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.