole slalom course (3 weeks with M and 3 with us), the very day I extended the handles…. A wheel fell off!! It is very easily fixed, so Brian has a do-it-yourself mission to the hardware store tomorrow morning. Hmmm, wonder if the guys at the hardware store will realize he knows me? J
After I fixed the stroller, we ate some sandwiches, played cribbage, and Brian worked for a bit while I fed C and got her ready. In true Stancil fashion, I had totally procrastinated getting V*ktor’s Valentines gift. So, as Brian and C headed off to the orphanage, I ran to a few stores entertaining people along the way… I mean, uh, getting his gift. Last summer, A bought him a watch for his birthday, but someone stole it off his wrist while he slept. The thieves here are “good” at what they do. He only had one pair of socks when we got here, so we bought him 2 more pair. They’re already gone. He has been asking us for another watch, but we didn’t want it to get stolen so we told him once we get home. Well, they don’t have balloons as I intended to get, and the watches were about $7. So, I went ahead and got him a watch. Maybe he’ll still have it in 3 weeks. I got C a little pink princess wand, and I stopped at a store for peanuts, bananas, an orange, and V*ktor’s favorite candy. I met up with Brian, V, and C at the orphanage gates and we went to the white hotel again. We ordered and gave him his Valentines gift. He was really excited about the watch. The best thing was the look on his face when he realized that I had paid attention last week when he casually pointed to his favorite candy. He couldn’t believe I remembered. It was so sweet. We skyped with Grandma, A, and B while A was getting ready for school. It was so good to see and hear them! I know they’re having fun with Grandma and Grandpa, but they also miss us (as we, of course, miss them). It will be good to have Brian home next week.
On the way back to the hotel was the unfortunate stroller incident of the runaway wheel. While we were talking to B on skype, she saw C’s wand and asked if we got her one, too. Uh… Yes, yes we did. Haha - so I ran back to that store to get B a wand, too. Then, C and I had to leave for Brian’s meeting. No stroller meant moby-time. Honestly, I like the moby. It isn’t too bad. It’s just that the potholes and ice around here scare me that I’m going to fall. I feel a little safer having her in a stroller. We walked to the closest restaurant. Crabby-lady was at the hotel restaurant and I’d rather eat here when Mariana is working. I texted Aleksey what I wanted, and he texted it back in Ukrainian. So, I ordered by showing the lady my phone. It was pretty dead for Valentines Day. At home you couldn’t go into a restaurant without waiting at least a good hour! They had a little kids’ section with a slide and some toys. C played a little with the blocks there. Oh my goodness - I had to majorly contain my thoughts of germs. Ewwwwwww- I didn’t have antibacterial gel because I only grabbed the nursing cover and tablet for this jaunt since I was carrying her. I tried to put all the food in her mouth for her, but pretty sure that plan was a major fail. Her germy little hands made it in there despite my attempts. After all that walking today, I was exhausted, so we came back to the room and I have been sitting ever since!
2-23-13 Ukrainian Wedding Crashing 101
Below you will find a tutorial on how to crash a Ukrainian wedding.
The first thing to do is find a super-cute baby and put her hair in pigtails. You also want to make yourself slightly presentable. No, don’t get all gussied up like a wedding guest, but at least put on a nice shirt, brush your hair, and wipe the peanut butter off your jeans. Next, when you see the beautiful bride and her husband upstairs in the hallway, use your tablet translator to tell her “You look beautiful! Congratulations! May I take a picture?” while holding said adorable baby on your hip. Go down to the bar and talk with your favorite bartender and waitresses who will pass your baby around for awhile. By talk, I mean smile and use hand gestures to say what a lovely wedding it is. Part 1 is complete. Now, go hang out in your hotel room for awhile to let the festivities really get started.
At 11PM the music will die down and you may think the party is over. Boy would you be wrong. They actually are just serving ANOTHER meal. My kind of people! So, continue watching movies online. The music JUST below your floor will be so loud that you need to use earbuds to hear your movie. Now, inevitably, since you have something downstairs for entertainment, the baby will probably actually fall asleep. It’s still okay to peek in on the festivities just downstairs for a few minutes, but use a baby monitor in case she wakes up (just like you would do at home). If you haven’t thought to bring a baby monitor to Ukraine, be creative. Skype a friend and sit the computer in front of the crib where baby is contained and sleeping soundly. If baby awakes, she will text or call you. Now, you can peek in to see what’s happening. Disclaimer - you may not rely completely on technology (a cyber nanny or a baby monitor) to party the night away, this is simply something you can do for 5 minutes.
When you go down to check it out around 1:15, they will be taking off the bride’s veil and putting a beautiful crocheted shawl on her head. Then, they start the “dollar dance.” It is much like the American dollar dance except it includes shots for participants. The DJ/emcee will stand with a plate that has a shot glass on it. Guests place money on the plate, a lady pours a shot, the guest takes it, then goes to dance with the bride (bringing his date along for the 3 person dance). The shot glass goes back on the plate for the next participant. The groom does not participate in dollar dance. After a quick peek, head back upstairs. Just as you get back in the room, baby will start to stir.
You may wonder how in the world the baby slept to begin with due to the thumping music, but by this time of night she will not want to sleep knowing such a party exists beneath her cute little toes. So, you should probably just decide “if you can’t beat them, join them!” Go downstairs by the bar with all the staff and the awesome housekeeper. They will again pass your baby around while you observe the festivities for awhile. At 2AM, the guests will apparently all be hungry again, so…. They will serve borscht, bread, and salad. During this break, let adorable baby walk around looking cute and smiling at wedding guests still in the restaurant and lounge area. (Dancing is in the restaurant with tables cleared out of the middle. Food is served in the banquet room.)
As you observe the party, you will notice people here and there holding big plates of cake or pastries. They are not using forks, just digging into it. It’s obviously a single serving on a paper plate with a doily, but they’re HUGE! When the dancing starts again and you are dancing with baby, the bride will approach you with a plate full of pastries. Through charades, you realize she is “serving” you the giant plate. You slide the paper plate off her china plate that she takes with her. What a cool tradition! At this point, though, you’re holding a baby and a plate of goodies. Baby is reaching quickly! So, grab a seat and dig in. Yes, it’s okay to give the baby sugar in the middle of the night. She’s not sleeping any time soon! Since the bride has given you cake, you can probably figure you’re okay to stay. So, enjoy observing some games involving wedding guests. They will be more like things you would do at an American bachelorette party or coed shower than at an actual wedding. After a particular game where the participants had to drink out of glasses, the used glasses will be sat on the table next to you and your pastries. A few songs later, a slightly intoxicated but friendly Ukrainian man will come over to pour himself a drink of water… into one of those glasses. As he shows you the bottle of water you will probably smile and nod -which is kind of an acquired behavior when you have no idea what is going on. Unfortunately, you may not realize that he is, in fact, offering you a drink. So, after he pours your water into the used glass, you will need to choke back your gag reflex and take a polite drink of the water with him! As they say, “When in Rome!”
Enjoy the dance, smile a lot, let the baby be cute with balloons, and just enjoy it! After all, there’s not much sleeping to be had just above the noise! At 4AM, they will start to take down the “big” speakers, so it’s probably safe to assume you may get some sleep. Bid your adieus to guests in close proximity, gather your child from the housekeeper’s daughter, and head back upstairs to your room. The baby will wind-down quickly and you can get to sleep pretty soon. Noises of the party will infiltrate your sleep well past 5:30AM, though!
And THAT is how you crash a Ukrainian Wedding!
The first thing to do is find a super-cute baby and put her hair in pigtails. You also want to make yourself slightly presentable. No, don’t get all gussied up like a wedding guest, but at least put on a nice shirt, brush your hair, and wipe the peanut butter off your jeans. Next, when you see the beautiful bride and her husband upstairs in the hallway, use your tablet translator to tell her “You look beautiful! Congratulations! May I take a picture?” while holding said adorable baby on your hip. Go down to the bar and talk with your favorite bartender and waitresses who will pass your baby around for awhile. By talk, I mean smile and use hand gestures to say what a lovely wedding it is. Part 1 is complete. Now, go hang out in your hotel room for awhile to let the festivities really get started.
At 11PM the music will die down and you may think the party is over. Boy would you be wrong. They actually are just serving ANOTHER meal. My kind of people! So, continue watching movies online. The music JUST below your floor will be so loud that you need to use earbuds to hear your movie. Now, inevitably, since you have something downstairs for entertainment, the baby will probably actually fall asleep. It’s still okay to peek in on the festivities just downstairs for a few minutes, but use a baby monitor in case she wakes up (just like you would do at home). If you haven’t thought to bring a baby monitor to Ukraine, be creative. Skype a friend and sit the computer in front of the crib where baby is contained and sleeping soundly. If baby awakes, she will text or call you. Now, you can peek in to see what’s happening. Disclaimer - you may not rely completely on technology (a cyber nanny or a baby monitor) to party the night away, this is simply something you can do for 5 minutes.
When you go down to check it out around 1:15, they will be taking off the bride’s veil and putting a beautiful crocheted shawl on her head. Then, they start the “dollar dance.” It is much like the American dollar dance except it includes shots for participants. The DJ/emcee will stand with a plate that has a shot glass on it. Guests place money on the plate, a lady pours a shot, the guest takes it, then goes to dance with the bride (bringing his date along for the 3 person dance). The shot glass goes back on the plate for the next participant. The groom does not participate in dollar dance. After a quick peek, head back upstairs. Just as you get back in the room, baby will start to stir.
You may wonder how in the world the baby slept to begin with due to the thumping music, but by this time of night she will not want to sleep knowing such a party exists beneath her cute little toes. So, you should probably just decide “if you can’t beat them, join them!” Go downstairs by the bar with all the staff and the awesome housekeeper. They will again pass your baby around while you observe the festivities for awhile. At 2AM, the guests will apparently all be hungry again, so…. They will serve borscht, bread, and salad. During this break, let adorable baby walk around looking cute and smiling at wedding guests still in the restaurant and lounge area. (Dancing is in the restaurant with tables cleared out of the middle. Food is served in the banquet room.)
As you observe the party, you will notice people here and there holding big plates of cake or pastries. They are not using forks, just digging into it. It’s obviously a single serving on a paper plate with a doily, but they’re HUGE! When the dancing starts again and you are dancing with baby, the bride will approach you with a plate full of pastries. Through charades, you realize she is “serving” you the giant plate. You slide the paper plate off her china plate that she takes with her. What a cool tradition! At this point, though, you’re holding a baby and a plate of goodies. Baby is reaching quickly! So, grab a seat and dig in. Yes, it’s okay to give the baby sugar in the middle of the night. She’s not sleeping any time soon! Since the bride has given you cake, you can probably figure you’re okay to stay. So, enjoy observing some games involving wedding guests. They will be more like things you would do at an American bachelorette party or coed shower than at an actual wedding. After a particular game where the participants had to drink out of glasses, the used glasses will be sat on the table next to you and your pastries. A few songs later, a slightly intoxicated but friendly Ukrainian man will come over to pour himself a drink of water… into one of those glasses. As he shows you the bottle of water you will probably smile and nod -which is kind of an acquired behavior when you have no idea what is going on. Unfortunately, you may not realize that he is, in fact, offering you a drink. So, after he pours your water into the used glass, you will need to choke back your gag reflex and take a polite drink of the water with him! As they say, “When in Rome!”
Enjoy the dance, smile a lot, let the baby be cute with balloons, and just enjoy it! After all, there’s not much sleeping to be had just above the noise! At 4AM, they will start to take down the “big” speakers, so it’s probably safe to assume you may get some sleep. Bid your adieus to guests in close proximity, gather your child from the housekeeper’s daughter, and head back upstairs to your room. The baby will wind-down quickly and you can get to sleep pretty soon. Noises of the party will infiltrate your sleep well past 5:30AM, though!
And THAT is how you crash a Ukrainian Wedding!
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Cultural Differences
So first I must say that the staff at our hotel is awesome! Really, the housekeepers wash my clothes and try to refuse me when I give them a few dollars for it. They brought in a crib for C the first night, they’re always friendly and wanting to help (well except the one crabby bartender/waitress), they added internet into our room so Brian could work, and they all love to play with and talk to C even though neither she nor I have any idea what they’re saying. There are some interesting things, too. For instance, I woke up Monday morning with every intention of taking a bath… Ice cold water. That evening, there was still no hot water, so I went in search of the housekeeper to ask. She said it would be 90 minutes. I wasn’t happy with that answer since Brian would be working by that time and I had to leave… A few minutes later, she came to our room and said there was hot water! I don’t really understand how/why they just turn off the hot water, but at least I got my bath! I was happy to learn on Monday that after only 12 nights, they DO in fact change your sheets and give you new towels. It’s definitely an experience here! The great staff makes up for most of these inconveniences, but the things that are expected in America are soooooooo different here.
Monday I ventured to the bank at 1:30 to exchange money (as I do on most Mondays). Unfortunately, they were closed until 2. Apparently, lunch hour means the whole place shuts down. So, I dilly-dallied in a few stores waiting around for them to open. I was back to the bank at 1:58. A lady came to open the door, motioned they weren’t open yet, but felt sorry for C out in the cold. (It was VERY cold Monday!) She let us go in and sit down. At 2:10 they were finally ready for customers and tons of people flooded into the bank. Among them was a lady who kept talking to me even though I had shaken my head and said I didn’t understand. She stood RIGHT next to me as I exchanged money. This was not an isolated incident. It’s happened several times. At home, when someone conducts a transaction (especially at a bank), you stand a respectful distance back so you’re not “all up in their business.” Not here! Even yesterday, I went to an ATM so we would know if it worked. A man came up and stood right next to me totally looking over my shoulder at what I was doing and talking all the while. Just cultural differences, I guess.
Monday we headed to the orphanage a little late. When we got there, we went into the playroom and were promptly locked into the wing. It didn’t bother me at all this time, especially since the lady with the key was “locked in” with us. We played cards, battleship, and when S came in we played spoons. Actually, I had forgotten the spoons, so we played pens - haha. When V*ktor realized it would be Grandma’s birthday on Tuesday, he said he was going to ask if we could use the computer room at school the next day. We said goodbye and walked back to the hotel in the freeeeeeeeezing cold! Since the nice lady was downstairs in the restaurant, I decided not to venture back out and just to eat in the hotel for the night. When Brian started his meetings, C and I went downstairs.
Tuesday, we decided we wanted to check out the market for bread and a few other things. Since Brian wasn’t having many meetings that night, we also decided to eat lunch together at a restaurant we hadn’t tried yet. THEY HAD SPAGHETTI!!!!! I can’t convey how happy this made me. I have desperately missed Italian and Mexican food while we’ve been here. It was so yum! Then, we checked out the market and also a store where I bought 2 Valentines for V*ktor to give his friends. I have no idea what they said. I’m hoping that my charades were effective - asking the lady if the card was appropriate for a kid to give a kid. Brian worked for his hour and then we headed over to the orphanage. V*ktor was out at the store across the street from the orphanage as we arrived. He was buying something for a teacher. He said we could go to the turitsa(?) so we could use the computer (we brought the laptop for skype if it was to be possible). So, he had to run into the school and said he would catch up. He pointed us down the road. We walked to the first place of business and stopped to wait for him. We really had no idea for sure where he was sending us! He caught up and we went to the white hotel restaurant where we sat and used their internet for the price of a few drinks. We tried to skype with Grandma, but, understandably, she was too busy getting A and B ready for the day. So, she didn’t have time. We did skype with Aunt R, though! While we were there, Aleksey called and said there was a document we needed to get. So, after we visited at the restaurant awhile, we walked back to the school. A taxi picked us up and took us to the town social worker. Brian took C in the stroller and headed back to the hotel (it was close). I went in for the important document. After a telephone exchange between Aleksey and the cab driver, I handed over the document and paid him to take it to the train station. It should be arriving in K*ev any time now!
We ate dinner in the room last night. A few days ago, I bought some (what I believed to be) ham for sandwiches. It WAS ham! So, we had ham and cheese sandwiches and some peanuts. Now I know where to get ham! Brian worked, and I made all his travel arrangements for next week. I think C was having tummy troubles because she was sooooo cranky and crying for hours. Poor kid… and poor Mommy. She finally went to sleep sometime around 1am and was up before 9. I think maybe a long nap is in her future.
Monday I ventured to the bank at 1:30 to exchange money (as I do on most Mondays). Unfortunately, they were closed until 2. Apparently, lunch hour means the whole place shuts down. So, I dilly-dallied in a few stores waiting around for them to open. I was back to the bank at 1:58. A lady came to open the door, motioned they weren’t open yet, but felt sorry for C out in the cold. (It was VERY cold Monday!) She let us go in and sit down. At 2:10 they were finally ready for customers and tons of people flooded into the bank. Among them was a lady who kept talking to me even though I had shaken my head and said I didn’t understand. She stood RIGHT next to me as I exchanged money. This was not an isolated incident. It’s happened several times. At home, when someone conducts a transaction (especially at a bank), you stand a respectful distance back so you’re not “all up in their business.” Not here! Even yesterday, I went to an ATM so we would know if it worked. A man came up and stood right next to me totally looking over my shoulder at what I was doing and talking all the while. Just cultural differences, I guess.
Monday we headed to the orphanage a little late. When we got there, we went into the playroom and were promptly locked into the wing. It didn’t bother me at all this time, especially since the lady with the key was “locked in” with us. We played cards, battleship, and when S came in we played spoons. Actually, I had forgotten the spoons, so we played pens - haha. When V*ktor realized it would be Grandma’s birthday on Tuesday, he said he was going to ask if we could use the computer room at school the next day. We said goodbye and walked back to the hotel in the freeeeeeeeezing cold! Since the nice lady was downstairs in the restaurant, I decided not to venture back out and just to eat in the hotel for the night. When Brian started his meetings, C and I went downstairs.
Tuesday, we decided we wanted to check out the market for bread and a few other things. Since Brian wasn’t having many meetings that night, we also decided to eat lunch together at a restaurant we hadn’t tried yet. THEY HAD SPAGHETTI!!!!! I can’t convey how happy this made me. I have desperately missed Italian and Mexican food while we’ve been here. It was so yum! Then, we checked out the market and also a store where I bought 2 Valentines for V*ktor to give his friends. I have no idea what they said. I’m hoping that my charades were effective - asking the lady if the card was appropriate for a kid to give a kid. Brian worked for his hour and then we headed over to the orphanage. V*ktor was out at the store across the street from the orphanage as we arrived. He was buying something for a teacher. He said we could go to the turitsa(?) so we could use the computer (we brought the laptop for skype if it was to be possible). So, he had to run into the school and said he would catch up. He pointed us down the road. We walked to the first place of business and stopped to wait for him. We really had no idea for sure where he was sending us! He caught up and we went to the white hotel restaurant where we sat and used their internet for the price of a few drinks. We tried to skype with Grandma, but, understandably, she was too busy getting A and B ready for the day. So, she didn’t have time. We did skype with Aunt R, though! While we were there, Aleksey called and said there was a document we needed to get. So, after we visited at the restaurant awhile, we walked back to the school. A taxi picked us up and took us to the town social worker. Brian took C in the stroller and headed back to the hotel (it was close). I went in for the important document. After a telephone exchange between Aleksey and the cab driver, I handed over the document and paid him to take it to the train station. It should be arriving in K*ev any time now!
We ate dinner in the room last night. A few days ago, I bought some (what I believed to be) ham for sandwiches. It WAS ham! So, we had ham and cheese sandwiches and some peanuts. Now I know where to get ham! Brian worked, and I made all his travel arrangements for next week. I think C was having tummy troubles because she was sooooo cranky and crying for hours. Poor kid… and poor Mommy. She finally went to sleep sometime around 1am and was up before 9. I think maybe a long nap is in her future.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Weekend Comedy
I think it may be safe to say that our trip is kind of a comedy of sorts… Friday morning, we slept until mid-morning. Not long after we woke up, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to find the hotel owner, housekeeper, and 2 guys in long black robes. They were obviously some sort of priests, and one was holding a long chain - at the bottom of which was a metal ball containing burning incense. The owner motioned that they wanted to come in. A- I was totally not presentable for company and the room looks about as expected of a hotel room without any dressers or place of organization. B- Not to be disrespectful, but I didn’t think I could handle the strong-smelling incense in my room. The toilet smell is just about all I can take. So, I cheerfully said, “Oh! No thank you!!!” while shaking my head no and gently closing the door. I don’t think it was their intention to give me a choice, and I may have committed some sort of faux paux. For the next 5-10 minutes we heard chanting up and down all the hallways. Brian and I have started a list called “Yeah, that just happened.” This one is definitely on it.
We hung out in the hotel room for the rest of the morning and then headed over to the orphanage to hang out with V*ktor in the afternoon. This time, we played spoons with him and S. It was pretty fun once they caught on that you could grab a spoon once somebody else did! At one point, we were locked in that wing of the orphanage again. Kind of like V*ktor on Thursday, I was not in the least bit concerned - lol! I knew we would get out eventually!
That night, Brian had meetings, so C and I went to eat at the Family Pizza. They didn’t have sprite, only pepsi. No water without gas. I tried ordering juice and she didn’t understand. I tried calling Aleksey but he didn’t answer. I tried ordering a pizza, but she didn’t understand that. Finally, I just left and went back to the hotel lounge to wait out Brian’s meeting. I was super-frustrated and tired of not being able to communicate something so simple! I can only imagine how V*ktor and other host kids feel at times when they are in America. Sooooo brave of them!!! After Brian’s meeting, C and I went up to the room and he made supper for us. He felt sorry for me in all my frustration, and cheered me up. It’s kind of hitting that I will be here on my own in less than 2 weeks, and I’m getting a little nervous. I’ve never been afraid to be on my own in something. I’d like to think I’ve always been pretty independent. This just is a little overwhelming at times. I know I serve a big God, and He will supply all my needs, though. I just keep saying Phillipians 4:6-7
“Be anxious in nothing , but in all things, through prayer and thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
Saturday, we were able to have V*ktor out of the orphanage for 4 hours. Since C fell asleep a little before we needed to go get him, Brian just made the walk to get him and bring him back to the hotel room. When they returned, we skyped with Mom, A, and B for awhile. V*ktor played Angry Birds some, and then we headed down to the market looking for gloves and a belt that he needed. Unfortunately, the market was closed already. We had waited too long. Brian and C went back to the room. V*ktor and I headed to get some candy. We hung out at the room a little longer, and then headed out to dinner. There was a restaurant he at first suggested, but realized they didn’t have pizza. This kid orders pizza at EVERY chance! So, we ended up at Kantin@ for supper. It was pretty good! We realized, though, that the food was taking too long and we wouldn’t have him back in time. So, we had Aleksey call us a taxi instead of walking. We made it just in time, and then went in search of a teacher to see how long he could go with us on Sunday. After sorting that out, Brian, C, and I walked back to the hotel.
Sunday, we got ready much earlier than normal since we were picking him up at 10. After some confusion trying to pay for our room in American money and her not realizing that we understood the conversion and just needed change, we finally headed out in the snow. We walked really fast and made it right at 10 (but without the water bottle I had misplaced in all the confusion). We spoke to a teacher (aka - Aleksey talked to her on the phone) and it was approved for us to go the 25 km to the big town where we originally arrived on the train. So, we were picked up by a taxi and headed to U! First stop was the castle and museum. We walked through it enjoying the displays but, of course, unable to read them. Poor Brian carried heavy C through the whole thing. We didn’t realize how long it would take to walk, though. Every time we thought about doing the moby wrap, we kept thinking we were almost done.
After the castle, a slew of totally confusing and unnecessary cab-rides ensued. There was a lot of frustration, but we also had lots of fun, too. We told V*ktor we were going to look for gloves and a belt again. They have a huge open-air market that we had heard of and wanted to check it out. It’s not like a garage sale. It’s new things - anywhere from auto parts to food to clothes and whatever else you can imagine. So, we called Aleksey and told him where we wanted to go. A cab picked us up, and I was pretty sure V*ktor was telling him something different. I couldn’t be sure, and he probably hadn’t understood where we wanted to go. So, I sat back for the ride. By “sat back for the ride,” I mean I held on tight through all the crazy swerving around potholes. There are soooo many potholes, and these are the kind that would rip the bottom out of the car, not just give you a jostle. The drivers swerve into the other lane pretty regularly to avoid the potholes. It’s just part of driving in Ukr@ine! We arrived at a shopping mall. Not really what we had in mind, but we were kind of hungry. So, we found a restaurant and ordered the MOST amazing food yet! Brian and I shared a Lavosh that was awesome, and we also had some Mexican food. V*ktor, of course, had pizza. We found a belt that he liked and bought that. The belt he was wearing had been tied together in a knot… We couldn’t locate gloves. I thought I had adequately communicated to V*ktor that we wanted the open air market, so he got a cab and away we went. A few blocks into the trip, the cab broke down! I was trying so hard not to laugh because I didn’t want to upset the driver, but it was just so hilarious! So, we sat on the side of the road in the broken down cab and another one soon came to pick us up. We weaved around all over the place and ended up at… a grocery store. V*ktor looked everywhere, but they did not have gloves. So, I bought a few pounds of the world’s best chocolate for my friend B, and we actually found TUNA! So, I got a few cans of those (which I will shortly be enjoying for lunch). Then, we called a cab again only to walk outside and get the same guy. V*ktor had kept mentioning this big castle place that he said was for kids. I asked “like Chuck E Cheese?” and he agreed that it was. So, I thought he wanted to play there, and I had given up on the open air market. This time, the cab took us across the street from the shopping mall we had just visited. Oy! The wasted cab rides! We went into the place only to realize that he wanted to let C play. He was so sweet in thinking of her. This wasn’t for him at all. Unfortunately, she was asleep, so there wasn’t really any reason to be there. It was a restaurant, but we had just eaten. V*ktor and I got something to drink and I used the wifi at the restaurant to communicate that we still had a little time for the open air market. So, another cab ride and we finally got to the original destination - lol! A lot of the booths were closing up and I would venture a guess that many of them hadn’t even been open at all since it was Sunday. However, we found some perfect gloves for V*ktor, a little snack of cookies, and I got my matryoshka doll! We weren’t able to find any souvenirs for A and B, but hopefully I can find something soon. There really were not a lot of booths open at this point, so we decided to head back to our hotel. We found a waiting cab and headed back. At the hotel, we were all wiped out. We ate cookies, V*ktor checked his vk (Russian face book), and Brian did word puzzles. When it was time, Brian walked V*ktor back to the orphanage. I was sooo tired I took a short nap. Later, we had ramen noodles. Then, of course, C woke up and I didn’t think we were ever getting her back to sleep! We skyped with Aunt M. Then we skyped with Grandma, A, and B. Whew! What a weekend!
We hung out in the hotel room for the rest of the morning and then headed over to the orphanage to hang out with V*ktor in the afternoon. This time, we played spoons with him and S. It was pretty fun once they caught on that you could grab a spoon once somebody else did! At one point, we were locked in that wing of the orphanage again. Kind of like V*ktor on Thursday, I was not in the least bit concerned - lol! I knew we would get out eventually!
That night, Brian had meetings, so C and I went to eat at the Family Pizza. They didn’t have sprite, only pepsi. No water without gas. I tried ordering juice and she didn’t understand. I tried calling Aleksey but he didn’t answer. I tried ordering a pizza, but she didn’t understand that. Finally, I just left and went back to the hotel lounge to wait out Brian’s meeting. I was super-frustrated and tired of not being able to communicate something so simple! I can only imagine how V*ktor and other host kids feel at times when they are in America. Sooooo brave of them!!! After Brian’s meeting, C and I went up to the room and he made supper for us. He felt sorry for me in all my frustration, and cheered me up. It’s kind of hitting that I will be here on my own in less than 2 weeks, and I’m getting a little nervous. I’ve never been afraid to be on my own in something. I’d like to think I’ve always been pretty independent. This just is a little overwhelming at times. I know I serve a big God, and He will supply all my needs, though. I just keep saying Phillipians 4:6-7
“Be anxious in nothing , but in all things, through prayer and thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
Saturday, we were able to have V*ktor out of the orphanage for 4 hours. Since C fell asleep a little before we needed to go get him, Brian just made the walk to get him and bring him back to the hotel room. When they returned, we skyped with Mom, A, and B for awhile. V*ktor played Angry Birds some, and then we headed down to the market looking for gloves and a belt that he needed. Unfortunately, the market was closed already. We had waited too long. Brian and C went back to the room. V*ktor and I headed to get some candy. We hung out at the room a little longer, and then headed out to dinner. There was a restaurant he at first suggested, but realized they didn’t have pizza. This kid orders pizza at EVERY chance! So, we ended up at Kantin@ for supper. It was pretty good! We realized, though, that the food was taking too long and we wouldn’t have him back in time. So, we had Aleksey call us a taxi instead of walking. We made it just in time, and then went in search of a teacher to see how long he could go with us on Sunday. After sorting that out, Brian, C, and I walked back to the hotel.
Sunday, we got ready much earlier than normal since we were picking him up at 10. After some confusion trying to pay for our room in American money and her not realizing that we understood the conversion and just needed change, we finally headed out in the snow. We walked really fast and made it right at 10 (but without the water bottle I had misplaced in all the confusion). We spoke to a teacher (aka - Aleksey talked to her on the phone) and it was approved for us to go the 25 km to the big town where we originally arrived on the train. So, we were picked up by a taxi and headed to U! First stop was the castle and museum. We walked through it enjoying the displays but, of course, unable to read them. Poor Brian carried heavy C through the whole thing. We didn’t realize how long it would take to walk, though. Every time we thought about doing the moby wrap, we kept thinking we were almost done.
After the castle, a slew of totally confusing and unnecessary cab-rides ensued. There was a lot of frustration, but we also had lots of fun, too. We told V*ktor we were going to look for gloves and a belt again. They have a huge open-air market that we had heard of and wanted to check it out. It’s not like a garage sale. It’s new things - anywhere from auto parts to food to clothes and whatever else you can imagine. So, we called Aleksey and told him where we wanted to go. A cab picked us up, and I was pretty sure V*ktor was telling him something different. I couldn’t be sure, and he probably hadn’t understood where we wanted to go. So, I sat back for the ride. By “sat back for the ride,” I mean I held on tight through all the crazy swerving around potholes. There are soooo many potholes, and these are the kind that would rip the bottom out of the car, not just give you a jostle. The drivers swerve into the other lane pretty regularly to avoid the potholes. It’s just part of driving in Ukr@ine! We arrived at a shopping mall. Not really what we had in mind, but we were kind of hungry. So, we found a restaurant and ordered the MOST amazing food yet! Brian and I shared a Lavosh that was awesome, and we also had some Mexican food. V*ktor, of course, had pizza. We found a belt that he liked and bought that. The belt he was wearing had been tied together in a knot… We couldn’t locate gloves. I thought I had adequately communicated to V*ktor that we wanted the open air market, so he got a cab and away we went. A few blocks into the trip, the cab broke down! I was trying so hard not to laugh because I didn’t want to upset the driver, but it was just so hilarious! So, we sat on the side of the road in the broken down cab and another one soon came to pick us up. We weaved around all over the place and ended up at… a grocery store. V*ktor looked everywhere, but they did not have gloves. So, I bought a few pounds of the world’s best chocolate for my friend B, and we actually found TUNA! So, I got a few cans of those (which I will shortly be enjoying for lunch). Then, we called a cab again only to walk outside and get the same guy. V*ktor had kept mentioning this big castle place that he said was for kids. I asked “like Chuck E Cheese?” and he agreed that it was. So, I thought he wanted to play there, and I had given up on the open air market. This time, the cab took us across the street from the shopping mall we had just visited. Oy! The wasted cab rides! We went into the place only to realize that he wanted to let C play. He was so sweet in thinking of her. This wasn’t for him at all. Unfortunately, she was asleep, so there wasn’t really any reason to be there. It was a restaurant, but we had just eaten. V*ktor and I got something to drink and I used the wifi at the restaurant to communicate that we still had a little time for the open air market. So, another cab ride and we finally got to the original destination - lol! A lot of the booths were closing up and I would venture a guess that many of them hadn’t even been open at all since it was Sunday. However, we found some perfect gloves for V*ktor, a little snack of cookies, and I got my matryoshka doll! We weren’t able to find any souvenirs for A and B, but hopefully I can find something soon. There really were not a lot of booths open at this point, so we decided to head back to our hotel. We found a waiting cab and headed back. At the hotel, we were all wiped out. We ate cookies, V*ktor checked his vk (Russian face book), and Brian did word puzzles. When it was time, Brian walked V*ktor back to the orphanage. I was sooo tired I took a short nap. Later, we had ramen noodles. Then, of course, C woke up and I didn’t think we were ever getting her back to sleep! We skyped with Aunt M. Then we skyped with Grandma, A, and B. Whew! What a weekend!
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Locked in
Hmmm - getting locked in a wing of the orphanage wasn’t on my to-do list today! It was kind of funny, though!
We woke up late morning since our sweet C-bean was awake so late. She had some oatmeal and a banana. We had PBJ (and of course she helped because that child is a bottomless pit)! The power all went out right as I turned on a light, so I went out in the hallway to realize that the whole hotel (or at least the upstairs) was out of power, too! Brian and I laughed saying we hoped it was a breaker and not a fuse-box where they’d have to go get a fuse. The lights were back on very quickly thanks to the fast housekeeper Lub@. Unfortunately, our bathroom light burnt out (it had just been replaced yesterday). It is still not fixed tonight, but when I asked she said she had called the electrician. By “said” I mean we played charades - haha. Oh, and she’s awesome to wash our clothes and then hang them up. They’re in a cold room, though, and don’t get completely dry until I pull them in our room and drape them everywhere. Nobody uses dryers here. Nobody. Still, her putting them in the washer is worlds better than me doing them in the bathtub without a spin cycle!
When it was time to walk to the orphanage, the rain was coming down pretty hard. So, I called Aleksey and he sent a cab. It’s only $1.25 each way, but we still walk if we can. Snow and cold I will do. Rain - eh, not so much. We got there and went into the playroom/living room as usual. We worked a little on English and then played some cards. Aleksey had said we should go ask the director about if we could take V*ktor out Saturday. So, we started to go ask the director, but V said he wasn’t in his office. Back to the playroom where I dazzled B and V with a card trick I learned on you tube. A little while later, we started to go again only to realize that the glass door to this wing of the building was locked. Aaaaaaaannnd apparently nobody had a key. V*ktor didn’t seem the least bit concerned - like this sort of thing happens all the time and it will eventually get unlocked. He yelled out the window at someone who was coming in, but clearly letting us out wasn’t their top priority (or possibly not within their ability). So, we continued to play and V asked to play Angry Birds for a bit. Aleksey called and said we needed to go to the office and get an important document to give to our cab driver (so he could go to Uz and put it on the train). I said, “Sure! As soon as we can get out!” Every now and then we would hear pounding on the door from someone (adults and kids) trying to get in or out. We would go out and everyone would shrug at each other since nobody had a key. Eventually, somebody unlocked it and life went on! V*ktor and I went to the director’s office where I handed the phone to a lady and Aleksey talked to her. Then we went into another office and talked to a lady who seemed to know what she was asking. The important document was handed to me and as I turned around, the director walked in. Perfect timing! I shook his hand, V said hello and I kind of handed him the phone. He talked to Aleksey briefly. I heard lots of “dobre” which means “good” and after a quick exchange he handed the phone back and went on his way. As V*ktor was grinning, I figured it was an a-okay for Saturday. It was! Back in the room we visited a little longer and then headed over to the little store to buy a 2L drink and loaf of bread for him to share with his friends. (Both items total was only $.75) We said goodbye at the gate and took the cab back to the hotel (where the driver had a telephone exchange with Aleksey about the document). I gave him the document and $12.50 for him to drive it over to the train (roughly 25 miles away) and get it there so it will be in Kiev tomorrow morning.
We came in the room for awhile, and then I bundled a very sleepy C and vacated the room for Brian’s meetings. We found the restaurant and sat down. Total failure at ordering… again. Tomorrow, I will totally be taking Aleksey up on his offer to call him for anything. Hopefully he can help me order! Really, the food was awesome. C slept the whole time so I got to read - which was perfect. I just didn’t order exactly what I wanted, but I loved the potato pancakes and borscht. The whole meal was under $5 including tip. It seemed like kind of a fancy place. I felt underdressed in a T-shirt. Of course, in Ukraine, if you’re wearing any brighter or lighter colors you’ll stick out. I got the impression the next table over was thoroughly enjoying my failed attempts at communication with the waiter. Ah well, glad to provide some entertainment for them J
Next stop - supermarket for Brian’s ramen noodles. He loves them - which makes easy meals for him. I got about 8 packs of ramen, sugar for our oatmeal (whew - almost got salt but realized just in time), box of cereal, vereneki, sour cream, cheese for sandwiches, and bananas. All that was less than $9! The other day when I was there and bought what I believed to be tuna, and clearly I was wrong. Brian looked it up on the internet before we opened the can, and we realized it was sardines in tomato sauce. Ewwwwwww! No thank you! Shopping in a store where you can’t read any of the labels doesn’t seem like it would be so hard, but it is. Now I’m back in the room and C just fell asleep!!!!!!!!! Yaaa! Maybe a little earlier night for me. Brian will still be up late because he’s working the same hours from home. Well try to let him sleep in tomorrow, though. Stay tuned for more adventures!
We woke up late morning since our sweet C-bean was awake so late. She had some oatmeal and a banana. We had PBJ (and of course she helped because that child is a bottomless pit)! The power all went out right as I turned on a light, so I went out in the hallway to realize that the whole hotel (or at least the upstairs) was out of power, too! Brian and I laughed saying we hoped it was a breaker and not a fuse-box where they’d have to go get a fuse. The lights were back on very quickly thanks to the fast housekeeper Lub@. Unfortunately, our bathroom light burnt out (it had just been replaced yesterday). It is still not fixed tonight, but when I asked she said she had called the electrician. By “said” I mean we played charades - haha. Oh, and she’s awesome to wash our clothes and then hang them up. They’re in a cold room, though, and don’t get completely dry until I pull them in our room and drape them everywhere. Nobody uses dryers here. Nobody. Still, her putting them in the washer is worlds better than me doing them in the bathtub without a spin cycle!
When it was time to walk to the orphanage, the rain was coming down pretty hard. So, I called Aleksey and he sent a cab. It’s only $1.25 each way, but we still walk if we can. Snow and cold I will do. Rain - eh, not so much. We got there and went into the playroom/living room as usual. We worked a little on English and then played some cards. Aleksey had said we should go ask the director about if we could take V*ktor out Saturday. So, we started to go ask the director, but V said he wasn’t in his office. Back to the playroom where I dazzled B and V with a card trick I learned on you tube. A little while later, we started to go again only to realize that the glass door to this wing of the building was locked. Aaaaaaaannnd apparently nobody had a key. V*ktor didn’t seem the least bit concerned - like this sort of thing happens all the time and it will eventually get unlocked. He yelled out the window at someone who was coming in, but clearly letting us out wasn’t their top priority (or possibly not within their ability). So, we continued to play and V asked to play Angry Birds for a bit. Aleksey called and said we needed to go to the office and get an important document to give to our cab driver (so he could go to Uz and put it on the train). I said, “Sure! As soon as we can get out!” Every now and then we would hear pounding on the door from someone (adults and kids) trying to get in or out. We would go out and everyone would shrug at each other since nobody had a key. Eventually, somebody unlocked it and life went on! V*ktor and I went to the director’s office where I handed the phone to a lady and Aleksey talked to her. Then we went into another office and talked to a lady who seemed to know what she was asking. The important document was handed to me and as I turned around, the director walked in. Perfect timing! I shook his hand, V said hello and I kind of handed him the phone. He talked to Aleksey briefly. I heard lots of “dobre” which means “good” and after a quick exchange he handed the phone back and went on his way. As V*ktor was grinning, I figured it was an a-okay for Saturday. It was! Back in the room we visited a little longer and then headed over to the little store to buy a 2L drink and loaf of bread for him to share with his friends. (Both items total was only $.75) We said goodbye at the gate and took the cab back to the hotel (where the driver had a telephone exchange with Aleksey about the document). I gave him the document and $12.50 for him to drive it over to the train (roughly 25 miles away) and get it there so it will be in Kiev tomorrow morning.
We came in the room for awhile, and then I bundled a very sleepy C and vacated the room for Brian’s meetings. We found the restaurant and sat down. Total failure at ordering… again. Tomorrow, I will totally be taking Aleksey up on his offer to call him for anything. Hopefully he can help me order! Really, the food was awesome. C slept the whole time so I got to read - which was perfect. I just didn’t order exactly what I wanted, but I loved the potato pancakes and borscht. The whole meal was under $5 including tip. It seemed like kind of a fancy place. I felt underdressed in a T-shirt. Of course, in Ukraine, if you’re wearing any brighter or lighter colors you’ll stick out. I got the impression the next table over was thoroughly enjoying my failed attempts at communication with the waiter. Ah well, glad to provide some entertainment for them J
Next stop - supermarket for Brian’s ramen noodles. He loves them - which makes easy meals for him. I got about 8 packs of ramen, sugar for our oatmeal (whew - almost got salt but realized just in time), box of cereal, vereneki, sour cream, cheese for sandwiches, and bananas. All that was less than $9! The other day when I was there and bought what I believed to be tuna, and clearly I was wrong. Brian looked it up on the internet before we opened the can, and we realized it was sardines in tomato sauce. Ewwwwwww! No thank you! Shopping in a store where you can’t read any of the labels doesn’t seem like it would be so hard, but it is. Now I’m back in the room and C just fell asleep!!!!!!!!! Yaaa! Maybe a little earlier night for me. Brian will still be up late because he’s working the same hours from home. Well try to let him sleep in tomorrow, though. Stay tuned for more adventures!
We Have a Court Date!
We have a court date! We have a court date! It’s February 19th! Unfortunately, it’s not as soon as we hoped, but it’s what we expected.. That means Brian can head home on February 20th.
Sunday afternoon we were in a different room with some desks. Aleksey was with us, and he lost a few times to V*ktor at Battleship. I’m getting smart enough not to play those games with V*ktor unless I want to lose - haha. He said we could stay awhile because they were free for the night. So, we stayed a little longer but knew C was on the verge of crankiness. So, we headed back to the hotel and grabbed dinner.
Monday, our hope was for us to get a call from the social worker. Our translator, Aleksey, said be ready by 9 just in case. So, I started a bath at 8. It ran and ran and ran… ice cold water. When I asked Aleksey about it he said that he just took a cold shower. I pleaded for him to ask if it would be back any time soon. The only thing worse than a cold shower is a cold bath! When he asked, it was apparent it might be awhile. So, my hair went into a French braid and oh well! I checked out the market and ended up finding packages of diapers! Yaaa! Buying them one by one at the supermarket or pharmacy was seeming pretty absurd to me- especially at that price. They had a ton of other stuff down there that I will have to see another time. We waited and waited most of the day for our paperwork with no luck. Boo! We went to see V*ktor, though, and we were back in the playroom. Aleksey was meeting with different people at the orphanage, so he was in and out. V*ktor had to run off for a meeting once. Otherwise, just another day of playing cards and visiting - yaa! We walked over to a little store that’s RIGHT outside the orphanage gate. Apparently the kids are allowed to go there and teachers sometimes hang out in the little “café” area with a TV. After we got back to the room, the water was warm again so I caught a quick bath before Brian had to start work. C and I went down for dinner with Aleksey, and Brian worked. We brought up dinner for him.
Tuesday morning, I started getting really discouraged when we didn’t hear anything at 9, or 9:30, or 10. At 10:20, though, Aleksey called and said let’s go in 30 minutes! So, we headed out and took a car to the notary where we signed papers. Then, he said “let’s go” and away we went back to our room where he read (translated) some documents to us. We signed several copies of those, and while that was happening he got a phone call that the social worker was done with her report. Double Yaaaa! So, we raced out the door following Aleksey. I hadn’t realized where this social worker was (right across the street) so at first I was thinking “Oy! Long sprint a mile down the road trying to keep up and pushing a stroller!” Thankfully, it was close, though. We went into the office. It was the same office with the same ladies who did our initial interview the day we got into town before we were sent to the orphanage. We were there what seemed like forEVER as Aleksey got papers together, made copies, and kept talking to the ladies. He was reading over documents, too, and of course I‘m trying to read every expression on whether what he‘s reading is good or bad. I try so hard not to worry, but I just WONDER what in the world is going on half the time! If you’re on this adoption journey, a need to know details and keep track of everything that’s happening will really help you on the US side of things. It will be invaluable. Really. It will drive you to INSANITY while you’re in Ukr*ine, though! I’m constantly following around without a clue what’s happening, listening to a translation of a paper, then jumping up to follow along to the next location! It’s maddening- lol! After that exchange in the social worker’s office (that lasted probably 45min-an hour), Aleksey said she had recommended us for adoption that it’s in V*ktor’s best interest. So, he said get ready to go and left the room. He has realized by now that getting ready to go is a process for us. Dressing C up in a snowsuit, coat, hat, gloves, and boots takes a wee bit of time. When we were done, we assumed he was outside, so we trudged out of the building with backpack, stroller, and super-bundled baby. He was nowhere to be seen! So, we hung out for a few minutes until he ran by pointing to another building telling us to go in the lobby and wait. So, we did. After about 5-10 minutes, he came in that building and said we needed to go to the 3rd floor. So, up we went! We went in an office where a lady intentionally kept her eyes on her computer screen the whole time he was talking to her. She finally looked up to answer him and took the papers. “Time to go!” lol! I should get used to this J We went back to the hotel, and Aleksey went to put the papers on a train to Kiev. We went to the orphanage to visit V*ktor. When we told him we were pretty sure the court date, he started doing the math in his head and came up with 28 days until he gets to leave. He’s READY! On the way out we went to that little store by the orphanage again and he wanted to get some treats for friends and teachers. Well, what can we say to that? Okay J After our visit, Aleksey came back and we ate dinner while Brian worked. Then he was off to Kiev! We will see him in a few weeks for court.
Today, we slept late, but then got ready to head over to the market. Yesterday I got a tea kettle so we can cook ramen noodles and heat other things up in the room. We are apparently only budgeted for 30 days here and it’s obviously going to be a lot longer. We’re saving money wherever we can. Those of you who know me well realize that I am pretty good at it J Otherwise, we’re trusting God to provide the rest if we fall short at the end. I wanted to price compare all the food and such at the market to the grocery store right by our hotel. Brian and C tagged along - I told him it was in case I bought a heavy jug of water and he had to carry it. Really, I just wanted the company - haha. I had heard from my friend how obsessive these people are about children being bundled. So, adults are walking around in light jackets and no scarves, hats, or gloves. My child is bundled in a complete snowsuit with winter boots. Several people have approached me over the past few days when she is not wearing gloves. They grab her little hands and I can totally tell what they’re saying (that she needs to be wearing gloves) even though I don’t know the language. So funny! Helloooooo- she’s wearing a snowsuit and just pulled the gloves off!
Back at the room we ate PBJ, Brian worked for an hour, and we headed off on the hike to the orphanage. Took us only 23 minutes this time! While we were there Aleksey called with our official court time! We will have court on February 19th at 1PM!!! Soooo exciting!
Tonight, Brian had some meetings and I had to vacate the room with C for an hour and half. So, I ate some Ramen noodles first and then intended to just order vereneki. Ah well, communication error and I got a little more food than I intended, but it was very yummy! C slept the WHOLE time and I enjoyed a book on the Kindle my awesome friend B let me borrow for the trip. I stopped at the grocery store for some frozen pelmeni Brian requested and came back to the room. He cooked it in the teakettle and gave some to C since she had slept through dinner. It wasn’t bad! Now, I’m trying to get cranky baby to sleep since she had such a long nap earlier!
As far as the process goes, we are just waiting on court. Then, due to the date of court, it will be a full 2 weeks until I can pick him up. After that, probably another week and a half at least. Thank you all for continued prayers! Love from Ukr*ine!
Sunday afternoon we were in a different room with some desks. Aleksey was with us, and he lost a few times to V*ktor at Battleship. I’m getting smart enough not to play those games with V*ktor unless I want to lose - haha. He said we could stay awhile because they were free for the night. So, we stayed a little longer but knew C was on the verge of crankiness. So, we headed back to the hotel and grabbed dinner.
Monday, our hope was for us to get a call from the social worker. Our translator, Aleksey, said be ready by 9 just in case. So, I started a bath at 8. It ran and ran and ran… ice cold water. When I asked Aleksey about it he said that he just took a cold shower. I pleaded for him to ask if it would be back any time soon. The only thing worse than a cold shower is a cold bath! When he asked, it was apparent it might be awhile. So, my hair went into a French braid and oh well! I checked out the market and ended up finding packages of diapers! Yaaa! Buying them one by one at the supermarket or pharmacy was seeming pretty absurd to me- especially at that price. They had a ton of other stuff down there that I will have to see another time. We waited and waited most of the day for our paperwork with no luck. Boo! We went to see V*ktor, though, and we were back in the playroom. Aleksey was meeting with different people at the orphanage, so he was in and out. V*ktor had to run off for a meeting once. Otherwise, just another day of playing cards and visiting - yaa! We walked over to a little store that’s RIGHT outside the orphanage gate. Apparently the kids are allowed to go there and teachers sometimes hang out in the little “café” area with a TV. After we got back to the room, the water was warm again so I caught a quick bath before Brian had to start work. C and I went down for dinner with Aleksey, and Brian worked. We brought up dinner for him.
Tuesday morning, I started getting really discouraged when we didn’t hear anything at 9, or 9:30, or 10. At 10:20, though, Aleksey called and said let’s go in 30 minutes! So, we headed out and took a car to the notary where we signed papers. Then, he said “let’s go” and away we went back to our room where he read (translated) some documents to us. We signed several copies of those, and while that was happening he got a phone call that the social worker was done with her report. Double Yaaaa! So, we raced out the door following Aleksey. I hadn’t realized where this social worker was (right across the street) so at first I was thinking “Oy! Long sprint a mile down the road trying to keep up and pushing a stroller!” Thankfully, it was close, though. We went into the office. It was the same office with the same ladies who did our initial interview the day we got into town before we were sent to the orphanage. We were there what seemed like forEVER as Aleksey got papers together, made copies, and kept talking to the ladies. He was reading over documents, too, and of course I‘m trying to read every expression on whether what he‘s reading is good or bad. I try so hard not to worry, but I just WONDER what in the world is going on half the time! If you’re on this adoption journey, a need to know details and keep track of everything that’s happening will really help you on the US side of things. It will be invaluable. Really. It will drive you to INSANITY while you’re in Ukr*ine, though! I’m constantly following around without a clue what’s happening, listening to a translation of a paper, then jumping up to follow along to the next location! It’s maddening- lol! After that exchange in the social worker’s office (that lasted probably 45min-an hour), Aleksey said she had recommended us for adoption that it’s in V*ktor’s best interest. So, he said get ready to go and left the room. He has realized by now that getting ready to go is a process for us. Dressing C up in a snowsuit, coat, hat, gloves, and boots takes a wee bit of time. When we were done, we assumed he was outside, so we trudged out of the building with backpack, stroller, and super-bundled baby. He was nowhere to be seen! So, we hung out for a few minutes until he ran by pointing to another building telling us to go in the lobby and wait. So, we did. After about 5-10 minutes, he came in that building and said we needed to go to the 3rd floor. So, up we went! We went in an office where a lady intentionally kept her eyes on her computer screen the whole time he was talking to her. She finally looked up to answer him and took the papers. “Time to go!” lol! I should get used to this J We went back to the hotel, and Aleksey went to put the papers on a train to Kiev. We went to the orphanage to visit V*ktor. When we told him we were pretty sure the court date, he started doing the math in his head and came up with 28 days until he gets to leave. He’s READY! On the way out we went to that little store by the orphanage again and he wanted to get some treats for friends and teachers. Well, what can we say to that? Okay J After our visit, Aleksey came back and we ate dinner while Brian worked. Then he was off to Kiev! We will see him in a few weeks for court.
Today, we slept late, but then got ready to head over to the market. Yesterday I got a tea kettle so we can cook ramen noodles and heat other things up in the room. We are apparently only budgeted for 30 days here and it’s obviously going to be a lot longer. We’re saving money wherever we can. Those of you who know me well realize that I am pretty good at it J Otherwise, we’re trusting God to provide the rest if we fall short at the end. I wanted to price compare all the food and such at the market to the grocery store right by our hotel. Brian and C tagged along - I told him it was in case I bought a heavy jug of water and he had to carry it. Really, I just wanted the company - haha. I had heard from my friend how obsessive these people are about children being bundled. So, adults are walking around in light jackets and no scarves, hats, or gloves. My child is bundled in a complete snowsuit with winter boots. Several people have approached me over the past few days when she is not wearing gloves. They grab her little hands and I can totally tell what they’re saying (that she needs to be wearing gloves) even though I don’t know the language. So funny! Helloooooo- she’s wearing a snowsuit and just pulled the gloves off!
Back at the room we ate PBJ, Brian worked for an hour, and we headed off on the hike to the orphanage. Took us only 23 minutes this time! While we were there Aleksey called with our official court time! We will have court on February 19th at 1PM!!! Soooo exciting!
Tonight, Brian had some meetings and I had to vacate the room with C for an hour and half. So, I ate some Ramen noodles first and then intended to just order vereneki. Ah well, communication error and I got a little more food than I intended, but it was very yummy! C slept the WHOLE time and I enjoyed a book on the Kindle my awesome friend B let me borrow for the trip. I stopped at the grocery store for some frozen pelmeni Brian requested and came back to the room. He cooked it in the teakettle and gave some to C since she had slept through dinner. It wasn’t bad! Now, I’m trying to get cranky baby to sleep since she had such a long nap earlier!
As far as the process goes, we are just waiting on court. Then, due to the date of court, it will be a full 2 weeks until I can pick him up. After that, probably another week and a half at least. Thank you all for continued prayers! Love from Ukr*ine!
Monday, February 4, 2013
Skype with brother
We’re getting adjusted to the time change, but end up sleeping late. This is fine since we really don’t have anywhere to be until 3pm when V*ktor is finished with classes. Aleksey went on a paper chase to another city Friday, so we were on our own anyway. I ventured out for SIM cards and minutes. We ate PBJ in the room for lunch. Later, we walked to the orphanage. Now, when I say “walked,” what I really mean is slipped, slid, and swam (haha). The sidewalks are VERY slushy, have many potholes with giant puddles, and have patches of ice. It makes for an interesting walk pushing C in a stroller while Brian carries a heavy backpack. If you are coming here in winter months, you MUST bring warm waterproof comfortable boots. Seriously, worth every penny. In Kiev, even with snow boots with decent traction, Brian and I both took hard falls. The knot on my head is smaller and doesn’t hurt as bad. Brian was holding C, but made sure to fall on his other side. Scared her, but she was fine. He was pretty sore, though. Ahh but I digress.
After our journey to the orphanage, we sat with V*ktor and S (a girl who was hosted this summer) in the girls playroom. We played cards, and they ate a lot of jerky. Actually, V kept forcing it on her because she would only take tiny pieces (but you could tell she really liked it). It was sweet. We gave her the gifts from her host family. Since I had to take out the candy (by director request), I stuffed some more things in there for her. We had a really good time, V and S loved on C for awhile. V*ktor had to go with Aleksey to ask about our “visitation” tomorrow, so S and Brian played War. As we left, we gave a giant bag (that many of you contributed items for) to the deputy director so she can pass them out to the children. There were at least 20 stocking caps, gloves, 60-70 chapsticks, 50 bouncy balls, 20 handwarmers, and several other items. Thursday, I only received scowls from her. Friday, she was very friendly and lots of smiles. Progress J Friday night, we walked over to the “white hotel” restaurant. Oh my goodness! Best food I’ve had since we got here. Something we would call a dip with lots of garlic inside a hollowed out tomato, chicken with mushrooms and cheese, and some to-die-for hot chocolate that was more like drinking chocolate fondue. Brian left before the hot chocolate came hoping to get back and work that night. C started screeching and squirming. Aleksey reached for her, and she went to him quiet as a mouse. Sat there the whole time we drank hot chocolate with her thumb in her mouth! I’m calling him the “baby whisperer” now. Seriously! Hmmm - maybe when she starts screeching at 12Am he will want to take her - haha! After supper, he wanted to go in search of a gym so we walked down this pitch black street to a gym. It was apparently not for public use, though. Ah well, back to the hotel. C actually slept all night. It was nice!
Yesterday, we slept late again. We planned on leaving for the orphanage at 2:30, but Aleksey called at 2 and said he had to go early for paperwork. Since he was taking a car (apparently needed to get there right then), we threw on our coats and ran out the door. We were early to the orphanage, so we had to wait a little while for V*ktor to come out of the lunchroom. When he did, we headed up to his classroom for him to get his coat. We gave J his care package from his host family and took a picture. Adorable kid! After catching up with another host kid O, we headed towards town. It was raining and not a super-pleasant kind of walk but oh well what do you do? Aleksey asked V what he wanted to do, and he said “talk to his brother and sister” so we went into a restaurant with wifi and ordered drinks. We skyped with Mom and A. A was still in bed, so Mom just took him the computer! For probably a good 45 minutes, we talked and watched A show us various things. I switched over to google translate every now and then (Aleksey was making some phone calls). Then, we started walking a little more, saw the school in town where J attends and where V*ktor visits the library. We stopped at the candy store (oh yum yum yum) to get Viktor something. He wanted to show us the statue in town. It’s in memory of a mail carrier who slipped through the ice and threw the letters to the side of the river to save them. The carrier, unfortunately, did not survive, but the mail was delivered. We took some pictures there and it continued to rain. V*ktor wanted pizza, so we went for supper at “Family Pizza.” Brian and V*ktor had a really good meat on their pizza - kind of like bacon.
We took a cab back to the orphanage and V*ktor showed us to his room. I went to the restroom which involved walking about 120 ft down a hallway, down stairs, 120 ft down the hallway directly below the other one, another 50 ft to the boys bathroom (the only one in the entire school), and another 50 ft to the girls bathroom (only one in the school). When I got there, a group of little boys were hanging around and politely showed me the door. They followed me back to V*ktor’s room. I have no idea why. I think they wanted gum or something. They were so adorable, and I kind of felt like the pied piper with all these kids following me! They walked into V*ktor’s room where they stayed a few minutes with us until he shooed them on their way. We looked through his picture album from summer hosting. Then, his friend, who was in the room with us, wanted to show us his room. So, we walked alllllllll the way around the school to get there. Picture a U shaped building. The Top corners of the U have stairs that go to the hallways on the sides of the U. The bottom corners of the U have staircases that only go to the bottom part of the U. So it’s quite a maze and not well connected. By this time, our “visitation” was up so we went to ask the teachers if/when V*ktor could attend church on Sunday. After a long conversation between V, Aleksey, and the 2 teachers, it was determined that we should be at the orphanage Sunday at 9:30AM to take him to church.
This morning, we had to wake up early (after C screeching until 1AM) for church. It was still raining, so we took a cab. We originally though at teacher was going with us, but they ended up sending V with us. So, a mile walk in the rain turned to snow and we ended up at the church (only about a block from our hotel). Apparently, their church services are very long and people just come and go for as long as they want to stay. We went upstairs and over to the very last bench way on the front corner of the curved balcony. It’s kind of sad to picture V sitting there alone (or maybe with a friend) every Sunday. After about 40 minutes C started squealing, so I took her out. There was only one room separate from everything and I wasn’t sure if I could go in there. Our coats were still upstairs so outside was out of the question. I tried gesturing to a lady to ask if I could go in there, but she didn’t understand. Another lady seemed to understand my wild charades and opened the door motioning me in there. I was in there with C for about 10 minutes before V, B, and Aleksey came downstairs. We went to our hotel to change clothes and get C her snowsuit. Back to the orphanage we rode! V said he had to go do lessons (which was different than what we were originally told), but we could come back at 3. It is time to wake up Brian and C from their naps so we can head that way!
written Sunday, Feb 3, 2013
After our journey to the orphanage, we sat with V*ktor and S (a girl who was hosted this summer) in the girls playroom. We played cards, and they ate a lot of jerky. Actually, V kept forcing it on her because she would only take tiny pieces (but you could tell she really liked it). It was sweet. We gave her the gifts from her host family. Since I had to take out the candy (by director request), I stuffed some more things in there for her. We had a really good time, V and S loved on C for awhile. V*ktor had to go with Aleksey to ask about our “visitation” tomorrow, so S and Brian played War. As we left, we gave a giant bag (that many of you contributed items for) to the deputy director so she can pass them out to the children. There were at least 20 stocking caps, gloves, 60-70 chapsticks, 50 bouncy balls, 20 handwarmers, and several other items. Thursday, I only received scowls from her. Friday, she was very friendly and lots of smiles. Progress J Friday night, we walked over to the “white hotel” restaurant. Oh my goodness! Best food I’ve had since we got here. Something we would call a dip with lots of garlic inside a hollowed out tomato, chicken with mushrooms and cheese, and some to-die-for hot chocolate that was more like drinking chocolate fondue. Brian left before the hot chocolate came hoping to get back and work that night. C started screeching and squirming. Aleksey reached for her, and she went to him quiet as a mouse. Sat there the whole time we drank hot chocolate with her thumb in her mouth! I’m calling him the “baby whisperer” now. Seriously! Hmmm - maybe when she starts screeching at 12Am he will want to take her - haha! After supper, he wanted to go in search of a gym so we walked down this pitch black street to a gym. It was apparently not for public use, though. Ah well, back to the hotel. C actually slept all night. It was nice!
Yesterday, we slept late again. We planned on leaving for the orphanage at 2:30, but Aleksey called at 2 and said he had to go early for paperwork. Since he was taking a car (apparently needed to get there right then), we threw on our coats and ran out the door. We were early to the orphanage, so we had to wait a little while for V*ktor to come out of the lunchroom. When he did, we headed up to his classroom for him to get his coat. We gave J his care package from his host family and took a picture. Adorable kid! After catching up with another host kid O, we headed towards town. It was raining and not a super-pleasant kind of walk but oh well what do you do? Aleksey asked V what he wanted to do, and he said “talk to his brother and sister” so we went into a restaurant with wifi and ordered drinks. We skyped with Mom and A. A was still in bed, so Mom just took him the computer! For probably a good 45 minutes, we talked and watched A show us various things. I switched over to google translate every now and then (Aleksey was making some phone calls). Then, we started walking a little more, saw the school in town where J attends and where V*ktor visits the library. We stopped at the candy store (oh yum yum yum) to get Viktor something. He wanted to show us the statue in town. It’s in memory of a mail carrier who slipped through the ice and threw the letters to the side of the river to save them. The carrier, unfortunately, did not survive, but the mail was delivered. We took some pictures there and it continued to rain. V*ktor wanted pizza, so we went for supper at “Family Pizza.” Brian and V*ktor had a really good meat on their pizza - kind of like bacon.This morning, we had to wake up early (after C screeching until 1AM) for church. It was still raining, so we took a cab. We originally though at teacher was going with us, but they ended up sending V with us. So, a mile walk in the rain turned to snow and we ended up at the church (only about a block from our hotel). Apparently, their church services are very long and people just come and go for as long as they want to stay. We went upstairs and over to the very last bench way on the front corner of the curved balcony. It’s kind of sad to picture V sitting there alone (or maybe with a friend) every Sunday. After about 40 minutes C started squealing, so I took her out. There was only one room separate from everything and I wasn’t sure if I could go in there. Our coats were still upstairs so outside was out of the question. I tried gesturing to a lady to ask if I could go in there, but she didn’t understand. Another lady seemed to understand my wild charades and opened the door motioning me in there. I was in there with C for about 10 minutes before V, B, and Aleksey came downstairs. We went to our hotel to change clothes and get C her snowsuit. Back to the orphanage we rode! V said he had to go do lessons (which was different than what we were originally told), but we could come back at 3. It is time to wake up Brian and C from their naps so we can head that way!
written Sunday, Feb 3, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
We saw V*ktor!!!!
We got to see V*ktor!!!! It was so good to give him a big hug and see his smile J
I just realized my last update was Monday afternoon, so I have some catching up to do!
Monday evening we got to talk to Mom and B on Skype. It was really good to see them! Later, we met up with the other family for supper at a café (kind of like Picadily). It was nice because we could just point to the food and get what we wanted. Plus, there were some other English-speaking customers who were very helpful when we weren’t sure what something was. We headed to the grocery store where I thought I was buying milk… apparently not, but by the time I figured it out I was at the register with a ton of people behind me and I wasn’t sure about Ukrainian etiquette on putting something back. So, I bought some pretty gross liquid yogurt. Needless to say I didn’t finish it. Afterwards, we walked a little through an underground mall, but we were kind of exhausted at that point so we didn’t stay too long.
Tuesday, we got up late morning and packed everything. The other family came over with their things to leave in our apartment since they had to check out of theirs. We went on a walking tour of the city. Funny enough, we spent almost half of it at a café (our choice) eating - lol! Leave it to us that we eat instead of tour. We walked around and the guide told us some history. We saw a beautiful monestary/church called St. Sophia. The guide was delightful, the P family perfect company, and the sights were great. I really don’t take in history very well, so I can’t tell you more than that. Oh! C slept the entire tour after we ate. She was wrapped in the moby on Brian inside his coat. I can’t even begin to describe the looks we got with her legs dangling out the bottom of his coat! Enjoy the photo J Our tour ended at the SDA where we met up with our facilitator, went in, signed, and picked up our papers. Piled 7 of us in a car (think mid-size like a Taurus) and back to the apartment where we grabbed our stuff. We parted ways with the other family and headed to our train.
Apparently their typical plan is for Americans to grab McDonald’s as we hop on the train. It’s a good thing we had 2 facilitators with us who helped carry everything to the train. There’s no ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), so elevators are pretty uncommon. LOTS of stairs to haul C down in her stroller. Once we got to our compartment, though, we got everything settled in. Some people came and asked to use our upper storage space for their painting, so we handed our stroller to strangers and put their painting up there. Only later did the thought cross my mind that they may be getting off before us while we were sound asleep! Thankfully, they had the same destination. We were in “first class” which is 2 beds. Our facilitator in region is Aleksey, who we just met as we boarded the train (there are lots of different facilitators who help us along the way). He stayed in the 2nd class with 4 beds on a top bunk in another car. Honestly, it wasn’t a terrible way to travel. It got pretty stuffy and hot in there, but otherwise we rode along doing crossword puzzles, making up long drawn out math problems (we are fully aware that we are complete dorks), and later watching a movie on the laptop. Unfortunately, C did NOT think it was an ideal way to travel or to sleep. So, after sleeping for about 4 hours, she was pretty much screaming and crying from 2AM-5AM. That is very atypical for her, but she’s been through a lot of change and interrupted sleep schedules for several days. It was a nightmare for us, but we knew it had to end sooner or later! We slept until 8 when Ukrainian music started playing in our compartment. By 9:45, we had all our luggage out and ready to get off the train. Fifteen and a half hours - whew! A car was waiting for us, and we headed to V*ktor’s town!!! The first stop was dropping stuff at the hotel. Then whisked to the social worker where they asked us a few questions. Mostly, they talked to us. When the lady asked if V*ktor knew and what he had said. I told her, “He said YES YES YES TELL THEM YES!” She laughed and apparently decided the interview was pretty much over. We headed to the orphanage where we didn’t think we would get to see him yet since he was in class. I have a whole new appreciation of how V*ktor felt in America. Seriously, it’s so weird following somebody into a place, hearing an exchange of words, having no idea what is said, and then being told “okay, we’re going somewhere else now.” Half the time you don’t know what’s going on or if things are going as they’re supposed to go. They took us to what seemed to be a playroom with several couches and left us there with Aleksey. He said they were going to get V*ktor!
It was a very long few minutes waiting for him to get down there. We jumped up to give him big hugs and sat down where he immediately reached for C. We talked to him for a few minutes and kept waiting for the 2 observing social workers to ask questions or something. It was really awkward just being watched like that. We hadn’t brought any of our gifts for V*ktor or his friends because we didn’t realize we’d see him. The social workers asked him if there was anything in the room he wanted to do, and he said no. This was “girl” room - lol! They eventually left and a guy came in. He was really friendly and talked a lot more - asked questions of us. Whatever any of them were saying to him, V*ktor had big smiles and kept nodding his head yes as he talked while he played with C. After everyone was gone and it was just us with V and Aleksey, he opened up more and it seemed more natural. Then, when Aleksey left it was even better. V*ktor is just really shy and I think felt like he was on the spot with all those people in there. After about 10-15 minutes, Aleksey appeared with the social worker and said we needed to go now. They’re very abrupt “okay, time to go! V*ktor needs to go back to class, now.” It takes a minute to bundle C into her snow pants, boots, coat, and hat. We did it as quickly as possible, but still felt like they all thought we were taking an eternity! We hugged goodbye and were told we could return from 3-5. The car left with the social worker, and we were on foot from then on out. I was sooooo glad we had the stroller! First, we headed to a notary who seemed very busy and uninterested in helping. We showed her our passports, more words exchanged, and then “okay, time to go!” I asked Aleksey if that went okay and if she was going to do it for us. He said it took some time to prepare and we needed to come back later. Onward back to the hotel where we ate in the restaurant for lunch.
Our second trip to the orphanage was much better and more relaxed. First, we had to stop and pick up the papers to sign at the notary. We were late getting there, but finally made it through the snow. At this point, V*ktor just met us there in the hallway and took us up to a classroom where 2 boys were watching TV. They always locked the door whenever somebody came in or left. We though it odd until we realized that the door didn’t latch unless locked. There, he showed us his desk with pictures A and B had colored and sent to him. He got out the violin, but didn’t play for us since the other kids were watching TV. He was wearing his cross necklace we sent. I told him how each of his cousins and A had one as well in all different colors. After showing us “around” his classroom a little, we played checkers. Not so shocking, he beat us both rather quickly. Then, Brian and V played battleship. C had a dirty diaper and I realized I had no wipes with me. Oh well, Kleenex would have to work! It was fine. As I headed out the door to go throw it away (in the downstairs bathroom), I ran right into his roommate J. I promptly gave him a hug (which seemed to shock him, but he let me hug him anyway) as I ran out the door. By the time I got back, it was time to go, so we packed up and headed out just as the classroom started to fill with kids and a man who was there to supervise study hall. V*ktor walked us out to the door of the orphanage and gave us hugs as we left. We will go back today to see him again!
Last night I ventured out to the grocery store. I wish I had gone with Aleksey, but he was running around getting papers. I tried to buy shampoo and conditioner. The lady kept pointing to what I could tell was the “2 in 1” which doesn’t work at all for my long hair. Finally, she pointed to 2 different ones. I thanked her and took them. (Only this morning did I find out that it was just 2 shampoos.) When I tried to mime diapers, they showed me individually wrapped diapers. WHAT??? So weird! LOL! I asked for bananas, but they didn’t have any. At this point, I was just SURE that this must not be the “big” grocery store Aleksey had described. I went ahead and bought what I could, then headed back to the hotel. A few minutes later, Aleksey was back and I told him that surely I was in the wrong store. He took me there to the same store… Anyway, he asked about the diapers and it was, in fact, only the individually wrapped diapers. I asked if there was nowhere to sell packages of diapers? It’s not that I NEEDED a whole package of diapers, but in my experience you save a lot of money buying bigger quantities of such things! We went to a few pharmacies (which seem to be as plentiful as pharmacies in the US), and they only sold individual diapers as well. Aleksey explained that people don’t have the money to buy more than a few at a time. So, I will be buying diapers individually while I’m here! They’re name brand and about 32 cents apiece. At home, I pay about 14 cents a diaper. Oh well! I didn’t really have the luggage space to haul a lot of diapers with me anyway even if I had known ahead of time.
We ate dinner at the hotel and were able to skype with A and B! A had a snow day from school. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to catch him at the house. Our hotel room is good for us. The staff is so wonderful. They are really going out of their way to help us out with whatever we need. The housekeeper brought a crib for C to use! Brian had to put it together first, which was a little funny considering there were no directions. It works great, though! She also brought me extra pillows. She really laughed when I told her I usually use 4, but 2 would be fine. (Thankfully, my friend M had left travel pillows and blankets for us to use.) Our room has a television with only Ukrainian channels. Brian still feels the need to turn it on and watch sports shows and discovery channel, though J We have what I think is a king bed (it’s at least bigger than a queen) and a sectional couch and chair with a table. We have a dorm-sized fridge, and there is a bathroom with HUGE tub and sink. The toilet (and another sink) are in a different bathroom. We had been warned that ALL toilets and bathrooms smell in Ukraine. We found this to be very true, and just keep the door closed to the toilet bathroom! The room actually smells okay otherwise. At first, I thought the bed would be comfortable, but after a night on it, I plan to use the camping air mattress I brought with me.
This morning we slept late and ate in the room. Then, we headed back to the orphanage again to see V*ktor! This time, we were back in the playroom. He said there was a big group of kids upstairs playing. We talked for a while, played legos with Chella, played go-fish, and talked to the director about bringing toys and things for the other kids. He said we can take V*ktor to eat in town on Saturday - yaa! Tomorrow, we will see him again from 3-5 at the orphanage. We ate pizza with Aleksey on the way back to our room. C fell asleep and is still asleep now. Great. Another night of a baby who doesn’t want to sleep! Ahh well, as they say in Ukraine “It’s okaaaaaaaay!”
Monday evening we got to talk to Mom and B on Skype. It was really good to see them! Later, we met up with the other family for supper at a café (kind of like Picadily). It was nice because we could just point to the food and get what we wanted. Plus, there were some other English-speaking customers who were very helpful when we weren’t sure what something was. We headed to the grocery store where I thought I was buying milk… apparently not, but by the time I figured it out I was at the register with a ton of people behind me and I wasn’t sure about Ukrainian etiquette on putting something back. So, I bought some pretty gross liquid yogurt. Needless to say I didn’t finish it. Afterwards, we walked a little through an underground mall, but we were kind of exhausted at that point so we didn’t stay too long.
Tuesday, we got up late morning and packed everything. The other family came over with their things to leave in our apartment since they had to check out of theirs. We went on a walking tour of the city. Funny enough, we spent almost half of it at a café (our choice) eating - lol! Leave it to us that we eat instead of tour. We walked around and the guide told us some history. We saw a beautiful monestary/church called St. Sophia. The guide was delightful, the P family perfect company, and the sights were great. I really don’t take in history very well, so I can’t tell you more than that. Oh! C slept the entire tour after we ate. She was wrapped in the moby on Brian inside his coat. I can’t even begin to describe the looks we got with her legs dangling out the bottom of his coat! Enjoy the photo J Our tour ended at the SDA where we met up with our facilitator, went in, signed, and picked up our papers. Piled 7 of us in a car (think mid-size like a Taurus) and back to the apartment where we grabbed our stuff. We parted ways with the other family and headed to our train.
Apparently their typical plan is for Americans to grab McDonald’s as we hop on the train. It’s a good thing we had 2 facilitators with us who helped carry everything to the train. There’s no ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), so elevators are pretty uncommon. LOTS of stairs to haul C down in her stroller. Once we got to our compartment, though, we got everything settled in. Some people came and asked to use our upper storage space for their painting, so we handed our stroller to strangers and put their painting up there. Only later did the thought cross my mind that they may be getting off before us while we were sound asleep! Thankfully, they had the same destination. We were in “first class” which is 2 beds. Our facilitator in region is Aleksey, who we just met as we boarded the train (there are lots of different facilitators who help us along the way). He stayed in the 2nd class with 4 beds on a top bunk in another car. Honestly, it wasn’t a terrible way to travel. It got pretty stuffy and hot in there, but otherwise we rode along doing crossword puzzles, making up long drawn out math problems (we are fully aware that we are complete dorks), and later watching a movie on the laptop. Unfortunately, C did NOT think it was an ideal way to travel or to sleep. So, after sleeping for about 4 hours, she was pretty much screaming and crying from 2AM-5AM. That is very atypical for her, but she’s been through a lot of change and interrupted sleep schedules for several days. It was a nightmare for us, but we knew it had to end sooner or later! We slept until 8 when Ukrainian music started playing in our compartment. By 9:45, we had all our luggage out and ready to get off the train. Fifteen and a half hours - whew! A car was waiting for us, and we headed to V*ktor’s town!!! The first stop was dropping stuff at the hotel. Then whisked to the social worker where they asked us a few questions. Mostly, they talked to us. When the lady asked if V*ktor knew and what he had said. I told her, “He said YES YES YES TELL THEM YES!” She laughed and apparently decided the interview was pretty much over. We headed to the orphanage where we didn’t think we would get to see him yet since he was in class. I have a whole new appreciation of how V*ktor felt in America. Seriously, it’s so weird following somebody into a place, hearing an exchange of words, having no idea what is said, and then being told “okay, we’re going somewhere else now.” Half the time you don’t know what’s going on or if things are going as they’re supposed to go. They took us to what seemed to be a playroom with several couches and left us there with Aleksey. He said they were going to get V*ktor!
It was a very long few minutes waiting for him to get down there. We jumped up to give him big hugs and sat down where he immediately reached for C. We talked to him for a few minutes and kept waiting for the 2 observing social workers to ask questions or something. It was really awkward just being watched like that. We hadn’t brought any of our gifts for V*ktor or his friends because we didn’t realize we’d see him. The social workers asked him if there was anything in the room he wanted to do, and he said no. This was “girl” room - lol! They eventually left and a guy came in. He was really friendly and talked a lot more - asked questions of us. Whatever any of them were saying to him, V*ktor had big smiles and kept nodding his head yes as he talked while he played with C. After everyone was gone and it was just us with V and Aleksey, he opened up more and it seemed more natural. Then, when Aleksey left it was even better. V*ktor is just really shy and I think felt like he was on the spot with all those people in there. After about 10-15 minutes, Aleksey appeared with the social worker and said we needed to go now. They’re very abrupt “okay, time to go! V*ktor needs to go back to class, now.” It takes a minute to bundle C into her snow pants, boots, coat, and hat. We did it as quickly as possible, but still felt like they all thought we were taking an eternity! We hugged goodbye and were told we could return from 3-5. The car left with the social worker, and we were on foot from then on out. I was sooooo glad we had the stroller! First, we headed to a notary who seemed very busy and uninterested in helping. We showed her our passports, more words exchanged, and then “okay, time to go!” I asked Aleksey if that went okay and if she was going to do it for us. He said it took some time to prepare and we needed to come back later. Onward back to the hotel where we ate in the restaurant for lunch.
Our second trip to the orphanage was much better and more relaxed. First, we had to stop and pick up the papers to sign at the notary. We were late getting there, but finally made it through the snow. At this point, V*ktor just met us there in the hallway and took us up to a classroom where 2 boys were watching TV. They always locked the door whenever somebody came in or left. We though it odd until we realized that the door didn’t latch unless locked. There, he showed us his desk with pictures A and B had colored and sent to him. He got out the violin, but didn’t play for us since the other kids were watching TV. He was wearing his cross necklace we sent. I told him how each of his cousins and A had one as well in all different colors. After showing us “around” his classroom a little, we played checkers. Not so shocking, he beat us both rather quickly. Then, Brian and V played battleship. C had a dirty diaper and I realized I had no wipes with me. Oh well, Kleenex would have to work! It was fine. As I headed out the door to go throw it away (in the downstairs bathroom), I ran right into his roommate J. I promptly gave him a hug (which seemed to shock him, but he let me hug him anyway) as I ran out the door. By the time I got back, it was time to go, so we packed up and headed out just as the classroom started to fill with kids and a man who was there to supervise study hall. V*ktor walked us out to the door of the orphanage and gave us hugs as we left. We will go back today to see him again!
Last night I ventured out to the grocery store. I wish I had gone with Aleksey, but he was running around getting papers. I tried to buy shampoo and conditioner. The lady kept pointing to what I could tell was the “2 in 1” which doesn’t work at all for my long hair. Finally, she pointed to 2 different ones. I thanked her and took them. (Only this morning did I find out that it was just 2 shampoos.) When I tried to mime diapers, they showed me individually wrapped diapers. WHAT??? So weird! LOL! I asked for bananas, but they didn’t have any. At this point, I was just SURE that this must not be the “big” grocery store Aleksey had described. I went ahead and bought what I could, then headed back to the hotel. A few minutes later, Aleksey was back and I told him that surely I was in the wrong store. He took me there to the same store… Anyway, he asked about the diapers and it was, in fact, only the individually wrapped diapers. I asked if there was nowhere to sell packages of diapers? It’s not that I NEEDED a whole package of diapers, but in my experience you save a lot of money buying bigger quantities of such things! We went to a few pharmacies (which seem to be as plentiful as pharmacies in the US), and they only sold individual diapers as well. Aleksey explained that people don’t have the money to buy more than a few at a time. So, I will be buying diapers individually while I’m here! They’re name brand and about 32 cents apiece. At home, I pay about 14 cents a diaper. Oh well! I didn’t really have the luggage space to haul a lot of diapers with me anyway even if I had known ahead of time.
We ate dinner at the hotel and were able to skype with A and B! A had a snow day from school. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to catch him at the house. Our hotel room is good for us. The staff is so wonderful. They are really going out of their way to help us out with whatever we need. The housekeeper brought a crib for C to use! Brian had to put it together first, which was a little funny considering there were no directions. It works great, though! She also brought me extra pillows. She really laughed when I told her I usually use 4, but 2 would be fine. (Thankfully, my friend M had left travel pillows and blankets for us to use.) Our room has a television with only Ukrainian channels. Brian still feels the need to turn it on and watch sports shows and discovery channel, though J We have what I think is a king bed (it’s at least bigger than a queen) and a sectional couch and chair with a table. We have a dorm-sized fridge, and there is a bathroom with HUGE tub and sink. The toilet (and another sink) are in a different bathroom. We had been warned that ALL toilets and bathrooms smell in Ukraine. We found this to be very true, and just keep the door closed to the toilet bathroom! The room actually smells okay otherwise. At first, I thought the bed would be comfortable, but after a night on it, I plan to use the camping air mattress I brought with me.
This morning we slept late and ate in the room. Then, we headed back to the orphanage again to see V*ktor! This time, we were back in the playroom. He said there was a big group of kids upstairs playing. We talked for a while, played legos with Chella, played go-fish, and talked to the director about bringing toys and things for the other kids. He said we can take V*ktor to eat in town on Saturday - yaa! Tomorrow, we will see him again from 3-5 at the orphanage. We ate pizza with Aleksey on the way back to our room. C fell asleep and is still asleep now. Great. Another night of a baby who doesn’t want to sleep! Ahh well, as they say in Ukraine “It’s okaaaaaaaay!”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)