Differences

The first time we were here, it was freezing. Temperatures got down to minus 10 and 11 Fahrenheit. Both of us have always lived on the Gulf Coast, so this was a shock to us! It rarely snows where we live, much less gets under freezing.

This visit is very different. There are actually green plants everywhere. We saw gardens in almost every open space near homes along the train tracks. People are planting flowers everywhere. There were a couple of hot, humid days here, but since the rain a couple of days ago, it has been cool. One night it was even cool enough for a jacket. That never happens at home during the summer!

T looks forward to visiting with us every day. There were a couple of days she didn't want to hug Papa, but we found out that the kids tease her. Today, though, as we were all getting into the taxi, she asked Papa for a hug. We also found out that one of the teachers was giving her a hard time for staying with us instead of eating.

There is another girl here getting adopted by a couple who live in our state. We will probably keep in touch with them. She and T are singing buddies.

Another thing I've noticed that is different from what many adoptive parents have said is that the women here wear every color imaginable. I like wearing capris in the summer and I have seen many wear them here. Though, they are much tighter than I would wear mine! Shoes are bright colors as well and they don't necessarily match the clothes, but they do have to match the purse. lol I've also seen striped shirts with print pants. Combinations I wouldn't put together. Also, the brighter the colors, the better. Summer dress is the opposite of winter dress.

Trying to Establish a Routine

We are finally getting our bearings around here. At first it seemed like it took forever to do anything. Finding food is a major undertaking. There are many, many places to buy food, but they all carry something different. We like Coke Light. Only a few places have it. We DON'T like bologna, but we try to find the best quality and will eat it in pinch. All places have bologna. lol Chicken is our first choice, but you can't find chicken lunch meat. We can buy a whole rotisserie chicken at a little place called the 'Chicken Grille' That is all they sell. The chicken is very good. We can also buy chicken kabobs at the supermarket, but three kabobs are almost as much as a whole chicken. Our next choice of meat is ham or 'veecheenah'. The quality of that varies. It isn't really any more expensive than the salami or 'kielbasa' you find everywhere here. We can find lots to eat, but all of it gets boring when you are trying to find enough to eat for three meals every day and are limited to just a hot pot.

We go to the orphanage every day from 10am until 1pm. We do look forward to seeing all our little friends. Yesterday, we came as they were all washing the rugs. That was a pretty good way to keep them all busy and wear them out. lol The orphanage has an above ground pool that 10 kids at a time can swim in after their afternoon nap. They have to wait until there is someone to supervise them. They were using the water in the pool to wash and rinse the rugs. This soon became a contest as to who could dump the most water on whom.

The orphanage is down in numbers right now because it is summer and many of the children are with their parents or other relatives. It is hard to understand why they stay in the orphanage if they have relatives. Our facilitator stated the same thing. He doesn't understand either and this is his country. He said even if they are poor, they should be able to find a way to make it work. The orphanage is really not referred to as an orphanage here. They call it an internat or boarding school. Many families here are single mothers with many children in the family. One girl told us she is the only girl in the family with five brothers. I think that is why. This orphanage has many large sibling groups. Alcohol abuse is another reason. If parents are found neglectful, their rights are terminated. The sad thing is that the majority don't take steps to have their rights re-instated.

S-Town

We have settled in in S-town. All is well and T and everyone seems happy. We visit in the morning with T and the other children. We have been staying outside to visit and we can see the other kids also. My little sweetie N had a birthday this week. She turned twelve. We took her a card and gift and some cake things for the kids. It rips a hole in my heart every time I spend time with those kids. They all come by to check things out, but then there are our friends who stay to spend time with us.
The courtyard is big and most is paved. They ride bicycles, kick balls, and just hang around.

They did not have the funds to send them to camp this year so they have little to do. P is the most friendly of the boys. He won an award for his drawings and ran in three different times to show us drawings and projects he had done. P is fifteen and appears to be maybe twelve. He is always laughing and always glad to see us and likes to spend time with the cab driver.

Part of me had rather not get to know these kids any better. If you know they are here, but you don't know who they are, it is easier not to care. But if you spend time with them, and you are sitting here with candy in your pocket that they have insisted you take from them, then it's not as easy not to care.

Papa Dennis

Crazy Busy

Yesterday, we were sitting here at the internet place when the lady in charge decided to turn off all the computers because of lightning. They have four new computers for the internet. They are so much nicer than the old slow ones they had last year. I had a terrible time last year typing for any length of time with the old keyboards.

Anyway, we have been kept very busy ever since our SDA appointment on Wednesday morning at 9am. Things went very well. We received our referral the same evening, then raced off to catch the train. We met a couple from Mississippi and saw another couple we met on the plane. They had their SDA appointment the day before, but had to wait for their referral because the lady who signs them was off on Tuesday.

Now, on to the news, I'm sure you're waiting to hear. We arrived in S-town at 8:50 am. We were met by our friend's taxi driver and another taxi because we had too much luggage. Eighty percent of our luggage is shoes, clothes and toys for the kids. We grew to know and love so many of these kids during our last visit, that we just had to bring them some things. I thought we had agreed to wait until the last to give them their toys, but Dennis is so anxious to give the toys to them, he said we would take some tomorrow. We'll see. We love giving them things, but we can't bring them loads of stuff every day. They will come to expect it.

After departing the train, we drive to S-town and unload our stuff at our now very familiar apartment. They are ready for us with the keys. It looks exactly the same except I believe they did finally get a new mattress for that extremely saggy bed. It had two valleys on each side with a hill in the middle. LOL We then drive to the inspector's office. I recognize her right away. It took her a few minutes to realize who we were even after she saw Karina. Karina had grown and changed so much in the last year. The facilitator, Dennis, Karina and I squeeze into the back seat of this oh-so-little-car with the inspector in the front seat. Anyone who's been here knows what I'm talking about. The director is not in today, so we meet with the assistant director, N, and the head of the teachers along with T. T is excited to see us all. If you knew her, you would definitely know this is very good. She is very shy. They are telling us all the good things about her. She is then asked to write a statement that she wants to be adopted by us and go to America. The inspector asked her to do this so that she won't have to make another visit to the orphanage. She writes a paper with the proper wording and signs her last name. This is so much better than the first time we arrived in December 2007. T was very stand-offish and told everyone she didn't know whether she wanted to come with us and wanted 2 days to think about it. This time, though, we told her we needed to decide on her new middle name. She will keep her first name. Karina came on this trip to be our interpreter, but at this moment she was busy talking to some of the other kids. T does her little pouty face and I don't understand why. I was afraid she was wanting to change her mind. What she wanted was to tell Karina what she had decided her middle name should be. Gabriella. She wanted the name of a High School Musical character. We are thrilled because this means she has been thinking about it!:) She is anxious to come. She's afraid her aunt will interfere. We have told her that this is her decision. She has all the say. Of course, we want her to come, but only if it is really what she wants. And it is!:)

A Trip to Remember

Well, I originally wanted a catchier title than the regular, 'we are in Kiev or Hello from Kiev'. We are here, but not without a ton of 'excitement'. The first leg of our flight was very normal. Nothing unexpected. We arrived at JFK, found things to do to pass the time, walked around, found out where our gate was supposed to be, ate lunch at a somewhat expensive Chili's in the airport, then settled in the waiting area of our 'supposed' gate to watch planes. We later find out that we needed to be at another gate. Karina found a 'babushka' to talk to. She wanted to practice her English. She helped another lady figure out how to dial the phone since she only spoke Russian. Then, it was time to board the plane. Everything went like all normal flights were supposed to go, until about midnight New York time, 5am London time. So, you should be saying, 'why did she mention London?' Well, it seems that our flight crew decided to make an unexpected landing in London. One attendant said there were electrical issues, then the captain came on the loud speaker and said there was some oil leaking out of engine number one. Of course, they didn't want around 150 or so passengers panicking, but they sure landed that plane fast! The captain said that since it was 5am in London, no repair crew was available to fix our plane, so we sat for a while and waited. Then they told us that we would be staying the night at the Holiday Inn there and leaving the next morning. That was somewhat okay for us even though we had no phone or internet to communicate with anyone. There were two other families on the plane with SDA appointments the next morning, so they had to find a way out. They were exhausted once they arrived here, but the airline did find them a flight out that afternoon. They would have liked a direct flight like they booked, but at least they made it to their appointments.

Anyway, we are here in Kiev now at the internet cafe in Independence Square. We've walked around exploring and eaten a couple of meals. We are staying just around the corner from and have spent the evening with R.

I'll have to tell why I will never want to go through London again in another post so that I will remember:0

Morning Flight

We are flying to Kiev, Ukraine in the morning. It is here. June is right, I can't decide what to take. We have three check in bags, maybe four, that are right at fifty pounds each. The more you take as donations and gifts, the less room you have for your own clothes. You want to take the best for the kids and then have to cram your clothes in a carry on bag.

I must take my journal. Last trip it helped to write down what happened that day. You do a lot, and you see a lot, and some days are pretty darn emotional. I write what we have endured that day in my journal and then, just maybe, I can close my eyes at the end of the day. Sometimes not.

If there is anything anyone wants from Kiev or Stakhanov, let me know. How about a pair of pointy Ukraine shoes? Maybe a Ukraine disco CD?
S&T, I wish I could bring you a Premium Bologna pizza from City Pizza. Better yet, we'll just meet you there for pizza and piva.

Papa Dennis

Last Post Before We Arrive in Kiev

This will probably be the last time I will be able to post before we land in Kiev on Monday morning. I only have today and tomorrow to get everything done. We are almost all packed. Someone in our family procrastinates until the last moment, but we won't mention his name;) To be fair, though, he did give me most of his clothes last night, he just has to pick out a couple more things.

Well, I'm off now to finish up all the little detail things that need to be done before we are away from home for at least 4-6 weeks. Please pray it is closer to 4! We'll post again once we arrive in Kiev.

Dos-vah-don-yah!:)
(Goodbye)