Hold Breath. Okay, exhale.
Rest day. Olga was at the paperwork early. She was hoping to see the judge today to get our court day set. She needs to return to Kiev for classes she is taking on the weekends.
Rolan and I slept in. Tanya had more doctors to see. I munched on our provision stash of bread, hard boiled eggs, cheese and an orange. A European continental breakfast. At 10:30, Olga returned with Tanya in tow. She said the other hotel called. Our room is ready. She took Tanya and went out for more paperwork. Hi Tanya! Bye Tanya! We packed. Per Olga’s instructions, the clerk called us a taxi. Our driver Igor, made the mistake of using his only English phrase on us. “Where do you live?” he asked Rolan, then he could neither understand nor speak another work of English. The attempt however, was charming.
Settled into our new old digs, we connected with Olga and discovered she was with Tanya at . . . guess where? The pizza place! Yes, we could come. Trolley to town. Tanya had already ordered and downed a bowl of borshch and was ready to have another. I was ready for something other than pizza. I ordered a baked chicken and veggie thing and a Coke Light. Hey, the Coke here is fabulous. They use beet sugar so there is no gritty teeth feeling or yucky aftertaste.
Olga was still trying to reach the judge. Lots of conversation. Time goes quickly. Almost time for school to get out. Our chance to visit the girls.
Tanya is chatting away to Olga. What is she talking about? Olga says she is just talking. Then she says Tanya is “kind of wild.”
“Wild?”
Like, drinkin’-smokin’-piercin’-tatooin’ “wild”?
She sure didn’t strike me that way. No time to ask for clarification. Olga gets a call from the judge. Can’t see Olga today, judge says, but must wait till Monday. This is kind of a bummer because that means Olga will need to take the train back here on Sunday night just for that meeting and then take the train back to Kiev Monday evening as her work here will be finished until our court day. The court date won’t be till the following week. We won’t need her between times. Bummer for Olga but good for us because we are getting a new credit card hand delivered from missionary friends of Becky’s who are flying into Kiev this weekend. We had the bank mail it to them in the states before they left. They can get it to Olga Sunday eve and Olga will bring it with her when she comes on the night train. See what a small world this really is? (Actually, more like Gods Grace!)
Lunch over, Tanya, Rolan and I padded around the mini-mall for a bit to replace a broken shoe lace, get some more yarn and see if we could find a cheap hot pot. It would be good to have hot water at our disposal for tea, soup and other instant meals. Could ask the clerk but it gets old.
Bid Tanya farewell and headed again for the orphanage for our daily visit. I’m actually sorry we don’t get swarmed with kids when we come. Sasha hunts us down and takes us to a special room where we get a fairly private visit. Sometimes 2 or 3 others join or are enticed to join us by the offer of candy. “Come on, it’s okay.” We share our ‘koo pah choops’ (lollipops) or whatever other candy we brought. They sit close craving affection. Yes, it is that heartbreaking.
This orphanage, for some reason, hasn’t seen many foreign adoptions. We sent Sasha and Nastia home this summer with thick photo albums. Nikolai, the director, shared them with all the adult workers there. Everyone knows us! In some orphanages, you can’t take the kids off the orphanage grounds but they haven’t had problems with us doing that here. It’s nice to get the girls away from the orphanage and take them out for pizza or allow them to shower here at the hotel or just go to a market for some cheese and apples.
There is a little convenience store between the orphanage and the trolley we catch to get back to the hotel. We have gotten into the habit of stopping in to get some more cheese, water or whatever. The young clerk behind the counter likes to tease Rolan and is patient (and no doubt slightly amused) with our attempts at communication. She picked out an excellent salami for us. Most are primarily fat globs with a little meat mixed in. Not this one.
Not mastered public transport yet. You can stand at a stop for a few minutes and busses, mini-busses and trolleys stop by. The price seemed to be the only difference to us. Nope. Hopped on a little bus that costs a bit more and zoomed right past our hotel! Had to take a trolley to get back to the hotel. Olga had been studying there all afternoon and clarified the problem. The little busses cost more because you can tell them were to stop. Ah.
Okay, now for the big question.
Ahem.
“Okay Olga,” I said. “”What did you mean when you said ‘Tanya is wild’?”
She chuckled in her Olga way and said that Tanya sometimes tells too much about herself or jokes too much at the wrong time.
“Oh.” The color returned to my face.
Dinner at the hotel restaurant. Nice atmosphere. Very slow service. Salmon was undercooked. We were seated in a ‘no smoking’ area. Karaoke but we could have a conversation without shouting. They were out of fresh veggies. The red wine from Georgia was fabulous. You win some, you lose some.
Us
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Day 13
Back in Slavyansk
Our new motel ‘Cesar’ is located a few miles from the city center. It’s in a lovely area near a park and a small lake. The road goes by a small gold domed orthodox church. Picturesque. There’s a bit of a view that allows us to see houses on a shallow hill some miles away. It’s nice. Cheaper. But too far from the orphanage. We were told our old hotel, ‘Hotel Europe,’ would be available Friday noon.
Morning came too soon. Olga (our faithful facilitator) wanted us up early to start the paper chase. We half-consciously loaded into a tiny little taxi and headed to the town center, “Lenin Square,” where the large municipal building was located. The county social worker was on the third floor. Olga told us we didn’t have to go up but could wait downstairs. A kindly security guard pointed to some chairs to keep us from loitering on the otherwise very busy premises. The building was cold. Rolan closed his eyes. I got out my dictionary in an attempt to entertain myself and use the time wisely.
Forty minutes later the necessary documents were in hand and we were off in search of some breakfast. The beloved pizza place was calling our name. Not only do they serve pizza, but breakfast crepes (called bilinis) filled with fruit of choice, a variety of salads (Ukraine has something going here, America!) baked hot dishes, and the required two varieties of borshch. They have some desserts too. It wasn’t until we had been several times that I realized there was no smoking allowed. (Not that I was smoking or anything). Now, you must realize that almost every American family that goes to Ukraine ends up frequenting a particular restaurant of their choice in the city where they are staying. You eat out often when you live in a hotel. It’s work to decipher the menu so you learn to say particular words and end up sticking with that. We like this restaurant so much that we even got a discount card!
Breakfast finished, Olga bid us farewell and went to find out how Tanya’s required medical exams were doing and to push along the paperwork. We decided to catch a bus to say hello to Sasha and Nastia and tell them we were back. Gentle Readers, you have met some genuinely public transportation-ally challenged people. The city center is in the middle of town (goes without saying) our new motel was east of city center and the orphanage is west and north a bit. You would think well educated, reasonably sensible people as Rolan and myself could get on a bus that would take us in the right direction or sort of. No. We got on the bus and after a few minutes could not recognize any of our surroundings. I finally noticed the lake and then the church and I couldn’t believe how we allowed ourselves to get that turned around. We decided to return to the hotel and do some work and then try again to visit the girls in the afternoon. I napped. Rolan worked.
After lunch we made a second attempt at getting to the orphanage. We walked back to the bus stop, caught the bus back to town and retraced our steps to the center square. With the sun out, it was easier to determine the proper direction and soon discovered the offensive street that tricked us. It curved. Ah. We were off by a block. So near and yet so far.
We played cards with the kids. Anya and Tanya came in and I begged Tanya to join us. Crazy Eights. I was amazed at Sasha’s English. Anya has already started her English lessons with them. We decided to all go for pizza! Trolley into town. Food is cheap here. We can get a medium pizza (multiple toppings), drinks, salads, a bowl or two of borshch and maybe dessert for 5 for about $20-$25. Sasha can really pack it away. They are so pleased to get unlimited food. I’m afraid they will order too much and waste it. They know one of mom’s favorite sayings is, “Nyet musor etta.” Don’t throw away food. So far they have been good about that.
Our new motel ‘Cesar’ is located a few miles from the city center. It’s in a lovely area near a park and a small lake. The road goes by a small gold domed orthodox church. Picturesque. There’s a bit of a view that allows us to see houses on a shallow hill some miles away. It’s nice. Cheaper. But too far from the orphanage. We were told our old hotel, ‘Hotel Europe,’ would be available Friday noon.
Morning came too soon. Olga (our faithful facilitator) wanted us up early to start the paper chase. We half-consciously loaded into a tiny little taxi and headed to the town center, “Lenin Square,” where the large municipal building was located. The county social worker was on the third floor. Olga told us we didn’t have to go up but could wait downstairs. A kindly security guard pointed to some chairs to keep us from loitering on the otherwise very busy premises. The building was cold. Rolan closed his eyes. I got out my dictionary in an attempt to entertain myself and use the time wisely.
Forty minutes later the necessary documents were in hand and we were off in search of some breakfast. The beloved pizza place was calling our name. Not only do they serve pizza, but breakfast crepes (called bilinis) filled with fruit of choice, a variety of salads (Ukraine has something going here, America!) baked hot dishes, and the required two varieties of borshch. They have some desserts too. It wasn’t until we had been several times that I realized there was no smoking allowed. (Not that I was smoking or anything). Now, you must realize that almost every American family that goes to Ukraine ends up frequenting a particular restaurant of their choice in the city where they are staying. You eat out often when you live in a hotel. It’s work to decipher the menu so you learn to say particular words and end up sticking with that. We like this restaurant so much that we even got a discount card!
Breakfast finished, Olga bid us farewell and went to find out how Tanya’s required medical exams were doing and to push along the paperwork. We decided to catch a bus to say hello to Sasha and Nastia and tell them we were back. Gentle Readers, you have met some genuinely public transportation-ally challenged people. The city center is in the middle of town (goes without saying) our new motel was east of city center and the orphanage is west and north a bit. You would think well educated, reasonably sensible people as Rolan and myself could get on a bus that would take us in the right direction or sort of. No. We got on the bus and after a few minutes could not recognize any of our surroundings. I finally noticed the lake and then the church and I couldn’t believe how we allowed ourselves to get that turned around. We decided to return to the hotel and do some work and then try again to visit the girls in the afternoon. I napped. Rolan worked.
After lunch we made a second attempt at getting to the orphanage. We walked back to the bus stop, caught the bus back to town and retraced our steps to the center square. With the sun out, it was easier to determine the proper direction and soon discovered the offensive street that tricked us. It curved. Ah. We were off by a block. So near and yet so far.
We played cards with the kids. Anya and Tanya came in and I begged Tanya to join us. Crazy Eights. I was amazed at Sasha’s English. Anya has already started her English lessons with them. We decided to all go for pizza! Trolley into town. Food is cheap here. We can get a medium pizza (multiple toppings), drinks, salads, a bowl or two of borshch and maybe dessert for 5 for about $20-$25. Sasha can really pack it away. They are so pleased to get unlimited food. I’m afraid they will order too much and waste it. They know one of mom’s favorite sayings is, “Nyet musor etta.” Don’t throw away food. So far they have been good about that.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Day 12
Difficulties of the nomadic lifestyle.
We slept in. A leisurely day at Eunice’s. We needed to do just a little shopping and pack for the hopeful departure to Slavyansk once we got our referral in the late afternoon. I boiled some eggs and went though some of our emergency provisions to make sure nothing old or spoiled was being dragged needlessly around the country. Take stock. Restock.
Eunice (queen of hostesses) helped us do two loads of laundry, while praying it would all be dry in time to pack. She lent me a pair of socks while I washed the only (oops) pair I brought from Slavyansk. Then the four ladies of the house (Ashley, the fifth lady, was with Papa Jim), went shopping for groceries and some unmentionables for my new teenage daughter. Eunice, good friend and native Luba, Tanya and I stuffed ourselves into a small shop and started helping Tanya who was sequestered behind a curtain. It is a very good thing to have someone along who can communicate in the native tongue, especially during these moments when one must purchase supportive undergarments for one who isn’t savvy in these matters. “What size do you wear?” Luba asked. “Normal size,” Tanya said. We quickly found what we needed at a reasonable price and entered the supermarket in the same complex.
Supermarkets are a kick. I’m sure I could spend hours ohhing and ahhhing over every can and jar. Not to mention the baked goods and chocolate! I don’t take the instruction I receive lightly. If you don’t get the right colored water bottle top, for example, you could end up with seltzer water. Or mustard with horseradish. The markets have quite a good selection, really. I was surprised to see BBQ sauce!
Tanya continues to be grateful for our care for her. I think my biggest heartache now is the lack of communication. She has the most delightful giggle. She loves to chat with those who can understand and I know she as is curious about us as we are about her but we continue to be somewhat removed because of the language barrier. It’s hard to have a heart to heart conversation with an interpreter in the middle. I’m praying for further bonding opportunities in spite of the language wall.
Provisions secured, everything packed (even wet clothes), we hailed a taxi for town and the SDA. We had been riding to and from Eunice’s underground so it was good to see what was on the surface. We arrived at the SDA much earlier than we thought so I sat on the couch in the hall while Rolan and Tanya went in search of money changers and souvenirs. They were back soon enough, successful in their perspective hunts. Tanya attracted attention. I’m sure 17 year old adoptees are unusual. Other facilitators (of adoptions) and the security guard on duty were asking her questions. Olga arrived and we went in for our precious referral. The worker met with us, delivered the goods, and then asked to see Tanya. She asked Tanya, “You really want to leave Ukraine?” Then the worker told her other older teens haven’t been so happy to leave and want to come back to Ukraine. Our Tanya is sure of her decision.
Referral in hand, we dashed to the train station. Things got ugly after that. It got messy. It got downright lugubrious (so awful, it is funny). Bear in mind that for the necessary paperwork, Tanya must get the approval of the trade school psychologist, who is there only on Thursdays. If we didn’t get Tanya back by morning, then we would have to wait a week to move forward. We asked to buy tickets. Only room for 2, and only in first class. Okay, Olga and Tanya can go. Rolan and I can bunk in Kiev and come tomorrow night. Checked back with clerk. Now only one bed available on the whole train. First class. It went that quickly. No room on the Thursday night train to Slavyansk. Ro and I would have to wait until Friday. Note to adopters going to Donestk: Tickets are hard to buy at the last minute. Be prepared to take the gamble and buy train tickets early, or fly.
Yes, we did. Another painful expense but after doing all the calculating, we knew this was the best option. When we got to the airport, however, things looked like pea soup. The fog here is really nasty. How could we fly in this? Thank goodness, the blessing of technology and our good Father got us into the air and safely to Donestk. Olga had another problem. Our hotel in Slavyansk was full! Ugh. However, in the spirit of our hotel that tries hard to take care of us, they said they would find us a room in the city somewhere. Our facilitator told us there were only 2 hotels in the city. Is there a third? Yes, the ‘Cesar.’ We could get paid for this kind of stuff. Write a tour book. It’s an hour and a half drive from Donestk to Slavyansk by cab. The three of us in the back seat started sawing wood. (Ro said he was awake but didn’t look like it to me). We arrived at our new hotel at midnight with the usual help needed from locals to steer us in the right direction. This hotel is quite east of the rest of the city and we hadn’t seen this part before. It has a pretty good view of much of Slavyansk. More in the morning.
We slept in. A leisurely day at Eunice’s. We needed to do just a little shopping and pack for the hopeful departure to Slavyansk once we got our referral in the late afternoon. I boiled some eggs and went though some of our emergency provisions to make sure nothing old or spoiled was being dragged needlessly around the country. Take stock. Restock.
Eunice (queen of hostesses) helped us do two loads of laundry, while praying it would all be dry in time to pack. She lent me a pair of socks while I washed the only (oops) pair I brought from Slavyansk. Then the four ladies of the house (Ashley, the fifth lady, was with Papa Jim), went shopping for groceries and some unmentionables for my new teenage daughter. Eunice, good friend and native Luba, Tanya and I stuffed ourselves into a small shop and started helping Tanya who was sequestered behind a curtain. It is a very good thing to have someone along who can communicate in the native tongue, especially during these moments when one must purchase supportive undergarments for one who isn’t savvy in these matters. “What size do you wear?” Luba asked. “Normal size,” Tanya said. We quickly found what we needed at a reasonable price and entered the supermarket in the same complex.
Supermarkets are a kick. I’m sure I could spend hours ohhing and ahhhing over every can and jar. Not to mention the baked goods and chocolate! I don’t take the instruction I receive lightly. If you don’t get the right colored water bottle top, for example, you could end up with seltzer water. Or mustard with horseradish. The markets have quite a good selection, really. I was surprised to see BBQ sauce!
Tanya continues to be grateful for our care for her. I think my biggest heartache now is the lack of communication. She has the most delightful giggle. She loves to chat with those who can understand and I know she as is curious about us as we are about her but we continue to be somewhat removed because of the language barrier. It’s hard to have a heart to heart conversation with an interpreter in the middle. I’m praying for further bonding opportunities in spite of the language wall.
Provisions secured, everything packed (even wet clothes), we hailed a taxi for town and the SDA. We had been riding to and from Eunice’s underground so it was good to see what was on the surface. We arrived at the SDA much earlier than we thought so I sat on the couch in the hall while Rolan and Tanya went in search of money changers and souvenirs. They were back soon enough, successful in their perspective hunts. Tanya attracted attention. I’m sure 17 year old adoptees are unusual. Other facilitators (of adoptions) and the security guard on duty were asking her questions. Olga arrived and we went in for our precious referral. The worker met with us, delivered the goods, and then asked to see Tanya. She asked Tanya, “You really want to leave Ukraine?” Then the worker told her other older teens haven’t been so happy to leave and want to come back to Ukraine. Our Tanya is sure of her decision.
Referral in hand, we dashed to the train station. Things got ugly after that. It got messy. It got downright lugubrious (so awful, it is funny). Bear in mind that for the necessary paperwork, Tanya must get the approval of the trade school psychologist, who is there only on Thursdays. If we didn’t get Tanya back by morning, then we would have to wait a week to move forward. We asked to buy tickets. Only room for 2, and only in first class. Okay, Olga and Tanya can go. Rolan and I can bunk in Kiev and come tomorrow night. Checked back with clerk. Now only one bed available on the whole train. First class. It went that quickly. No room on the Thursday night train to Slavyansk. Ro and I would have to wait until Friday. Note to adopters going to Donestk: Tickets are hard to buy at the last minute. Be prepared to take the gamble and buy train tickets early, or fly.
Yes, we did. Another painful expense but after doing all the calculating, we knew this was the best option. When we got to the airport, however, things looked like pea soup. The fog here is really nasty. How could we fly in this? Thank goodness, the blessing of technology and our good Father got us into the air and safely to Donestk. Olga had another problem. Our hotel in Slavyansk was full! Ugh. However, in the spirit of our hotel that tries hard to take care of us, they said they would find us a room in the city somewhere. Our facilitator told us there were only 2 hotels in the city. Is there a third? Yes, the ‘Cesar.’ We could get paid for this kind of stuff. Write a tour book. It’s an hour and a half drive from Donestk to Slavyansk by cab. The three of us in the back seat started sawing wood. (Ro said he was awake but didn’t look like it to me). We arrived at our new hotel at midnight with the usual help needed from locals to steer us in the right direction. This hotel is quite east of the rest of the city and we hadn’t seen this part before. It has a pretty good view of much of Slavyansk. More in the morning.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Day 11
The night at Eunice's was great. Very comfortable bed. No heat during the night, so the climate was awesome. I woke up at 3am, and could not go back to sleep, because I was thinking about what I could have done to stop the pickpocket. Nothing.
We took a very eager Tanya shopping. Luba, who spent the night at Eunice's,a native English speaking Ukrianian, went with us. We bought a pair of boots, a pair of jeans, a sweater, and a purse that zips up. Tanya is floating on air. She gave us each a kiss of thanks.
We went back to Eunice's. After lunch, Jim wanted to take Josh and Ashley ice skating. Ashley did not want to go, but Tanya did. So Eileen and I walked with them to the rink. At this point, we had to rush to get to the SDA. We walked 30 minutes to get to the metro station, 20 minutes to get to our stop, and 20 minutes to get through the mall and up to the SDA. 3:03. 8 minutes later than we wanted. We waited for 20 minutes, got in to see our case worker. We were officially read the report on Tanya, and asked if we wanted her. Da. I showed the case worker a picture of Tanya, and she smiled and smiled. Olga and Sasha dropped us off at a metro station we had not yet attempted. The escalators down were in their own building. Very classy. Uneventful trip backto Eunice's. Turns out, Tanya is a quick learner on ice. Jim couldn't believe she had never been on ice before. Sounds like she played soccer with a traveling team. I'd love to see her play in the states. It would be good for her.
We found out this evening that Jim's passports had arrived on the train from Kherson. He gets to go home. Finally. In a few weeks, we will see them at home in good old Colorado.
We took a very eager Tanya shopping. Luba, who spent the night at Eunice's,a native English speaking Ukrianian, went with us. We bought a pair of boots, a pair of jeans, a sweater, and a purse that zips up. Tanya is floating on air. She gave us each a kiss of thanks.
We went back to Eunice's. After lunch, Jim wanted to take Josh and Ashley ice skating. Ashley did not want to go, but Tanya did. So Eileen and I walked with them to the rink. At this point, we had to rush to get to the SDA. We walked 30 minutes to get to the metro station, 20 minutes to get to our stop, and 20 minutes to get through the mall and up to the SDA. 3:03. 8 minutes later than we wanted. We waited for 20 minutes, got in to see our case worker. We were officially read the report on Tanya, and asked if we wanted her. Da. I showed the case worker a picture of Tanya, and she smiled and smiled. Olga and Sasha dropped us off at a metro station we had not yet attempted. The escalators down were in their own building. Very classy. Uneventful trip backto Eunice's. Turns out, Tanya is a quick learner on ice. Jim couldn't believe she had never been on ice before. Sounds like she played soccer with a traveling team. I'd love to see her play in the states. It would be good for her.
We found out this evening that Jim's passports had arrived on the train from Kherson. He gets to go home. Finally. In a few weeks, we will see them at home in good old Colorado.
Day 10
The train ride last night was cool. First, Anya joined us at the Chinook. Tanya and boyfriend Igor came, and we had ice cream to celebrate Tanya's name day. We caught a taxi from Chinook to the train station. Igor came and helped carry luggage. We got to the station quite early (because Tanya was so excited she was afraid to miss the train), and waited for the train in the fog. It looked just like a 1940's movie. Tanya helped find the "vagon", helped find our compartment, handed over the tickets, set up the beds, fluffed the pillows. Investigated the latches and hooks and figured out the ladder that goes up to the top bunk. Eileen crashed quickly, and I tried to find music that Tanya would recognize: Enigma, No Doubt, etc. About midnight she crashed. Me too. The beds were narrow, and had wool blankets. Quite comfortable for what they were. About 8, I woke up. I stretched and looked out the window. Grey, grey, fog, snow, dead black trees. Not much to see. There was not question that it was warm, beyond comfort just as we had been warned. Tanya said she felt a little sick. I gave her some 'dramamine' to settle her. I knew it would make her eagerly awaited day in Kiev fuzzy but not fun to be nauseous. She was quiet.
Tanya had put away all the bedding. Don't the train stewards do that? I got some tea for me and Eileen. After that, I think Tanya thinks I always drink tea. I just wanted some water. The train arrived in Kiev at 10:40, with the last 40 minutes in Kiev. We jumped off the train and went through the building. Which of course was wrong. Olga was looking for us, because we needed to go the other way to the modern part of the train station. Some fun modern art: glass sculpture shaped like bamboo, with bubbles floating to the top, and green plants growing at the top.
Our first stop was the notary. This was amazing. It was just like the cartoon, where Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd are opening and shutting doors in a hall while chasing each other. Here, it was stylish women wearing high heeled boots, out one door with a piece of paper, in through another door, out without the paper, in a third door. Repeat. Repeat with several paper carriers at once. Tanya stayed in the car. After the paper was drawn up by the notary, Olga took the paper to the typist. After a long wait, she came back down to the notary's office. Another wait, and Eileen and I can go in, and sign documents. Sign papers, sign the notary book.
The next stop was another cafe. I managed to get a good deal on an exchange rate before we went in. Lots of food. We tried a lot of things, some were ok, some were not. Tired of writing about food.
We went to the SDA. I don't remember going to any meeting, just more waiting. We walked out of the office, then Olga went back in. I played with the ice, doing some engineering work, making melting ice flow better. Then Sasha drove us to Independence square, and Sasha and Olga took off.
We walked through the underground mall, down to the metro, and got lost. I thought for sure we were supposed to be on the green line, only the names on the line looked wrong. When I bought subway tokens, I tried to get a subway map, but instead got a Kiev map. I called Olga and asked for help to get to the green line. We were to go one stop and get off. As we got on, a crowd of dudes in black crowded around me, and pushed in really tight. It felt like someone was messing with my computer bag, so I moved it around to my front. As we got close to our exit, the guy in front of me held up a newspaper in my face, like he was reading it. Then the train stopped, the door had troubles opening, someone pounded on the door, and I was shoved out. I found out later that I lost 2 flash drives and my wallet during that little trip. Ouch ouch ouch.
More help from Olga. It seemed like we were at the right place, but no, the names looked wrong. So I called Eunice, and found out that the she lives on the red line, not the green line. OK, up and down a couple of escalators, and now the maps look OK. Up to this point, Tanya has been distressed. (Me too a little.) This is the big city, She's just a little ol' city girl from Slovyansk. She had just rode her first train (and got a little motion sick). She had just rode her first escalator. She had just rode her first subway. And now she thought we were lost under the city. Now that we were finally moving, I think she settled down, although maybe more motion sickness. We came up at the correct stop, and called Eunice for directions. She had sore feet from walking so long in her heeled boots. Walk a few blocks, and call me back. We walked and called back. Walk a few more blocks, and the house should be recognizable. We walked, and sure enough, there was the house. We came in and had dinner, called and canceled our visa and crashed. We love Eunice. She gave us her bed, fed us shredded beef and a hot shower.
OK. Until now, this has all felt like the writings of a reporter. Very cut and dried, no emotions. I have been trying to say the Lord's prayer every night or morning, and really thinking about the lines. After all, this is the prayer Jesus gave his disciples when they asked him how they should pray. I start the prayer, and I get to the part, "Forgive me my trespasses, just as I forgive those who trespass against me." And it strikes me that I need to forgive those guys who took my wallet in exactly the same way that I want God to forgive me when I do what I know is not pleasing to God. I've been concerned this whole trip about our expenses, since many fees are yet to be determined. Working on forgiveness gives me a different way to think about this event.
Tanya had put away all the bedding. Don't the train stewards do that? I got some tea for me and Eileen. After that, I think Tanya thinks I always drink tea. I just wanted some water. The train arrived in Kiev at 10:40, with the last 40 minutes in Kiev. We jumped off the train and went through the building. Which of course was wrong. Olga was looking for us, because we needed to go the other way to the modern part of the train station. Some fun modern art: glass sculpture shaped like bamboo, with bubbles floating to the top, and green plants growing at the top.
Our first stop was the notary. This was amazing. It was just like the cartoon, where Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd are opening and shutting doors in a hall while chasing each other. Here, it was stylish women wearing high heeled boots, out one door with a piece of paper, in through another door, out without the paper, in a third door. Repeat. Repeat with several paper carriers at once. Tanya stayed in the car. After the paper was drawn up by the notary, Olga took the paper to the typist. After a long wait, she came back down to the notary's office. Another wait, and Eileen and I can go in, and sign documents. Sign papers, sign the notary book.
The next stop was another cafe. I managed to get a good deal on an exchange rate before we went in. Lots of food. We tried a lot of things, some were ok, some were not. Tired of writing about food.
We went to the SDA. I don't remember going to any meeting, just more waiting. We walked out of the office, then Olga went back in. I played with the ice, doing some engineering work, making melting ice flow better. Then Sasha drove us to Independence square, and Sasha and Olga took off.
We walked through the underground mall, down to the metro, and got lost. I thought for sure we were supposed to be on the green line, only the names on the line looked wrong. When I bought subway tokens, I tried to get a subway map, but instead got a Kiev map. I called Olga and asked for help to get to the green line. We were to go one stop and get off. As we got on, a crowd of dudes in black crowded around me, and pushed in really tight. It felt like someone was messing with my computer bag, so I moved it around to my front. As we got close to our exit, the guy in front of me held up a newspaper in my face, like he was reading it. Then the train stopped, the door had troubles opening, someone pounded on the door, and I was shoved out. I found out later that I lost 2 flash drives and my wallet during that little trip. Ouch ouch ouch.
More help from Olga. It seemed like we were at the right place, but no, the names looked wrong. So I called Eunice, and found out that the she lives on the red line, not the green line. OK, up and down a couple of escalators, and now the maps look OK. Up to this point, Tanya has been distressed. (Me too a little.) This is the big city, She's just a little ol' city girl from Slovyansk. She had just rode her first train (and got a little motion sick). She had just rode her first escalator. She had just rode her first subway. And now she thought we were lost under the city. Now that we were finally moving, I think she settled down, although maybe more motion sickness. We came up at the correct stop, and called Eunice for directions. She had sore feet from walking so long in her heeled boots. Walk a few blocks, and call me back. We walked and called back. Walk a few more blocks, and the house should be recognizable. We walked, and sure enough, there was the house. We came in and had dinner, called and canceled our visa and crashed. We love Eunice. She gave us her bed, fed us shredded beef and a hot shower.
OK. Until now, this has all felt like the writings of a reporter. Very cut and dried, no emotions. I have been trying to say the Lord's prayer every night or morning, and really thinking about the lines. After all, this is the prayer Jesus gave his disciples when they asked him how they should pray. I start the prayer, and I get to the part, "Forgive me my trespasses, just as I forgive those who trespass against me." And it strikes me that I need to forgive those guys who took my wallet in exactly the same way that I want God to forgive me when I do what I know is not pleasing to God. I've been concerned this whole trip about our expenses, since many fees are yet to be determined. Working on forgiveness gives me a different way to think about this event.
Day 9
Sleep is getting easier. I slept without ear plugs. We were able to open the bedroom window, so the temperature is bearable.
The morning schedule got compressed. We were supposed to have breakfast at 9, meet Tanya at 10 at the internot, go to church, come back, check out of the hotel, and go back to the internot. Instead, we had to be at the internot at 9:30, and we had to check out before that, since church was supposed to be an all day event. So again, we quickly packed some things for our 2 or 3 or 4 day trip to Kiev. As we finished packing, the laundry came back. Hooray for clean clothes. We got everything we needed into one duffel and two backpacks. We wolfed down our breakfast (bilini, rolled crepes). We stored the luggage at the front desk of the hotel. The poor clerk was expecting a couple of bags, she got 4 large pieces. They got stored in the bathroom of the office. We caught the trolley to the internot. Nastiya was not yet dressed, but that did not take long.
The taxi we took was a larger variety, like a mini van with seating for 8. We needed a vehicle this large, because our local translator Anya and her sister were coming with us. Anya is the daughter of the director of the trade school. We headed out of town, going up hill. There are mountains near by. Not huge, but big. Many pines. Some of the roads had signs saying 10% grade. And the roads were covered with snow and ice. 45 minutes later, we arrived at a monastary complex. The monastary is one that the girls have been to before. We had seen pictures of it on Google Earth, and it is east of Slovyansk. We snapped a lot of pictures, and walked around in a lot of cold wind.
Back in the taxi to the top of the mountain, to see a war memorial. It was a statue of a big hero of Ukraine, done in cubist style. Back in the taxi to Slovyansk. We tried to eat lunch at a cafe where Tanya does practice cooking for her trade school, but it was closed, so we ended up at the pizza place. Trolley back to the internot.
It is hard to be at the internot. Many kids are coughing. Drug resistant TB is spreading through this country. Also, on Sunday at least, most of the kids are completely bored. Some are in rooms with music turned up very loud, the kids are just lying on the floor. Other rooms with TVs also have the volume up all the way. Bigger kids, 16 years old, slam open the doors to the common rooms, look around to see what's going on and who is in the room, the leave by slamming the doors. We sat with Sasha and Nastiya and watched some movies. Sasha is not a TV watcher. She fell asleep sitting next to me. Vika and her new parents came in. Vika now had a camera, so she took several pictures, which was fun for the TV watchers since the room was quite dark. At 5, it was time for dinner. I had some candy out, which I slipped to a couple of girls before they left. Earlier, I had given candy to a couple of boys, one named Fedya. He seems very bright, kind of quiet, very much in need of attention. I wish I could do a lot for these kids, but they need so much.
(Eileen)
The monestary was very beatiful. The main chapel is the pride and joy of the region. There wasn't a church service. People walked in, took a very skinny taper, lit it, and placed it in a skinny brass candlestand. There were people waiting in line to enter some sort of wooden shrine. This building had the biggest brass chandelier I've ever seen, maybe 10 feet tall. Behind each bulb of the chadelier was a small brass angel. Photos were not allowed inside, so I bought a small picture book. We made our way down to a river that was at the foot of the complex. Some deeply devoted person had carved two 4 foot high ice crosses out of the river ice to commemorate Jesus' baptism day. I think Sasha was a little frightened to stand on the iced over river next to the crosses.
At the monestary, all the women wear head coverings, even Nastiya. I had bought a scarf yesterday for this purpose. Women must also wear dresses or skirts. If you don't do that, you must wear a scarf around your waist over your pants to act as a kind of pretend dress. This was common. My scarf is heavily fringed. It was cold. Nastiya's fingers were cold. She was wearing a different coat from yesterday and far too large. Tanya had requested a hand warmer hottie earlier in the day, so I had the girls pass it around. Want to make friends in Ukraine in the winter? Break open a hottie. You will instantly become everyone's friend. Nancy, was it you who ditched the oatmeal for the hotties? Smart.
For dinner, I think we crashed a wedding party at the Chinook. Usually, the place is almost empty, tonight they seated us at what looked like the last table for two, then pull out another table and set it up for two. There was live music. The movie "Speed Racer" was described by Roger Ebert as having "eye lacerating visuals." The music at the Chinook was unbearably loud. Fortunately I have my trusty ear plugs. I can still feel the bass rattling my chest. This must be a common way to spend evenings. We've been hearing loud music from our hotel restaurant in the evenings. We noticed music stands and sound equipment. Also at the restaurant at the Hotel Ukraine.
The charming part about the music at Chinook is that people dance. It's so good to see people celebrating life. It's more comical to see it here, because the setting is so rustic. There is even a spinning disco ball over the singers. No band. Karaoke style with trained singers.
Tany called 4 times very quickly. We couldn't hear the phone ring. I stepped outside to talk. Were we communicating? Tanya, 8, Chinook, internot, Igor, Da? I think I'm missing home. The routine there is a bit boring, but it IS a routine. Here, everything is different every day. It's tiring, always trying to figure out what's going on, or if we are getting into trouble.
(Eileen)
I think Ro is needing a shot of faith. Felix? Are you praying? It's been pretty chaotic. I konw things will settle in once the 10 day wait kicks in and we aren't clearing new paths every day. It's intense and stressful when you are pushing your comfort zone every day.
(Rolan)
A couple of annoyances. I made a call to Adoption Alliance that used 60 of my 100 Gry on the phone. I need to buy more time. And my razor died. I tried to use it before we went to the monastary, but no response. Almost certainly the thing was turned on while packed and the batteries discharged. I did not bring the charger, because it is brittle plastic and could break easily while packed. I guess now is a good time to try to grow a beard.
The morning schedule got compressed. We were supposed to have breakfast at 9, meet Tanya at 10 at the internot, go to church, come back, check out of the hotel, and go back to the internot. Instead, we had to be at the internot at 9:30, and we had to check out before that, since church was supposed to be an all day event. So again, we quickly packed some things for our 2 or 3 or 4 day trip to Kiev. As we finished packing, the laundry came back. Hooray for clean clothes. We got everything we needed into one duffel and two backpacks. We wolfed down our breakfast (bilini, rolled crepes). We stored the luggage at the front desk of the hotel. The poor clerk was expecting a couple of bags, she got 4 large pieces. They got stored in the bathroom of the office. We caught the trolley to the internot. Nastiya was not yet dressed, but that did not take long.
The taxi we took was a larger variety, like a mini van with seating for 8. We needed a vehicle this large, because our local translator Anya and her sister were coming with us. Anya is the daughter of the director of the trade school. We headed out of town, going up hill. There are mountains near by. Not huge, but big. Many pines. Some of the roads had signs saying 10% grade. And the roads were covered with snow and ice. 45 minutes later, we arrived at a monastary complex. The monastary is one that the girls have been to before. We had seen pictures of it on Google Earth, and it is east of Slovyansk. We snapped a lot of pictures, and walked around in a lot of cold wind.
Back in the taxi to the top of the mountain, to see a war memorial. It was a statue of a big hero of Ukraine, done in cubist style. Back in the taxi to Slovyansk. We tried to eat lunch at a cafe where Tanya does practice cooking for her trade school, but it was closed, so we ended up at the pizza place. Trolley back to the internot.
It is hard to be at the internot. Many kids are coughing. Drug resistant TB is spreading through this country. Also, on Sunday at least, most of the kids are completely bored. Some are in rooms with music turned up very loud, the kids are just lying on the floor. Other rooms with TVs also have the volume up all the way. Bigger kids, 16 years old, slam open the doors to the common rooms, look around to see what's going on and who is in the room, the leave by slamming the doors. We sat with Sasha and Nastiya and watched some movies. Sasha is not a TV watcher. She fell asleep sitting next to me. Vika and her new parents came in. Vika now had a camera, so she took several pictures, which was fun for the TV watchers since the room was quite dark. At 5, it was time for dinner. I had some candy out, which I slipped to a couple of girls before they left. Earlier, I had given candy to a couple of boys, one named Fedya. He seems very bright, kind of quiet, very much in need of attention. I wish I could do a lot for these kids, but they need so much.
(Eileen)
The monestary was very beatiful. The main chapel is the pride and joy of the region. There wasn't a church service. People walked in, took a very skinny taper, lit it, and placed it in a skinny brass candlestand. There were people waiting in line to enter some sort of wooden shrine. This building had the biggest brass chandelier I've ever seen, maybe 10 feet tall. Behind each bulb of the chadelier was a small brass angel. Photos were not allowed inside, so I bought a small picture book. We made our way down to a river that was at the foot of the complex. Some deeply devoted person had carved two 4 foot high ice crosses out of the river ice to commemorate Jesus' baptism day. I think Sasha was a little frightened to stand on the iced over river next to the crosses.
At the monestary, all the women wear head coverings, even Nastiya. I had bought a scarf yesterday for this purpose. Women must also wear dresses or skirts. If you don't do that, you must wear a scarf around your waist over your pants to act as a kind of pretend dress. This was common. My scarf is heavily fringed. It was cold. Nastiya's fingers were cold. She was wearing a different coat from yesterday and far too large. Tanya had requested a hand warmer hottie earlier in the day, so I had the girls pass it around. Want to make friends in Ukraine in the winter? Break open a hottie. You will instantly become everyone's friend. Nancy, was it you who ditched the oatmeal for the hotties? Smart.
For dinner, I think we crashed a wedding party at the Chinook. Usually, the place is almost empty, tonight they seated us at what looked like the last table for two, then pull out another table and set it up for two. There was live music. The movie "Speed Racer" was described by Roger Ebert as having "eye lacerating visuals." The music at the Chinook was unbearably loud. Fortunately I have my trusty ear plugs. I can still feel the bass rattling my chest. This must be a common way to spend evenings. We've been hearing loud music from our hotel restaurant in the evenings. We noticed music stands and sound equipment. Also at the restaurant at the Hotel Ukraine.
The charming part about the music at Chinook is that people dance. It's so good to see people celebrating life. It's more comical to see it here, because the setting is so rustic. There is even a spinning disco ball over the singers. No band. Karaoke style with trained singers.
Tany called 4 times very quickly. We couldn't hear the phone ring. I stepped outside to talk. Were we communicating? Tanya, 8, Chinook, internot, Igor, Da? I think I'm missing home. The routine there is a bit boring, but it IS a routine. Here, everything is different every day. It's tiring, always trying to figure out what's going on, or if we are getting into trouble.
(Eileen)
I think Ro is needing a shot of faith. Felix? Are you praying? It's been pretty chaotic. I konw things will settle in once the 10 day wait kicks in and we aren't clearing new paths every day. It's intense and stressful when you are pushing your comfort zone every day.
(Rolan)
A couple of annoyances. I made a call to Adoption Alliance that used 60 of my 100 Gry on the phone. I need to buy more time. And my razor died. I tried to use it before we went to the monastary, but no response. Almost certainly the thing was turned on while packed and the batteries discharged. I did not bring the charger, because it is brittle plastic and could break easily while packed. I guess now is a good time to try to grow a beard.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Day 8
(Eileen)
I like our room at ‘The European’ Hotel much better than the ‘Hotel Ukraine’. It seems more in tune with the flavor of the culture rather than just another hotel chain. We are on the floor level with the street (no stairs, Felix). It’s in the back of the hotel in a wing so we have 5 large windows facing east, west and south. It’s always warm in the buildings here in Slavyansk so it’s great to be able to open a window to keep from overheating our poor hides. Something we weren’t able to do in ‘Hotel Ukraine.’
The only drawback, I discovered, is that just in the back of our hotel, across the back drive, is a steam spa. This afternoon, I saw a fellow walking around in just a towel, sort of waving his arms around to cool himself. Eh hem.
We were eating our breakfast-included breakfast in the restaurant part of our hotel. The building is kind of fashioned like a chalet. Very attractive from the street. Wooden on the inside and well lit from skylights. They asked us the day before what time we would like to eat. This morning Svetlana, the hotel hostess, knocked on our door to let us know it was ready. Eggs with a little ham, tomatoes on the side and sliced cucumbers. There was sliced bread, but no butter or jam, and white tea. Lipton, believe it or not, is popular here and good.
We were finishing up and here comes our Tanya! She’s a chatty thing. I love to hear her voice but today, I’m afraid, she realized how few of her words were understood and is speaking less. She was wearing heeled boots (not as foolish as it sounds, the pointy heels help keep you from slipping on the ever-present ice) but we decided anyway to walk the half mile to the orphanage. It’s a nice walk along a tree lined avenue. When we rounded the corner of the gate to the orphanage, there was Sasha who broke into a run with arms outstretched to embrace us. I love it.
We settled on a taxi for transport (now 5 of us mind you, in a Fiat) and took off for the open market. I was looking for a scarf to wear to church tomorrow. Sasha’s boots were too tight and Nastia’s too big. The market was amazing. There were several long rows of booths with not much space for walking between. Shoes, socks of all kinds, men’s slacks, angora sweaters, fur coats, jewelry, jeans, children’s wear, the ever endless selection of hats and a scarf or two. Some of it looked quite expensive. The roofs were of corrugated tin. The temperature had risen. It was difficult to avoid the pools and waterfalls of melting snow.
We found Nastia’s boots first. She fell in love with a red pair. No fur. Good. I’m trying to discourage it on account of the rock throwers in the U.S. I found a beautiful scarf for $7 (thanks Mom! Your Birthday gift is going far). Finally, we exhausted the open market and went into a more enclosed building. Meats. Exposed to the air and everybody. Big slabs of bacon, ham and sausages, smoked chicken quarters. Very crowded. We were quickly on our way through to another building. Just as we were leaving, I saw a little dog standing on his hind legs staring intently at a coil of sausages just out of his reach. The usual Ukrainian dower countenance was replaced with laughter by the crowds around him.
Boots. Sasha. Not having much luck and she was getting discouraged. Finally found a pair to fit. Bright red. A little dyed rabbit fur along the top. DON’T TELL. I live in Boulder, remember? Hopefully people will assume it’s synthetic and we will avoid any nasty confrontations.
With treasures in hand, we grabbed another taxi for “Lenin Square,” our name for it as it has a rather large, imposing statue of said infamous communist. Right next to it, rather ironically, is a gold domed church in the process of full restoration. On the other side of Lenin is a Christmas tree. There is also a small skating rink and a fellow selling pony rides. We walked through the square to the pizza place. Two medium, three topping pizzas and 5 cokes for $10! For dessert, we bought what we thought were ice cream sundaes but were more like strawberry mousse(s). Not too sweet. I’m finding I really like Ukrainian food. It’s not what I was expecting at all. A lot of terrific salads I would love to learn to make. Tanya has been promised a cookbook so I hope she can make Ukrainian food for me. Oh Yeah. But I digress.
We talked names. I thought Tanya would keep her name but she surprised us twice with “Evalina” for a first name (wow, great choice) and “Ann” for a middle name (wow, that’s my middle name)! Sasha has decided on “Sophia Ann.” Is Sophie ok for a nick name? Dah. Tanya thought “Emily” would be a good name for Nastia but I want to see if Nastia can make a decision on her own. Everyone robs her of making her own choices (except in boots). I will, with Tanya’s input, narrow the choices down to three for Nastia.
Sasha has retained an amazing amount of English. She bridged more than a few communication gaps with Tanya. We bought a few Russian music CDs for memory sake and I found some yarn to make Tanya a scarf. Then Tanya said farewell for the day. She lives in town. The remaining 4 of us hopped a taxi for our hotel.
Our sweet little girls are so impressed with everything we take for granted. Our hotel room for example, was amazing to them. Nastia found an air freshener dispenser in the wall in the bathroom. “What’s this?” Fffffshshsh. Sniff. AH!
We decided now is a good time to take the hats to the orphanage. Forty-five hats. Sasha and Nastia made their choice. We packed up the rest and snacks and off we went back to the orphanage on foot.
It was almost cruel really, to go on foot. Nastia loves her shoes so much she doesn’t want them wet or dirty. She found a shoe brush in our room and worked for at least 15 minutes. “What’s this?!” She asked over every tiny defect she found. I finally told her not to worry, the shoes are way down there and our eyes are way up here. The half mile to the orphanage was slush and mud and pools of water. She wanted to stop a couple of times to wipe away the minute accumulation of snow crystals. “Nastia!” I laughed, “they’re boots!”
I’m positive she’ll sleep with them.
We returned the kids to the internot, and went back to the hotel by foot.
Once again, internet connection is problematic. The software could not see the modem. Reboot. Reboot. Unplug, plug. Argh. After 6 tries, it works. Why? Why not? I tried uploading pictures, to see how slow it is. Quite slow. I guess from now on I wait for a better connection.
We tried the laundry service in the morning. I hope it’s a laundry service, and they did not assume we were giving away clothes. At 10 this evening, no clothes yet. I may be riding the train in some interesting garb. We are packing up everything, time to checkout and travel, again.
I like our room at ‘The European’ Hotel much better than the ‘Hotel Ukraine’. It seems more in tune with the flavor of the culture rather than just another hotel chain. We are on the floor level with the street (no stairs, Felix). It’s in the back of the hotel in a wing so we have 5 large windows facing east, west and south. It’s always warm in the buildings here in Slavyansk so it’s great to be able to open a window to keep from overheating our poor hides. Something we weren’t able to do in ‘Hotel Ukraine.’
The only drawback, I discovered, is that just in the back of our hotel, across the back drive, is a steam spa. This afternoon, I saw a fellow walking around in just a towel, sort of waving his arms around to cool himself. Eh hem.
We were eating our breakfast-included breakfast in the restaurant part of our hotel. The building is kind of fashioned like a chalet. Very attractive from the street. Wooden on the inside and well lit from skylights. They asked us the day before what time we would like to eat. This morning Svetlana, the hotel hostess, knocked on our door to let us know it was ready. Eggs with a little ham, tomatoes on the side and sliced cucumbers. There was sliced bread, but no butter or jam, and white tea. Lipton, believe it or not, is popular here and good.
We were finishing up and here comes our Tanya! She’s a chatty thing. I love to hear her voice but today, I’m afraid, she realized how few of her words were understood and is speaking less. She was wearing heeled boots (not as foolish as it sounds, the pointy heels help keep you from slipping on the ever-present ice) but we decided anyway to walk the half mile to the orphanage. It’s a nice walk along a tree lined avenue. When we rounded the corner of the gate to the orphanage, there was Sasha who broke into a run with arms outstretched to embrace us. I love it.
We settled on a taxi for transport (now 5 of us mind you, in a Fiat) and took off for the open market. I was looking for a scarf to wear to church tomorrow. Sasha’s boots were too tight and Nastia’s too big. The market was amazing. There were several long rows of booths with not much space for walking between. Shoes, socks of all kinds, men’s slacks, angora sweaters, fur coats, jewelry, jeans, children’s wear, the ever endless selection of hats and a scarf or two. Some of it looked quite expensive. The roofs were of corrugated tin. The temperature had risen. It was difficult to avoid the pools and waterfalls of melting snow.
We found Nastia’s boots first. She fell in love with a red pair. No fur. Good. I’m trying to discourage it on account of the rock throwers in the U.S. I found a beautiful scarf for $7 (thanks Mom! Your Birthday gift is going far). Finally, we exhausted the open market and went into a more enclosed building. Meats. Exposed to the air and everybody. Big slabs of bacon, ham and sausages, smoked chicken quarters. Very crowded. We were quickly on our way through to another building. Just as we were leaving, I saw a little dog standing on his hind legs staring intently at a coil of sausages just out of his reach. The usual Ukrainian dower countenance was replaced with laughter by the crowds around him.
Boots. Sasha. Not having much luck and she was getting discouraged. Finally found a pair to fit. Bright red. A little dyed rabbit fur along the top. DON’T TELL. I live in Boulder, remember? Hopefully people will assume it’s synthetic and we will avoid any nasty confrontations.
With treasures in hand, we grabbed another taxi for “Lenin Square,” our name for it as it has a rather large, imposing statue of said infamous communist. Right next to it, rather ironically, is a gold domed church in the process of full restoration. On the other side of Lenin is a Christmas tree. There is also a small skating rink and a fellow selling pony rides. We walked through the square to the pizza place. Two medium, three topping pizzas and 5 cokes for $10! For dessert, we bought what we thought were ice cream sundaes but were more like strawberry mousse(s). Not too sweet. I’m finding I really like Ukrainian food. It’s not what I was expecting at all. A lot of terrific salads I would love to learn to make. Tanya has been promised a cookbook so I hope she can make Ukrainian food for me. Oh Yeah. But I digress.
We talked names. I thought Tanya would keep her name but she surprised us twice with “Evalina” for a first name (wow, great choice) and “Ann” for a middle name (wow, that’s my middle name)! Sasha has decided on “Sophia Ann.” Is Sophie ok for a nick name? Dah. Tanya thought “Emily” would be a good name for Nastia but I want to see if Nastia can make a decision on her own. Everyone robs her of making her own choices (except in boots). I will, with Tanya’s input, narrow the choices down to three for Nastia.
Sasha has retained an amazing amount of English. She bridged more than a few communication gaps with Tanya. We bought a few Russian music CDs for memory sake and I found some yarn to make Tanya a scarf. Then Tanya said farewell for the day. She lives in town. The remaining 4 of us hopped a taxi for our hotel.
Our sweet little girls are so impressed with everything we take for granted. Our hotel room for example, was amazing to them. Nastia found an air freshener dispenser in the wall in the bathroom. “What’s this?” Fffffshshsh. Sniff. AH!
We decided now is a good time to take the hats to the orphanage. Forty-five hats. Sasha and Nastia made their choice. We packed up the rest and snacks and off we went back to the orphanage on foot.
It was almost cruel really, to go on foot. Nastia loves her shoes so much she doesn’t want them wet or dirty. She found a shoe brush in our room and worked for at least 15 minutes. “What’s this?!” She asked over every tiny defect she found. I finally told her not to worry, the shoes are way down there and our eyes are way up here. The half mile to the orphanage was slush and mud and pools of water. She wanted to stop a couple of times to wipe away the minute accumulation of snow crystals. “Nastia!” I laughed, “they’re boots!”
I’m positive she’ll sleep with them.
We returned the kids to the internot, and went back to the hotel by foot.
Once again, internet connection is problematic. The software could not see the modem. Reboot. Reboot. Unplug, plug. Argh. After 6 tries, it works. Why? Why not? I tried uploading pictures, to see how slow it is. Quite slow. I guess from now on I wait for a better connection.
We tried the laundry service in the morning. I hope it’s a laundry service, and they did not assume we were giving away clothes. At 10 this evening, no clothes yet. I may be riding the train in some interesting garb. We are packing up everything, time to checkout and travel, again.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Day 7
Sunny day. Hooha! We got up kind of late, Eileen got a long shower, I had to rush. Fortunately, Olga was late as well. We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant, same food as yesterday. Well, we only had choice 1, 2, or 3. Like before, the breakfast was quite large, and I am used to eating little or no breakfast. I must be putting on pounds. We decided to go public transportation, so we walked through some apartment blocks to another street, and looked for a stop for the electric vehicle. (What is this vehicle called? A trolley runs on tracks in the street, this uses overhead wires.) We walked a little further down the street, and found a gathering of people, it looked good. Soon the vehicle came down the street, and we piled on. It was a very short ride to the internot, we could walk to it from here,there were cleared paths, albeit all ice covered., not sure we want to walk 1/2 mile on ice.
At the internot, Tanya had already arrived. She did want to be adopted! She is staying at her boyfriend Igor's house, and Igor's mother counseled her to go. She told Tanya that this is her opportunity. Igor is 5 years older than Tanya. Many things could be said about this, but we are going to think positively. We talked with Tanya and the director for a long time, 90 minutes maybe. We were waiting on more doctor checkups for Sasha and Nastiya, which was happening right then. The director hears that we are looking for the other hotel in town. We wanted to know if we can get a better hotel deal. He knows where that hotel is, so he offers to take us there. OK, off to the other hotel. This hotel is on one of the main drags, there are many here. Slovyansk seems like it was several small towns that all merged, although there is only one central square. The room was smaller, and 60% of the cost of Hotel Ukraine but adequate. We decided to take it.
It was now noon. We went back to Hotel Ukraine to checkout. Checkout was at noon, but if we could be out in 30 minutes, then there would be no charge. Why are we always trying to pack all our scattered stuff in such short notice? With some time to spare, we had all our things in the director's car. Thanks Nickolai! He was gracious to shlep us around during his lunch hour. He drove us back to Hotel Daropa (sp?). I will be so glad when we finally drop off all the stuff we brought for the orphanage. Four bulging suitcases plus packs plus computer plus bottle of wine (we celebrated a little yesterday) plus dirty laundry (won't fit in a suitcase any more) plus other things that won't fit in a suitcase.
Back to the internot. As we crossed the threshhold, Sasha was waiting for us. With tears in her eyes, she jumped up and gave me a big big hug. And she kissed me on the cheek. That is big for Sasha. Then Nastiya came up and hugged me. They also went to Eileen and hugged and kissed her too. We all went into the director's office, and I got to sit with both girls on my lap. Now we had all three girls in the office. There was more discussion. Much laughter. Sasha and Nastiya both wanted to take pictures with my camera. At one point, Sasha and Nastiya signed consent forms, saying they wanted to be adopted. They each had to write a letter and then sign it. Nastiya does not write yet, so she had help.
At this point, the director needed his office for work, so we walked across the courtyard to the dorm. From what we saw, this is just a typical dorm, to hold 270 kids. That's right, in this one internot, there are 270 kids. Oh, man, some of them are so cute, smiling, playful, :( They just should not be here, but instead in a family. Sasha and Nastiya wanted to eat, so they skipped and ran down to the cafeteria. Tanya led us up to the third floor, where there is a play room for about a dozen kids. I think this room is for the kids in Sasha's group. Down some other hallws, we heard loud music. Maybe those rooms were for older kids. In less than 5 minutes, Sasha and Nastiya came in. They must have wolfed their food down, if they ate at all. We broke out some lollipops for the kids. They loved to have their tongues change color. Vika and her new dad were in this room. We got some pictures of them. Vika showed how she could count in Italian. We only spent 30 minutes in this room, then we needed to do some chores, plus we were hungry.
We walked to the restaurant Chinook, where we had eaten last night. Tanya thought this was a very expensive place. I don't think she had eaten there before. The food was again good. Then we caught a taxi to the train station to buy tickets. If we are going to adopt Tanya, we must go to Kiev, and Olga needed to go back to Kiev tonight. We bought all 4 beds in a coupee, the best way to have some privacy. Then Tanya asked if she could go to Kiev, since she has never been. Well, we bought 4 beds, and when we come back to Slovyansk, we will probably do the same since Olga will be with us, so, sure. Tanya is becoming very excited about hanging out with us.
I asked Tanya if she needed to attend school. She told us her director encouraged her to spend time getting to know us better. I thought that was wise. Sasha and Nastia got 10 weeks with us. Its a great idea to give Tanya her time too.
Another taxi, to the internet cafe. Oops, that was not what we wanted. I needed to get a modem so I can do some work. There is not much internet here in Slavyansk. Cell phones are everywhere, though. I spent 1000 Grivney on a little gadget plus some extra time. Now we will see how long 1000 megabytes of data transmission last. Then we looked for a currency exchange, but they all were closed. We walked to our favorite public transport stop, and decided to try the bus. Tanya left us here, since Igor's apartment was close. More hugs and kisses. The electric vehicle was 0,75 Gry, the bus was 1,25 Gry. For short trips, the taxi was 10 Gry. To get on the bus, you quickly form a queue in the street after the bus stops. Olga paid, so I missed that part. The electric vehicle had an old woman that walked around while the vehicle was moving, taking your money, and giving you a little blank piece of paper with a slight rip. People here are more interactive. I (Eileen) was told my coat was dragging on the dirty floor and another woman reminded a young lady that her purse was still open from extracting needed change. Thoughtful gestures.
At the hotel, Olga was kind enough to help me get my internet connection setup. The directions were all in Ukrainian or Russian. I would have been ok, though. It's just technical words. And there were clear pictures. Oh yeah, and I could have figured out how to add time to the SIM. That's just numbers and stuff. After rebooting a couple of times, and removing and attaching the modem a couple of times, and re-inserting the CD a couple of times, the software finally installed. Hooray, we're done. NOT. I tried to connect to amazon and google, and no luck. I tried changing the security settings on the modem. Now the software did not even report a connection. OK, put that back, that made things worse. Now when I tried amazon, everything worked ok. Score! Another victory! Things are moving so fast, I'll take any success that I actively participated in.
At 8pm, Olga left to catch the train to Kiev. Earlier in the evening, loud music began blaring. Uh oh, our cheap hotel may have some drawbacks. Now it's about 10, and the music is still loud. I may be dreaming about Hotel Ukraine. Is it worth $30 a night for quiet? I have my trusty earplugs, hope they can defeat the evil noise/music. Actually, the music seems to be coming from the town square. It must be very loud at the other hotel.
I may be sending pictures a little more slowly from an internet cafe, instead of using up my paid bandwidth. But lots of pictures coming soon.
Spending tomorrow with our new additions sans translator. Tanya is either excited or a talker or both. She badly wants to communicate! We will bring all our translation books.
At the internot, Tanya had already arrived. She did want to be adopted! She is staying at her boyfriend Igor's house, and Igor's mother counseled her to go. She told Tanya that this is her opportunity. Igor is 5 years older than Tanya. Many things could be said about this, but we are going to think positively. We talked with Tanya and the director for a long time, 90 minutes maybe. We were waiting on more doctor checkups for Sasha and Nastiya, which was happening right then. The director hears that we are looking for the other hotel in town. We wanted to know if we can get a better hotel deal. He knows where that hotel is, so he offers to take us there. OK, off to the other hotel. This hotel is on one of the main drags, there are many here. Slovyansk seems like it was several small towns that all merged, although there is only one central square. The room was smaller, and 60% of the cost of Hotel Ukraine but adequate. We decided to take it.
It was now noon. We went back to Hotel Ukraine to checkout. Checkout was at noon, but if we could be out in 30 minutes, then there would be no charge. Why are we always trying to pack all our scattered stuff in such short notice? With some time to spare, we had all our things in the director's car. Thanks Nickolai! He was gracious to shlep us around during his lunch hour. He drove us back to Hotel Daropa (sp?). I will be so glad when we finally drop off all the stuff we brought for the orphanage. Four bulging suitcases plus packs plus computer plus bottle of wine (we celebrated a little yesterday) plus dirty laundry (won't fit in a suitcase any more) plus other things that won't fit in a suitcase.
Back to the internot. As we crossed the threshhold, Sasha was waiting for us. With tears in her eyes, she jumped up and gave me a big big hug. And she kissed me on the cheek. That is big for Sasha. Then Nastiya came up and hugged me. They also went to Eileen and hugged and kissed her too. We all went into the director's office, and I got to sit with both girls on my lap. Now we had all three girls in the office. There was more discussion. Much laughter. Sasha and Nastiya both wanted to take pictures with my camera. At one point, Sasha and Nastiya signed consent forms, saying they wanted to be adopted. They each had to write a letter and then sign it. Nastiya does not write yet, so she had help.
At this point, the director needed his office for work, so we walked across the courtyard to the dorm. From what we saw, this is just a typical dorm, to hold 270 kids. That's right, in this one internot, there are 270 kids. Oh, man, some of them are so cute, smiling, playful, :( They just should not be here, but instead in a family. Sasha and Nastiya wanted to eat, so they skipped and ran down to the cafeteria. Tanya led us up to the third floor, where there is a play room for about a dozen kids. I think this room is for the kids in Sasha's group. Down some other hallws, we heard loud music. Maybe those rooms were for older kids. In less than 5 minutes, Sasha and Nastiya came in. They must have wolfed their food down, if they ate at all. We broke out some lollipops for the kids. They loved to have their tongues change color. Vika and her new dad were in this room. We got some pictures of them. Vika showed how she could count in Italian. We only spent 30 minutes in this room, then we needed to do some chores, plus we were hungry.
We walked to the restaurant Chinook, where we had eaten last night. Tanya thought this was a very expensive place. I don't think she had eaten there before. The food was again good. Then we caught a taxi to the train station to buy tickets. If we are going to adopt Tanya, we must go to Kiev, and Olga needed to go back to Kiev tonight. We bought all 4 beds in a coupee, the best way to have some privacy. Then Tanya asked if she could go to Kiev, since she has never been. Well, we bought 4 beds, and when we come back to Slovyansk, we will probably do the same since Olga will be with us, so, sure. Tanya is becoming very excited about hanging out with us.
I asked Tanya if she needed to attend school. She told us her director encouraged her to spend time getting to know us better. I thought that was wise. Sasha and Nastia got 10 weeks with us. Its a great idea to give Tanya her time too.
Another taxi, to the internet cafe. Oops, that was not what we wanted. I needed to get a modem so I can do some work. There is not much internet here in Slavyansk. Cell phones are everywhere, though. I spent 1000 Grivney on a little gadget plus some extra time. Now we will see how long 1000 megabytes of data transmission last. Then we looked for a currency exchange, but they all were closed. We walked to our favorite public transport stop, and decided to try the bus. Tanya left us here, since Igor's apartment was close. More hugs and kisses. The electric vehicle was 0,75 Gry, the bus was 1,25 Gry. For short trips, the taxi was 10 Gry. To get on the bus, you quickly form a queue in the street after the bus stops. Olga paid, so I missed that part. The electric vehicle had an old woman that walked around while the vehicle was moving, taking your money, and giving you a little blank piece of paper with a slight rip. People here are more interactive. I (Eileen) was told my coat was dragging on the dirty floor and another woman reminded a young lady that her purse was still open from extracting needed change. Thoughtful gestures.
At the hotel, Olga was kind enough to help me get my internet connection setup. The directions were all in Ukrainian or Russian. I would have been ok, though. It's just technical words. And there were clear pictures. Oh yeah, and I could have figured out how to add time to the SIM. That's just numbers and stuff. After rebooting a couple of times, and removing and attaching the modem a couple of times, and re-inserting the CD a couple of times, the software finally installed. Hooray, we're done. NOT. I tried to connect to amazon and google, and no luck. I tried changing the security settings on the modem. Now the software did not even report a connection. OK, put that back, that made things worse. Now when I tried amazon, everything worked ok. Score! Another victory! Things are moving so fast, I'll take any success that I actively participated in.
At 8pm, Olga left to catch the train to Kiev. Earlier in the evening, loud music began blaring. Uh oh, our cheap hotel may have some drawbacks. Now it's about 10, and the music is still loud. I may be dreaming about Hotel Ukraine. Is it worth $30 a night for quiet? I have my trusty earplugs, hope they can defeat the evil noise/music. Actually, the music seems to be coming from the town square. It must be very loud at the other hotel.
I may be sending pictures a little more slowly from an internet cafe, instead of using up my paid bandwidth. But lots of pictures coming soon.
Spending tomorrow with our new additions sans translator. Tanya is either excited or a talker or both. She badly wants to communicate! We will bring all our translation books.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Day 6
It was not too hard to get out of bed at 7, since we were going to be doing a lot today. The fridge in our room was like the one in our apartment: it wanted to run more than it wanted to rest. So we unplugged it. In first light, the view from our room has a beautiful smoke stack. We had breakfast with Olga in the hotel restaurant, The Eldorado. The restaurant was dark when we came in, and the server decided we wanted the TV on, loud. Thanks, guy. We haven't been in a restaurant yet that didn't have a TV on and attached to a wall or the ceiling. Even in McDonalds. The meal was good. It was part of our hotel bill, so of course it was. I'm enjoying tring new foods. The french fries were some of the best I've ever had. Olga told me my dish came with a hot dog and, well, that's what it was. It was more compact but tasted much the same as a high quality hot dog (whatever that might be).
We walked down the street to the town square, where there is an imposing statue of Lenin. We went into the official building, up several flights of stairs to the adoption department. Behind a heavy metal door were two women, typing away, answering phones. We sat down on chairs, and proceded to wait for 20 minutes while listening to loud driving techno, some in English ("I am a spitfire"). Which reminds me, it was good to hear No Doubt and George Michael on the radio in the cars, even some techno that my boys had given me ("I feel so far away ... Just go away"). I proceded to sweat buckets. It was warm in the office.
After our wait, we were handed our referral for the orphanage director. The two ladies walked out of the office with us, and locked the big metal door. That office could serve as a solitary confinement cell. Then we walked across the square to where the taxis were waiting. I took this chance to get some more local currency. The rate is quite variable. It started at 8.10, then it dropped to 7.70. Deciding when to exchange currency is like playing the market.
Our new taxi driver drove us to the internot, which is a step up from a true orphanage, in that there is a school here. We were led into the director's office. Both the director and the assistant were very happy to see us, and they knew who we were. The assistant went to get Nastiya. It turns out that Sasha was not around, she has been in the hospital for 2 weeks, something wrong with her kidneys, they say. The director pulled out a book of photos that Nastiya put together before she left. I'm not sure why he had it, maybe in preparation for our visit, maybe to keep it safe for Nastiya. Nastiya walked in, and gave me a big hug. Then she gave Eileen a big hug. Then she sat of Eileen's lap, and we talked for a long time. I finally got her to sit on my lap. All of this was good, because it showed that Nastiya is familiar with us and not afraid. Nastiya's hair was so short, and she had no earrings. She looks so much like a skinny boy.
We got the director to call the hospital, and he said Sasha would be checked out of the hospital tomorrow. So we have to wait to see Sasha. Both of the girls will be given a physical exam, which is one of the documents we need before we can take them. It seems like we heard that Sasha and Nastiya turned down adoption requests from other families. They were waiting for us. Doesn't that tug at your heart strings? The third girl we wanted, Vika, is in the process of being adopted by another family, and they are actuall in the same hotel as us. This couple wanted 3 girls, and they tried to get Sasha and Nastiya. What loyalty from our girls. After a lot of hugging and kissing and tickling, we had to say goodbye to Nastiya, and go see older sister Tanya.
Our taxi driver drove us out to where Tanya is enrolled in a trade school. She has some legal rights over the two girls, so we had to make a good impression. The road to the trade school, wow. It was paved at some point in history, but there were a lot of holes, a lot of ice, and several lakes between us and our destination. At the trade school, we were shown to the director's office, where we waited outside for a few minutes. Then Tanya came out. We answered some of her questions, showed her pictures of Sasha and Nastiya. Then came some words out of my wife's mouth that I could not believe. She said something like, "We were hoping to adopt 3 girls, would you like to come to America?" Tanya did not say what I expected: "Oh no, I have boyfriend, I have job, I love Ukraine." She thought about the offer.
The director of the trade school popped out of the office and invited us in. We sat down around a table, with the director at her own table. Lots of questions from Tanya. Will I be able to keep in contact? Are you a dentist and is your wife a hair dresser? Do you live in Dallas? (Sasha and Nastiya were a bit confused, I think, and communicated some wrong information.) She also told us that they came back very happy, that they got along better after the visit with us. Much good news. Then, how will we keep in touch? Will I be able to visit? How often will I be able to visit? We heard no mention of the boyfriend. By the end of the meeting, we were telling her that we would be willing to adopt her if she wanted to come, and if it was allowed by both the U.S. and Ukraine.
OK, so instead of bringing home 3 girls aged 8, 10, and 11, it looks like I might have 3 sisters aged 8, 11, and 17. That's going to take a while to digest.
Eileen: I was instantly impressed with Tanya. I loved her right away. She greated us warmly, shared her gratitude and retold stories the girls shared with her when they returned last summer. She was respectful and genuine and had no trouble looking us in the eye. I wanted to promise her our help through life, people who would always care for her and make sure she didn't have to resort to prostitution for a living. She was sober about her future. She was concerned for her sisters and wanted to know how she could keep in touch with them. Could she visit? Yes. We could send he a ticket once a year or two. But Tanya, come live with us.
P.S. No NAYSAYING. I don't want to hear about it. Contrary to American foster teens, the teens that come from Ukraine do very well in the US.
Rolan: Tanya wanted to think about it for a day. The social worker will not be available on Friday, and our translator goes back to Kiev for the weekend, so things will be on hold until Monday. What more could happen? We made some calls to the U.S. embassy, and they said that there should be no problem, since Tanya is 17 and is a sister to the other two girls. The girls may all have been born here in Slovyansk, which is very good news, no travelling for birth certificates.
After our visit with Tanya, we walked to the local market, picked up food and water and wine and beer, and went back to the hotel room, where we celebrated and talked with Olga a lot. Her stories are very interesting. We went to a local restaurant "Chinook" for dinner. There was a great stroganoff there. During dinner, Olga found out from Valentina that if we want to adopt Tanya, we must be present in Kiev to petition at the SDA. I feel some shaking and baking coming on.
Plans for tommorow:
_ see Sasha, finally, and Nastiya,
_ get a modem and a plan that allows me to connect to the internet via phone service,
_ talk to Tanya, to see what she wants to do,
_ anything else that comes up that was unplanned.
We walked down the street to the town square, where there is an imposing statue of Lenin. We went into the official building, up several flights of stairs to the adoption department. Behind a heavy metal door were two women, typing away, answering phones. We sat down on chairs, and proceded to wait for 20 minutes while listening to loud driving techno, some in English ("I am a spitfire"). Which reminds me, it was good to hear No Doubt and George Michael on the radio in the cars, even some techno that my boys had given me ("I feel so far away ... Just go away"). I proceded to sweat buckets. It was warm in the office.
After our wait, we were handed our referral for the orphanage director. The two ladies walked out of the office with us, and locked the big metal door. That office could serve as a solitary confinement cell. Then we walked across the square to where the taxis were waiting. I took this chance to get some more local currency. The rate is quite variable. It started at 8.10, then it dropped to 7.70. Deciding when to exchange currency is like playing the market.
Our new taxi driver drove us to the internot, which is a step up from a true orphanage, in that there is a school here. We were led into the director's office. Both the director and the assistant were very happy to see us, and they knew who we were. The assistant went to get Nastiya. It turns out that Sasha was not around, she has been in the hospital for 2 weeks, something wrong with her kidneys, they say. The director pulled out a book of photos that Nastiya put together before she left. I'm not sure why he had it, maybe in preparation for our visit, maybe to keep it safe for Nastiya. Nastiya walked in, and gave me a big hug. Then she gave Eileen a big hug. Then she sat of Eileen's lap, and we talked for a long time. I finally got her to sit on my lap. All of this was good, because it showed that Nastiya is familiar with us and not afraid. Nastiya's hair was so short, and she had no earrings. She looks so much like a skinny boy.
We got the director to call the hospital, and he said Sasha would be checked out of the hospital tomorrow. So we have to wait to see Sasha. Both of the girls will be given a physical exam, which is one of the documents we need before we can take them. It seems like we heard that Sasha and Nastiya turned down adoption requests from other families. They were waiting for us. Doesn't that tug at your heart strings? The third girl we wanted, Vika, is in the process of being adopted by another family, and they are actuall in the same hotel as us. This couple wanted 3 girls, and they tried to get Sasha and Nastiya. What loyalty from our girls. After a lot of hugging and kissing and tickling, we had to say goodbye to Nastiya, and go see older sister Tanya.
Our taxi driver drove us out to where Tanya is enrolled in a trade school. She has some legal rights over the two girls, so we had to make a good impression. The road to the trade school, wow. It was paved at some point in history, but there were a lot of holes, a lot of ice, and several lakes between us and our destination. At the trade school, we were shown to the director's office, where we waited outside for a few minutes. Then Tanya came out. We answered some of her questions, showed her pictures of Sasha and Nastiya. Then came some words out of my wife's mouth that I could not believe. She said something like, "We were hoping to adopt 3 girls, would you like to come to America?" Tanya did not say what I expected: "Oh no, I have boyfriend, I have job, I love Ukraine." She thought about the offer.
The director of the trade school popped out of the office and invited us in. We sat down around a table, with the director at her own table. Lots of questions from Tanya. Will I be able to keep in contact? Are you a dentist and is your wife a hair dresser? Do you live in Dallas? (Sasha and Nastiya were a bit confused, I think, and communicated some wrong information.) She also told us that they came back very happy, that they got along better after the visit with us. Much good news. Then, how will we keep in touch? Will I be able to visit? How often will I be able to visit? We heard no mention of the boyfriend. By the end of the meeting, we were telling her that we would be willing to adopt her if she wanted to come, and if it was allowed by both the U.S. and Ukraine.
OK, so instead of bringing home 3 girls aged 8, 10, and 11, it looks like I might have 3 sisters aged 8, 11, and 17. That's going to take a while to digest.
Eileen: I was instantly impressed with Tanya. I loved her right away. She greated us warmly, shared her gratitude and retold stories the girls shared with her when they returned last summer. She was respectful and genuine and had no trouble looking us in the eye. I wanted to promise her our help through life, people who would always care for her and make sure she didn't have to resort to prostitution for a living. She was sober about her future. She was concerned for her sisters and wanted to know how she could keep in touch with them. Could she visit? Yes. We could send he a ticket once a year or two. But Tanya, come live with us.
P.S. No NAYSAYING. I don't want to hear about it. Contrary to American foster teens, the teens that come from Ukraine do very well in the US.
Rolan: Tanya wanted to think about it for a day. The social worker will not be available on Friday, and our translator goes back to Kiev for the weekend, so things will be on hold until Monday. What more could happen? We made some calls to the U.S. embassy, and they said that there should be no problem, since Tanya is 17 and is a sister to the other two girls. The girls may all have been born here in Slovyansk, which is very good news, no travelling for birth certificates.
After our visit with Tanya, we walked to the local market, picked up food and water and wine and beer, and went back to the hotel room, where we celebrated and talked with Olga a lot. Her stories are very interesting. We went to a local restaurant "Chinook" for dinner. There was a great stroganoff there. During dinner, Olga found out from Valentina that if we want to adopt Tanya, we must be present in Kiev to petition at the SDA. I feel some shaking and baking coming on.
Plans for tommorow:
_ see Sasha, finally, and Nastiya,
_ get a modem and a plan that allows me to connect to the internet via phone service,
_ talk to Tanya, to see what she wants to do,
_ anything else that comes up that was unplanned.
Day 5
It is still hard to get up. I finally got up at 10:30. The sun was shining on me. That's right, the SUN was shining on me. And it was WARM. Jet lag is a bear.
Not much was planned for today. We should get our referral from the SDA after 5pm. So we walked up to St. Sophias. We walked down to the SDA. The street has many beautiful apartment buildings (see photos). We walked past the outdoor mall. Nope, we almost walked past the outdoor mall. We stopped and bought souvenirs (those are so CUTE!). There was a lot of biting wind, so we went back to the apartment and had lunch. We needed to talk with Olga about transportation to Donetsk and/or Slavyansk.
Even here, many people have not heard of Slavyansk. It has a population of 140,000, but here, cities that size are considered small. In Colorado, there are definite city centers with comercial establishments and then sort of on the edges of those places of commerce, you have residential areas. This seems to be all mixed up here so you don't really know how big a city is.
We heard from Valentina and Olga that the rules for adoption are changing again. More forms to fill out. something about proof of housing size and ownership. If you are coming you have probably heard. We are in under the wire. The new rules take effect February 1.
A funny thing happened at lunch yesterday. Eileen was talking to Valentina about her brothers, and Eileen had her hands up near her face. Suddenly, Valentina grabbed her hands and started laughing. It turns out Eileen was making a rude gesture, and did not realize it. You have to be careful where you put your thumbs.
When Olga showed up, we decided that we needed to take a plane to Donetsk, since the social worker would not be there Friday. So we went around Independence Square to the travel agency, to get our tickets. The streets around the square are like any downtown: all one way streets. Another loop around the square back to the apartment. Then we had 30 minutes to pack. Then we ran to the SDA, to get in line to get our referral (its a good idea to be there 30 minutes early, otherwise you wait longer). Many of the other couples there spoke English. A family from Sicily, who used to live in Chicago. A family from Baltimore. We got in fairly quickly, got our referrals, and went back to our apartment. We had a whole hour for dinner. We were glad to eat our leftovers of chicken soup, bread (always a treat) and fruit.
After dinner we got in the car with all our luggage, and Sasha flew us to the airport. "Fly" is almost not a metaphor. The speed limit was 90, but Sasha was pushing 180. The highway lanes must be for: right lane - pokey petes, middle lane - go the speed limit, left lane - white knuckles. At one point, a "slow" car was in the left lane, probably doing the limit. We came up on his tail fast. Sasha started flicking his brights: flick...flick...flickflickflickflick. The guy ahead started to move over. Sasha was not happy enough, he passed the guy while he was still changing lanes. We may have been inches away from contact. We were also inches away from soiled clothes.
At the airport, we waited an hour, went through security, and hopped on a 737 (Donbassaero: Don(etsk)bass(??)aero). The airport here is like the one in Dusseldorf: you walk out onto the tarmac and climb on a bus, which takes you to the plane. Then you crowd around the steps leading up to the door of the plane, trying to stand behind someone taller than you so you get less wind in your face. The snack on this plane was a piece of candy, followed by a hambun (for those of you who are unfamiliar with dutch culture, it is a small roll with 2 small pieces of ham. This one was accompanied by shredded lettuce and tomato) and a pineapple juice. An hour later we were in Donetsk. It was very foggy, and the temperature was -1 C. We grabbed our luggage from the luggage trolley (much quicker than waiting for it to arrive inside) and went out to our waiting taxi. Really 5 minutes from plane to curb.
One thing we noticed on the plane and on some newscasts. It seems like a thing of pride to talk fast and not take breaths. We listened to a newscaster go for five minutes, and it felt like he never breathed in. It was like listening to the wind blow, up and down, up and down, bulabulabulaBULABULABULbulabulabula... The head steward of the plane could talk faster than anyone I have ever heard. When he spoke English, even though it was pretty good English, it was difficult to tell what he was saying. I took a class my sophomore year, and it was possible to listen to tapes of the lectures with the dead space removed. An hour long lecture could be heard in 30 minutes. You could do it if you paid attention. News speakers and plane stewards here can do it without electronics.
Sasha, the Kiev driver, has a nice expensive BMW, latest touch screen, etc. Donestk taxi guy's car was older, maybe a Fiat, but it had TV and other software. ("Glass" is Ukrainian for "cool".) The taxi driver was not prepared for the amount of luggage we had. We had to put several bags in the car with us. He just didn't know how to pack, the amatuer. Slovyansk is 100km north of Donetsk. The fog got worse and worse. Several times, he had to flash another driver to ask for directions. I guess that's what you do here: flash your high beams many times at another driver while flapping your left hand out the window, and that driver stops and asks, What the heck are you doing, you looney? We could not see anything on the trip, due to the fog and the fogged windows. We made a brief stop for much needed gas along the way. Our driver stuck his hand out the window to the attendant waiting there and the attendant put a small amount of gas in the car while THE ENGINE WAS STILL RUNNING.
At midnight, we came into Slovyansk. It was dead. The only thing that was moving was: a guy pushing a wagon loaded with goods (at midnight?), a few guys hanging around a bar, and taxis. Lots of taxis. We still had to ask for directions many times. And finally, there it was, down a dark street: Hotel Ukraine. The nicest building in town. We check in and crash. Set the alarm for 7am, and try to sleep. Tomorrow we see Sasha and Nastia.
Not much was planned for today. We should get our referral from the SDA after 5pm. So we walked up to St. Sophias. We walked down to the SDA. The street has many beautiful apartment buildings (see photos). We walked past the outdoor mall. Nope, we almost walked past the outdoor mall. We stopped and bought souvenirs (those are so CUTE!). There was a lot of biting wind, so we went back to the apartment and had lunch. We needed to talk with Olga about transportation to Donetsk and/or Slavyansk.
Even here, many people have not heard of Slavyansk. It has a population of 140,000, but here, cities that size are considered small. In Colorado, there are definite city centers with comercial establishments and then sort of on the edges of those places of commerce, you have residential areas. This seems to be all mixed up here so you don't really know how big a city is.
We heard from Valentina and Olga that the rules for adoption are changing again. More forms to fill out. something about proof of housing size and ownership. If you are coming you have probably heard. We are in under the wire. The new rules take effect February 1.
A funny thing happened at lunch yesterday. Eileen was talking to Valentina about her brothers, and Eileen had her hands up near her face. Suddenly, Valentina grabbed her hands and started laughing. It turns out Eileen was making a rude gesture, and did not realize it. You have to be careful where you put your thumbs.
When Olga showed up, we decided that we needed to take a plane to Donetsk, since the social worker would not be there Friday. So we went around Independence Square to the travel agency, to get our tickets. The streets around the square are like any downtown: all one way streets. Another loop around the square back to the apartment. Then we had 30 minutes to pack. Then we ran to the SDA, to get in line to get our referral (its a good idea to be there 30 minutes early, otherwise you wait longer). Many of the other couples there spoke English. A family from Sicily, who used to live in Chicago. A family from Baltimore. We got in fairly quickly, got our referrals, and went back to our apartment. We had a whole hour for dinner. We were glad to eat our leftovers of chicken soup, bread (always a treat) and fruit.
After dinner we got in the car with all our luggage, and Sasha flew us to the airport. "Fly" is almost not a metaphor. The speed limit was 90, but Sasha was pushing 180. The highway lanes must be for: right lane - pokey petes, middle lane - go the speed limit, left lane - white knuckles. At one point, a "slow" car was in the left lane, probably doing the limit. We came up on his tail fast. Sasha started flicking his brights: flick...flick...flickflickflickflick. The guy ahead started to move over. Sasha was not happy enough, he passed the guy while he was still changing lanes. We may have been inches away from contact. We were also inches away from soiled clothes.
At the airport, we waited an hour, went through security, and hopped on a 737 (Donbassaero: Don(etsk)bass(??)aero). The airport here is like the one in Dusseldorf: you walk out onto the tarmac and climb on a bus, which takes you to the plane. Then you crowd around the steps leading up to the door of the plane, trying to stand behind someone taller than you so you get less wind in your face. The snack on this plane was a piece of candy, followed by a hambun (for those of you who are unfamiliar with dutch culture, it is a small roll with 2 small pieces of ham. This one was accompanied by shredded lettuce and tomato) and a pineapple juice. An hour later we were in Donetsk. It was very foggy, and the temperature was -1 C. We grabbed our luggage from the luggage trolley (much quicker than waiting for it to arrive inside) and went out to our waiting taxi. Really 5 minutes from plane to curb.
One thing we noticed on the plane and on some newscasts. It seems like a thing of pride to talk fast and not take breaths. We listened to a newscaster go for five minutes, and it felt like he never breathed in. It was like listening to the wind blow, up and down, up and down, bulabulabulaBULABULABULbulabulabula... The head steward of the plane could talk faster than anyone I have ever heard. When he spoke English, even though it was pretty good English, it was difficult to tell what he was saying. I took a class my sophomore year, and it was possible to listen to tapes of the lectures with the dead space removed. An hour long lecture could be heard in 30 minutes. You could do it if you paid attention. News speakers and plane stewards here can do it without electronics.
Sasha, the Kiev driver, has a nice expensive BMW, latest touch screen, etc. Donestk taxi guy's car was older, maybe a Fiat, but it had TV and other
At midnight, we came into Slovyansk. It was dead. The only thing that was moving was: a guy pushing a wagon loaded with goods (at midnight?), a few guys hanging around a bar, and taxis. Lots of taxis. We still had to ask for directions many times. And finally, there it was, down a dark street: Hotel Ukraine. The nicest building in town. We check in and crash. Set the alarm for 7am, and try to sleep. Tomorrow we see Sasha and Nastia.
Day 4
Still hard for me to get up. The bed is not helping, and in a bad way. The bed is not the kind you would jump up and down on, just like you would not jump up and down on a sleeping bag thrown on the ground. My back has been hurting, and I think it's because the bed is so firm. Maybe I'll sleep on the desk tonight.
Today was our appointment with the SDA, the State Department of Adoption (and youth and sports). Our translator Olga met with us at 11:15, we talked about what to expect, then hiked the short distance to the SDA entrance. Note: Those wanting to adopt now go in the front entrance. The back entrance is used for putting requests in a queue. The SDA is next to St. Andrews church. Both times we have been near there, we saw a pack of street dogs. NOT, according to Olga, wild dogs. We met a Canadian couple, currently living in Ukraine, who are wanting to adopt. They have been reading our blog, so of course we liked them right away. We stood outside until noon, then went through the threshhold, where we waited another 20 minutes. Then Maria escorted us back to her office. I was struck by her gentleness and genuine love for her work. She looked glad to have us.
Maria asked us to tell her about ourselves. Another chance to talk about our favorite subjects! After a very brief summary, she asked us the last name of the girls we wanted. She searched through her big book of children, and did NOT find them. At this point, we got scared. Out she went to the other half of the office, to get another book. Maybe a different age group. She flipped through that book, and we SAW the picture of Natiya, then Sasha. We excitedly told her to stop turning pages, there were our girls. Maria told us that many families that host children do not recognize the pictures of the children they hosted, since the pictures may be very old. Sasha and Nastiya were definitely younger in the pictures, but they were SO CUTE. Nastia still had her baby teeth. I hope we get to keep those pictures, they are so good.
Then we started to look for Vika. Flip through the book again. No Vika. Then Maria said she is quite certain that Vika was adopted, she remembered the name. Oh no. Well, if Vika is not available, how about another girl from the same orphanage, with no siblings? Flip through the book. Nope, no children like that. Back to the other office, back again with another, bigger book. Older kids. 1994. 1993. 1992. Nope, no girls without sibs. At this point, we were saying any girl, 6 to 15, without sibs. Maria kind of chuckled. This is the second time in recent months, a family has been disappointed they couldn't find THREE. Maria said she would call the regional social worker, and find out if there were available girls, and we could find out at 3pm.
So off we went to lunch, just down the street. We went to a place that had an English menu called "Cheers" (nothing like the sitcom, however). Eileen had cabbage rolls, which turned out to be very much like the kind she makes. "Traditional Ukrainian dish," the menu said. I had potato pancakes, country style, which meant it came with bacon and onions. Cubes of bacon. And we had a small bowl of borshch each.
At 3pm, we called back. There were no other girls without siblings available. So at this point, we are practically resigned to having 2 children. There is a very slim chance that we could find a third girl when we visit the orphanage, but really little hope. And after talking it over, we won't be able to take 2 more than the 2 we want. Four girls in our house at one time? I don't think so.
Goodbye Olga, goodbye Valentina. See you in a day or two. Now we wait for the written referral, which will probably be late tomorrow afternoon. The referral is our golden ticket to take to all the authorities. The Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval from the SDA, as it were. Then we get to figure out how we are going to Donetsk: shake and bake (train), or plane.
What to do now? We are dazed, finding out that we do get to see Sasha and Nastiya, but sad that a third girl is not yet to be. We grab the laptop, and try to find the post office. The Canadians we met said there was internet access there. It's quite easy to find. We upload pictures, catch up on email. Then we explore the underground mall for a while. We run into someone we met last Sunday. This kind of thing never happens in Denver, but in the capitol city of a foreign country, why not? The Christmas tree is now unlit. The season must be over.
Back in our apartment, we eat some chicken soup, then I wash dishes. At 8pm, fireworks go off within easy view of our apartment. They last a minute or two, and the grand finale is 5 at once. Eileen picks up a guide and reads about Donetsk (THE major city close to Slavyansk, where Sasha and Nastiya are): "There's almost nothing to lure the casual visitor, but if you've always wanted to visit a coal pit or salt mine, now's your chance."
Today was our appointment with the SDA, the State Department of Adoption (and youth and sports). Our translator Olga met with us at 11:15, we talked about what to expect, then hiked the short distance to the SDA entrance. Note: Those wanting to adopt now go in the front entrance. The back entrance is used for putting requests in a queue. The SDA is next to St. Andrews church. Both times we have been near there, we saw a pack of street dogs. NOT, according to Olga, wild dogs. We met a Canadian couple, currently living in Ukraine, who are wanting to adopt. They have been reading our blog, so of course we liked them right away. We stood outside until noon, then went through the threshhold, where we waited another 20 minutes. Then Maria escorted us back to her office. I was struck by her gentleness and genuine love for her work. She looked glad to have us.
Maria asked us to tell her about ourselves. Another chance to talk about our favorite subjects! After a very brief summary, she asked us the last name of the girls we wanted. She searched through her big book of children, and did NOT find them. At this point, we got scared. Out she went to the other half of the office, to get another book. Maybe a different age group. She flipped through that book, and we SAW the picture of Natiya, then Sasha. We excitedly told her to stop turning pages, there were our girls. Maria told us that many families that host children do not recognize the pictures of the children they hosted, since the pictures may be very old. Sasha and Nastiya were definitely younger in the pictures, but they were SO CUTE. Nastia still had her baby teeth. I hope we get to keep those pictures, they are so good.
Then we started to look for Vika. Flip through the book again. No Vika. Then Maria said she is quite certain that Vika was adopted, she remembered the name. Oh no. Well, if Vika is not available, how about another girl from the same orphanage, with no siblings? Flip through the book. Nope, no children like that. Back to the other office, back again with another, bigger book. Older kids. 1994. 1993. 1992. Nope, no girls without sibs. At this point, we were saying any girl, 6 to 15, without sibs. Maria kind of chuckled. This is the second time in recent months, a family has been disappointed they couldn't find THREE. Maria said she would call the regional social worker, and find out if there were available girls, and we could find out at 3pm.
So off we went to lunch, just down the street. We went to a place that had an English menu called "Cheers" (nothing like the sitcom, however). Eileen had cabbage rolls, which turned out to be very much like the kind she makes. "Traditional Ukrainian dish," the menu said. I had potato pancakes, country style, which meant it came with bacon and onions. Cubes of bacon. And we had a small bowl of borshch each.
At 3pm, we called back. There were no other girls without siblings available. So at this point, we are practically resigned to having 2 children. There is a very slim chance that we could find a third girl when we visit the orphanage, but really little hope. And after talking it over, we won't be able to take 2 more than the 2 we want. Four girls in our house at one time? I don't think so.
Goodbye Olga, goodbye Valentina. See you in a day or two. Now we wait for the written referral, which will probably be late tomorrow afternoon. The referral is our golden ticket to take to all the authorities. The Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval from the SDA, as it were. Then we get to figure out how we are going to Donetsk: shake and bake (train), or plane.
What to do now? We are dazed, finding out that we do get to see Sasha and Nastiya, but sad that a third girl is not yet to be. We grab the laptop, and try to find the post office. The Canadians we met said there was internet access there. It's quite easy to find. We upload pictures, catch up on email. Then we explore the underground mall for a while. We run into someone we met last Sunday. This kind of thing never happens in Denver, but in the capitol city of a foreign country, why not? The Christmas tree is now unlit. The season must be over.
Back in our apartment, we eat some chicken soup, then I wash dishes. At 8pm, fireworks go off within easy view of our apartment. They last a minute or two, and the grand finale is 5 at once. Eileen picks up a guide and reads about Donetsk (THE major city close to Slavyansk, where Sasha and Nastiya are): "There's almost nothing to lure the casual visitor, but if you've always wanted to visit a coal pit or salt mine, now's your chance."
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Day 3
Jet_lag update. Sunday was awesome. We were alert, moving around, having a great time. Sunday night at 10:30, what, time to go to bed? Well, all right. Monday morning at 9:00, do we have to get up? Now it's noon. Not on Ukraine time yet.
We tried to use our washing machine. No internet connection in the apartment, so we have to guess at the settings. Plug it in, turn it on, pour in some soap, add the clothes, hit the play button. It sounds like an angry robot. The timer made us think it would wait 2 hours before starting, instead it ran for 2 hours. Shouldn't have washed jeans with whites. Yeah, it was that good.
Jim called and had us meet him at St. Michaels church. It's just up the hill. The sun was out! Quick, get outside! We dashed up hill, got to the church, and started snapping pictures. St. Michaels is at one end of the street, St. Sophias is at the other. We are right in between the two, about 1/2 mile between the two. The sunlight lasted for 30 minutes, then the sun went behind thin clouds. It started to get cold right away.
We went shopping with Jim and Joshua and Ashley at the outdoor mall. After a few (?) purchases, we went through the underground mall to exchange some money, hopped on the subway. I have never lived in a BIG city, so subways are new to me. But this is not like the train ride at DIA. When the train stops and the doors open, everybody moves at warp speed. Jump on, get out of the way of the people coming out, grab on to a pole. And when the door closes, it means business. Just like the doors in Star Trek, they slam shut. You better not be in the way, or you will lose an arm. There's none of this, "The doors are closing, please move out of the way," spoken in a firm but non-threatening way. Just, wham! And when you get to your stop, you had better exit quickly or you will get trampled by the crowds moving in.
We ended up at Eunice's house. Eunice and her husband work for Teen Challenge. The home is at the western edge of Kiev. Becky and Nadia joined us, and eventually Leslie, who is rooming there temporarily. Eunice has internet, drool, drool. We were served a tasty spaghetti dinner. Afterwards, Nadia tricked us into playing some word game. "Just one more round." As we left, snow started falling.
Eileen and I took the subway back to downtown. We were a bit confused at the start. Do we pay attention to the red signs, with a single name on them? Or do we pay attention to the blue or green signs, with more names? And what was the name of the stop we wanted? We jumped on a train with everyone else, and then we could read the map on the walls of the train. The announcement of the first stop confirmed we were on the correct train. Up and down a few escalators, then up the long escalators. The long escalators have signs every 15 or 20 feet, there must be 50 or 60 signs, and the escalator goes at a 45 degree angle. How far underground does that put us? And the top of the escalator is at the underground mall. There are lots of vendors near the gated entrances to the subway. It's out of the weather, and perhaps slightly warmer. One long section of walkway had row of flower vendors.
Tomorrow is our first big day. Our appointment with the SDA. Are we acceptable as parents? Are Sasha and Nastiya still available?
Monday, January 19, 2009
Day 2
Our apartment:
Hot water. Eileen hopped in the shower. After a few minutes, no hot water. Called Becky for help. Did you turn on the hot water heater? Looked at the hot water heater. It looks like it holds about 5 gallons. Next time, quicker showers.
Our toilet. After you flush the toilet, it sounds like one of those horror movies, where something comes up out of the plumbing. Bloop bloop... bloop bloop... bloop, for about 5 minutes. Then another 5 minutes of hissing as water slowly does something.
Our fridge. The poor thing probably needs cleaning. It runs for many minutes, and then rests for just as long. It sounds like a friendly jack hammer. It does keep things cold.
Our bedroom door. The door is a sliding door. I tried to close it from inside the bedroom. It sort of jumped its track. OK, lift it up, put it back, and pull some more. It jumped its track a couple more times, until the door was almost closed. Then I tried to push it back open. No deal. Lift, push, drop, push. Finally I found a way to lift and push, and the door moved, and jumped its track. Several more minutes, and we could leave the bedroom.
Our bed. It's big, so we were not bumping into each other all night. It's like a thin mattress laid down on wood, so it is extra firm. Eileen really likes this. I like softer. There are also ridges under the mattress, sort of like you would find in a bed from a sleeper sofa, only not as cruel. Either the bed is quite good, or we are still jet lagged out of skulls.
Our elevator. With the door closed, its about 4ftx3ft. Scrawled on the wall in English (read it carefully), "Graffiti is not crime." Bad smell inside. Our translator told us that someone probably took their dog our for a walk, but waited too long to start the trip, and the dog did not need to leave the elevator by the time it got to the bottom. Our apartment is on the 9th floor. Seems like the dog could have waited a little longer.
Our view. We can see "Hotel Ukraine", the world's largest most gaudy Christmas tree, one of the largest TV screens in Europe, an ice skating rink, a lighted government building, the statue of independence, a car sitting on a glass roof that is tilted at a 45 degree angle over an underground mall, and lots of clouds (snowed all day).
Downtown Kiev. We are within easy walking distance of McDonalds, O'Brien's, Potato House, the Guam Embassy, many other exciting locations.
All in all, I would say the apartment is OK.
We spent most of today with Becky and Nadia. Becky teaches English to Russians, and Nadia teaches Russian to Americans. They have a car and can speak the language.
They took us to a large Christian church service. Like many modern American churches and mega churches, it had multimedia, live band with drums, bass guitar, etc., a choir, and the volume was painfully loud. A well known poet (well known to many, but not us) got up and read some of his poetry. The pastor gave a sermon of reasonable length service. We have heard of multi-hour services in Ukraine, but not this one. At one point, I think visitors were asked to stand. Becky and Nadia told us stand up. The pastor saw us, and asked us to come up on stage. He asked what we were doing in town. After we told him and everybody else about our adoption plans, he prayed over us and blessed us. This is a pretty big deal, since adoption is just starting to be accepted, even in the church. Becky said it has great meaning when the pastor blesses a couple who are doing this.
After church, we went out to eat. We could have stopped at "Mister Snack", but instead went around the corner to a buffet. We had borsch, chicken Kiev, beets, bread with garlic paste, vareniky (a childhood favorite for Eileen), and NestTea tea. Nadia had kvas. I've had that before, and decided it is a aquired taste. It's a drink that, I was told, tastes like root beer, but it's more like molasses water. Lunch for the two of was was about $10.
Then we travelled to the outdoor market. OK, it's below freezing, light snow is falling, and these people set up stalls every day. No heat, no lights, just small 8x10 stalls. All kinds of goods for sale. Eileen picked up some stuff for our kids, and I got a hat. Becky knows some of the vendors, so we gave them the business (the good kind).
Next we went to a mall. Typical mall. Skating rink, food court, electronics, jewelry, clothes, blah, blah, blah. At one point, it looked like we had stepped back into America. Most writing was in English. "Sale, 50% off." "Lingerie." "Tommy Hilfiger." "Hallmark." "Sbarro." Under the signs was the Ukrainian. (And speaking of English, advertising is here in all its glory. An apartment block is named "Desire." Right.) We stopped iat the equivalent of KMart, to shop for food. When you are buying drinking water, it goes faster than you would imagine.
On the way to the mall was a flea market. This only happens on weekends. It is outdoors, just like the outdoor market. No stalls, just people standing with their goods at their feet. They looked cold.
After the shopping, it was time to eat again. Back to downtown. We tried to eat at O'Brien's, but no wifi (for essential internet connection). So we went to "Planet Sushi". No seating available, but a table was opening soon in the smoking section, so we waited and were seated almost immediately. Again, typical good food, decent prices. As we talked, we found out that Eileen's 2nd cousin is well known in many parts of the Russian speaking world. She has written poetry that has been read over the radio, and her voice was used in a reading of the New Testament. Way to go, V.K.!
We got a new sim card and number for our phone, we are now on "Kiev Star". We'll try to get the new number out soon.
Finally, back to our good old apartment. Last night we got 10 to 11 hours of sleep. It was still hard to get up, but it's almost 10pm now, and we feel good. Maybe we can be completely on Ukrainian time tomorrow.
Hot water. Eileen hopped in the shower. After a few minutes, no hot water. Called Becky for help. Did you turn on the hot water heater? Looked at the hot water heater. It looks like it holds about 5 gallons. Next time, quicker showers.
Our toilet. After you flush the toilet, it sounds like one of those horror movies, where something comes up out of the plumbing. Bloop bloop... bloop bloop... bloop, for about 5 minutes. Then another 5 minutes of hissing as water slowly does something.
Our fridge. The poor thing probably needs cleaning. It runs for many minutes, and then rests for just as long. It sounds like a friendly jack hammer. It does keep things cold.
Our bedroom door. The door is a sliding door. I tried to close it from inside the bedroom. It sort of jumped its track. OK, lift it up, put it back, and pull some more. It jumped its track a couple more times, until the door was almost closed. Then I tried to push it back open. No deal. Lift, push, drop, push. Finally I found a way to lift and push, and the door moved, and jumped its track. Several more minutes, and we could leave the bedroom.
Our bed. It's big, so we were not bumping into each other all night. It's like a thin mattress laid down on wood, so it is extra firm. Eileen really likes this. I like softer. There are also ridges under the mattress, sort of like you would find in a bed from a sleeper sofa, only not as cruel. Either the bed is quite good, or we are still jet lagged out of skulls.
Our elevator. With the door closed, its about 4ftx3ft. Scrawled on the wall in English (read it carefully), "Graffiti is not crime." Bad smell inside. Our translator told us that someone probably took their dog our for a walk, but waited too long to start the trip, and the dog did not need to leave the elevator by the time it got to the bottom. Our apartment is on the 9th floor. Seems like the dog could have waited a little longer.
Our view. We can see "Hotel Ukraine", the world's largest most gaudy Christmas tree, one of the largest TV screens in Europe, an ice skating rink, a lighted government building, the statue of independence, a car sitting on a glass roof that is tilted at a 45 degree angle over an underground mall, and lots of clouds (snowed all day).
Downtown Kiev. We are within easy walking distance of McDonalds, O'Brien's, Potato House, the Guam Embassy, many other exciting locations.
All in all, I would say the apartment is OK.
We spent most of today with Becky and Nadia. Becky teaches English to Russians, and Nadia teaches Russian to Americans. They have a car and can speak the language.
They took us to a large Christian church service. Like many modern American churches and mega churches, it had multimedia, live band with drums, bass guitar, etc., a choir, and the volume was painfully loud. A well known poet (well known to many, but not us) got up and read some of his poetry. The pastor gave a sermon of reasonable length service. We have heard of multi-hour services in Ukraine, but not this one. At one point, I think visitors were asked to stand. Becky and Nadia told us stand up. The pastor saw us, and asked us to come up on stage. He asked what we were doing in town. After we told him and everybody else about our adoption plans, he prayed over us and blessed us. This is a pretty big deal, since adoption is just starting to be accepted, even in the church. Becky said it has great meaning when the pastor blesses a couple who are doing this.
After church, we went out to eat. We could have stopped at "Mister Snack", but instead went around the corner to a buffet. We had borsch, chicken Kiev, beets, bread with garlic paste, vareniky (a childhood favorite for Eileen), and NestTea tea. Nadia had kvas. I've had that before, and decided it is a aquired taste. It's a drink that, I was told, tastes like root beer, but it's more like molasses water. Lunch for the two of was was about $10.
Then we travelled to the outdoor market. OK, it's below freezing, light snow is falling, and these people set up stalls every day. No heat, no lights, just small 8x10 stalls. All kinds of goods for sale. Eileen picked up some stuff for our kids, and I got a hat. Becky knows some of the vendors, so we gave them the business (the good kind).
Next we went to a mall. Typical mall. Skating rink, food court, electronics, jewelry, clothes, blah, blah, blah. At one point, it looked like we had stepped back into America. Most writing was in English. "Sale, 50% off." "Lingerie." "Tommy Hilfiger." "Hallmark." "Sbarro." Under the signs was the Ukrainian. (And speaking of English, advertising is here in all its glory. An apartment block is named "Desire." Right.) We stopped iat the equivalent of KMart, to shop for food. When you are buying drinking water, it goes faster than you would imagine.
On the way to the mall was a flea market. This only happens on weekends. It is outdoors, just like the outdoor market. No stalls, just people standing with their goods at their feet. They looked cold.
After the shopping, it was time to eat again. Back to downtown. We tried to eat at O'Brien's, but no wifi (for essential internet connection). So we went to "Planet Sushi". No seating available, but a table was opening soon in the smoking section, so we waited and were seated almost immediately. Again, typical good food, decent prices. As we talked, we found out that Eileen's 2nd cousin is well known in many parts of the Russian speaking world. She has written poetry that has been read over the radio, and her voice was used in a reading of the New Testament. Way to go, V.K.!
We got a new sim card and number for our phone, we are now on "Kiev Star". We'll try to get the new number out soon.
Finally, back to our good old apartment. Last night we got 10 to 11 hours of sleep. It was still hard to get up, but it's almost 10pm now, and we feel good. Maybe we can be completely on Ukrainian time tomorrow.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Day 1
Rolan:
The adventure started the night before. A raccoon came back to our house, climbed on the roof, and started digging at the wood shingles. This is not the first time. I got out a long pole I used to paint the house, attached a roller frame, climbed a ladder to the roof of the house, and started poking this raccoon, to make him move. I had to chase him all around the roof, until he finally climbed into a tree that brushes the house. That's all the further he went. I checked out the damage, and found that he had already dug through the wood shingles. One web site suggests using wolf urine to keep him away.
After 24 hours of travel, we are now in our apartment in downtown Kiev. Our flight had two layovers, each lasting 3 hours. A little long, but it let us leave Denver in the morning, and arrive in Kiev in the afternoon. Lufthansa rocks! They served good food, with alcoholic beverage. Trying to sleep while sitting up in a narrow plane seat does not rock. I had ear plugs. As they expanded in my ears, the noise of the jets became less and less, until it was a faint noise. Then the child in the cabin started screaming. If jet engines are 180 db, then this child must be 240 db.
Eileen:
We got our leg room for the overseas flight by getting bulkhead seats but we were right under the movie monitor and next to the bathroom. The former provided an unwelcome bright white light, the later saw almost continuous use during the night. Just a heads up for fellow travelers. I was surprised by the brief night. Yeah, I knew it was going to be short but I didn't know it would be that short. We left Chicago at 4:30 pm and arrived in Germany about midnight, Chicago time. Maybe 1 hour 30 minutes sleep by that point. It was 7:00 am Dusseldorf tme. One would sort of expect some trace of sunlight but I could have sworn someone was playing a joke on us and it was midnight in Dusseldorf too. They wanted us to go to security. Never done that before between flights. I sort of woke up at one point when a female security gaurd started patting me down. I wasn't even awake enough to say, "Hey!"
Rolan:
What we saw of Dusseldorf airport felt like a video game. Many of the walls were glass framed in shiny steel. Lots of halogen lights. There were stairs going down, unreachable behind glass walls. How do you get to them? The only water I could find was from the restroom sink. As Americans going to Ukraine, we were turned away from the boarding gate. "You must have a green stamp on your boarding pass. Downstairs." OK. Once we got someone to look at our passports and boarding passes, we got a green stamp. Back upstairs, everything is ok.
Eileen:
Heidi and Felix let us use their phone. It gave us a security blanket to have a number to call (already in the phone) when we arrived and didn't see our facilitator, Olga. Thanks guys! It was great to go to a grocery store right away and get a bunch of food and pay for it with grivnas. (Thanks Heidi and Felix and Kari!) The bread here is terrific and the butter and we found a good salami to have for dinner. I bought eggs and cheese and chicken too so we don't have to use up our emergency food supply of instant oatmeal and soups. We went to test the gas stove and thought for sure the gas war with Russia was finally taking its toll. Couldn't get the thing to light. Found out there is a valve you have to turn behind the stove (kinda like your gas grill). Managed to light it so we can have cooked eggs in the morning. Our apartment is kind of sparse but has a dynamite view of the square which is lit quite nicely and has special looking buildings downtown. It'll do.
Message to Kari: One extra roll.
Rolan:
Getting through customs in Kiev was no problem. Our driver is Sasha. He drives fast. The speed limit says 90 km/hr, he goes 140.
The adventure started the night before. A raccoon came back to our house, climbed on the roof, and started digging at the wood shingles. This is not the first time. I got out a long pole I used to paint the house, attached a roller frame, climbed a ladder to the roof of the house, and started poking this raccoon, to make him move. I had to chase him all around the roof, until he finally climbed into a tree that brushes the house. That's all the further he went. I checked out the damage, and found that he had already dug through the wood shingles. One web site suggests using wolf urine to keep him away.
After 24 hours of travel, we are now in our apartment in downtown Kiev. Our flight had two layovers, each lasting 3 hours. A little long, but it let us leave Denver in the morning, and arrive in Kiev in the afternoon. Lufthansa rocks! They served good food, with alcoholic beverage. Trying to sleep while sitting up in a narrow plane seat does not rock. I had ear plugs. As they expanded in my ears, the noise of the jets became less and less, until it was a faint noise. Then the child in the cabin started screaming. If jet engines are 180 db, then this child must be 240 db.
Eileen:
We got our leg room for the overseas flight by getting bulkhead seats but we were right under the movie monitor and next to the bathroom. The former provided an unwelcome bright white light, the later saw almost continuous use during the night. Just a heads up for fellow travelers. I was surprised by the brief night. Yeah, I knew it was going to be short but I didn't know it would be that short. We left Chicago at 4:30 pm and arrived in Germany about midnight, Chicago time. Maybe 1 hour 30 minutes sleep by that point. It was 7:00 am Dusseldorf tme. One would sort of expect some trace of sunlight but I could have sworn someone was playing a joke on us and it was midnight in Dusseldorf too. They wanted us to go to security. Never done that before between flights. I sort of woke up at one point when a female security gaurd started patting me down. I wasn't even awake enough to say, "Hey!"
Rolan:
What we saw of Dusseldorf airport felt like a video game. Many of the walls were glass framed in shiny steel. Lots of halogen lights. There were stairs going down, unreachable behind glass walls. How do you get to them? The only water I could find was from the restroom sink. As Americans going to Ukraine, we were turned away from the boarding gate. "You must have a green stamp on your boarding pass. Downstairs." OK. Once we got someone to look at our passports and boarding passes, we got a green stamp. Back upstairs, everything is ok.
Eileen:
Heidi and Felix let us use their phone. It gave us a security blanket to have a number to call (already in the phone) when we arrived and didn't see our facilitator, Olga. Thanks guys! It was great to go to a grocery store right away and get a bunch of food and pay for it with grivnas. (Thanks Heidi and Felix and Kari!) The bread here is terrific and the butter and we found a good salami to have for dinner. I bought eggs and cheese and chicken too so we don't have to use up our emergency food supply of instant oatmeal and soups. We went to test the gas stove and thought for sure the gas war with Russia was finally taking its toll. Couldn't get the thing to light. Found out there is a valve you have to turn behind the stove (kinda like your gas grill). Managed to light it so we can have cooked eggs in the morning. Our apartment is kind of sparse but has a dynamite view of the square which is lit quite nicely and has special looking buildings downtown. It'll do.
Message to Kari: One extra roll.
Rolan:
Getting through customs in Kiev was no problem. Our driver is Sasha. He drives fast. The speed limit says 90 km/hr, he goes 140.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
. . . One . . .
"I'm okay to go," Jodie foster said quietly, sitting in the space pod that would soon whisk her across the universe. Mission control kept asking her if she was okay so she started repeating it over and over as the sound of the machine grew louder and louder. "Okay to go . . okay to go . . .okay to go . . "
Last minute scrambling to get a few more things packed for the kids: balloons, candy, books. Yesterday a lady from the Longmont newspaper called wanting to do a story on the families that are adopting from Ukraine in our area. "Yes!!" An hour just talking away about the last four years with our Boulder County fost/adopt experiences. Shared the story of my great grandpa whom I'm so proud of that had an orphanage in Ukraine. I showed her pictures. Praying Jesus will bless the story. (Its okay Kari) A raccoon visiting our garage left us a present. My fault, forgot to close the door. Cover the beds so they will be fresh when the girls come home. Give the plants I moved last summer some extra water. The dry winter kills here. Pack my crochet hook so I have something to do there. I hope I can find a yarn shop. (Poor Ukraine, someone should warn them a woman with too much time on her hands is coming with a crochet hook). Talk to Mom and give her all the phone numbers for everyone. Find out a good friend has cancer. Think about making lunch for tomorrow. Pack some more yarn. Wait for Rolan to come home. I get to be with him on this trip. I love that idea.
I'm okay to go, okay to go.
Last minute scrambling to get a few more things packed for the kids: balloons, candy, books. Yesterday a lady from the Longmont newspaper called wanting to do a story on the families that are adopting from Ukraine in our area. "Yes!!" An hour just talking away about the last four years with our Boulder County fost/adopt experiences. Shared the story of my great grandpa whom I'm so proud of that had an orphanage in Ukraine. I showed her pictures. Praying Jesus will bless the story. (Its okay Kari) A raccoon visiting our garage left us a present. My fault, forgot to close the door. Cover the beds so they will be fresh when the girls come home. Give the plants I moved last summer some extra water. The dry winter kills here. Pack my crochet hook so I have something to do there. I hope I can find a yarn shop. (Poor Ukraine, someone should warn them a woman with too much time on her hands is coming with a crochet hook). Talk to Mom and give her all the phone numbers for everyone. Find out a good friend has cancer. Think about making lunch for tomorrow. Pack some more yarn. Wait for Rolan to come home. I get to be with him on this trip. I love that idea.
I'm okay to go, okay to go.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
. . .Three . . .
Four years of pursuing kids. Training, paperwork, prayers. To our three foster kids and 2 foreign orphan kids for a summer, our little church has been more than gracious. We didn't drag Crestview through our dreams and passions, they put their arm around us and walked with us.
They gave us a shower to fill our closets with needed clothes and toys. The foster kids came with little or nothing and left with full suitcases. Hand me downs and gift cards to Target came for unmentionables and play clothes. Orphan kids also came at Rolan's and my invitation without asking our church's support, and again Crestview Church showered us with clothes and toys, knowing Ro and I would give all away to be left with nothing for the next group of kids. I thought they would grow tired of it.
Sunday the 4th, they took an offering for Sasha and Nastia's Orphanage. Our little church with maybe 100 people, gave almost $1,600! Now Ro and I will be able to go and buy something needed by the orphanage, help the children and their caretakers as well as stimulate the local economy. There will be joy in Slavyansk this winter! What a great witness. Jesus sends his love Slavyansk, through his servants at Crestview Church.
I'm so proud to be part of a congregation of people who are generous and compassionate, even during times when the future is uncertain. I'm humbled by their faithfulness. I'm confident they will model Jesus for our new daughters.
They gave us a shower to fill our closets with needed clothes and toys. The foster kids came with little or nothing and left with full suitcases. Hand me downs and gift cards to Target came for unmentionables and play clothes. Orphan kids also came at Rolan's and my invitation without asking our church's support, and again Crestview Church showered us with clothes and toys, knowing Ro and I would give all away to be left with nothing for the next group of kids. I thought they would grow tired of it.
Sunday the 4th, they took an offering for Sasha and Nastia's Orphanage. Our little church with maybe 100 people, gave almost $1,600! Now Ro and I will be able to go and buy something needed by the orphanage, help the children and their caretakers as well as stimulate the local economy. There will be joy in Slavyansk this winter! What a great witness. Jesus sends his love Slavyansk, through his servants at Crestview Church.
I'm so proud to be part of a congregation of people who are generous and compassionate, even during times when the future is uncertain. I'm humbled by their faithfulness. I'm confident they will model Jesus for our new daughters.
Monday, January 12, 2009
. . .Four . . .
The rooms are getting cleaned up. The purple room is beautiful! Starting to pack. What a chore. Okay, maybe we really don't need 55 packets of instant oatmeal. We are going to Ukraine not the wilderness. Take the 'pepcid' out of the box since it's twice the size of the container. Grouping stuff together for ease of organization. The plastic zippered bags you get when you buy sheets and blankets are good for that. I have my medicine bag, my 'thank you' gift bags in a bag, my entertaining-and-educating-the-girls bag and my . . . okay, my suitcase full of hats. My secret fear is that they will be so geeky the kids won't want them.
Remembering what a scaredy-cat I am about everything. Really getting nervous. There was a sermon yesterday morning but I had trouble focusing on it. Not that I was making mental lists or anything. I've trained myself not to worry but the nebulous fear is still with me. The worst thing to do is allow it to paralyze me. The temptation to do nothing rears its head. Nothing. Just do what Ive been doing. I've already raised kids. Hey, life doing nothing isn't so bad! Yeah, right. I would rather suffer with difficult children than be guilty of doing nothing. You know its a trick of the enemy if it makes you ineffective for the kingdom. Not an option.
Last night, rather unexpectedly, a sudden peace came over me. It was so relaxing. I knew it meant someone was praying for us. Thank you.
Remembering what a scaredy-cat I am about everything. Really getting nervous. There was a sermon yesterday morning but I had trouble focusing on it. Not that I was making mental lists or anything. I've trained myself not to worry but the nebulous fear is still with me. The worst thing to do is allow it to paralyze me. The temptation to do nothing rears its head. Nothing. Just do what Ive been doing. I've already raised kids. Hey, life doing nothing isn't so bad! Yeah, right. I would rather suffer with difficult children than be guilty of doing nothing. You know its a trick of the enemy if it makes you ineffective for the kingdom. Not an option.
Last night, rather unexpectedly, a sudden peace came over me. It was so relaxing. I knew it meant someone was praying for us. Thank you.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
. . . Eight . . .
A fire just west of here in our beautiful foothills. Could smell the burning grass as the sun set and the wind blew the smoke in our direction. 1,000 homes evacuated. Whose? Where? The hills are about 5 miles away.
I got up about midnight and looked out the west window. I saw an orange glow. The wind blew hard and the glow brightened. I thought the fire was out! The wind had been fierce the past couple of days revealing local home owners' weak fences, sick trees, downing and scattering dead branches over lawns and streets. As I pulled the covers over my head, I wondered how long it would take the fire to reach us. 50 mile an hour wind. Would we get the evacuation call in the night? What would I take?!
House or no house, I'm taking the passports and dossier! Even if the house burns down, I'm going to go to Ukraine to get my kids!
I got up about midnight and looked out the west window. I saw an orange glow. The wind blew hard and the glow brightened. I thought the fire was out! The wind had been fierce the past couple of days revealing local home owners' weak fences, sick trees, downing and scattering dead branches over lawns and streets. As I pulled the covers over my head, I wondered how long it would take the fire to reach us. 50 mile an hour wind. Would we get the evacuation call in the night? What would I take?!
House or no house, I'm taking the passports and dossier! Even if the house burns down, I'm going to go to Ukraine to get my kids!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
. . .Nine . . .
(A peak inside the head of the expectant mother.)
Shopping. More sheets. Blankets. Eye shadow sampler for gifts. $1 ped kits for fun time with girls. Already have cheap polish.
Making another bulletin board. Cindy wants to sleep on the satin fabric leftovers.
Cat nesting materials never cease to amaze me.
Rub Tung oil all over the pine dresser. Two more coats 48 hours apart. Careful not to get any on the new carpet. Hmmmm, seems to bring out all the dirt didn't notice before. Oh, well, guess it gets sealed in.
Expect to be there over Valentines Day. It would be nice to bring a packet of stickers, cards, etc. to make with the girls. Glitter glue. Is that asking for it?
Does it wash out?
I made scarves for Sasha and Nastia. I think a light blue for Vika would be envied. A little satin yarn with this fuzzy stuff crocheted in.
I promised Sasha some girls play makeup when she was here and could find any. Target now has girls lip gloss the flavor of Cotton Candy (Lord, have mercy).
Line shelves in Purple room closet. I like 'Contact Paper'. Little pink flowers.
Finished another hat.
Can put all the paint cans away now. Seven?! How did I manage to open seven cans?
Dang, I'm pooped.
Shopping. More sheets. Blankets. Eye shadow sampler for gifts. $1 ped kits for fun time with girls. Already have cheap polish.
Making another bulletin board. Cindy wants to sleep on the satin fabric leftovers.
Cat nesting materials never cease to amaze me.
Rub Tung oil all over the pine dresser. Two more coats 48 hours apart. Careful not to get any on the new carpet. Hmmmm, seems to bring out all the dirt didn't notice before. Oh, well, guess it gets sealed in.
Expect to be there over Valentines Day. It would be nice to bring a packet of stickers, cards, etc. to make with the girls. Glitter glue. Is that asking for it?
Does it wash out?
I made scarves for Sasha and Nastia. I think a light blue for Vika would be envied. A little satin yarn with this fuzzy stuff crocheted in.
I promised Sasha some girls play makeup when she was here and could find any. Target now has girls lip gloss the flavor of Cotton Candy (Lord, have mercy).
Line shelves in Purple room closet. I like 'Contact Paper'. Little pink flowers.
Finished another hat.
Can put all the paint cans away now. Seven?! How did I manage to open seven cans?
Dang, I'm pooped.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Like That Chicken
. . . with his head cut off. The one that's still running around. Yeah, that's me. WE LEAVE NEXT WEEK! I think I'm probably making more work for myself than I need to but it is a necessary distraction as well as an attempt to make things easier for myself when we get back. I'm just a little nervous. And you know, you wouldn't want to bring a newborn baby home to a dirty house or one that needs repair. Well, I don't want to bring my girls home to a house that needs attention either!
Trying to pay attention to the news as well. Have decided to bring the full length down coat, glove liners, one down and one fleece throw and wool sweaters instead of cotton in addition to the rest of the warm clothes already planned. In the middle of winter, Russia and Ukraine are in a dispute about the price of the precious natural gas that heats the boilers of Ukraine, as well as the rest of Europe. Russia has been suffering with the economic downturn, and well, let's just grab Europe by the throat, shall we? Russia says to self, "A little boost in price (okay, big BOLSHOY boost in price) will help Russian economy, dah!" This gas is piped through Ukraine to the rest of Europe and, hey, Ukraine wants a cut of the profits. Or a discount at least. Sounds fair. Russia says nyet. Cuts off gas to Ukraine. Ukraine is using reserve now. In a couple of weeks that gas will run out and . . . Did I mention that in High School, I was voted most likely to 'freeze to death in Arizona in July'?
I've made about 40 hats out of my leftover yarn so far. Say, does anyone happen to know the population of Ukraine?
Trying to pay attention to the news as well. Have decided to bring the full length down coat, glove liners, one down and one fleece throw and wool sweaters instead of cotton in addition to the rest of the warm clothes already planned. In the middle of winter, Russia and Ukraine are in a dispute about the price of the precious natural gas that heats the boilers of Ukraine, as well as the rest of Europe. Russia has been suffering with the economic downturn, and well, let's just grab Europe by the throat, shall we? Russia says to self, "A little boost in price (okay, big BOLSHOY boost in price) will help Russian economy, dah!" This gas is piped through Ukraine to the rest of Europe and, hey, Ukraine wants a cut of the profits. Or a discount at least. Sounds fair. Russia says nyet. Cuts off gas to Ukraine. Ukraine is using reserve now. In a couple of weeks that gas will run out and . . . Did I mention that in High School, I was voted most likely to 'freeze to death in Arizona in July'?
I've made about 40 hats out of my leftover yarn so far. Say, does anyone happen to know the population of Ukraine?
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