Attitude Adjustment

A sunny morning and we were at the Coffee Life (Coffee As Lifestyle) early. When I finished my blog, I told one of the baristas that we may be leaving in one week for Kyiv and would it be possible to purchase 2 of their coffee mugs to take home as souvenirs. She understood my meaning and just as we were packing up to go, she presented me with a gift bag with 2 mugs packed with Coffee Life (Coffee As Lifestyle) napkins. I was delighted and asked how much do I owe. She said nothing, it was their gift. What a lovely surprise! I was tickled and we walked home in a jovial mood.
I was all about getting this party started so we didn’t mess around at the apartment, either. I had a ham sandwich and Kevin ate, too. Then we headed out to the bus stop and were on our way to the orphanage by 12:00. One of Andrei’s brothers said Kai was in the classroom, and sure enough, there he was. He and the boys were watching something on TV. He rose from the floor and greeted us with hugs and kisses. I told Anya we’d have him back at 8:00pm and asked if I could possibly see his room where he sleeps. She said okay to both.
Kai led us to the other building and up the stairs to the 4th floor. The door at the top was locked but after knocking for a minute, we were let in by a small, elderly woman in housekeeping garb. The hallway was spotless and lined by closed doors on either side. Kai pointed to one door and said which of his friends slept there. The next door was his, which he opened to show us 5 small, cot-like beds, as neatly made as a military institute. There were 2 wardrobes and 3 or 4 box-like “night stands” between the beds. This room, too, was immaculate. He showed us where he kept his things and took his white sneakers out of hiding. I had purchased these shoes for him last summer at Marshall’s for $15. He had kept them clean and safe for when he was coming home to America. The sneakers he wore daily were full of holes and about 2 sizes too small.
We headed out of the orphanage without ceremony, got the bus and went back to the apartment. Kai made himself 2 good-sized sandwiches and washed it down with juice. The plan today was to go to a large supermarket called Ashan, which is spelled Awah. Marina said that was a good place to get presents for Kai’s friends. I tried calling Vladimir, but appeared to get wrong numbers. Not sure why. So, I called Victor who did the deed for me. Victor called back to say that Vladimir could not come until 3:00. It was now 2:00 so I said “fine” and that was that.
We spent the better part of the next hour just hanging out. Kai was interested in watching more of the King Tut movie he’d started on Thursday and I did a crossword puzzle. At 2:45 I roused the troops and we were out of the apartment in no time. There appeared to be some elevator traffic and we were waiting longer than usual. Then my phone rang and I was sure it was Victor bugging us to not keep Vladimir waiting. Conveniently, the elevator door opened and my phone service was interrupted. Just outside, Vlad was waiting in his taxi.
I had no idea what kind of shopping area to expect of Ashan, so I didn’t know how long to tell Vladimir we’d be there. It could have been a Ukrainian “mall” with rows and rows of booths. It could have been an area of stores and restaurants. It could have been anything. But as we passed the Amctop, Vladimir said (I think) that Ashan was the same as the Amctop. I was disappointed with that bit of news and we drove down the river road, past the beach and the park where Kevin and I had walked weeks ago.
Ashan proved to be much like a Super Wal-Mart. It was one store with smaller little franchises in it, and sold a bit of just about everything. The place was pretty crowded, too. We got ourselves a cart and proceeded to the office supplies and then to the games and sporting goods department. We got a 3-color pen for Vitaly and a soccer ball for Sergei. We got ping pong paddles for Sasha and cookies for the teachers. In the toiletries section, we went nuts. Kai (the nose) McCormack proceeded to smell every men’s deodorant/body spray on the shelf. We bought one for every boy. Kevin and Kai were stoked. I guess these guys are really enthusiastic about smelling good. (Peas in a pod.)
We wandered through the food section and found the bakery. Kai picked out 2 cakes for his going away party tomorrow. They were beautiful. I’m not sure what else we bought but it all came to just under $500 grivna (about $60). Vladimir had taken the opportunity to do some shopping himself and we were done about the same time. We piled everything into the trunk of the car and drove back to the apartment.
We spread all the presents, both what we had just bought and the things I had brought from home, and divvied everything up so he knew who was to get what. He made tags with names on them and marked on the labels. He said that as far as the deodorants go, they could pick out the one they liked best. I thought that was a good idea, and he packed everything away in a bag. He asked that we would leave everything here and bring it tomorrow afternoon when we come. That plus 2 cakes on the bus…no problem!
It was a little early for dinner so Kai watched the rest of the movie and Kevin and I sat on the balcony, had a beer, and talked. He said that if Kai was sad for a little while, that’s to be expected and allowed. I agreed. We talked about family and how it seems to be so important to him. We talked about tomorrow and taking the kids to McDonald’s.
It was about 5:45 when we decided to go get something to eat. We decided to eat at the Mustang restaurant. I thought Kai might think it cool. He did. The waitress had given us English menus. Kai wouldn’t order food. Then I realized that his menu was in English, too, and he couldn’t read it. I got him a Russian one and he got busy. He ordered the same salad that I did, then some cold soup, and dessert. Kevin got stuffed mushrooms and a pepper steak. I got that “steak done in a Mexican way” that I got before.
Kevin’s mushrooms were sorta nasty, stuffed with liver. Kai didn’t like his soup for some reason. Kevin had some but I think he didn’t like the idea of cold soup. I was happy to share my Mexican steak with Kai and we all got enough to eat. By the time he had his ice cream and we paid the bill (MasterCard!), it was after 7:30. We started back toward the apartment and it was raining. The wind was blowy and the rain came down as we hurried toward the river. Kai called out something in Russian. I asked what he was saying. He said, “Please, Jesus, make tomorrow to have sun and no rain and be hot outside to go to McDonald’s.” I said “Amen!” and was so proud that my son was praying and that he knew all the words in English. He said his shoes were “broken” and I realized that he was walking in puddles with holes in his shoes. His feet must have been freezing.
We didn’t wait long for a bus and we rode back quietly, me holding his hand. I was so encouraged that we had gone the whole day without a translator and had no problems communicating. It was a good day. By the time we arrived at the orphanage it had stopped raining (Yay!). We walked into the courtyard and there was no teacher in sight. Instead we found Sergei and Ludwig walking around in shorts and tee shirts. Why weren’t they freezing? Kevin had to use the bathroom so I waited outside with the boys. I said, in my best Russian, “Tomorrow, maybe McDonald’s?” They said yes and I showed them the pictures I took of the Mustang restaurant and its cool bathroom.
Kevin and I said our good-byes and went to the bus. At home, we watched 2 “Jordan’s” and went to bed before 11:00.