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.