My Hero

So, Jessica was game for some prayer time together and I left the apartment and got the bus at 12:20 to meet her at the end of the bus route at 1:00. Little did I know I'd have another Mario Andretti for a bus driver! I was there at 12:45! I was glad I had worn my iPod. I paced back and forth for 15 minutes in the sun, being thankful. Jessica arrived and we decided it was too nice out to go inside, so we went to a nearby park. We sat on a weather worn bench amid empty beer and vodka bottles and prayed. It was awesome! God is so totally cool. He shows up and makes all things new. I hope Jessica had as much fun as I did, but I don't know how. How I have missed praying like this!



Jessica had arranged to do beading with the younger ones at 2:00 so we headed over to the orphanage. Ludwig found us quickly and called excitedly for Kai. When he arrived, he was all hugs and kisses. I'll bet he didn't let me go for at least 5 minutes, telling me how he loves me. I think he was worried about me when I didn't show up the day before. Jessica had told him I wasn't feeling well and he said he had been praying for me all day. What a kid!



Kai said he had been working outside all morning, raking, digging and painting in the playground area. Everything was looking very spruced up and he was looking very tired. Lunch had not yet been served, so we parted so he could eat and we could find the kids who were meeting to do the beads.



The classes had been combined because of vacation, and this group ranged from about age 6 to 12. There were about 8 kids, too, and mostly boys so it was a bit of a moving target. One boy, by the name of Roma, made 2 very elaborate necklaces for me to give to his best friend Yuri Passenita in Williamsburg. He misses his friend terribly and wants more than anything for him to come back to the orphanage and be with him. Somebody should really adopt this kid. He is too sweet.

Andrei, in Kai's class, is one of 5 brothers. They all look alike except smaller versions. They remind me of Ukrainian nesting dolls, each one similar but smaller. The ones just younger than Andrei are twins. (I'll have to get you their names later. I must have left the paper I wrote them on at the apartment.) But the littlest one, Zhenya, is the youngest kid in the orphanage and is the cutest thing I've seen yet. He was with us making beaded necklaces, doing his best to compete for access to the tin of beads. He was so little that he had trouble reaching, but there are no temper tantrums here. He just climbed up on the desks and shimmied up close despite the teacher's protests. You could tell the teacher really liked him and took special care of him. I felt myself doing that, too. I procured a small pile of beads and let him sit on my leg so he could reach his own pile. After stringing 3 or 4 beads, he would invariably display it for all to ooh and aah over.

Kai arrived wondering what we were up to. We weren't quite finished so I suggested he make something with the beads. He seemed reluctant until I suggested he make something for Kelly. He liked that idea and got right to it. While he worked, and others were finishing up, I took out my camera and made videos. Roma wanted me to make a video of him for his best friend Yuri. Yet when I would turn on the camera, he would stand mutely, at a loss for what to do. Then another boy did a cartwheel and that was it. Roma and Zhenya did their best to astound me with their tumbling and break-dancing skills. They were very aware that Kai was, by far, the best break-dancer in the orphanage, and I'm sure were about impressing him, as well. The teacher was a bit uncomfortable with all the ruckus, I think, and it was time to be done anyway. We packed everything up and went outside.

Kai's classmates were heading over to the park again but Kai didn't seem up for it. He seemed really tired and I guessed hungry because he wanted to go to the store for food. I asked what he had for lunch and he said borscht. Jessica says they have soup a lot, and there usually isn't much in it. They also get a little bread to dip in it. I was happy to go get food for him. Jessica said she was hungry, too, so we went to Rainford's while Jessica went to do something with some other kids for a minute.

I didn't have a ton of money so we got an awesome loaf of garlic bread, some cheese, a 4-pack of yogurt, 3 ice cream bars and a 2 liter bottle of gas-water. Kai said these little candybar-looking things in the refrigerated section were really good. I wondered what they were and why he was so excited about them, so since they weren't expensive, I got one for him and one for me. He also got a big bag of cheese-puffs. He will get along right well with my brother Eric, the cheese-puff king. It all came to less than $6.00.

Back in the classroom, we ate the ice cream first. But then I tried the new little candy bar thingy. Oh, my goodness! We have to get these in the US! It was a cross between frozen yogurt and cheesecake, with fruit in the middle and wrapped in a thin layer of chocolate. The ice cream paled in comparison. It was incredible! Jessica arrived to eat her ice cream just before it melted and Kai ate all 4 yogurts without the benefit of a spoon. It was a sight to behold.

While we ate, we chatted about life in the US again. He was still full of questions. You could tell that's about all he thinks about. I really enjoy these times with no other kids, when he can be candid about his thoughts and questions. Kai asked me what my ethnic background was. I said Latvian, Swedish, and English Canadian. He said that we were American, though. Jessica said yes, and that he would be, too. He said yes, but that he wasn't born there and he would always be Ukrainian Cossack. I said, of course.

I told Jessica that Kai was quite good at doing the famous Cossack dance. He had done it for us at Sharyn's house last summer, quite impressive. Then another boy who is in another 9th grade class came in. He had been on the work crew, too, and was pretty dirty. He said that Kai was really good at combining his break-dance moves with Cossack dance moves and I said that was totally cool. He demonstrated a little bit of Cossack dance but was self-conscious before my video camera. Kai decided to show us a little, too, but with the fatigue in his legs from all the morning work, plus the stomach full of yogurt and gas-water, he didn't do much.

At about 5:00, Kai decided he'd had enough to eat and wanted to find his friends at the park. I had told Kevin I'd be home early because I had left so early. So we walked to the gate and said our good-byes. Jessica walked me to the bus stop and I went home.

Kevin was happy to see me and he had something wonderful to tell me. My computer was up and running perfectly!!!!! He thinks that re-seating my hard drive was the trick. All the diagnostics ran all day and it passed every one. Wow! What great news. I stayed in the living room to keep him company and played Scrabble. He quit for a bit so we could watch TV. I chose Crossing Jordan and we watched the pilot episode. It wasn't as good as Bones, but I'll give it a try. It's set in Boston so at least that might be interesting. I went to bed by 11:00 and Kevin stayed up late again working.

Bolshoy, Boring Bummer!

Slept well again and did our usual morning thing at the Coffee Life (Coffee As Lifestyle). I had just finished writing my blog and my computer went bye-bye. I spent the next hour running various diagnostics on it while Kevin played Scrabble. We gave up and went back to the apartment. This was sooooo depressing! I continued to run the diagnostics and became more and more deflated about it. I realized that I had not gotten anything done in the last 3 or 4 days because of all our running around, so I decided to stay home today and take care of business. I was distracted and depressed and it was "that time of the month" so I figured I wouldn't be all that much fun to be around anyway. I called Jessica to tell her I wouldn't be coming in and she said she'd tell Kai and let me know what he says.

I got busy in the apartment. I swept every room (where does all this dirt come from???) and washed the floors, did 2 loads of laundry and cleaned the kitchen. I was exhausted afterwards so I rested. Then I rallied and walked to the Comfy to grocery shop. The walk home seems longer lugging all the groceries.

Kevin, meanwhile, was working and simultaneously Googling everything he could find on how to recover a mal-functioning hard drive. It seems my computer doesn't want to play with it's hard drive anymore and is pretending it doesn't exist. Kevin found every program he could on any kind of recovery, using all those buttons on the keyboard that I have no clue what they're for. He removed the optical drive and did stuff, and even went to remove the hard drive, but the screwdriver on my Swiss army knife was too big. So he walked past the Comfy to the hardware store to buy one but it was closed. He went into the Comfy then but he didn't like their screwdrivers for some reason. He went into the electronics store and the guy who spoke English there just gave him one. He said it was a gift and wanted to know if we wanted to open a wine bottle with it! And although the gift screwdriver was also too big, he actually got the stupid computer started a couple of times, but it soon froze up and crapped out again.

Meanwhile, there I was, lying on the bed exhausted and feeling pretty sorry for myself. I felt like a nobody, in the middle of nowhere, doing nothing. I miss my friends, my work, my sister, my stupid dog, my home, my car....everything! I began to pray and realized I hadn't been very greatful lately. So, I started counting my blessings and being thankful. It really helped.

Kevin worked well past 2:00am and I went to bed at 10:30. I slept another horse and woke at 7:45. I never sleep this much! I'm thinking that I have existed for years with sleep deprivation and am just now starting to catch up. Kevin hasn't been snoring lately and my back hasn't been hurting like usual, so I'm really sleeping.

So now it's actually Wednesday morning, 3:45 am your time, and we did not go to the cafe. My computer is still croaked and I am using Kevin's. He walked to the hardware store again to get a screwdriver, returned and pulled out the hard drive. I plan to go to the orphanage today with a better attitude. I think I will ask Jessica if we can meet earlier and pray together before going over to see the kids. I am also really missing my weekly prayer time with Penny so maybe that would be good.

Today is also Victor's birthday. He called yesterday to say that he was told by the SDA that our Interpol documents have arrived and that he will pick them up today. That is extremely good news. He said the SDA will not be receiving any new dossiers from April 1 to the 12th, although they will be open for other business. I'll bet they are just back-logged due to the wait on the Interpol documents. So, keep praying for resurrection power in my computer (please?) and I'll keep my chin up.

So Begins Another Week

There is an old saying that goes: I am so hungry I could eat a horse. That implies that a "horse" is a very large unit of measure. Last night I was so tired I could sleep a horse. So, last night I slept a horse. We took our time getting to the cafe and didn't get back to the apartment until nearly 1:00. Where does the day go?



I needed to go to the Comfy to get food and stuff for us, but I was not ambitious enough. I decided to get off the bus there on the way home tonight and shop, then walk home. So I lazed around doing nothing (yay!) and hopped on the bus at 2:30. The bus is so convenient. I love the freedom to be able to come and go without having to be locked in to a cab.



I arrived at the orphanage at 3:00 and was there just in time to say good-bye to Nikolai. He had been there visiting and was now leaving. He gave Kai a bag filled with apples, candy, and a glob of sunflower seed paste. I offered to carry it in my shoulder bag and we took off with Jessica to find the rest of his class at the playground. It was a pretty long walk and we talked about cell phones and PlayStations. The store selling the used PS2 was on the way and we stopped in to see it. I said that we could stop in on the way back and ask the girl to make it play for us to see if it worked.



Kai took off to play and Jessica an I sat on the swing bench with some girls and chatted. As usual, the kids eventually congregated around us. One girl went to jump off the swing while we were being pushed high and she caight her leg on a splinter of wood or metal, cutting her leg pretty badly. I gave her a disinfectant wipe and told her to keep pressure on it. She and Alina eventually went back to the orphanage. The teacher chaperoning the kids soon left, too. She left the kids in the care of me and Jessica, which is way against the rules, I think, but I'll bet we won't be the ones to get in trouble.



The boys were eventually done at the park and we all piled into the small video game store. Upon questioning, the salesgirl said the PS2 they were interested in was actually just a joystick. It was pretty big for just a joystick, but the PS2's they had for sale were 600 grivna (less than half the price of the new one we saw). This made much more sense to me, and the boys left disappointed.



On the way back we went into the Silpo (not Silko, as I thought it was) and got food. As usual, we got bread and sausage, and also string cheese, cookies and drinks. Back at the classroom the boys opted to learn Yatzee, which ended up being a lot of work for me. I ran around the table as each kid had his turn, helping them to see what they needed and make decisions on what to go for. Jessica rolled 2 Yatzees and kicked everyone's butt.



We picked up and Andrei got a bucket and mop and washed the entire floor. It is amazing to see these kids clean all the time without being asked by anyone. Outside there was a crew of kids raking and shovelling in the dirt. I saw no sign of Vitaly all day and was told he was outside working. I wanted to buy Marcia some new hose, since she distroyed hers on the swing, so Jessica and I left at 7:00 as the kids were heading in to dinner. I spent about $1.50 on the hose and Jessica bought a loaf of bread for a group of little ones who were hungry. We returned with our offerings and left for the night.



I hopped on the bus at 7:30 and realized how totally spent I was. I decided not to try to grocery shop and had Jessica call Kevin and tell him I'd be home by 8:00. At exactly 8:00pm I arrived at the apartment door and crashed for the night. We finished Bones and I was in bed by 10:30.

Cossack Island

Sure enough, today was another beautiful spring day. I wonder if this is normal for here. It has been sunny, breezy and around 50 degrees every day for over a week. I'm not complaining. I know at home the daffodils are all blooming and the trees are white with their springtime flowers. I love spring in Williamsburg. And thinking that we will be gone through most of April is such a bummer. I'd love some pictures of home if anyone can be bothered.

Today I went to the cafe by myself. I had a headache (it had to have been that shot of vodka) and Kevin had stuff to do in the apartment. I think he had a headache, too. Jessica called while I was blogging to say that the kids wanted to go a little earlier and could we be at McDonalds at 2:15 instaed of 2:45? I looked at my watch and it was not quite noon. I said no problem. I Skype-texted Kevin back at the apartment to let him know. He was making chicken salad and ham salad for sandwiches for the boys. He said we had no bread and wanted an onion, too. I said I'd get it on the way home.

We needed to change some more money but no exchange places were open. I saw everyone walking around carrying sprigs of pussywillows. I figured it was pussywillow Sunday. We only get palm leaves at home. Ukrainians get pussywillows. I got bread and an onion and went home and made sandwiches with an entire loaf. Kevin got in the shower and Jessica called about getting snacks, too. I said we could get sancks on the way to the bus. She said we should be leaving now. But it was not quite 1:00, I said. Oh no! She didn't realize that we had no idea it was Spring forward day today. Ooops. I told Kevin to step up in there and Jessica said she'd get the snacks.

We didn't have to wait long for a bus and got to the McDonalds about 2 minutes after Jessica, Anya and the boys arrived. What a crew! The boys were in their school windbreakers and we looked like a gang, for sure. We found what bus to take and all piled on. Everyone had a seat and soon the bus was motoring across a big concrete bridge. Anya had the bus driver let us off in the middle of a street, which was a bit interesting, and we started walking down a path through the woods. There were no signs or markers that I could see, and wondered if Anya knew where she was going. She said it was about a 1/2 hour walk.

We walked and the boys gradually tranformed into puppies. They began by making golf clubs out of sticks and hitting pinecones with them. Then the sticks became guns of various sorts. One particularly branchy branch became moose antlers. In a short time, everyone's jackets were shed. They chased each other, pounced on each other, and made just about everything into a game. The path was sand and the trees mostly pine. There were great areas where the trees had been cleared by fire, whether accidentily or on purpose, we could not tell.

We finally came to the water and climbed down a steep embankment to the beach. The place was fairly crowded, it being Sunday and during vacation time. There were groups of young people and families all having picnics in the sun. Most people were drinking and I wondered where they were all going pee, seeing as there were no facilities to be seen anywhere. We passed by people kicking soccer balls around, some playing badminton, some playing music, or guitar. There were rock climbers and tents, campfires and guys chopping at a great fallen tree with a small ax. It was quite a sight and we walked for another 15 or 20 minutes trying to find a suitable site to have our picnic.

Eventually we just ran out of land and decided to stop. It was a beautiful spot, lots of beach and walled in by high rock. The puppies were now all rock climbers and they scaled and explored the high wall for most of the day. Kai was ambitiously gathering dead wood for a fire. Soon a perfect little Boy Scout blaze was crackling away. We took pictures all day. Kevin found a sunny spot on a large flat rock and napped contentedly. I spread a blanket on the sand and pretended I was at the Outer Banks. (I wish!)

When the puppies got hungry, they broke out the sandwiches, and there was much rejoicing. Jessica had bought every cookie in the store, so cookies were had as well. I pulled the blanket close to the fire because the breeze off the water was cool. Some boys requested to play cards and I took out the deck and we played Spades again. Vitaly and Andrei came down from the rocks with something causing great excitement. Vitaly was shirtless and his hand was wrapped in his shirt. At first I thought he might be hurt, but I should have known better. These kids are tough and know how to be careful. What was wrapped in his shirt were 2 baby bats! They were incredibly cute; brown and fuzzy, seeming pretty scared. The boys were gentle with them and thrilled with their find. We told them to put them back when they were done with them and they complied.

While 4 of us played cards, Kai, Sasha, and Vitaly wrestled on the beach. Puppies! They were having so much fun. But it was after 5:30 and we needed to start wrapping it up. We took group pictures on the rocks and then started back. There was a ginormous staircase up the cliff wall and we opted to take that way. I counted 110 stairs. The view from up there was beautiful and the rolling, rocky hills and the plunging cliff to the river was reminiscent of Ireland. Soon, all coats were off again.

We found the path back through the woods. The puppies kicked the soccer ball at each other as we made our way. Once the ball was lodged high in an old, dry pine tree. Vitaly climbed up and quickly retrieved it. His hands were covered in pine pitch and he gladly took the Wet-Wipe I offered him. We discovered a huge old tree in a clearing off the path that looked to have been struck by lightning, or damaged by fire. The boys climbed it at my request and we took more pictures.

Soon we were back at the highway and the 10 of us waited to cross the busy street to the bus stop. The bus arrived in no time and we were back at the McDonalds. Everyone was completely exhausted. We said our good-byes and parted. Kevin and I found our bus stop and were soon on our way home. We picked up some water at the store and ate ham salad sandwiches at the apartment. I had a short nap and then we settled in to watch TV and vegetate. It was 11:00 when we went to bed and we were wiped out. What an amazing day!

Saturday Again

We returned from the cafe, had a little bit of lunch, and went shopping. Kevin has been having trouble getting any Skype or similar program to work on his computer. Either they can't hear him or he can't hear them or something. He said he needed a microphone, so we walked to the Comfy and went into the electronics store. We wandered around cluelessly for a bit and I figured out what to say in Russian to ask for help. I figured microphone was probably microphone in Russian, too, just with some Russian accent added to it. I approached a salesman and asked in Russian if he spoke English. He said yes and I said Hallelujah! They only had headset/microphone combos so we bought one for 79 grivna ($10) and put it on my credit card. I don't know if that was stupid or not, but it felt good to use plastic for once.

Kevin also is in need of some sneakers. The ones he's been using were Robbie's and they're falling apart. We looked in the Adidas/Puma/Nike store upstairs and the sneakers were $100 or more. So we walked about a mile to the mall on Lenin St. and looked in about 8 shoe stores. No better luck there. Shoes are wicked expensive here. Kevin was not about to pay that much for sneakers, so we headed back down toward the river to find the bus that we needed to take to the orphanage.

It was our first solo attempt to get to the orphanage on the bus, and although Jessica explained it clearly, I was just a tiny bit nervous. A number 54 bus came and we got on. We found seats, too! As we rode I peered out the window for anything familiar. To my joy, the first thing I recognized was the McDonalds where we are planning to meet the boys on Sunday for the trip to the Island. That means we can hop on the bus right by our apartment and get there easily! Yay.

Eventually I recognized Mordor and the Mountains of Zapporhyzia. The factory area, with the multitude of smoke stacks either belching clouds of black smoke or great flames of fire, has been christened Mordor by a friend of Jessica's. It is quite apt. The all-seeing, lidless eye never sleeps. The "mountains", we figure, are great piles of factory waste, bigger than Mount Trashmore in VA Beach and probably just as toxic. The bus was passing through this area from another direction, but I soon knew exactly where we were. After I saw the Silko store, the bus turned right and we stood up to disembark. The driver asked where we'd like to get off and I said this is okay (not really knowing one stop from another). I was reaching for my phone to call Jessica, but decided I knew where we were and we headed toward the orphanage. We hadn't taken 5 paces when Jessica appeared behind us. She was walking to the orphanage and saw us get off the bus! How's that for timing?

The kids were outside hanging out. Kai was all excited and very animated. I told Kevin that was because of him. I am old news, he's the attraction. Jessica left to find the 7th graders. One kid was having a birthday and she had made a cake. Kai went inside to get ping pong paddles and brought them out to the table to play. The paddles are made by the kids and Kai showed me one that he said he made and decorated with his drawings. It was by far the best one. The table is made entirely of metal and painted blue. Kevin played a little and the kids took turns playing as we sat on the bench and watched. I think all kids like it when people watch them.

Today we were joined by Alina. This changed the entire dynamic of the group. Alina was very physical with the boys and the hitting, pushing, chasing, and hair-pulling was nearly incessant. She dishes it out and takes it. It was more than annoying to me and I was concerned that this behavior was pretty inappropriate. If kids played like this in an American school, they'd be expelled. I explained this to the kids, using the word "police" and acting out being handcuffed. They understood, but the antics persisted.

After a while, Kai said we could go to the store now. Daniel and Ludwig and Alina came with us. I showed Kevin the little machine there where Jessica purchased minutes for her phone the day before. I told him he can buy more bytes for his modem there. So, he did. We bought bread, sausage, mayo, candy, tea, cookies, chips, and ice cream bars for everyone.

Back in the classroom, everyone ate their ice cream, and 2 games were set up while Kai commenced to make sandwiches. Kevin and Jessica played Rummikub with Vitaly and Andrei. I played cards with Ludwig, Daniel and Alina. I don't know where Sasha was. Alina didn't know how to play but she caught on eventually. Unfortunately, the hitting continued and I had to tell them to cut it out a few times. Kai served everyone sandwiches, made me tea, and then served the cookies. He was the perfect host and I had Jessica tell him how pleased I was at how he behaved. He cleaned up and everyone was tired of playing at about the same time. A couple of kids went up to try to get on the computer and Kai said he'd like to do that, too. So, we helped put the room back in order and talked with him about plans for tomorrow. This ended up being kind of fun, so we just stood around talking with the remaining kids for a while. I guess the computer was unavailable until 7:00 so we all went outside to walk around for a bit.

We walked around the building and out to the playground area. There are some monkey bars and arrays of painted tires embedded in the ground. Kai showed off his prowess on the apparatus while the rough play with Alina continued. It was about 5:40 and Kevin decided it was time to leave. We said our good-byes and I charged Kai to not hit Alina. He said okay and we left. We got some cigars at the Silko and caught a number 14 bus right outside.

Kevin wanted to go out on a "date" and have some dinner. On the bus, we talked about where we should go. After a couple of stops, 2 young men got on and grabbed my attention because something was wierdly familiar about how they were dressed. They were 2 clean-cut, well-dressed men in their early 20's. They both wore black pants, white collared shirt, tie, v-neck sweater and a Russian nametag. One carried a leather bound book. I turned to Kevin and I said, "They look like Mormons!" He said yeah and we talked about other things. Shortly thereafter, one of them said he heard us speaking English and asked where we were from. It's so surprising to hear English in a public place. After explaining what we were doing in Zapporhyzia, I asked the same of them. They said they were here as missionaries. I asked what agency they are with and they said the Church of the Latter Day Saints, you would know as Mormans. HA! What did I say! We chatted about the area and the people and they got off the bus at the McDonalds. Too funny!

We decided to go back to the apartment and rest and clean up before going out on our date. We didn't stand up soon enough to get the driver to stop at our apartment so we got off one stop down and walked back. It wasn't far. Kevin started messing with the headset/microphone on his computer and he Skyped Nancy Kravitz. She could hear us but we couldn't hear her. Kevin wanted me to talk to her for a while, so I talked and she typed. She said she felt like a mute. It was good to communicate, but I would have liked to have heard her voice.

I got cleaned up and put on my nicest clothes. We decided to go to the same restaurant that Jessica and I had gone to the night before. The place was more busy, with 3 large parties having dinner. We got a table and ordered drinks. We both got salads, which were fabulous, and I ordered the same chicken dish that Jessica had, while Kevin got lamb shishkabab (shashlik). The old dude played his guitar thing and the people at the various tables joined in singing. It was all very merry. I forgot to bring the cash I had and Kevin was pretty low. Good thing they take plastic. We charged it on my MasterCard but the young waiter panicked again. It seems you can't put the tip on the credit card in the Ukraine. Well, no problem, except now you're not getting the 20 percent tip because Kevin doesn't have that much cash. He still had enough to make it a good tip, however.

We were pretty tired so no TV tonight. Big day tomorrow.

God's Provision

Today I am reminded of the immortal words of the infamous Captain Barbosa, and I paraphrase:
"It's not gettin' to Zapporhyzia that's the problem......it's gettin' BAAAAACK!" Yes, even though we still do not have the Interpol clearance, Victor has set a court date for April 6th. That means the earliest we can blow this clambake is the 16th or 17th. Well, it could be worse. I am actually having fun, especially after yesterday. Let me tell you all about it.

In the Internet cafe we met a guy from Chicago. Apparently he was visiting his fiance who was unable to leave Ukraine and marry him because her ex-husband would not release the children without a fight. He recommended to us some nice area restaurants. They say the only reason foreigners come here is for a wife or to adopt kids. It just shows to go you.

I went right back out after dropping my computer at home because we needed more cash. I called Jessica to talk about making plans for the weekend. Her phone ran out of minutes so she can receive calls but cannot make them. I said we can put $$$ on her phone when I get there, I'm getting lotsa money. The guy in the exchange booth spoke very good English, although he was a native. He said my Russian was very good. :) I stopped at the market on the way home to buy paper towels, TP, shampoo and toothpaste. The taxi came at 3:00 and it was Leonid.

I wasn't sure what kind of mood Kai would be in today, after all the drama of the day before, so I told Leo to get me at 6:00. There was no one around and I looked all over the orphanage for the kids. I found Alena in the lounge and the computer room door was locked. Alena banged loudly on the door and Kai emerged looking annoyed. He walked with me outside, alarmed that Jessica was not here yet. I wasn't worried and asked him what he'd like to do today. He said he didn't know, still acting somewhat sulky. Jessica arrived shortly, flanked by the usual 3 or 4 kids. She asked what Kai had in mind for today and he said he just wanted to play the computer game. Jessica and I wanted to arrange an outing for Saturday and needed to talk to Ekaterina, the Director. She also wanted to set up some 7th grade girls with the beads, so I told Kai we didn't need him and said I'd have fun with Jessica.

Ekaterina was not around so we called Victor who called her cell phone for us. My reasoning is; If Nikolai, who has no legal claim on Kai, can take him off campus, even overnight, then why can't we take him for the day, off campus, and go to the Cossack Island? Ekaterina was firm, that it was against the rules for us to take him before the court date, but that we could go with the 7th grade outing to the Island. That was what I figured. We just had to wait and talk to the teacher who was taking them, and he was off somewhere with his kids.

While we waited, we sat in the 7th grade classroom and talked with the girls who were making jewelry with beads. They warmed up to me very quickly, asking me all kinds of questions, from what's my favorite color to are there homeless people in America. There was nothing sacred, they asked whatever came into their mind and I answered as truthfully as I could, in as few words as possible, to spare Jessica. Eventually, they began making jewelry for me, much of it blue since that is my favorite color. They said it matches my eyes. These kids seem to really like blue eyes. Wait til they get a load of Kevin. His eyes are georgous. By the time we quit, I was decked out with 3 new bracelets and 2 new necklaces. I looked absolutely elegant. I said that Jessica and I must go out to dinner tonight because I am so elegant.

The taxi was due to arrive and we still had not finalized plans for the outing. I would have liked to call Leonid and tell him not to come, but Jessica's phone was dead. Therefore, I waited outside and planned to send him off without me. I know that is a bummer for him, but I didn't know what else I could do. Kai happened to see me heading for the gate and ran to tell me good-by. I explained that I was staying and would he please tell the cab driver that I did not call because I had no phone. Leo arrived at nearly 10 past 6:00, very uncharacteristic. I apologised and Kai explained that I was staying. He asked about tomorrow, and I said I would call if I needed him.

Back inside, Jessica was talking with Kai's teacher, Anya. It took quite some time, but it was decided that she would like to take Kai's class to the Cossack Island on Sunday (she had Saturday off), and we figured that would be way more fun for Kai than going with the 7th graders. The problem was in transportation. The electric trolly is free for orphans, but the ride would take over an hour and the trains have a schedule that is perhaps not very frequent. The bus is better but costs 5 grivna per kid round trip. Jessica figured out that the whole class could go for $10.00. I gave her 100 grivna and said problem solved. Yay! Things were definitely looking up.

Once we worked out all the logistics, where to meet, what to bring, Jessica and I finally left. Outside, Kai began to get all lovey-dovey again, hugging me, kissing me, telling me he loved me very much. I chided him on how he changed his tune all of the sudden. He said he was sorry and that he doesn't know why he acts the way he does sometimes. That's a typical teenager for you. I told him I loved him and that I will see him tomorrow. The 7th grade girls walked us to the gate also declaring their love for us, that they had so much fun with us, and that they will be waiting for us tomorrow.

On the way to buying more minutes for Jessica's phone, Victor called. He asked if I was planning on spending the night at the orphanage, which I thought was a little snippy. He was apparently annoyed that I sent Leo away without a fare. He said the cab had been waiting for me. I said that's not true, I was waiting for the cab. I said I understood, and I was sorry, but that our plans had not been settled and Jessica's phone could not make out-going calls. I said we were going to take the bus, and he asked about tomorrow. I said that I would like a cab at 2:00 for Kevin and I. He said to call him tomorrow.

The bus ride costs 2 grivna, as opposed to 30 for the cab. (That's 25 cents versus $3.75.) The bus took us practically to the apartment. We decided to go to the Intourist Hotel for dinner and asked Kevin if he could pry himself away for a little while and join us. He said no, and we walked up the hill to the hotel.

There are multiple restaurants in the hotel, Japanese, Ukrainian, and perhaps Italian. We asked some bell-hop type kids what they recommended, and they said the Ukrainian one. We went up the stairs and entered into another world. The entire place was decorated like a rustic Ukrainian villiage. There was a cart of produce, baskets, and flowers. The waiters were dressed as Cossacks, and were totally cute. The place was nearly empty and service was gracious. We chose a large table near the window and were immediately served a small plate of pretty appetizers and 2 shots of pink-tinged vodka. I liked the place immediately.

I ordered a cabernet and Jessica her usual cappachino. The wine was excellent and things were definitely looking up. There was an elderly Cossack sketching the gentleman in the table next to us. He was very talented. The 2 gentlemen were speaking English and asked us where we were from. They were brothers from Canada and were doing one of those seeking their roots kind of things, like on that Visa commercial. They said they were currently living in Romania doing street ministry for childern there, with an organization called Outstretched Hands of Romania. One guy said he had adopted his daughter 20 years ago from Romania. He was very sympathetic toward me. We said, "Enjoy your dinner" and soon received ours.

I got Ukrainian borscht and Jessica got chicken with cheese and mushroons. As expected, the food was delicious. We talked about all kinds of stuff and had fun. I put on enough peer pressure to get Jessica to drink the entire little shot of vodka. It took the entire meal for us to finish it because we could only take little teeny sips. But we toasted everything we could think of; the guys in the next table, Kevin, Victor, the cute Cossack waiters, Jessica's future husband! We didn't think it could get any better when the old Cossack dude got up and started playing some kind of balalika thing and singing traditional Ukrainian songs. Oh, gosh, it was too awesome! We were having a ball. I convinced Jessica to have some ice cream while I finished my glass of wine and then I asked for the check.

The waiter (Looked to be all of 18 or 19.) brought our check and I glanced at the damage. It was 264 grivna, about $35. Then the waiter took it back from me saying something about the guy at the next table. I thought he must have given me his check by mistake. We waited for our check but it was not forthcoming. I asked again for our check and he returned with another copy of it. I said I wanted to pay, and he looked fairly panicked as he tried to explain that the guy had paid it already. Oh, WOW! I didn't see that coming!

We rose to leave and thanked the guy profusely, giggling like girls. He said his name was Reinhold, or something, and his brother, who had left already, was David. I gave him the card from the Canadian church down the street and we left. We rejoiced and laughed at our good fortune and how the day had been so great in every way as I walked Jessica to the bus stop near our apartment building. The bus came soon and she called Kevin to tell him I'd be at the door momentarily. Kevin was out on the balcony having a cigar and he buzzed me in. I told him all about our day and he was happy. We watched 2 episodes of Bones and went to bed.

I have to make sure Victor doesn't call us a cab for Saturday, we decided to take the bus! How adventurous is that?

The Meeting of Nikolai

I got up early, swept the apartment, boiled some eggs, did laundry and got washed and dressed to go. Kevin was still in bed and I was gonna leave for the Coffee Life (Coffee As Lifestyle) without him, but he said to wait. Another sunny day in Zapporyzia.

We got home from the cafe at 12:30. I needed to get to the Comfy to get more food and we were out of grivnas. Kevin stayed home to work and I took off with $100 to go shopping. Unfortunately, the money exchange at the Comfy was closed. The sign said "c 13:00-14:00". I took that to mean that they were closed from 1:00 to 2:00, probably for lunch or something. Well, it was just 1:00 so I wasn't about to wait around for an hour. There had to be another exchange place nearby.

I started walking in a direction that showed the most potential. I decided to enter an establishment with a sign saying, in very big letters, METPO. I know that the Russian P is really an R, so I wasn't sure what it was, but perhaps some kind of mall. The first store inside was a hardware store, much like a large Ace, or small Lowes. I asked the lady at the checkout if she knew where a money exchange was. I can say, "Excuse me, tell me, please where is" but I do not know the word for money exchange. She, of course, begins yaking away at me until I tell her I don't understand Russian. I know the words for big store, because I was sure she was directing me back to the Comfy. I tried to explain that it was unavailable, and she called for an assiciate who perhaps spoke some English. The young guy seemed to gather that the Comfy booth was closed and I caught the word "bank". Aparently there was a bank just across the street. He walked me out and pointed to it. Duh! It was huge and looked just like a bank. I said thank you very much and went to the bank.

The bank was a little intimidating but mostly beacuse I stick out like a sore thumb around here. It's not just because I don't speak the language either. Because I am wearing jeans, sneakers, and a ski jacket, I am totally wierd. Women here dress to the nines. They wear skirts, dresses, or very tight pants invariably with spiked high-heeled boots. Their coats are always fashion statements; often leather, always black, belted and with fur collars. How they can walk for miles in those boots is beyond me.

Anyway, I got my money exchanged and went back to the Comfy. When we got here, the exchange rate was 8.02 grivna to a dollar. It has been steadily dropping since the passage of the health care bill. It is now 7.95. Jessica said it had been as high as nearly 9.00 recently. Thanks, Obama.

I spent nearly $50 at the Comfy and lugged everything home. I rested and got packed up to go to the orphanage. I brought my computer again just in case. The courtyard was virtually deserted today. Jessica was sitting on a bench with 2 boys. One was older, the younger one was snapping pictures with her cell phone. The outing for today was apparently changed and so here she was. We went inside and found all the boys in the computer lab playing computer games. Kai was shooting away with the game we had loaded on my computer. He rose and directed me to the lounge where sat a middle-aged and weather-worn man in a cap and trench coat. He introduced his step-dad Nikolai Something-or-other. We shook hands and he said stuff.

We really had a rough start, then. The lounge area was full of kids running around, Kai wanted to play the shooting game, and Nikolai was uncomfortable talking amid all the distractions and nosy kids. We wanted to go to the classroom for some privacy but there was no teacher there now and the door was locked. So the guy yelled at the kids to take a hike and we pulled the couches around so we could sit and see eye to eye. Kai made himself scarce, obviously uncomfortable. I wanted to make sure that he knew how thankful I was for all his kindness to both Kai and his mother. I wanted to know more details about Kai's mom so I could help him keep her memory alive. I found out her name was Alla (sounds just like Allah) and her birthday was March 5, 1959. She was about a year older than me. I said that my grandmother's name was Ella, which is similar. I asked about her health and the injury that Kai had told me about. He said she played some kind of sport that Jessica did not understand, and that she had injuries beginning with a head injury.

Poor Jessica had such a hard time today. The guy slurred his words and mumbled to himself a lot. And whenever I tried to have Jessica say something for me, he would never let her finish a sentence. He asked about Kai's schooling in America, and if he would go to college. I said I hoped so and asked his opinion on what Kai might be interested in pursuing as a career. He said he was very talented and should not give up his drawing. I said that I believed he would be good at doing something in a trade where he worked with his hands and Nikolai agreed. I told him about how knowledgeable Kevin is with construction skills and tools, as well as Sharyn's gifting in this area and her talent with paint and artistry. He seemed pleased that Kai would be surrounded by opportunity.

Eventually we were told that we could go into the classroom and Kai had a key. That must have been what he was up to all this time. We made our way downstairs and Nikolai decided that he wanted to go to the store and buy food. Jessica was happy with this because it would give us something to do while we visit with each other. I think she was also happy because she was hungry! He appeared to not want Jessica and I to come along, but Kai insisted and we all went together. Things were still somewhat awkward. I think money was the big concern. Kai chose some meat, cheese, bread and mustard, cookies, yogurt, and ice cream. We also got a deli salad of mushrooms and potatoes, a bottle of soda and some Spiderman cheese puffs with a surprise inside! Nikolai held back some items at the checkout and paid for them.

Back at the classroom, Kai made sandwiches and we ate while we talked. Nikolai refused the food. I was too nervous to eat, but ate a sandwich and tried the disgusting looking mushrooms. It was really good. Nikolai was interested in the timetable of the adoption process. When he realized we would be around for quite some time, he appeared happy for him and upset for us. He was forthcoming about feeling really sad Kai was leaving, but also that he knew it was best for him. He expressed disgust with the process and how much money it was costing us to be here for so long.

It was about 5:00 when he began to make exit noises. I asked if he would please accept a gift from me. He tried to refuse but I insisted. I gave him a can of peanuts and a shot glass from Wal-Mart with Williamsburg, Virginia on it. He seemed happy with the peanuts and did not unwrap the shot glass. He said he'd be by on Monday to hang out with us. I hope the other boys want to play with us then. I think it would be more fun.

After he left, I took the opportunity to have a private talk with Kai about his step-dad. I had to use the bathroom and when I left, Kai took advantage of my absence to flee to the computer lab. I had to go back and pry him off the shooting game, and I said, "You know I don't like that game." He followed me back to the classroom, sulking and pouting. This was apparently gonna be an on-going battle ground. Well, I figured it had to be about something, it might as well be this.

I asked him about Nikolai, and if he'd like to spend more time with him before he left. He said yes. I asked what he did while he was with him, there was obviously no computer games. He said he hung around and played outside, walked, and watched TV while Nikolai drank. I just don't get the big draw here. I wondered if he just liked getting away from the orphanage, or if he liked being where he could remember his mom, or if he just needed some alone time. He was non-committal about every option. I don't know that he is all that in touch with why he does stuff, or why he likes it. I guess that will be my job to try to figure out. Perhaps I'll never know.

He did, however, keep coming back to the war-game on the computer. He insisted it was just a game and that there was nothing wrong with it. His arguing reminded me so much of Robbie, when he disagreed with my parenting rules. I tried to be very clear that we have explained multiple times that all families have rules, and even if you do not agree with them, as a member of the family you must obey them and respect your parents. Eventually I asked if this bone-of-contention was a deal-breaker, if he would not want to come home with us if this is the rule he must live with. I stated that with all we have to offer him, it doesn't seem like too much to ask, that he not play bloody war games. He said he wants to be in our family and come to America. I said okay, then, end of discussion. (Fat chance.)

On the way out to the cab, Victor called. He wanted to know where I was, that Vladimir was waiting for me. I said I was out in front of Vladimir's car. It seems Vlad was getting nervous because he has to be at the train station to pick up a fare and I was 5 minutes late. Oh, gosh! I got in the car and apologized profusely. Vladimir did his impression of Mario Andretti and I was home in 15 minutes.

I filled Kevin in on the day's events and played Scrabble while he worked. We watched Bones and went to bed by 11:00. What a day! Jessica was the hero today. She was really pushed to the limit of her knowledge of Russian and her translation skills. I'm sure she was exhausted after today. It was stressful, awkward, and tiring. God, bless her!

Rummikub is a Hit

Wednesday was another nice day, weather-wise. My sinuses were screaming, inflammed, pouring like a faucet. No such thing as Puffs Plus here so my nose was growing more raw each time I blew. I am so glad I brought a couple of cloth hankerchiefs. Thank you to my Daddy for teaching me to carry one. I was sneezing, coughing and blowing all morning at the Coffe Life.

Seems like there is no softness here. The toilet paper is either like brown paper towels or like sandpaper. The bath towels are like large pieces of sandpaper. The water is very hard and drying to the skin. Because there are no clothes dryers, the clothes are all stiff and rough. I have yet to see a box of tissues in any store. They have the small travel packs, but nothing else. I carry the small tissues in case there is no toilet paper where I find myself. I am using up all my lotion and my hands are rough and cracked. The air is smoke-filled in the cafe, exhaust-filled outside. Passing through the factory area, the air is smoky and acrid. It is no wonder Kai always talks about how blue the sky is and how clean the air is in America. This can't be helping my sinuses any.

I haven't commented on the dogs yet. They are everywhere. I mean everywhere. They do not belong to anyone, they roam around town and dodge traffic. I have seen absolutely no other wild life except feral cats and flocks of pigeons or crows. There are no squirrels, chipmonks, bunnies, or anything. The dogs must see to that. The dogs are generally medium to small and carry similar traits due to unrestriced breeding. I often see female dogs with heavy teats. There was a litter of puppies in a low window at the orphanage. I could hear them yipping and the tired-looking mommy hung around on the sidewalk. Eventually I saw one puppy come out. He (she) was about 8 weeks old and fat and frisky. I saw no sign of other puppies. I figure they probably died. Sometimes at night a pack of dogs begins howling and carrying on. They usually quite down after a short while. It's not as bad as having a neighbor's dog bark all night.

I rested at the apartment after blogging at the cafe. I felt like crap. Vladimir picked me up at 2:00 and I brought my computer. I was looking forward to meeting the man who cared for Kai's mom. There were all kinds of people in the orphanage courtyard. Kai greeted me with his usual hugs and kisses. Jessica was there, too. I was informed that Kai's step-dad had been there earlier today, but did not want to wait around and had gone home. What's with this guy? Kai said he would come by tomorrow in the afternoon and meet me. I'll believe it when I see it.

Kai was keen to see if a computer game he had would play on my computer. We went in the classroom to give it a try. While we waited for it to download, Kai showed Jessica and Lyoutic the beach pictures. It took quite a while for the program to finish loading. Then we went to play it and the screen came up that it was rated M for mature due to blood, gore, and violence. Here we go again! We'd had this problem in America. I said no way are you playing this and I want it off my computer. I deleted it and he sulked. He wanted to know why I thought it was so bad, it's just a game. I did my best to reiterate what I (and Sharyn) had said all summer; that these kinds of games are not healthy for the mind and the spirit. I also said that they will not help him be smart, learn English, or make friends. A the very least, they are a waste of time, and I am uncomfortable watching them, or having them around. I am the Momma and what I say goes. He relented and said he will leave the game here for the other boys. I told him that Kevin and I had gone into a store and priced a new PS2. It cost 1350 grivna. He said the one he saw was second-hand and was 100 grivna. Perhaps we will check it out one of these days.

We decided to get some food at the store and teach the boys to play Rummikub. Vitaly came with us. We bought water with gas, 2 bags of cheese puffs, chocolate chip cookies, potato chips, and 3 4-packs of yogurt (chocolate, vanilla, and caramel). It took all of one game for the kids to catch on. As predicted, Vitaly was really good at it. The kids helped each other out and Jessica went around showing them how best to play their tiles. All the food was consumed, mostly by Kai, who ate 3 or 4 yogurts. I had tea and 2 cookies. I still felt crappy but not nearly as bad as that morning. I felt like there should be music, so I pulled out my computer again and put on my iTunes, which is all praise and worship music. As the screen saver came up, the kids became distracted by the pictures. Kai left the game to show them off again and I took his place. In no time, it was 6:00 and I had to leave.

Vladdy was not very chatty at all on the way home. I asked if he was okay, he wasn't talking. He said he was fine. I was tired so it was just as well. At home, I had a snack and played Scrabble while Kevin continued to work. He quit at about 10:00 so we could watch Bones and I went to bed. He stayed up again until about 2:00am working.

I forgot to mention that Kai said that the people who were in the orphanage courtyard today were from "Ukraine's Got Talent". He said they want him to break dance for them, and that they were planning to work with the kids on some kind of skit or perfomance for the show. He said they'd taken an interest in this orphanage and would be back toward the end of the month. How cool is that? I hope it happens.

Still No News

Tuesday was another beautiful day. Still chilly, but nice. Our morning routine is enjoyable, a walk to the cafe, tea, emails, and blogging. I got letters from Kathie Schweikhert, Sharyn Simpson and my sister Quiz. Talk about hitting the jackpot! By the time I read my sister's letter I was crying like a baby for her momma. I am so ready to be done with this and come home. Absolutely nothing is happening, we are in a holding pattern. Victor says that no one is getting their Interpol clearance documents. This is a brand new requirement, as of February 1st, and our request was submitted nearly 2 months ago. We can't get our court date until this paper comes through. Once we go to court, there is a 10 day wiating period, and then we can take him to get his new passport and visa. That will take at least another week. Gosh!

Anyway, I made a trip to the corner store to get bread, eggs, and TP. I made 2 chicken salad sandwiches to bring to Kai, and had some myself. It was yummy. Vladimir arrived before 3 to cart me to the orphanage. He continued to chat away at me like I knew what he was saying. It was pretty funny. However, if I listened very carefully, I could make out words that sounded somewhat like English. He was doing his best to throw in every English word he knew. Kinda like what I do with my very limited Russian. I said I'd like to be picked up at 6:30 again and was off for another fun afternoon.

A mass of kids were in the courtyard with a few adults. They were heading out for some kind of church service and pizza. Because I was there, Kai didn't have to go. Instead, we went up to the lounge area to wait for Jessica. The orphanage was virtually deserted. I gave him his sandwiches and read him Dr. Seuss's ABC book while he ate. I love that book; "BIG A. little a, what begins with a? Aunt Annie's alligator, a...a....a." It reminded me of how many millions of times I read it to Kelly and Robbie. I tried to be as animated as Kelly used to be. I think he was glad no one was around.

Kai chose to read to me Hop On Pop after that. We were almost finished when Jessica arrived. She was appropriately impressed with his reading. We decided to play Rummikub, since Jessica used to know how to play. She reviewed the directions and we set up on the big table. Once I got the gist of it, I really enjoyed it. Kai picked it up eventually, but with all that food in his belly, I think he got a little sleepy. We played 3 rounds and Kai ended up winning. I was glad because that might make him more apt to want to play again. It's the kind of game I can see Kevin really being good at because you have to make all kinds of combinations with the numbers. He's good at that kind of stuff.

Jessica and I were hungry, so we all walked to the store and bought food; bread, mustard, sliced meat and cheese, chips, chocolate, and juice. What a feast! Back in the lounge, we ate and talked. I told him about my 2 brothers and that we will go to visit them. He asked if we would go to the beach again with my nephews and the Coghlan boys (Micheal Jackson and Timone). I said that we were not planning to go with them, but that we were going to the beach with Kevin's family. Perhaps my sister could come down for the day with Dylan and Ben. We'll see. They might be still busy at Colonial Downs.

Some kids returned and attached themselves to Jessica (they're like ticks, I swear). We shared what was left of the food and soon it was time for me to go. Jessica stayed to do stuff there and Kai walked me out to the gate. I promised to come at 2:00 the next day, because the dude-guy was supposed to show up.

Chatty Vladdy was hysterical on the way home. We were driving down a particularly pot-holed road and he says, "Soviet Union highway". He was yaking about God-knows-what and I just laughed. I wanted to know if he knew what the weather was gonna be like the next day. So I said "Today good. Do you know tomorrow?" He said something about the internet but I didn't get the rest. So he says today, internet, and then turns on his windshield washer spray (Oh, rain!). Then he says no rain today. I gathered that the weather forecast is somewhat unreliable around here. Oh, well. I'll know the weather when I see it.

I had been feeling progressively bad as the day progressed. My sinuses were all stuffed, I was sneezing and I had a headache. I got home and decided to be a good girl and "play sick" so I could get over whatever it was. I put on a sweatshirt, went right to bed and wrapped myself in a warm blankie. I was cold to the bone, even though Kevin was in gym shorts and tee-shirt. Kevin went out to the store and for a little walk. I got up when he got home and played on my computer while he worked. At 10:30, he stopped so we could waych Bones. I went to bed and he stayed up til about 2:00 running a job for work.

Monday, Monday

Monday dawned cloudy and with a little drizzle. We spent 2 hours at the Coffee Life (Coffee As Lifestyle) and changed another $50 into grivnas. I cleaned the apartment (where does all this dirt come from?) and went to the corner grocery for water and a treat for Kai. I opted for a large bar of sunflower seeds held together by sugar. Victor had said it was good so I got one for Kai and one for Kevin.

The cab arrived for me just before 3:00 and it was Vladimir this time. He seemed to have heard about Leonid and his baby in the cab, but he still thinks I can understand Russian and chats away to me. I said, in Russian, that I would like to be picked up at 6:30. I didn't know the word for 30 and he taught me that it's pronounced treet-sit. It's fun to say shaste-treet-sit, which means 6:30. However, around here they tend to use military time so it's really vosim-nat-sit-treet-sit, 18:30.

Kai saw me as soon as I arrived. I told him that Jessica was in the classroom for 1st grade. He didn't quite get it, although he knows the word classroom. We wandered around and asked people if they'd seen Jessica. He finally took me to the other building and there she was, right where she said she'd be, stringing beads with the little kids. It looked like fun, but Kai wanted me to come with him and his friends to a playground far off campus. He thought I'd be bored without Jessica there, but I said I'd be fine. The day had cleared up, it was partly sunny, and probably 50 degrees or more.

All the older boys came; Vitaly, Daniel, Sasha, Lyoutic, Max, Andrei as well as Anya, their counsellor. We walked about 3/4 of a mile to the park. Vitaly was into playing with a hand-held video game thing and was antisocial all day. He sat with his toy in a swing and I began to push him, like he was my baby. The boys laughed at the joke and Vitaly jumped off the swing. The others, except for Lyoutic, too, all ran around on the apparatus playing sort of tag. I took some video with my new camera. I played it back for Kai as he ate and shared his sunflower seed bar with the others. The snack seemed to have energized the kids and they ran around again. A Ukrainian girl, about 7 years old, sat next to me on my bench swing. I seemed to interest her, so I told her, in Russian, that I am an American and that I speak English. Her eyes got wide and she was at a loss for what to say. A boy, somewhat younger than her, joined us and she explained to him what I had said. She tried to tell me something but I said, I'm sorry, I don't understand Russian. So, we swung back and forth and smiled at each other until their moms called for them.

It was around 4:30 when the kids decided they'd had enough. I stated, in Russian, that I wanted to buy a deck of cards. Vitaly and Daniel took off to a nearby kiosk apparently to see if they had any there to buy. They returned to say that there were cards for sale but didn't know if they were any good or not, perhaps concerned that they were not good enough for me. Anya gave permission for me to take Vitale, Daniel and Kai across the street to buy the cards. They cost 5 grivna, about 75 cents. They were cheap, but better that the deck that we'd been using.

We continued walking back to the orphanage on the opposite side of the street as Anya and the other boys. Occaisionally they would yell to each other across the street. When we got to the supermarket, I asked the boys, in Russian, if they would like to buy something to eat in the store. Well, duh. Anya said okay, and we went shopping again. We got bread, mayo, chips, water, juice, and gum. I probably spent $4.00. It's easy to be a Sugar Momma here.

Back at the classroom, Jessica met us and we started a game of cards. Sasha, Lyoutic, Daniel, and I played. Vitaly stayed with his stupid gameboy thing. I had asked Vitaly if he had a mom or a dad. He said he had a mom. Kai said he was 16. His mom obviously can't take care of him because it is Spring Break and he's stuck at the orphanage. We played cards and soon Kai took over my hand, and Jessica took Sasha's hand. The kids are getting really good at the game, but Lyoutic was over-bidding himself into the negative like crazy. He kept saying he was making a come-back and never gave up.

Today Kai shared his food while we played. We had tea and cookies, and he offered his 2 bags of chips, as well. It was quite the party and there was much joking and laughing. It was great that Jessica was there because she could translate for us. They laughed when I would say "Perfect", when Kai was doing well in the game. We deduced that "perfect" sounds like the Russian word for "professional". They thought I was saying Kai was like a professional card player. Later, I was telling Jessica that the buzzer to get into the apartment didn'y work. I guess buzz, or buzzer sounds like some Russian word that is perhaps a cuss word, or something dirty. Jessica was not aware of the Russian cuss word. She's not that kind of girl.

6:30 rolled around all too soon and we had to wrap it up. Kai was very concerned that the PlayStation 2 that they had was broken. He wanted me to buy them a new one. He said they cost 100 grivna, about $12.50 or so. I said that I would ask Kevin. We made plans for me to come back the next day at 3:00 but on Wednesday, he asked that I would come at 1:00 because the step-dad dude was supposed to come then to visit and meet me.

Vladimir was outside waiting for us and we dropped Jessica off at her apartment. Chatty Vlad wanted to know what Kai's name was. He said Kai was not a Russian name, so I said Artem Nikolyenko. He understood that. Then I said Kai was his American name, and enumerated Kim, Kevin, and sistra (sister) Kelly. He got the whole "K" thing. He liked the name Kelly and asked how old Kai and Kelly were. I was able to say 15 and 19 in Russian. Am I cool or what? We arranged for 3:00 the next day and I was home.

Kevin was plugging away at work and would not be interrupted. I had some cheese and crackers downloaded pictures from my camera. For some reason the video only downloaded as one still picture. It shows a "movie" boarder on the icon, but will only play as a still. Once down-loaded from the memory card, the pictures are erased automatically. So, if I can't figure this out, the video is lost. Any suggestions, anybody? I'm really new to this stuff.

Kevin pried himself off the computer at 10:30 and we watched Bones and went to sleep.

Weekend Surprises

Sunday was by far the most beautiful day we've had in Ukraine. It was sunny with a breeze, not windy, and temperatures approached 60, I'd bet. After our morning at Coffee Life (Coffee As Lifestyle), we chilled back at the apartment and snacked on rotisserie chicken. Kevin decided to chop up the rest of it and make chicken salad. We had green peppers, onions and plenty of mayo, so he made quite a batch. Then, because it was so nice out, we decided to walk to the river and see what was around.

The walk to the river was strewn by broken glass and trash of all kinds. As we approached the beach, piles of beer and vodka bottles were in every clearing. It looked like a popular party place, for sure. I was impressed by how much waterfront property here is not developed. You'd never see that in the US. We walked along the water and saw 2 very large passenger boats. Since we cannot read the signs, we were unable to discern if they were commercial or private. There were no people around, that we could see.

On the other side of where the boats were was a park of some kind featuring sand soccer courts, tennis courts and a kiddie pool. Everything was dirty and strewn with disbris. Obviously the park had been closed all winter and needed some maintenance before re-opening. There was a guy raking and another guy dragging the tennis court.

Across the street, away from the water, we saw signs for our Comfy store and a huge park/playground area. There were people everywhere enjoying the beautiful day. Most of them were carrying beer bottles, no matter if they were teenagers. By this time we had removed our coats because we were so warm. It was interesting to note, however, that the Ukranians continued to wear their hats, scarves, coats, and boots. Kevin was sweating (big surprise there) and we climbed a gigantic flight of stone stairs toward a big rainbow display. The stairs looked like they had a water fountain that might flow between them, but it was not operating at this time.

We passed a group of boys playing cricket and emerged way past the Comfy. By the time we got home it was just before 4:00. Where did the day go? We had arranged to have a cab take us to the orphanage at 4:00 to meet Jessica and go to the youth church at 5:00. Hopefully, Kai would be back by then and could perhaps go with us.

Leonid came to get us and was pleased to meet my husband. He continued to practice his English with us and then put in an early Beatles CD. There were songs on it that we'd never heard before, obviously released in Europe, but not in the US. They were pretty stupid songs, too. Then he fast-forwarded to "Baby, You Can Drive My Car" and began singing with it. I changed it to Leo, you can drive my car and we had a laugh.

At the orphanage, Kai was outside playing soccer with some other boys. He saw us and came to us. He looked pretty rough, sweaty and dirty. Jessica came outside almost immediately and we found out that Kai's step-dad had gotten drunk and never came for him. He had spent the whole weekend alone at the nearly empty orphanage. He said it was no big deal, but I found it somewhat upsetting.

We then talked about what we'd like to do, now that we were all together. Kai said he'd rather we play soccer with him than go to church, because it was such a nice day. It was about 4:30, though and the sun was going down. So, I pushed for church. He said he had run out of shampoo so we decided to go to the store and then walk to church. Kai had to run and find a teacher to ask permission. I'm sure they didn't care, but I really don't want to get in trouble.

We went to the bigger store that we went to the first time. We got shampoo, deoderant and gum. At church, Jessica spoke with a young man about us saying something during service. He said it would be at the end, if there was time. She explained that we had to leave before 6:45 in order to get Kai back to the orphanage by 7:00.

There were only 4 singers for praise and worship, and I only recognised 1 song. Jessica did her best to translate some of the message for us, and we got the basic gist of it. He was talking about idols, that we all worship something, and that we become like what we worship. He used scriptures from all over the Bible and seemed pretty engaging. Kai said he understood what the man was taking about.

When the youth dude spoke about small groups and their importance, I told Kai that he would be in youth group at home, and that Nicky and Elliot would be in it, too. He continued to ask questions about what it will be like when we get home; i.e. where will he attend school, will Dylan or Nicky or Elliot be in school with him, where will we eat, who will be at the airport to welcome us home...many questions. I had to say I don't know a lot.

We had to leave before being asked to speak, which was okay by us. On the way back, I had Jessica explain to Kai that there will be lots of times when we are in America where we will have to make decisions about what is best for him that we will not have the words to explain. I wanted him to know that his wants and opinions are important to me, but that Kevin and I will always have the final say, and that he will have to trust us that we know best, and have his best interest in mind. I think this will be a hard thing for him, based on the fact that people have consistantly let him down, and have not demonstrated having his interest in mind.

We said good-bye at the door and I promised to return in the afternoon, as usual. I kind of like the routine we have established, and he can play teenager and sleep late while I go to the coffee shop and blog. Then we were off to Jessica's apartment where Gallia was preparing a gourmet dinner for us. Kevin opted to walk despite the fact that it was at least a mile away. On the way we stopped at a small market and picked up a couple of beers, a carton of juice, a big bar of dark chocolate, and 2 ice cream treats for Jessica and Gallia. The salesgirls were genuinely amused at our attempts at Russian and Jessica said they laughed at me because I was "dancing". I was most certainly not dancing, but perhaps I was. I don't know. We were having fun.

Jessica's apartment building makes our apartment look like Ford's Colony in comparison. It was dark, dirty, and spooky. The elevator was very dubious. She was on the 7th floor so we used it, however. Gallia greeted us and we were met by a lovely aroma of food. We were all starving.

The apartment was about 1/3 the size of ours with a small kitchen, a small toilet room, a small bathtub room and a combo living room/ Jessica's bedroom. We set up the table in the big room and were served an awesome casserole of chicken, potatoes, and onions in mayonaise and olive oil. In addition, there was a cole slaw of 2 kinds of cabbage, walnuts (from the village), in sesame oil and vinegar. Everything was absolutely delicious. Afterwards, despite being totally stuffed, we ate homemade banana bread and chocolate. Dinner conversation was animated and often boisterous. Gallia was especially amused by Kevin's butchering of the Russian language and my inane memory tricks for learning new words. It was a great time and we hope to be able to reciprocate eventually.

It was nearly 9:30 when Gallia called Leonid for us and we waited for him outside. On the way home, I stated that I wanted to sleep and Leo said. "It's been a hard days night", a Beatles fan to the end. I got ready for bed and was looking forward to watching Bones again. However, my computer was unresponsive to any commands. It wouldn't open any programs or even shut down. Control/Alt/ Delete did nothing as well. I just pressed the off button and then tried to power back up. The computer said it could not detect any hard drive. This was greatly alarming. I opted to run a diagnostic and a re-boot program. I was not hopeful, and since it was taking so long to run this scary-looking process, I began praying and telling the devil to get the heck off my computer. Shortly thereafter, I saw the prompt to restart and hit it. My computer started up perfectly and there was much rejoicing! We watched 1 episode and crawled into bed. What a day!

Saturday

Our walk to the Comfy was notable only by my adventure with the public toilet. Before we even began shopping, I found myself in desparate need of the facilities. We went upstairs to the ice cream shop and I asked for a "toilet", which is the word they use in Russian. The nice girl walked with me around 2 corners to where I could see the WC sign. I thanked her and prayed that they would have toilet paper because I did not have my tissues with me. My relief to see that toilet paper was provided was shortlived when I saw the toilet. It was basically a hole in the floor. I will not go into details about how I negotiated this procedure, but suffice it to say that I was successful and managed to keep my clothes and shoes clean in the process. I also noted that one does not dispose of the toilet paper in this type of hole, but instead into a small trash recepticle to the side. That explains why Kai would throw his toilet paper in the trash can in America. That evening I shared my experience with Jessica and she said that these facilities are known to visitors as "squatty potties". Kevin thinks the Cossacks perfected their dance skills from using these types of tiolets.

Once in the grocery store, we bought a ton of food; meats, cheeses, salads, snacks and beer. I haven't been able to find any decent wine here. The 2 types I bought so far proved to be very sweet and pretty nasty. When you can't read any labels, it makes an already difficult process even harder. The beer, on the other hand is not so bad. I can't find any good stout, but at least they don't have Miller Lite. Recognisable brands include Heinekin, Stella Artios, Touborg, and Carlsberg, none of which are our favorites. So we have been trying some local brews and have not been disappointed.

Since the small bottle of vodka that we bought last week was nearly gone, we decided to get another one for when Victor comes back. In the vodka aisle (2 walls of nothing but vodka), we were approached by a young man. I said my line about not understanding Russian and he asked if we spoke English, in very decent English. I said yes, and he asked if we were buying some vodka. I said what clued you in? (Not really, but I thought it.) Soon he was joined but 2 or 3 others all pulling vodka bottles off the shelf and stating that their brand was the "best of the best". Of course I was muscle testing each brand to see what would be most compatable, so it was easy to say no to their offerings. I think their "best of the best" was perhaps just too "good" for us, since we are not seasoned vodka drinkers. I might try a little in my cherry juice, but the stuff scares me. I am afraid to be fine one minute and on the floor the next. Hard stuff seems to do that to me, so I tend to avoid it.

We got so much food and spent about $52. Because it was 450 grivna, it still seems like a lot of money. It was heavy, carrying all that back to the apartment, but that's why I pay for a gym membership for Kevin. He is great to have around for stuff like that.

We had about and hour or so to kill before meeting Jessica. I have had no problem resting and dozing and praying and basically taking it easy. This is so unlike being home. We met Jessica at the Intourist Hotel at 4:00. We were all hungry and she took us down the street a bit to the Mustang Restaurant. I was so happy we went there. Dave Schweikert told us all about it and I really wanted to see it. The Mustang theme is not Ford automobiles, nor is it horses. Instead, it is themed after WWI fighter planes, which are strung from the ceiling among all kinds of other memorabelia. The waitress is dressed in period garb and the table linen is camo. But the experience is not complete until one visits the restroom. It is like entering the fuselage of a small fighter plane. I think it is worth a trip to Ukraine just to see the bathroom in the Mustang restaurant.

Dinner was excellent, the food here has not disappointed. We left to meet Jessica's roommate Gallia back at the Intourist. From there we continued down the street at least another 1/2 mile to the Canadian church, the Church of New Hope. We saw Sarah there and were greeted warmly by people who were friends we just hadn't met yet. There was tea, coffee, and cookies as people were arriving. Shortly after 6:00 service began. It was announced that this was the first service for which they had live music provided by their small praise band. They had keyboard, bass, and guitar. We sang first one song in English, then one in Russian for about 6 songs. I knew most of the numbers, and sang in English while they did the Russian version of "How Great is Our God".

After a prayer and some announcements, Pastor John Wiens gave the Word. He apparently has been teaching a series about how to "finish the race" successfully. The evening's lesson was on practical ways to handle temptation, sin, and difficulties. He spoke a sentence or 2 and a woman translated into Russian. After he finished, we sang their "theme song" Amazing Grace with a CD. Fellowship resumed after service and we stayed for another 1/2 hour meeting people and chatting. Kevin had discovered that he had left his reading glasses back at the restaurant. When we finally extracted ourselves from church, we headed back there hoping to be able to find them. As we were leaving, Pastor John said he would like to have us over to their home at some point while we are here. I said that would be lovely.

Kevin had barely set foot in the Mustang restaurant when Tatiana, our waitress, approached him with his glasses. We said "big thank you". Jessica and Gallia wanted to walk a mile or so to the McDonald's and get ice cream. We were not game for that so we made plans for the next day before parting. Jessica was teaching some children at the orphanage from 3 to 5 the next day and the youth service was at 5:00. She said that the pastor there would like for us to speak during service. They are interested in our story and our impressions of Ukraine. There would be a translator so I said no problem. We plan to go to the orphanage before 5:00 and meet her. If Kai happens to return before then, perhaps we would go earlier.

Back at the apartment, we rested, watched TV, and went to bed. Why am I so tired? I rest and sleep and still I can sleep more. I think being here is really good for me. During a normal vacation we tend to try to pack in so much activity, there is usually not so much time to just rest. Here there is not much to do so we don't do much. I think this is good, at least for now.

One Week In Zap.

We've been here in Zapprohzyia for a week and Kevin says we're part of the scenery. Yesterday I cleaned the apartment as best I could. It is actually pretty gross, especially the kitchen. Then I went to the nearby supermarket to get a few things, particularly water.

The driver named Leonid came at 3:00 to take me to the orphanage. He became quite chatty and I found his English somewhat understandable. He was keen to tell me about his son who turned 1 on March 9th. In fact, he said he had pictures in the glove box, which I politely removed and looked through. I found it interesting that he was so old (at least as old as me) and had a 1 year old baby. He was incredibly proud. The kid was cute, his wife was younger and very skinny. I told him about my kids, too. It took a while for him to understand that my son had died, but when he got it he was very sad for me. I wish I had brought prints of my kids. All my photos are on my computer.

The kids were all outside when I got there. Jessica was surrounded, as usual. Kai greeted me with hugs, kisses, and I-love-yous, but after that made absolutely no eye contact. That made me a little uncomfortable. Soon, Jessica was able to explain to me that Kai wanted to spend the weekend with his "step-father", the man who took care of his mother and who had continued to show him kindness even after her death. It seems that a friend of the man's had passed away and he wanted Kai to be with him for the funeral or whatever. He also said that he was being picked up by his step-father at 10:00 tomorrow and would like Kevin and I to be there to meet him. I thought that would not happen, because it would cost 60 grivna for the cab round trip just to say hi. Perhaps when he returns on Sunday we could meet. Then we could hang out with Kai for a while, too. We'll see.

So, we needed to go to the store again and the boys really wanted to play cards again. Jessica walked to the store with us and helped Kai make decisions about what to get. Eventually, we left with 2 chocolate bars for his 2 teachers, coffee and water for his step-dad, and bread, cheese, pepperoni, crackers, cookies, and water for his friends. It came to about $17, but I didn't have enough. Jessica gave me money and I promised to pay her back later.

While at the store, we had a chance to talk. I purchased a stick of pepperoni and asked the girl at the deli to slice it for me, figuring the boys probably don't have a knife in their bedroom. Kai had only asked for bread, saying they all get hungry at night. Bread, in my opinion wasn't going cut it. They eat so much carbs, and sugar...they need protein! Anyway, the deli girl took her sweet time and we talked with Jessica translating as best she could. Kai said the girls at the orphanage like me and think I am pretty, that I have pretty eyes. (Thank you, Cover Girl!) He said the boys like me, too, and he seemed proud that I am his mom. That was a big difference from the way Kelly and Robbie were about me. In front of their friends I was nothing more than a total embarassment.

Back in the classroom kids were working on jigsaw puzzles and waiting for us to return. They made us all tea and we started playing cards. The game was very animated and the boys continued to enjoy my shuffling skills and my attempts to speak Russian. Vitaly, as usual, was in the game. A boy named Daniel played as well as me and Jessica. Kai was puttering around and I thought he might serve some of the food he got. However, he did not, and eventually asked Jessica if he could take over her hand and join the game. That worked out well because Jessica could coach him a little and he seemed to understand the game better today.

I had not told the taxi driver to come for me at 6:00 because I thought I might hang out with Jessica after we left the orphanage. The boys were due to have dinner at 7:00. However, at 6:00 a teacher came in and said there was a cab outside waiting for me. Bummer! Oh, well. We packed up our stuff and said our good-byes. We decided not to go to Jessica's apartment because she had been out of electricity all day there. We figured we'd go to my place, eat or go out to eat, and watch a movie. Even if Kevin had to work, at least we'd be there to keep him company.

At the taxi cab we were met with a surprise. Leonid had his baby son with him! He was all bundled up in a snow suit but there was no hint of a carseat. Leo explained that no one was at home to take care of him. He tried to buckle him in the back seat but baby fussed terribly. Jessica took him on her lap and Leo drove while baby screamed. I wanted to suggest that I hold him in my lap in the front seat where he could at least see his daddy better, but was uncomfortable with the whole no car seat thing, let alone baby in the front. Nonetheless, that is what had to be done. Leo pulled over and I took him on my lap.

Please understand that this is not as innocent as it might sound. It was dark. Leo had the interior light on so baby could see him. Leo was crooning to his child and looking at him and not the road. Driving on Ukranian roads is challenging in the best of conditions. There are no lines for the most part, and the roads are mostly pothole after pothole. Driving is essentially zig-zagging around trying to find the fewest potholes, and slamming on the brakes when one sneaks up on you. It had started raining lightly and the windshield was opaque. The light was on, and Leo was not even watching the road. I'm sitting there with the now quiet baby, holding him tightly as we swerve and lurch. Eventually I shut the light off myself and pointed out the rain on the windshield. He turned on the wipers, which only served to smear the grime across the glass. I said to Jessica that maybe he would pay us for babysitting instead of me paying his for cab driving.

The buzzer at the front door of the apartment was not working so we called Kevin. We decided to scrounge for something to eat and settled on some bread, cheese, pickles and wine. Jessica picked out a Jennifer Aniston movie and Kevin took his computer into Victor's empty room to continue working. The movie was really stupid. Afterwards, Jessica asked me to tell her what had happened to Robbie. I launched into the story and wept as I recounted many details.

At about 9:30, it was time for Jessica to go home. Kevin was kind enough to walk with us the 1/2 mile to the bus. It was surprisingly warm that night and the walk was good for us all. The bus came quickly, we said good-bye, and walked back to the apartment. I got ready for bed and we watched Bones again and went to sleep.

Saturday morning dawned sunny and downright balmy (10 degrees C). After our usual morning routine, we headed to the coffee shop. I feel kind of bad that now that Kevin has a day off, he can't visit Kai because Kai took off with his step-dad. However, we'll make the best of it. The basic plan is to spend the afternoon walking around the shops looking for gifts, and also more groceries. Tonight we'd like to go to that Canadian church here near the apartment. Jessica said she'd like to do that, too. We'll probably either go out to eat before or after service. We'll see what works best. Sounds like a vacation to me! And with such nice weather, we can't complain.

Getting Into A Routine

Thursday morning dawned with light snow, growing heavier throughout the morning. By 10:00 Kevin and I had bathed, breakfasted and headed up the hill to the Coffee Life (Coffee As Lifestyle) to get on the internet. We stayed nearly 2 hours and headed home so Kevin could start work. Today was the first day I actually felt like I was on "vacation". I had no agenda and spent the early afternoon puttering around the apartment, relaxing, and doing crossword puzzles.

At 3:00 Victor had arranged a cab for me. It wasn't going to be Vladimir, but Vladimir showed up to show me the cab to get into and to tell the driver where to take me. He really takes good care of me. When I got there, I said I'd like to be picked up at 6:00. Jessica called me while I was en route to say she had to give piano lessons until 4:00 but was free after that.

Kai was outside to greet me and we went in. It had stopped snowing but it was still about 32 degrees. We couldn't use the classroom yet because a kid was still washing the floor. It seems that's all they do in this place is wash floors. But if you knew how dirty everything is outside, you'd see why.

Nonna suggested we walk to the nearby grocery store. I was concerned about breaking the rules and tried to explain this to her. She ran to find Jessica and it was worked out that we could go there, but I could not take him in any transportation (ie, cab). Kai wanted gum for sure. In the store I asked him to show me what he wanted, that I had plenty of money. He chose a loaf of fresh bread, a pouch of mayonaise, 3 bags of some kind of snack food, like popcorn or chips or something, and then asked if he could get some candy to share, too. I suggested M&M's and he asked how many could he get. I said 2. And he got a small pack of gum. It came to about $8.00.

Back at the orphanage, the boys wanted to play cards again, so we got set up and went to it. Kai did not offer any of the food, he just left it in the bag. Vitaly was in the game, Kai was clueless, and the other boy struggled, too. It seems that they could not get the bidding part. If you make less than you bid, you get negative points. After a few hands, Kai was at negative 230 points. I thought it was pretty funny because I was trying to get Vitaly to help me explain but I think Kai couldn't be bothered. He left the game to use the bathroom and another boy joined in. This boy did better until I realized he wasn't following suit. Oh, well. We had fun anyway.

Kai broke out the M&M's and everybody had some. At 5:00 we were kicked out of the room for study hall and I was surprised that Jessica hadn't found me yet. As I gathered my stuff to relocate, Kai asked for any other goodies that I might have in my bag. I had some candy and another can of peanuts. He said he wanted all this to share later tonight with his friends. Then he said he wanted to stay in study hall and not stay with me. I must admit I felt pretty bad about all this. But while I sat alone on the couch I tried to put myself in his shoes.

He acknowledged today that he was going to miss his friends when he leaves. With me here, he's kind of like a celebrity. He wants to have a "party" for his friends and I'm not sure what he means by that, what that entails. Perhaps that is what the food is for. I think he shares it at night after they're supposed to be in bed. That may be why he was tired today.

I couldn't get a hold of Jessica, so I called Victor to see if he could send a taxi now instead of waiting around until 6:00. While I was waiting for Victor to call me back, Jessica showed up. We chatted a bit and I bounced my thoughts off her. Then Victor called to say a cab would be here in 7 minutes. It was Vladimir. Jessica came with us and got dropped off at her apartment. She suggested we do something together tomorrow night seeing as it was Friday. I think I would like that very much.

Back at the apartment, Kevin was plugging away at work. I had a beer and tried to sort out how I was feeling. All I could liken it to was when Kelly was born. I had been so happy and successful at my work (physical therapy) and having this kid just threw me out of my element. I couldn't communicate with her and I wasn't sure she even liked me! Today was a little like that. I want to know what he's thinking, what he wants, what he needs, why he acts the way he does....just like I felt when Kelly was an infant. I guess I'll just have to be patient. I continued to think and pray that God would give me wisdom. Kevin pried himself off the computer at about 10:30. We watched another episode of Bones and went to sleep.

Friday morning was sunny and bright. By 10:00am it was 4 degrees C. We went to the Coffee Life to blog. A young girl soon approached us. She said she overheard us speaking English and she was excited to hear English. Her name was Sarah and she is a missionary from Kansas. She is affiliated with a Canadian group who have started a church just down the street. The church speaks English with Russian subtitles. They meet on Saturday nights. I said that Jessica mentioned a Canadian church and Sarah said she knows Jessica. I think everyone in Zapporizhyia knows Jessica! I said I hoped we could go to her church tomorrow night and I was glad she came over to introduce herself.

I think I will do some cleaning in the apartment this afternoon before I go to the orphanage. I have no goodies to bring. I will give Jessica the rest of the candy. I don't like that these kids are eating junk all night. Kevin suggested I make a trail mix with nuts and raisins and stuff like that. However, we discovered that the cost of nuts is crazy here. A small bag of almonds is like 90 grivna! (nearly $10). So forget that. No wonder the peanuts went over so big. They were expensive but not that bad.

Kevin and I have noted that contrary to some rumors, we have found the Ukranian people to be friendly, helpful and gracious toward us. They don't greet you on the street, but that's because there are so many people walking to where they're going, you'd be greeting non-stop if you did. In America, we usually are walking for pleasure or exercise, not just to get somewhere. When I am out walking at home, I greet other people walking. It doen't seem appropriate here but that doesn't mean they're unfriendly, just busy.

Victor will be busy today working on our papers. I hope things go smoothly for him. I have been praying for him like crazy. He said he slept the whole way on the train and that he feels well. That is good. I want him to be at the top of his game. Thank you for your comments and your continued prayers for us!

The Next Hurdle

Tuesday afternoon Victor and I arrived at the orphanage at 3:00. Kai was waiting for us at the door. We went into his classroom and the kids made tea for everybody. Victor was off chasing papers so I pulled out a deck of cards and began to shuffle. Kai is very impressed at my shuffling skill and the others appeared to be as well. Something inspired me to begin a game of “War” with Kai. He won all my cards in a matter of a very few minutes. We played again and I won. The “rubber match” was never completed due to some distraction and we restarted the game with 2 other boys joining us.

Eventually Victor returned and he wanted to play spades. Sasha joined us and Victor and I began teaching the boys to play. After a while, Vitaly wanted to play so Victor gave him his hand. He picked up the game quickly. After a few hands, Kai’s teacher Nonna wanted in so Sasha gave up his seat. Victor took off again and said that he would have a cab waiting for me outside the gate at 6:00. We played until 5:00 when we got kicked out of the room because it was used to do homework in from 5:00 to 6:00. Kai and I went upstairs to the couch area but all the other kids had to stay. I was told that Kai doesn’t have to go to study hall because he is leaving and I am here.

We sat together and snuggled for a bit until Jessica joined us, having just finished helping a boy write a thank you letter to a family in America who sent him a box at Christmas. We were given permission to use a small teacher’s lounge and we started playing the card game again. I filled Jessica in on what has been happening and before I knew it, it was time for me to leave. Kai walked me to the gate and after much hugs and kisses, I left in the taxi.

On the way, we picked Victor up from where ever he was and we went to Coffee Life where Kevin was trying to do work on their Wi-Fi. He was still having trouble because his work uses VPN and I think the regular connection is too slow or something. We were all hungry so we walked over to Nay Bay and had food. We all had Ukrainian meat soup and a very large supreme pizza. I told the guys all about what an awesome day I’d had and how happy I was. We bundled up and walked home in the cold night air.

Wednesday was St. Patrick’s Day but you’d never know it here except the workers at Coffee Life (Coffee As Lifestyle) were made to wear fuzzy green caps. I’m sure they didn’t get it but it appeared that the makers of Jameson’s Irish whiskey wanted them to be wearin’ the green. We discovered that our pirated internet connection in the apartment was no longer unsecured. Apparently somebody was on to us. Luckily for Kevin, Victor paid the $50 outstanding bill on his insertable modem and let him use it. He was able now to log on at work and get on the VPN. However, I was out of luck.

We were told that we had an appointment to go to at 11:00 so our morning was leisurely. Then Victor told us that we didn’t have an appointment today, so it got even more leisurely. Nonetheless, my shower was cold again this morning. I should have waited longer! I threw in a load of laundry and Kevin and I decided to walk to the Comfy store (the big one like Wal-Mart) and get more food and stuff. Victor piped in and asked if we could wait for him and go in the opposite direction to find a copy store for him to make copies of our petitions for us to sign. No problem. We walked about ¾ of a mile there and signed 5 copies of a document in Russian. Who knows what we were signing. Then Victor was off to the court to talk to the lawyers about our court date and stuff. We were on our own.

Kevin and I headed back past our apartment building and along the river toward the Comfy. There were a number of shops right on the road across from the apartment so we went over to window shop. We discovered that there was an entire outdoor mall there with shop after shop, all open-air. I was in the market for a sweater or sweat shirt so we looked around for a while. We eventually found a booth selling pretty sweaters. The shop lady began chatting to me in Russian and I gave my standard Russian phrase “I don’t understand Russian”. This threw her for a bit but when I seemed willing to work with her, she started pulling sweaters down and I stripped down to my tee-shirt and started trying them on. It had snowed the night before, and although it was sunny, it was still pretty darn cold. After trying on nearly a dozen sweaters, we settled on a pretty gray cashmere cardigan for 220 grivnas, about $27.

It was about 12:00 when we got to the Comfy. We wandered around shopping and I asked the sales girl if they had ping pong balls. I used my little bit of Russian and did quite well, thank you very much. I’m getting braver and it’s pretty fun. We bought a ton of stuff and lugged it all back home, arriving just before 2:00. After putting away the groceries I hung up the laundry I had left in the machine that morning. Then I ate and rested. I figured we had walked over 3 miles already. Victor arranged for the cab driver to be at the apartment at 3:00 to take me to the orphanage. Kevin stayed to work.

Kai was waiting for me at the door when I arrived. Victor herded us into the classroom after we found Nonna. Victor had given her his thumb drive so she could give me a bunch of pictures. I had brought my laptop for this purpose, so I set up on a desk near the only electrical outlet in the room and downloaded the pictures. The kids crowded around as we looked at pictures of them. Then I showed Kai all the pictures I had of him, the beach, Busch Gardens, Kelly, Robbie, my sister and the kids…everything. He seemed pretty interested. He was especially excited about the pictures of my sister’s family’s camping/kayaking trip last summer. I guess he really wants to go kayaking.

It was nearly 5:00 so we had a quick cup of tea and I distributed the St. Patrick’s Day green necklaces I had brought as well as the costume jewelry that I brought to give to the girls. The girls seemed pretty happy with the offering and used their best English to say thank you. I said “You’re welcome” in Russian which appeared to please Kai to no end. I think he really likes that I tried to learn some Russian. We headed upstairs and Kai asked me what I was going to do now. I said I was thinking I’d call Jessica. He asked if it was okay if he went back to study hall seeing as I was leaving before 5:30 anyway. I said that would be fine. He said his friends all really liked me (I think) and that he loves me very much. I had given him a can of salted peanuts which he planned to take up to his room tonight to have as a bed time snack. I hope that’s okay.

Jessica was on the campus and arrived soon after I called her. I filled her in as to what was going on, especially about the part where Victor was leaving for Kyiv that night. I hoped that we could hang out together with the kids for the next few days since her Russian was way better than mine. She said she’d rearrange some things so she could be available. What a doll! I started to leave to get my taxi and offered her a lift if it was in the same direction. She said sure, and we ran into Olga who was leaving as well. So we all piled into the cab for home.

The cab driver apparently already knew Jessica. How, I don’t know. But I think he liked her, too. I finally found out that his name is Vladimir. Victor didn’t say his name like that, so I couldn’t remember it before. But he said “Vladimir…like Putin”, and I’ll not forget now. The girls got out shortly and Vladimir tried to converse with me without the use of English. I think he pointed out the smoke from the factory and commented on the big industry, then something about the snow or lack thereof. I said I understood, which was not entirely a lie. I wanted to ask about his family so I pointed to my wedding rings and to his hand to ask if he was married. He also understood “family”. What I gathered is that he is of Italian heritage, he has at least one kid who is 16 years old, and perhaps that his wife, Natasha, has left him. It will be interesting to see how close I came to getting what he was trying to tell me. As we approached the apartment I wanted to explain that I knew the numbers 1 through 19 in Russian. He knew the word money so he could tell me how much I owe. We worked it out that it was roughly 30 grivna each way so I owed him 60 (less than $8) for the round trip. Kevin had given me 90 (about $11) so I was all set.

Victor buzzed me into the apartment and was all packed up to leave for Kyiv. The deal on the court date is this: The judge was willing to give us a court date earlier than 2 weeks, however we need to have the new Interpol clearance document in hand at court. Victor called his friend at the SDA who said that he’d just received a stack of Interpol documents and that ours was not among them. Victor needs this and at least one other referral for us to be ready for court. So, he left to get these documents and we were on our own. He said he’d be gone for at least a week unless we needed him to come back earlier. We said we’d be fine and off he went.

Please pray that these papers would be in hand quickly, okay? Kevin worked late into the night because of the time difference, which is only 6 hours until the end of March, when Ukraine will switch to daylight savings time, too. I puttered around the apartment and got the blog written. Then we watched another episode of Bones and went to bed.