Well, we have Katya's new birth certificate. Whew! I had my doubts, though, as to whether or not we were going to get it. We were supposed to leave at 5:30 am, then Elena called last night and said they would be here to pick us up between 6:30 and 7:00 am. Tony decided this morning that 4:30 am was an excellent time to wake up and would not go back to sleep. It gets light here at about 4:00 am and the birds decide that they need to sing. It is also so hot that we have to have the windows open and since the apartment faces main street we hear cars passing by all night. On top of that, people around here don't seem to have the concept that people may be sleeping and they will yell, sing, throw beer bottles, etc. at any hour of the night. In other words, it is very noisy around here and almost impossible to get a good night's sleep. So, I was up well before 6:30 am but woke Katya up at 6:15 am. She got dressed, had breakfast, and then we waited and waited and waited...Katya kept coming up to me saying, "Mom?" and "sleep?". Finally, Elena called at about 7:15 and said that they were on their way but that they wouldn't be here for another 45 minutes. This would have been nice to know an hour earlier!
Oleg, Oksana, and Elena finally arrived and we were off for the city of A (I don't know the name of it, so once I find out I will fill it in). It took about 2 1/2 hours to get there. The drive was actually very pretty. Alex and I had been to this town once before, in connection with our visit to Katya's brother, but we both slept on the way there and the way back. I was awake most of the time and looked at the scenery. There was mostly farmland with small houses. On the side of the road there occasionally were these cement stands that I think are bus stops. They had those in Guatemala, too, to give you a place to stand in the heat to wait for the bus - the only difference was that here they didn't all have big Pepsi advertisements. The farmland looked to be corn, hay, and sunflowers. At first I wondered why they would want to grow big fields of sunflowers but then I remembered what Katya's favorite snack is - sunflower seeds! Those come from sunflowers, don't they? On the sides of the roads, they would occasionally have the name of a city with a red diagonal line through it. I realized that this was meant to tell you that if you were looking for that city, you were going the wrong way. Funny! On the outskirts of town, there were houses with fairly big yards that had tons of greenery in the back. In one of the yards, I saw a man walking around in his underwear (yes, his boxer briefs!) This was not a good sight!
Once we arrived, we had a hard time finding the birth certificate office and Oleg and Oksana had to ask for directions, at one point was directed to follow a path that turned into a "walk only" path (I seriously thought Oleg was going to drive on it anyway!), turned around and finally made it to our destination at about 10:30 am. We met with the lady that was going to help us get the birth certificate. I think I posted in a previous blog that the person that normally handles the birth certificates was out of town and that this lady didn't know how to use a computer (according to Oksana) and so the confidence that she was going to be able to get us what we needed wasn't really great. The lady looked at the paperwork for quite a while and then told us that the birth certificate wouldn't be ready until 4 pm. Ugh! What did she have to do? Wasn't it as easy as typing up a new one? The lady told us that we should go sight seeing and come back, after we made copies of several documents that she needed (apparently, this office does not have a copy machine and we were going to have to go and hunt one down). If you saw this town, you would understand why the suggestion to go sight seeing was absurd. This town had even less to do than Dniprodzerzinsky (the town we are staying in) so the thought of sight seeing did not sound appealing. But no worries, we found something else to occupy our time because after making the requested copies and dropping them off, the lady informed Oksana that the dates on our translated document for our marriage license were incorrect (the translated document had 1996 instead of 1998) and that she couldn't give us the birth certificate until it was corrected. The court didn't look at our stuff close enough to notice this and yet this lady who is preparing a document that has absolutely nothing to do with the date we were married is insisting on this correction. Give me a break! This is where Oksana's ingenuity is demonstrated. Oksana assured her that they would give her a corrected document and in the meantime convinced the lady to keep working on the birth certificate.
We had prepared two dossiers, one for Katya and one for Sasha. Since we hadn't used the dossier for Sasha, Oksana still had it with her and in it was an original marriage license and all we had to do was prepare a new translation document, have Elena sign it and get it notarized. So, for the next two hours, this is what we did.
We first stopped at a bank to exchange money since I had tried to exchange money the day before and apparently it was a holiday (Constitution Day). I have never seen a country with so many holidays. We lucked out in June, only having two holidays. But I think in May there were at least five. They took FOREVER at the bank. I think they had to print the money :) While we were waiting, Katya listened to her iPod and sang along to Hannah Montana - but the singing sounds more like moaning with some occasional pitch changes. She was not really very quiet, to say the least, and I think she was annoying the other bank customers but I didn't care. I could catch a couple of English words ("You said", although I think it was supposed to be "Who said") and I thought her singing was very cute. Who says you can't learn English by listening to Hannah Montana!
After the bank, we found an internet cafe that charges 3 gryvnas (about $.50) for an hour of computer time. This inexpensive computer time would explain why all the computers were occupied with little boys playing video games. But no worries! Oksansa somehow sweet-talked the guy into letting us use his personal office computer. You gotta love Oksana - she really knows how to get things done! So, we prepared the document, Oleg had found a notary, had lunch, and then we delivered the corrected document to the birth certificate lady. We then waited out in front of the birth certificate office for our birth certificate to be done. Oksana played badminton with Katya to entertain her. Although Oksana wasn't wearing high-heels today, she still was quite a sight playing in her dress. They got the birdie caught in a tree and Oleg tried to help get it out with no success (I will try and post pictures tomorrow) and luckily they had another birdie in the car. After Oksana broke a nail and quit, I tried to play and Katya decided that I really sucked and didn't want to play anymore.
Finally, our birth certificate was ready. It was about 3:30 pm. When we went inside to pick up the certificate, the lady was like an entirely new person. She was nice and cordial and accomidating. It was very strange. She wished that I never regret my decision because she said that every child needs to have parents. She was surprised that Katya was my adopted daughter because she said that she looked so much like me.
So, tomorrow we are off to Dnipropetrosk to get the registration card and apply for the passport. Wish us luck!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Stoop Sitting
There are two benches outside the apartment. One of them has all four slats and one of them only has two slats. Obviously, the bench with the four slats is the most preferable. There are people here that literally sit out on these benches all day long. Usually you will see three ladies, an old man, or a man with a weiner dog sitting out there. My mom was sitting on one of the benches one day and one of the ladies that was "stoop sitting" tried to start a conversation with her. "Ya ni ponimayo", my mom said and then tried to say something in English to the lady. "Ya ni ponimayo" the lady said, as she held up two fingers. My mom laughed because the only thing that they could really communicate to each other was that it was definately too hot in the "doma" (house)! When we are in our apartment, we can hear the ladies down on the benches talking about the "americanos" and we don't know if they are saying anything bad or not.
Yesterday, I went down there with Tony to get out of the hot apartment and to hopefully entertain Tony for a while. Even before I sat down, one of the ladies (the one that had the "conversation" with my mom) that obviously had gone outside for the same purpose sat down on the two-slat bench so that I could sit on the four-slat bench - which was very nice. The other "stoop sitters" wouldn't have been so nice, however. Katya and her friends sat next to me. We got the "evil eye" from one of the ladies as she stepped out the apartment door and people were on her bench and we also got the "evil eye" from the old man and the man with the weiner dog. Had it just been the kids, they would have kicked them off, but since I was there they had to just be content with giving us ornery looks. Tony and I sat there while Katya ate sunflower seeds and fed the birds. Tony was entertained for a while by the birds walking around and the kids that liked to say his name.
Yesterday, I went down there with Tony to get out of the hot apartment and to hopefully entertain Tony for a while. Even before I sat down, one of the ladies (the one that had the "conversation" with my mom) that obviously had gone outside for the same purpose sat down on the two-slat bench so that I could sit on the four-slat bench - which was very nice. The other "stoop sitters" wouldn't have been so nice, however. Katya and her friends sat next to me. We got the "evil eye" from one of the ladies as she stepped out the apartment door and people were on her bench and we also got the "evil eye" from the old man and the man with the weiner dog. Had it just been the kids, they would have kicked them off, but since I was there they had to just be content with giving us ornery looks. Tony and I sat there while Katya ate sunflower seeds and fed the birds. Tony was entertained for a while by the birds walking around and the kids that liked to say his name.
Amusement Park
June 28th
Today we decided to try and find the amusement park that the Lawrence's took Ruslan to. We started out going towards the orphanage because we heard that it was just down the street next to the orphanage. We tried to ask Katya if she knew where the "park" was and told her it was the one that the Lawrence's had taken Ruslan to, but she said that it was down main street and then to the left (and I was sure that this was not the way) and then she asked if we could stop at the orphanage and take Ruslan with us. What a sweetheart! We told her that Nadia wouldn't let us take Ruslan (which was probably the truth) and we ignored Katya's directions and walked down the street next to the orphanage, hoping that we would eventually run into it - it's not like we had anything better to do and walking around would kill time faster than sitting in a hot apartment. After we had walked for a bit, Katya stopped and asked a lady for directions to the park. I didn't understand the lady's directions but she made a motion of straight, then left, then right with her hand. Katya didn't seem too sure of her directions and stopped to ask another lady for directions. The she proclaimed that she knew where it was! So we walked and walked and walked. My mom and I were beginning to think that we were not going in the right direction but Katya kept making a "straight ahead" motion with her hand accompanied by a whistle and then giggling (she loved making the whistling sound!). So we just kept walking, had to veer left a little, then right, then cross the street and we actually made it there! It was right across from the electronics store (Alex - you will know where this is).
It was a park with some very old amusement park rides. There were very few people there and when we first got there, Katya didn't seem too interested in the rides and immediately took us to a water fountain. Although you couldn't actually get in the fountain, Katya managed to get both wet and dirty :) while my mom and I ate the most disgusting ice cream cones (the cone tasted like wet paper) and watched. Once Katya was dirty and wet enough to her satisfaction, she decided that she wanted to ride some of the rides. For 10 gryvnas (about $1.25), Katya and I got to ride the swings (we were the only two people on the ride). You sat in the swing and it spun you around. It did not look well maintained and I was actually pretty scared riding it because it kept making these noises that suggested that at any moment the swing would detach from the ride and I would go flying and become impaled on the pointy bars on the top of the nearby metal fence. However, we made it off alive and without incidence. Then Katya rode this very mild roller coaster that went around in a circle a couple of times and then we rode the bumper car boats, which was actually the funnest ride in my opinion. Katya's favorite ride was the tilt-a-whirl -which I went on against my better judgment - and didn't feel so swell afterwards. We rode the Ferris Wheel, which actually was pretty cool because we got a high-up view of the city. There is not much in the city to look at, really, but I could see the church that Katya took us to, the Billa Cafe that we had lunch at one afternoon, a large factory, some pretty tall buildings off to the left and right of main street (that don't look worth visiting) and I noticed that the surround area was actually houses. Up to this point, my mom didn't think there were any houses in this town, but apparently there are! I wish I had taken the camera because I could have gotten some pretty cool pictures - oh well! We tried to ride the train because I thought they would let Tony sit on my lap and ride it. I had taken him out of his car seat and we were waiting to get on the ride and the lady informed us that he couldn't ride. He could, however, ride the ride next to it that would require him to sit on his own and would have definately been more dangerous than the train. Oh brother! Needless to say, Tony didn't get to go on any rides and this made him mad (actually, what made him mad was that he had to go back into his car seat!). We should have come here when Allie was with us because her and Katya would have had fun together. NOTE: Katya was watching as I was typing this and saw her name. I told her that I was writing about our trip to the park. She wanted me to make sure that everybody knew that she loved papa :)
On the way back we stopped at a toy store. We are in search of a deck of cards, since we let Alex and Allie take the one deck that we had and we are going crazy with watching Hannah Montana in Russian and the soap opera that seems to ALWAYS be on TV. We have one matching card game that Katya likes to play and yesterday we played "Stinky Skunk" (our version of "Old Maid") and Katya was delighted with it! She didn't care about getting any matches, but instead would just laugh and laugh when she could trick grandma into picking the "Stinky Skunk" from her. We did not find playing cards at the toy store, but I did find a 1,000 piece puzzle and we will see if we can find a big enough flat surface in the apartment to put it together.
Alex and Allie made it home alive. The battery to the Tahoe was dead when Alex tried to start it but he hasn't had any problems since the neighbor "jump started" it for him. He made it to Red Robin and he says that the A/C in the house was set to 75 and was too cold for him so he turned it up to 79 (poor thing!). What I wouldn't give for air conditioning!
Today we decided to try and find the amusement park that the Lawrence's took Ruslan to. We started out going towards the orphanage because we heard that it was just down the street next to the orphanage. We tried to ask Katya if she knew where the "park" was and told her it was the one that the Lawrence's had taken Ruslan to, but she said that it was down main street and then to the left (and I was sure that this was not the way) and then she asked if we could stop at the orphanage and take Ruslan with us. What a sweetheart! We told her that Nadia wouldn't let us take Ruslan (which was probably the truth) and we ignored Katya's directions and walked down the street next to the orphanage, hoping that we would eventually run into it - it's not like we had anything better to do and walking around would kill time faster than sitting in a hot apartment. After we had walked for a bit, Katya stopped and asked a lady for directions to the park. I didn't understand the lady's directions but she made a motion of straight, then left, then right with her hand. Katya didn't seem too sure of her directions and stopped to ask another lady for directions. The she proclaimed that she knew where it was! So we walked and walked and walked. My mom and I were beginning to think that we were not going in the right direction but Katya kept making a "straight ahead" motion with her hand accompanied by a whistle and then giggling (she loved making the whistling sound!). So we just kept walking, had to veer left a little, then right, then cross the street and we actually made it there! It was right across from the electronics store (Alex - you will know where this is).
It was a park with some very old amusement park rides. There were very few people there and when we first got there, Katya didn't seem too interested in the rides and immediately took us to a water fountain. Although you couldn't actually get in the fountain, Katya managed to get both wet and dirty :) while my mom and I ate the most disgusting ice cream cones (the cone tasted like wet paper) and watched. Once Katya was dirty and wet enough to her satisfaction, she decided that she wanted to ride some of the rides. For 10 gryvnas (about $1.25), Katya and I got to ride the swings (we were the only two people on the ride). You sat in the swing and it spun you around. It did not look well maintained and I was actually pretty scared riding it because it kept making these noises that suggested that at any moment the swing would detach from the ride and I would go flying and become impaled on the pointy bars on the top of the nearby metal fence. However, we made it off alive and without incidence. Then Katya rode this very mild roller coaster that went around in a circle a couple of times and then we rode the bumper car boats, which was actually the funnest ride in my opinion. Katya's favorite ride was the tilt-a-whirl -which I went on against my better judgment - and didn't feel so swell afterwards. We rode the Ferris Wheel, which actually was pretty cool because we got a high-up view of the city. There is not much in the city to look at, really, but I could see the church that Katya took us to, the Billa Cafe that we had lunch at one afternoon, a large factory, some pretty tall buildings off to the left and right of main street (that don't look worth visiting) and I noticed that the surround area was actually houses. Up to this point, my mom didn't think there were any houses in this town, but apparently there are! I wish I had taken the camera because I could have gotten some pretty cool pictures - oh well! We tried to ride the train because I thought they would let Tony sit on my lap and ride it. I had taken him out of his car seat and we were waiting to get on the ride and the lady informed us that he couldn't ride. He could, however, ride the ride next to it that would require him to sit on his own and would have definately been more dangerous than the train. Oh brother! Needless to say, Tony didn't get to go on any rides and this made him mad (actually, what made him mad was that he had to go back into his car seat!). We should have come here when Allie was with us because her and Katya would have had fun together. NOTE: Katya was watching as I was typing this and saw her name. I told her that I was writing about our trip to the park. She wanted me to make sure that everybody knew that she loved papa :)
On the way back we stopped at a toy store. We are in search of a deck of cards, since we let Alex and Allie take the one deck that we had and we are going crazy with watching Hannah Montana in Russian and the soap opera that seems to ALWAYS be on TV. We have one matching card game that Katya likes to play and yesterday we played "Stinky Skunk" (our version of "Old Maid") and Katya was delighted with it! She didn't care about getting any matches, but instead would just laugh and laugh when she could trick grandma into picking the "Stinky Skunk" from her. We did not find playing cards at the toy store, but I did find a 1,000 piece puzzle and we will see if we can find a big enough flat surface in the apartment to put it together.
Alex and Allie made it home alive. The battery to the Tahoe was dead when Alex tried to start it but he hasn't had any problems since the neighbor "jump started" it for him. He made it to Red Robin and he says that the A/C in the house was set to 75 and was too cold for him so he turned it up to 79 (poor thing!). What I wouldn't give for air conditioning!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Baby doll
We went to the store today and after buying groceries, I decided we had enough to buy Katya her toy baby doll. When I originally told her we were going to the store, she asked, "Baby?" as in "Are we going to buy my baby?". I told her we were going to the food store and told her we would buy her baby doll "Zafta" (tomorrow). Then, when we stopped at the toy store on the way home from the grocery store, Katya was very excited. We got home, took the doll out of the box, which took about ten minutes, and Katya played with the doll for approximately five minutes and then she was done with it. That is the last time I am buying her any toys for a while! It took longer to get the toy out of the box!
Update: Katya did play with the doll later that day. She made it a bed out of a shoe box and used Tony's "spitup rags" as blankets. She also was pretending to be a baby and wanted my mom and me to hold her and rock her. I had a thought that the reason she might have wanted the doll in the first place is because she saw all the attention that Tony gets from me and was a little bit jealous. I will try to be more conscientious of this and make sure that I give her enough cuddling time, too. It is very hard when I have to lay down with Tony to put him to sleep at night and I think that Katya would like it if I could lay with her. When we get home, this will be easier with Alex around. I am actually glad that she is realizing now that we will have to be devoting time to Tony, too. ft we wouldn't have brought Tony, I think it would have been really hard for her to adjust after being the center-of-attention to realize that she would have to share us with a baby.
Update: Katya did play with the doll later that day. She made it a bed out of a shoe box and used Tony's "spitup rags" as blankets. She also was pretending to be a baby and wanted my mom and me to hold her and rock her. I had a thought that the reason she might have wanted the doll in the first place is because she saw all the attention that Tony gets from me and was a little bit jealous. I will try to be more conscientious of this and make sure that I give her enough cuddling time, too. It is very hard when I have to lay down with Tony to put him to sleep at night and I think that Katya would like it if I could lay with her. When we get home, this will be easier with Alex around. I am actually glad that she is realizing now that we will have to be devoting time to Tony, too. ft we wouldn't have brought Tony, I think it would have been really hard for her to adjust after being the center-of-attention to realize that she would have to share us with a baby.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
No more orphanage (or so we thought!)
They let us take Katya out of the orphanage yesterday, even though our ten day waiting period isn't up until Tuesday (but they won't let us start the paperwork early - darn!). I was talking to Oksana yesterday about the timing of the paperwork that we have to do and when she thinks we will get to come home and asked her if we got to take Katya out of the orphanage on Monday or Tuesday. Oksana replied, "You could take her out today if wanted to." What? If I had asked her the same question days ago would her reply have been the same? Could we have taken her out before Alex and Allie left? It is frustrating and annoying but we are happy anyway! Except that Katya is now bored out of her mind! There are some kids around here that she played with last night for a little while and walked to one of the nearby stores with but after that we had to find something to entertain her. We played a card game with her (which she cheated at and laughed and laughed!), she watched Hannah Montana for a while, and then she was actually so board that she wanted to go back to the orphanage to see her friend Natasha. Oh brother! This is going to be fun - entertaining an eleven year old girl for another twelve days. I don't know if I can stand it but I guess I don't have a choice.
Right now, she is in the kitchen eating a ketchup sandwich. Disgusting! I figured out how to hook up the DVD player to the TV in the bedroom so that I could work on the computer while she is watching her movie. This might work out OK. Tomorrow we can walk down to the video store and buy her some more movies to entertain her! I hate to have her sit and watch TV but that sounds more appealing that trying to find other stuff to entertain her.
Oksana thinks the soonest we are going to finish up all the remaining paperwork is by July 8th. I was so hoping that by some miracle we would be able to fly home the weekend of July 4th but this is not going to happen. Here is a summary of what we have left to do:
1) Get a new birth certificate: This has the potential to be the biggest delay because according to Oksana, the lady that normally does the birth certificates is on vacation and she seems to be the only person in the office that knows how to use a computer. So, our plan with this is to leave at 5:30 am on Tuesday and drive to Katya's birth town, which is about 4 hours away from here, and meet the computer illiterate lady in the office and Oksana is hoping that she can help her get us the birth certificate that same day.
2) Once we have the birth certificate, we go back to Dnipro and get a "security card". I am not sure what this is, but it is something we need before we can get the passport. It sounds like this takes a day.
3) Then we can get the passport. To do this, we have to go to the bigger city, that is about 40 minutes away from here, to do the passport photo, paperwork, etc. The passport takes about 4 business days and we will stay in this lovely town to wait for it.
4) After we have the passport, we can go to Kiev and get the visa. I think there is a medical exam that we have to do there also.
This morning, we went to the toy store to try and find something that could entertain Katya and bought this seven-in-one game combination that has checkers, tic-tac-toe, and some other games. Katya wanted this baby doll that cost the equivalent of about $25 but looks like something you could buy in the dollar store back home. We didn't exchange any money yesterday and didn't want to spend all of our money on this (or we wouldn't be eating this weekend) so we told her we would go back and buy it on Monday - ugh! Maybe she will forget about it??? We also went to the orphanage earlier so that Katya could give her friend Natasha her old MP3 player. Even Tony - the little boy that just can't get enough attention - is weary of all the kids. I let Natasha hold him and he started crying and decided that he wanted to take a nap instead of being the center of attention.
I just talked to Alex. He and Allie are in Kiev until their flight leaves tomorrow morning. They are souvenir shopping, which sounds like a ton more fun than we are having. The weather has cooled down a little bit today so it is a good day to walk. I wonder if Allie is wearing her heels? The street that has all the souvenirs in Kiev is a cobblestone street so if she is wearing her heels that would really suck!!!
Right now, she is in the kitchen eating a ketchup sandwich. Disgusting! I figured out how to hook up the DVD player to the TV in the bedroom so that I could work on the computer while she is watching her movie. This might work out OK. Tomorrow we can walk down to the video store and buy her some more movies to entertain her! I hate to have her sit and watch TV but that sounds more appealing that trying to find other stuff to entertain her.
Oksana thinks the soonest we are going to finish up all the remaining paperwork is by July 8th. I was so hoping that by some miracle we would be able to fly home the weekend of July 4th but this is not going to happen. Here is a summary of what we have left to do:
1) Get a new birth certificate: This has the potential to be the biggest delay because according to Oksana, the lady that normally does the birth certificates is on vacation and she seems to be the only person in the office that knows how to use a computer. So, our plan with this is to leave at 5:30 am on Tuesday and drive to Katya's birth town, which is about 4 hours away from here, and meet the computer illiterate lady in the office and Oksana is hoping that she can help her get us the birth certificate that same day.
2) Once we have the birth certificate, we go back to Dnipro and get a "security card". I am not sure what this is, but it is something we need before we can get the passport. It sounds like this takes a day.
3) Then we can get the passport. To do this, we have to go to the bigger city, that is about 40 minutes away from here, to do the passport photo, paperwork, etc. The passport takes about 4 business days and we will stay in this lovely town to wait for it.
4) After we have the passport, we can go to Kiev and get the visa. I think there is a medical exam that we have to do there also.
This morning, we went to the toy store to try and find something that could entertain Katya and bought this seven-in-one game combination that has checkers, tic-tac-toe, and some other games. Katya wanted this baby doll that cost the equivalent of about $25 but looks like something you could buy in the dollar store back home. We didn't exchange any money yesterday and didn't want to spend all of our money on this (or we wouldn't be eating this weekend) so we told her we would go back and buy it on Monday - ugh! Maybe she will forget about it??? We also went to the orphanage earlier so that Katya could give her friend Natasha her old MP3 player. Even Tony - the little boy that just can't get enough attention - is weary of all the kids. I let Natasha hold him and he started crying and decided that he wanted to take a nap instead of being the center of attention.
I just talked to Alex. He and Allie are in Kiev until their flight leaves tomorrow morning. They are souvenir shopping, which sounds like a ton more fun than we are having. The weather has cooled down a little bit today so it is a good day to walk. I wonder if Allie is wearing her heels? The street that has all the souvenirs in Kiev is a cobblestone street so if she is wearing her heels that would really suck!!!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Shoe Shopping
Alex and Allie were the only ones that did anything really exciting today, so I had Alex write about his day.
Today we did something fun for Allie. Allie's stepfather travels a lot and I am always hearing about where the clothes she is wearing are from. When we got here, the thing that Allie liked most was all the high-heeled shoes. I decided that we would find a pair of Ukrainian shoes for Allie. I figured these shoes would be more special than the other clothing items that I am always hearing about (and definately much cuter!) because rather than saying, "These were brought back to me from Dubai" she could say, "I bought these in the Ukraine."
We had looked at shoes when we were in Kiev but they were very expensive and Elena suggested that we look at shoes in Dnipro because they would be cheaper. I had seen many stores in Dnipro but was too intimidated to go in (I think you are very brave, Wendy, to shop for a swimming suit in this town!). So, because Allie and I were leaving for Kiev tonight, I wanted to make sure we went shoe shopping here. I asked Elena to come and thought that the orphanage lawyer, Anya, might have some store suggestions since she wears a lot of unique fancy high-heeled shoes. Well, the girls decided that they would make this an outing and Allie and I were picked up today by Oleg, Oksana, Elena and Anya. They made me sit in the front with Oleg and immediately all the girls in the back started discussing their shoe options and planning their attack. At this point, I wasn't too worried. We arrived at a mall, something like a small strip mall, that was still in Dnipro but on the other side of the river - known as "left Dnipro". We went in and it only had one shoe store but the girls said that it was their favorite store and that they had bought several pairs of shoes here before. They started showing Allie shoes slowly and I didn't interrupt, walked around and looked at some shoe options. Ann's comment: Alex has very good taste in shoes. He likes shoe shopping much more than I do - hence the reason that he went today and not me. However, anytime I suggested a shoe, I was quickly "shot down" by Anya. It happened a couple of times and I learned my lesson, sat down, and shut up. It was funny because it was obvious that Allie was looking for heels, but the store clerk didn't get it. She took Allie over to the children's section, showed her a pair of flat shoes, Allie looked at them and then wandered back over to the high-heel section. The girls then explained what type of shoe Allie was looking for to the store clerk.
The girls finally narrowed it down to three pairs of shoes and since I was the one with the money, I luckily I got discuss the final choice with Allie. The choices were 1) a brown heel with a cute flower, 2) a black heel with wooden heels, and 3) a very odd white heeled boot that looked like an open-toed heel with an extension above that made it into a boot. Allie's favorite one was the white one, which of course was not my favorite one. Allie said she liked it because it was original. I told her that I could appreciate originality but that this shoe took it too far. I didn't tell her this, but it looked like a boot that a hooker would wear. So, in the end the brown one was eliminated because it wasn't comfortable (although who says that women's shoes are made for comfort!) and we settled on the black one because the wooden heel made it seem a little less mature and more Allie's age.
Thanks girls for your help! Allie had a blast and loves her new shoes that she got in the Ukraine!
Today we did something fun for Allie. Allie's stepfather travels a lot and I am always hearing about where the clothes she is wearing are from. When we got here, the thing that Allie liked most was all the high-heeled shoes. I decided that we would find a pair of Ukrainian shoes for Allie. I figured these shoes would be more special than the other clothing items that I am always hearing about (and definately much cuter!) because rather than saying, "These were brought back to me from Dubai" she could say, "I bought these in the Ukraine."
We had looked at shoes when we were in Kiev but they were very expensive and Elena suggested that we look at shoes in Dnipro because they would be cheaper. I had seen many stores in Dnipro but was too intimidated to go in (I think you are very brave, Wendy, to shop for a swimming suit in this town!). So, because Allie and I were leaving for Kiev tonight, I wanted to make sure we went shoe shopping here. I asked Elena to come and thought that the orphanage lawyer, Anya, might have some store suggestions since she wears a lot of unique fancy high-heeled shoes. Well, the girls decided that they would make this an outing and Allie and I were picked up today by Oleg, Oksana, Elena and Anya. They made me sit in the front with Oleg and immediately all the girls in the back started discussing their shoe options and planning their attack. At this point, I wasn't too worried. We arrived at a mall, something like a small strip mall, that was still in Dnipro but on the other side of the river - known as "left Dnipro". We went in and it only had one shoe store but the girls said that it was their favorite store and that they had bought several pairs of shoes here before. They started showing Allie shoes slowly and I didn't interrupt, walked around and looked at some shoe options. Ann's comment: Alex has very good taste in shoes. He likes shoe shopping much more than I do - hence the reason that he went today and not me. However, anytime I suggested a shoe, I was quickly "shot down" by Anya. It happened a couple of times and I learned my lesson, sat down, and shut up. It was funny because it was obvious that Allie was looking for heels, but the store clerk didn't get it. She took Allie over to the children's section, showed her a pair of flat shoes, Allie looked at them and then wandered back over to the high-heel section. The girls then explained what type of shoe Allie was looking for to the store clerk.
The girls finally narrowed it down to three pairs of shoes and since I was the one with the money, I luckily I got discuss the final choice with Allie. The choices were 1) a brown heel with a cute flower, 2) a black heel with wooden heels, and 3) a very odd white heeled boot that looked like an open-toed heel with an extension above that made it into a boot. Allie's favorite one was the white one, which of course was not my favorite one. Allie said she liked it because it was original. I told her that I could appreciate originality but that this shoe took it too far. I didn't tell her this, but it looked like a boot that a hooker would wear. So, in the end the brown one was eliminated because it wasn't comfortable (although who says that women's shoes are made for comfort!) and we settled on the black one because the wooden heel made it seem a little less mature and more Allie's age.
Thanks girls for your help! Allie had a blast and loves her new shoes that she got in the Ukraine!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Ground Hog Day
I know that some of the other people that have come over here have said this, but after a while every day here seems like you are living the same day over and over and over and over....
Today was one of those days. We got up at, went and picked up Katya, walked down main street to the sandwich shop where Katya has made friends with the lady that runs it (she has to go and say "hi" to her every time we pass by), came back to the apartment, slept a while (I am coming down with a cold and took a Nyquil - since I didn't bring any Dayquil - and was dead tired all day as a result), took Katya back to the orphanage, and then walked to the store. Our excitement today was that we went to the notary today, instead of Thursday. Woohoo!
It has been so hot here the last couple of days and you all are having such rainy, cool weather back in Utah (from what I hear) that I am jealous. The apartment we are in is not air conditioned and up until about yesterday this wasn't too big of a deal. However, it has gotten hotter and it makes you really not want to move much.
Alex is really leaving tomorrow, as it really is Thursday, and is supposed to be packing. However, he is avoiding this by playing a game of "speed" with Allie, doing Sudoku, etc.
One more day down, five to go...
Today was one of those days. We got up at, went and picked up Katya, walked down main street to the sandwich shop where Katya has made friends with the lady that runs it (she has to go and say "hi" to her every time we pass by), came back to the apartment, slept a while (I am coming down with a cold and took a Nyquil - since I didn't bring any Dayquil - and was dead tired all day as a result), took Katya back to the orphanage, and then walked to the store. Our excitement today was that we went to the notary today, instead of Thursday. Woohoo!
It has been so hot here the last couple of days and you all are having such rainy, cool weather back in Utah (from what I hear) that I am jealous. The apartment we are in is not air conditioned and up until about yesterday this wasn't too big of a deal. However, it has gotten hotter and it makes you really not want to move much.
Alex is really leaving tomorrow, as it really is Thursday, and is supposed to be packing. However, he is avoiding this by playing a game of "speed" with Allie, doing Sudoku, etc.
One more day down, five to go...
My Wednesday on Tuesday
Tuesday, June 23rd
I considered not even blogging about today because literally nothing exciting happened. I went through the whole day thinking that it was Wednesday. Alex and Allie's flight leaves on Sunday and they have to take the night train to Kiev on Thursday so that Alex can go to the Embassy on Friday and do some paperwork. Oksana said that we could go to the notary here on Thursday before Alex left and sign some papers and then I won't have to go to Kiev with Alex - which will be very nice, since I wasn't looking forward to taking the night train to Kiev and then turning around and taking the night train back. So when we got back to the apartment tonight, I pulled out the big suitcase and gave it to Alex, along with all the stuff that I want him to take with him so that I don't have to, because I thought that he would be catching the night train tomorrow. Then my mom reminded me that today was only Tuesday. Darn! (I actually really wanted to say something else here - something a little more explicit - but I know that some of you read this with your kids so I will make this a "family friendly" blog). It is not that I am excited for Alex and Allie to go home, it is that I am excited for me to go home and Alex and Allie leaving means that my leaving is all that much closer.
We have all come up with something that we really miss about home (we aren't homesick at all!):
Alex: Red Robin
Alex claims that he will be getting picked up from the airport, and heading home to pick up his beloved car (that he just reminded me that he hasn't seen for three weeks - poor thing!), and going straight to the Red Robin at the District in South Jordan. If anybody would like to join him, you are all invited!
Allie: Hot dogs
Allie will be going home to her mom's that night and they don't eat pork at their house. So, Alex is considering going to the Costco to get Allie a hot dog on his way to Red Robin. Does anybody know how late Costco is open on Sunday?
Annie: Ice water
I know this seems like a very silly thing to miss, but I want a big tall glass of water with ice cubes! Here, they don't have a problem drinking water or soda warm. Gross! Mike Lawrence said that he told Elena that he wanted a Diet Pepsi with ice cubes and Elena asked why he would want ice cubes. Duh!!!!
Mom: Flushing toilets
This seems very strange, too. However, you don't realize how lucky we are to having flushing toilets that don't clog easily and that we don't have to squat over a hole in the floor.
Tony: Aunts
I think baby Tony is missing all his aunts :). He is usually watched by Aunt Kim, Cathy and Audra at least once a week and I think he is tired of all of us here. For all of you at home that are interested in Tony updates, however, he is getting dangerously close to crawling. We will keep you posted :) Tony will really miss all the bumpy stroller rides when he gets back, though. I think he thoroughly enjoys them - it is like a moving vibrating chair!
We ate lunch at the orphanage today. It was actually pretty good. It was fried chicken, potatoes, borscht, and wheat bread. We were impressed that the food was pretty good and that it seemed like a very nice meal for the kids. Then we realized that we were the only ones that got the fried chicken. That made us feel bad - that we got special treatment!
One more down, six to go...
I considered not even blogging about today because literally nothing exciting happened. I went through the whole day thinking that it was Wednesday. Alex and Allie's flight leaves on Sunday and they have to take the night train to Kiev on Thursday so that Alex can go to the Embassy on Friday and do some paperwork. Oksana said that we could go to the notary here on Thursday before Alex left and sign some papers and then I won't have to go to Kiev with Alex - which will be very nice, since I wasn't looking forward to taking the night train to Kiev and then turning around and taking the night train back. So when we got back to the apartment tonight, I pulled out the big suitcase and gave it to Alex, along with all the stuff that I want him to take with him so that I don't have to, because I thought that he would be catching the night train tomorrow. Then my mom reminded me that today was only Tuesday. Darn! (I actually really wanted to say something else here - something a little more explicit - but I know that some of you read this with your kids so I will make this a "family friendly" blog). It is not that I am excited for Alex and Allie to go home, it is that I am excited for me to go home and Alex and Allie leaving means that my leaving is all that much closer.
We have all come up with something that we really miss about home (we aren't homesick at all!):
Alex: Red Robin
Alex claims that he will be getting picked up from the airport, and heading home to pick up his beloved car (that he just reminded me that he hasn't seen for three weeks - poor thing!), and going straight to the Red Robin at the District in South Jordan. If anybody would like to join him, you are all invited!
Allie: Hot dogs
Allie will be going home to her mom's that night and they don't eat pork at their house. So, Alex is considering going to the Costco to get Allie a hot dog on his way to Red Robin. Does anybody know how late Costco is open on Sunday?
Annie: Ice water
I know this seems like a very silly thing to miss, but I want a big tall glass of water with ice cubes! Here, they don't have a problem drinking water or soda warm. Gross! Mike Lawrence said that he told Elena that he wanted a Diet Pepsi with ice cubes and Elena asked why he would want ice cubes. Duh!!!!
Mom: Flushing toilets
This seems very strange, too. However, you don't realize how lucky we are to having flushing toilets that don't clog easily and that we don't have to squat over a hole in the floor.
Tony: Aunts
I think baby Tony is missing all his aunts :). He is usually watched by Aunt Kim, Cathy and Audra at least once a week and I think he is tired of all of us here. For all of you at home that are interested in Tony updates, however, he is getting dangerously close to crawling. We will keep you posted :) Tony will really miss all the bumpy stroller rides when he gets back, though. I think he thoroughly enjoys them - it is like a moving vibrating chair!
We ate lunch at the orphanage today. It was actually pretty good. It was fried chicken, potatoes, borscht, and wheat bread. We were impressed that the food was pretty good and that it seemed like a very nice meal for the kids. Then we realized that we were the only ones that got the fried chicken. That made us feel bad - that we got special treatment!
One more down, six to go...
Save a Child Foundation Fundraiser
I wanted to let all of you following my blog know about the fundraiser that is being held to bring a new group of kids to Utah this October. It costs about $4,000 per child to bring them from the Ukraine and many of the organizations that have made large donations in the past have not made those donations this year. Therefore, the organization is in desperate need of donations. They are holding a fundraiser in order to raise these funds. If you can't participate in this event but still want to make a tax-deductible donation, mail it to:
Save a Child Foundation
PO Box 57916
Salt Lake City, UT 84157-0984
** Remember that every little bit will help - even if you only wanted to donate $5! **
FUNDRAISER INFO:
DATE: Saturday, June 27th
PLACE: Layton City Park, 437 N Wasatch Dr., Layton, UT 84041
5K RACE and 1 MILE WALK:
Registration begins at 8 am and the race begins at 9 am.
The cost to participate is $20 per person or $50 per family.
If you are interested in participating in this, email me at annlobos@hotmail.com and I will send you a registration form. Or, you can register that morning (the cost is $25 instead of $20 if you don't pre-register).
CARNIVAL:
There will also be a carnival (I am finding out exactly when this carnival starts and ends and will update this info when I find out). There will be games and blow-up toys which all the kids will love!
RAFFLE:
Raffle tickets are $1 each. As you can see below, there are some very nice items being raffled off. I believe that you can specify which item you want to put your tickets toward (I will find this out for sure and update this when I do). If you want to buy raffle tickets, send an email to saveachildfoundation@gmail.com and someone will coordinate with you to get your money. All raffle tickets purchased are tax-deductible, unless you win (then you only get to deduct the amount you paid over-and-above the FMV of the item received).
1 night at Grand America
2010 season tickets to Hale Center Theater
Zoo Pass (2 adults, 4 kids)
1 night at Anniversary Inn
$50 Uintah Golf gift card
$25 Chevron card
$20 Spaghetti Factory gift card
Olive Garden gift card (sorry - I don't know for how much!)
$50 Stadium Pizza gift card
Fazoli's gift card (sorry - I don't know for how much!)
Bike helmet ($130 value)
5 passes to Roy Aquatic Center
Free brakes at Jake's American Car Care
$50 off new tires at Jake's American Car Care
5 free oil changes at Jake's American Car Care
$30 Rooster's gift card
Thanks everybody for following my blog and I hope that you are able to support this organization so that they can bring more kids over here to find homes!
Save a Child Foundation
PO Box 57916
Salt Lake City, UT 84157-0984
** Remember that every little bit will help - even if you only wanted to donate $5! **
FUNDRAISER INFO:
DATE: Saturday, June 27th
PLACE: Layton City Park, 437 N Wasatch Dr., Layton, UT 84041
5K RACE and 1 MILE WALK:
Registration begins at 8 am and the race begins at 9 am.
The cost to participate is $20 per person or $50 per family.
If you are interested in participating in this, email me at annlobos@hotmail.com and I will send you a registration form. Or, you can register that morning (the cost is $25 instead of $20 if you don't pre-register).
CARNIVAL:
There will also be a carnival (I am finding out exactly when this carnival starts and ends and will update this info when I find out). There will be games and blow-up toys which all the kids will love!
RAFFLE:
Raffle tickets are $1 each. As you can see below, there are some very nice items being raffled off. I believe that you can specify which item you want to put your tickets toward (I will find this out for sure and update this when I do). If you want to buy raffle tickets, send an email to saveachildfoundation@gmail.com and someone will coordinate with you to get your money. All raffle tickets purchased are tax-deductible, unless you win (then you only get to deduct the amount you paid over-and-above the FMV of the item received).
1 night at Grand America
2010 season tickets to Hale Center Theater
Zoo Pass (2 adults, 4 kids)
1 night at Anniversary Inn
$50 Uintah Golf gift card
$25 Chevron card
$20 Spaghetti Factory gift card
Olive Garden gift card (sorry - I don't know for how much!)
$50 Stadium Pizza gift card
Fazoli's gift card (sorry - I don't know for how much!)
Bike helmet ($130 value)
5 passes to Roy Aquatic Center
Free brakes at Jake's American Car Care
$50 off new tires at Jake's American Car Care
5 free oil changes at Jake's American Car Care
$30 Rooster's gift card
Thanks everybody for following my blog and I hope that you are able to support this organization so that they can bring more kids over here to find homes!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Pictures
Alex updated our slide show pictures, so make sure you take a look! There are now about 500 pictures - Katya and Allie love to take pictures!
Our swimming pool adventure
We decided to take the kids swimming today with the Benson's. We had asked Masha if she knew where the swimming pool was and thought she had said yes. So we rounded up the Benson's two girls, Masha and Nastia, Katya, and the Lawrence's boy, Ruslan, got permission from the teacher and were off. We stood at the orphanage exit and asked Masha which direction to go and she said, "Nis naio" (I don't know). Uh oh! Of course, Katya and Ruslan had no idea where the swimming pool was so we called Elena. Elena said she would find out but she was on the train and when she called us back her call got disconnected. At that moment, the orphanage's attorney was walking by and Masha grabbed her and wrote down directions. Before I continue, I have to say something about the orphanage attorney. Attorneys in the Ukraine dress much differently than they do in the US. She reminds me of Rease Witherspoon in "Legally Blonde" - just not so pink! Anyway, Masha wrote down directions so we let her lead the way. We walked, and walked, and walked. On the way, Masha kept insisting that we needed to take the bus, but we had the stroller, the baby car seat, a bunch of stuff in the stroller, and we had ten people including Tony. Some of those buses look pretty packed and the thought of fitting us all on one didn't sound appealing, so we kept telling Masha that the bus was not an option. So, after walking about 45 minutes, we ended up at the swimming pool - NOT! We ended up at the bus terminal at the end of main street! So, in the end, we divvied up our stuff, collapsed the stroller and got on bus 22a. Bus 22a took us all the way back up main street in the direction we had come from. As we are traveling back, we are all thinking about how long it took us to walk down that way, in the heat, and I think all the adults had figured that we were not really going to end up at the swimming pool but back where we had started. In the end, the bus did turn and dropped us off across the street from the swimming pool. Thanks Masha, for getting us there! NOTE: Had we actually known where the swimming pool was to begin with, we could have walked there and might have actually ended up walking less. But the important thing is that we made it there!
Getting into the pool was another adventure. Unless you are wearing flip flops, they will not let you wear your outside shoes because they don't want the pool area to get dirty. So we had to "rent" flip flops for Katya. And...the pool isn't really very cheap to get into. It was about $25 for me, Alex, Katya, Allie, and Tony. After you pay, they give you these wrist bands that you scan at a turnstyle gate to get into the shower areas. They also give you these keys so that you can put all your stuff in a locked locker. We thought this was great because it meant our stuff could be secure. However, you don't actually take the key with you into the pool area - you give it to the locker room attendant, who then hangs the key in an unlocked box on the wall. After we had finished swimming, the locker attendant wasn't even in the locker room anymore and we had to go and retrieve our own key from the wall. So much for secure. What is the point of that???
Once in the shower areas, you must shower off in order to be allowed into the pool area. Unlike in America, where you keep your bathing suit on to shower, here they make you strip down. The girls had no qualms about walking around naked, but Jen and I did. To make it worse, the shower room nazi stood in the showers to make sure that we showered off. Jen and I took as long as we could helping the naked girls shower off and luckily the lady stepped out long enough for Jen and I to escape the shower area without showering naked. Once inside the pool area, we were still not safe. They had a pool side nazi that literally checked you over to make sure that you had no dirt on you. She checked your hands, your feet, your arms, back, etc. She even made Jen lift up her bathing suit top to make sure she wasn't hiding any dirt under it. Alex said he didn't pass the dirt test and was sent back to the shower area to wash off again. The funniest thing is that we had Tony with us, in his swimming suit, we had paid for him to swim to and they didn't even look at him. He had the potential to be the most hazardous of us all (they didn't know that he had a swim diaper and rubber pants on). He could be the cause of a cryptosporidian outbreak in the Ukraine. Oh brother!
So after we finally made it into the swimming pool, the water was a little bit cold but I didn't mind too much since it was so hot outside that it was nice to be a little cold for a while. The swimming pool was actually a lap pool, divided up into lanes. At one end of the pool, they had metal piping with glass sitting on top of it that made it so the water was shallow enough for the kids to get in without drowning. I think the kids had fun, although Ruslan only swam about 20 minutes and then decided that the water was too cold. Katya is like a little fish. She was in the deep end, learning how to dive from Jen, would have gone off the diving board if we had let her (we didn't know if we really trusted her swimming skills enough), did somersaults, and dove down and touched the bottom of the pool. Allie wasn't quite as daring as Katya, but she could swim well enough to go in the deep end. She was trying to teach Katya how to dive, but it was funny because she would hold her arms like she was going to dive and then she would say to Katya, "like this" but in the end all she really did was jump in the water. Jen then tried to teach Allie how to dive, but Allie ended up doing a belly-flop that didn't feel so swell and Allie gave up. Katya did some pretty good dives and and we will definately be putting her in swimming lessons when we get home. Alex wanted me to make sure that I let everybody know that he saved Nastia's life (this is probably a bit of an exaggeration!). The glass floor that made the pool shallow only covered about 1/3 of the pool. Nastia was hopping along and hopped right off the end and luckily Alex was standing right there and grabbed her before she actually went under water. Nastia had the biggest look of relief on her face because she had realized at that moment that the platform was no longer there - it was so cute!
We went back to the orphanage after lunch and had the kids watch the letter DVD and then wandered up to the playground to see what was going on. The kids weren't really playing anything fun and we were so beat from all the walking that we were just going to go back the apartment when Katya said she wanted to call Elena. We have limited Katya's calls to Elena to one or two a day, since if we let her she would call Elena about twenty times a day. Since Katya hadn't called Elena at all that day we agreed. Katya told Elena that there was a concert that was about to start that Katya said was "very important" and that she would be "very sad" if we didn't go. So Alex escaped home with Tony (no fair!) and me, my mom, and Allie stayed. This "very important" concert ended up being a skit that the Americans put on that we had no idea what it was about. Even when one of them told us that the lesson was about stealing no understanding was gained. Maybe we were just too tired...Anyway, after the "very important concert" was over, it was pouring outside. The weather here is funny. It will be hot one minute and pouring the next. It reminds me of Florida. We waited for the rain to stop and then left. And that concludes our very important day!
One more down, seven to go...
Getting into the pool was another adventure. Unless you are wearing flip flops, they will not let you wear your outside shoes because they don't want the pool area to get dirty. So we had to "rent" flip flops for Katya. And...the pool isn't really very cheap to get into. It was about $25 for me, Alex, Katya, Allie, and Tony. After you pay, they give you these wrist bands that you scan at a turnstyle gate to get into the shower areas. They also give you these keys so that you can put all your stuff in a locked locker. We thought this was great because it meant our stuff could be secure. However, you don't actually take the key with you into the pool area - you give it to the locker room attendant, who then hangs the key in an unlocked box on the wall. After we had finished swimming, the locker attendant wasn't even in the locker room anymore and we had to go and retrieve our own key from the wall. So much for secure. What is the point of that???
Once in the shower areas, you must shower off in order to be allowed into the pool area. Unlike in America, where you keep your bathing suit on to shower, here they make you strip down. The girls had no qualms about walking around naked, but Jen and I did. To make it worse, the shower room nazi stood in the showers to make sure that we showered off. Jen and I took as long as we could helping the naked girls shower off and luckily the lady stepped out long enough for Jen and I to escape the shower area without showering naked. Once inside the pool area, we were still not safe. They had a pool side nazi that literally checked you over to make sure that you had no dirt on you. She checked your hands, your feet, your arms, back, etc. She even made Jen lift up her bathing suit top to make sure she wasn't hiding any dirt under it. Alex said he didn't pass the dirt test and was sent back to the shower area to wash off again. The funniest thing is that we had Tony with us, in his swimming suit, we had paid for him to swim to and they didn't even look at him. He had the potential to be the most hazardous of us all (they didn't know that he had a swim diaper and rubber pants on). He could be the cause of a cryptosporidian outbreak in the Ukraine. Oh brother!
So after we finally made it into the swimming pool, the water was a little bit cold but I didn't mind too much since it was so hot outside that it was nice to be a little cold for a while. The swimming pool was actually a lap pool, divided up into lanes. At one end of the pool, they had metal piping with glass sitting on top of it that made it so the water was shallow enough for the kids to get in without drowning. I think the kids had fun, although Ruslan only swam about 20 minutes and then decided that the water was too cold. Katya is like a little fish. She was in the deep end, learning how to dive from Jen, would have gone off the diving board if we had let her (we didn't know if we really trusted her swimming skills enough), did somersaults, and dove down and touched the bottom of the pool. Allie wasn't quite as daring as Katya, but she could swim well enough to go in the deep end. She was trying to teach Katya how to dive, but it was funny because she would hold her arms like she was going to dive and then she would say to Katya, "like this" but in the end all she really did was jump in the water. Jen then tried to teach Allie how to dive, but Allie ended up doing a belly-flop that didn't feel so swell and Allie gave up. Katya did some pretty good dives and and we will definately be putting her in swimming lessons when we get home. Alex wanted me to make sure that I let everybody know that he saved Nastia's life (this is probably a bit of an exaggeration!). The glass floor that made the pool shallow only covered about 1/3 of the pool. Nastia was hopping along and hopped right off the end and luckily Alex was standing right there and grabbed her before she actually went under water. Nastia had the biggest look of relief on her face because she had realized at that moment that the platform was no longer there - it was so cute!
We went back to the orphanage after lunch and had the kids watch the letter DVD and then wandered up to the playground to see what was going on. The kids weren't really playing anything fun and we were so beat from all the walking that we were just going to go back the apartment when Katya said she wanted to call Elena. We have limited Katya's calls to Elena to one or two a day, since if we let her she would call Elena about twenty times a day. Since Katya hadn't called Elena at all that day we agreed. Katya told Elena that there was a concert that was about to start that Katya said was "very important" and that she would be "very sad" if we didn't go. So Alex escaped home with Tony (no fair!) and me, my mom, and Allie stayed. This "very important" concert ended up being a skit that the Americans put on that we had no idea what it was about. Even when one of them told us that the lesson was about stealing no understanding was gained. Maybe we were just too tired...Anyway, after the "very important concert" was over, it was pouring outside. The weather here is funny. It will be hot one minute and pouring the next. It reminds me of Florida. We waited for the rain to stop and then left. And that concludes our very important day!
One more down, seven to go...
Happy Father's Day
Sunday, June 21st
Today was Father's Day. I told Alex "Happy Father's Day" when we woke up and then when we went to pick Katya up I told her to tell him "Happy Father's Day" (it sounded so cute!). I had meant to get cards before I left but with all the other stuff I had to do, it didn't happen. Sorry honey!
Elena had sent us a text in the morning that said that Katya wanted to take us to Cafe Camelia. We are a little scared of going to places that we don't know what food to order but decided that we could oblige her. We called Elena before going to make sure that Katya really knew where this Cafe was and then we were off. It wasn't too far - just a little past the first park - but when we arrived there were no customers. We called Elena to make sure this place actually served food because it looked more like a night club. The menu had no pictures and so we had to have Elena talk to the waitress and then relay to us some of the food they have and then we had to tell Elena what we wanted who then in turn told the waitress. It was very complicated and after we had finished ordering Katya ordered something. We were a little scared of what she had ordered and had Elena ask the waitress how much this was going to cost, to which we never got a response. So the whole unknown food thing, the not knowing how much it was going to cost, and Katya wandering around the restaurant while our food was being prepared put Alex in a bit of a sour mood. He figured that the "wandering around" thing warranted another call to Elena and he had Elena explain to Katya that when we go to a restaurant in America, we sit at our table and wait for them to bring our food; we don't walk around to each table, go back and chat with the waitresses and chefs. This then put Katya in a sour mood, but she seemed content to pout a little and eat sunflower seeds. Our food took FOREVER. You would think that us being the only people in the restaurant would speed up the food prep but nope! When the food finally came, it was actually really good. We had soup and shish-kabob meat and potatoes. Katya only ate a couple of bites of her soup and chicken (she was the one that wanted to come here, remember!) but we finished off her chicken and the bill only came to about $20. Not bad!
When we were walking to the Cafe, we saw a group of orphans walking back to the orphanage on the other side of the street. We are guessing that they were walking back from the church. Alex had gone into the market to get some water and the kids asked where he was. When I motioned that he was in the store, the kids dawdled along until Alex came out so that they could wave at him. All the kids just love Alex!
I think that we have become addicted to sunflower seeds. It has become a ritual to buy a bag of them when we are out in the town and you can see us all walking around spitting out sunflower seed shells. Today Katya was feeding them to the birds. Normally we would tell her not to waste them but they really cost the equivalent of about $.20 so if it entertains her and Allie - why not!
Katya doesn't complain too much when we have her do her English lessons. We have learned that she will do things eventually. She just has to decide that she wants to do them. We had brought her a new pair of tennis shoes that she refused to put on (to the point that Alex was so frustrated with her that he had to take a "breather" from her). But later that day, she decided that she wanted to wear them. The same goes with the English lessons. That first day she stood her ground but then after that she has decided that she wants to do English lessons - and sometimes even asks for them. Today we were having her practice writing her letters. We brought a dry erase board and as she wrote them we went over what they were called and the sound they made. We have been having her watch those Leap Frog letter videos that tell what sounds the letters make so she has the sounds down pretty good. She doesn't know the names of them as well but the sounds are the most important anyway. She can sing to the letter "G" in the alphabet song. After she had written all the letters, she decided to try and spell some words (she did this all on her own - which was awesome!). She wrote "papa" and "mama" (which are easy, since they are the same in Russian). Then she wrote "sester" in an attempt to write sister, but wouldn't believe me when I told her it should be an "i" and not an "e". Then she wrote "babushka" and was trying to write "brother" but wrote "brat" and I mistakenly thought that she really might know what "brat" is and was writing it in response to Allie's trying to "help" her which was making Katya mad! So I made the mistake of laughing and then Katya got mad. She is so sensitive! But I coaxed her into cheering up and then we played a game of "go fish" with Allie.
So, overall it was a good Father's Day I think. One down, eight to go...
Today was Father's Day. I told Alex "Happy Father's Day" when we woke up and then when we went to pick Katya up I told her to tell him "Happy Father's Day" (it sounded so cute!). I had meant to get cards before I left but with all the other stuff I had to do, it didn't happen. Sorry honey!
Elena had sent us a text in the morning that said that Katya wanted to take us to Cafe Camelia. We are a little scared of going to places that we don't know what food to order but decided that we could oblige her. We called Elena before going to make sure that Katya really knew where this Cafe was and then we were off. It wasn't too far - just a little past the first park - but when we arrived there were no customers. We called Elena to make sure this place actually served food because it looked more like a night club. The menu had no pictures and so we had to have Elena talk to the waitress and then relay to us some of the food they have and then we had to tell Elena what we wanted who then in turn told the waitress. It was very complicated and after we had finished ordering Katya ordered something. We were a little scared of what she had ordered and had Elena ask the waitress how much this was going to cost, to which we never got a response. So the whole unknown food thing, the not knowing how much it was going to cost, and Katya wandering around the restaurant while our food was being prepared put Alex in a bit of a sour mood. He figured that the "wandering around" thing warranted another call to Elena and he had Elena explain to Katya that when we go to a restaurant in America, we sit at our table and wait for them to bring our food; we don't walk around to each table, go back and chat with the waitresses and chefs. This then put Katya in a sour mood, but she seemed content to pout a little and eat sunflower seeds. Our food took FOREVER. You would think that us being the only people in the restaurant would speed up the food prep but nope! When the food finally came, it was actually really good. We had soup and shish-kabob meat and potatoes. Katya only ate a couple of bites of her soup and chicken (she was the one that wanted to come here, remember!) but we finished off her chicken and the bill only came to about $20. Not bad!
When we were walking to the Cafe, we saw a group of orphans walking back to the orphanage on the other side of the street. We are guessing that they were walking back from the church. Alex had gone into the market to get some water and the kids asked where he was. When I motioned that he was in the store, the kids dawdled along until Alex came out so that they could wave at him. All the kids just love Alex!
I think that we have become addicted to sunflower seeds. It has become a ritual to buy a bag of them when we are out in the town and you can see us all walking around spitting out sunflower seed shells. Today Katya was feeding them to the birds. Normally we would tell her not to waste them but they really cost the equivalent of about $.20 so if it entertains her and Allie - why not!
Katya doesn't complain too much when we have her do her English lessons. We have learned that she will do things eventually. She just has to decide that she wants to do them. We had brought her a new pair of tennis shoes that she refused to put on (to the point that Alex was so frustrated with her that he had to take a "breather" from her). But later that day, she decided that she wanted to wear them. The same goes with the English lessons. That first day she stood her ground but then after that she has decided that she wants to do English lessons - and sometimes even asks for them. Today we were having her practice writing her letters. We brought a dry erase board and as she wrote them we went over what they were called and the sound they made. We have been having her watch those Leap Frog letter videos that tell what sounds the letters make so she has the sounds down pretty good. She doesn't know the names of them as well but the sounds are the most important anyway. She can sing to the letter "G" in the alphabet song. After she had written all the letters, she decided to try and spell some words (she did this all on her own - which was awesome!). She wrote "papa" and "mama" (which are easy, since they are the same in Russian). Then she wrote "sester" in an attempt to write sister, but wouldn't believe me when I told her it should be an "i" and not an "e". Then she wrote "babushka" and was trying to write "brother" but wrote "brat" and I mistakenly thought that she really might know what "brat" is and was writing it in response to Allie's trying to "help" her which was making Katya mad! So I made the mistake of laughing and then Katya got mad. She is so sensitive! But I coaxed her into cheering up and then we played a game of "go fish" with Allie.
So, overall it was a good Father's Day I think. One down, eight to go...
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Aterina Ann Lobas
When we picked Katya up today, she said, "I am Aterina Ann Lobas". She can't pronounce the "K" sound for some reason. She sounded so cute saying her name.
Today was a day much like every other day, filled with us trying to entertain the kids. We took her out of the orphanage but ended up going back because Katya got stir crazy and wanted to run around outside. So her and Allie climbed trees and then Ruslan (the Lawrence's boy) came and climbed trees with them. It is amazing how high Katya and Ruslan can get in those trees! They are just like little monkeys!
At the orphanage, the American group was holding the "Olympics". They had several events that the kids had to complete in order to get candy. There was a water balloon event that somehow Alex got involved in and he, Allie, and Katya got wet and muddy. Fun!
By the end of the day, I think we had all been worn out. The girl Natasha that hangs around us all the time when we are there was playing with Tony and kept moving him from one position to the next and I think Tony had had enough. So we brought Katya back to the apartment and gave her a bath (sshhh! She was all muddy and I think they only get baths on Tuesdays and Thursdays).
Only nine more days of this left...
Today was a day much like every other day, filled with us trying to entertain the kids. We took her out of the orphanage but ended up going back because Katya got stir crazy and wanted to run around outside. So her and Allie climbed trees and then Ruslan (the Lawrence's boy) came and climbed trees with them. It is amazing how high Katya and Ruslan can get in those trees! They are just like little monkeys!
At the orphanage, the American group was holding the "Olympics". They had several events that the kids had to complete in order to get candy. There was a water balloon event that somehow Alex got involved in and he, Allie, and Katya got wet and muddy. Fun!
By the end of the day, I think we had all been worn out. The girl Natasha that hangs around us all the time when we are there was playing with Tony and kept moving him from one position to the next and I think Tony had had enough. So we brought Katya back to the apartment and gave her a bath (sshhh! She was all muddy and I think they only get baths on Tuesdays and Thursdays).
Only nine more days of this left...
Friday, June 19, 2009
Beer and Mo-Peds
I got into the blogging groove and wanted to write about something less serious than court.
One day we asked Elena what the legal drinking age is here. She responded that it was eighteen. Alex then asked (about the boy who looked like he was about fourteen buying alcohol and one of the many, many corner alcohol stands), "Does he look like he is eighteen?". Elena responded that beer is not considered alcohol so there is no minimum age requirement. We asked her if there were laws against drunk driving. Elena responded that there were laws (however, if you get pulled over you could always bribe the police officer!).
Alex asked Elena how old you have to be to drive here. Elena responded that you have to be eighteen. NOTE: This is very wise, in my opinion, based on the very crazy driving "rules" here. Alex then asked her if a Mo-Ped (I don't think I spelled this correctly) is considered a vehicle because he say a boy that looked about twelve driving one. Elena responded that a Mo-Ped is not considered a vehicle and driving one does not require a license.
Alex then asked Elena, since there is no minimum age to buy beer and no minumum age to drive a Mo-Ped, is someone under eighteen allowed to drink beer while driving a Mo-Ped?
One day we asked Elena what the legal drinking age is here. She responded that it was eighteen. Alex then asked (about the boy who looked like he was about fourteen buying alcohol and one of the many, many corner alcohol stands), "Does he look like he is eighteen?". Elena responded that beer is not considered alcohol so there is no minimum age requirement. We asked her if there were laws against drunk driving. Elena responded that there were laws (however, if you get pulled over you could always bribe the police officer!).
Alex asked Elena how old you have to be to drive here. Elena responded that you have to be eighteen. NOTE: This is very wise, in my opinion, based on the very crazy driving "rules" here. Alex then asked her if a Mo-Ped (I don't think I spelled this correctly) is considered a vehicle because he say a boy that looked about twelve driving one. Elena responded that a Mo-Ped is not considered a vehicle and driving one does not require a license.
Alex then asked Elena, since there is no minimum age to buy beer and no minumum age to drive a Mo-Ped, is someone under eighteen allowed to drink beer while driving a Mo-Ped?
Our Court Day Adventure
I really didn't feel like blogging today; I feel I have run out of interesting things to say. So I was trying to get my mom to write about court today, but she wouldn't. She keeps this journal and writes in it every day so why can't she write something for my blog? Instead, she will tell me, "You should write that today was very special". I told her I can't because it just isn't the same not coming from her. Oh well. Alex then shamed me into blogging. Wendy posted a comment that she might give me the title of "Ukraine Queen Blogger" and he told me that I need to work to earn that title. So here goes, Alex and Wendy!
"Why do you want to go to America, rather than staying here in the Ukraine?" the judge asked Katya. "Because", Katya replied, "I will have a family there and here I don't have a family." She couldn't have answered this question any better. Court today went really well, despite the fact that it lasted over an hour-and-a-half. I think it could have gone just as well if it were only a half-an-hour and we could have all gotten out of there sooner :)
But it really did go very well. Last night, Oksana had prepped us for some of the weird questions that the judge might ask, such as: "Aren't you afraid that your husband will leave you and go back to his first wife?" (I loved this question, Amy!), or "Aren't you afraid that a woman will come along and steal your husband from you?" (I believe this question was asked of Leslie Soderberg). But we really didn't get any weird questions. When the judge first had us stand up, I was holding Tony and the judge joked, "Oh, I thought there were only two applicants but I guess there are three!" The judge seemed to love the fact that we had brought so much family with us. She asked us why we had decided to do this, since it was only required that Alex and I be here. Alex replied, "Because they are our family." The judge responded by saying that input from the other member's of the family is important and perhaps the court could learn from this...
She asked us why we had decided to adopt Katya and we explained that Katya had come to our house last October through a hosting program and we had fallen in love with her and wanted her to become part of our family. She asked us what we loved about Katya and we responded that she has such a bubbly personality and is so happy.
Then she moved on to my mom. She really liked my mom. She asked my mom why she had decided to come with us, whether it had been her idea or Alex and mine. My mom and I both responded at the same time that it had been a mutual decision. She asked my mom what she thought about us adopting Katya and adding another member to our family. My mom responded by saying that she loved kids - that she had eight of her own - and that we have already bonded with Katya and that Katya is already a part of our family. She told the judge that Katya will be her eleventh grandchild. Then the judge asked Alex what he thought about his mother-in-law. Alex responded by saying that she was the best mother-in-law that he could ask for; that we loved taking her on family vacations and that she always remembers his birthdays and makes him birthday cakes. The judge then asked my mom if she had the best son-in-law and my mom responded with a "Yes" and a "thumbs up"!
There was a radio reporter in the courtroom, which I believe had something to do with some of the questions that the judge asked (and the length of the proceedings). While the judge was asking Katya questions, she kept joking with Katya that she was like a "pop star" because Katya stood up every time the judge addressed her, smiled, was polite, and would wait until the judge finished her question completely before answering. I think the judge was acting a bit like a "pop star" herself for the radio reporter. I guess they do a radio show about foreign adoptions. The reporter was very nice and nobody seemed to act like the purpose of his show was to put foreign adoptions in a bad light so when he wanted to interview us afterwards, we agreed. He asked pretty much the same questions that were asked in court, with a couple of new ones, such as: "What do you want Katya to be when she grows up?" and "Do you like to travel?" and "Do you like the Ukraine?". I thought his questions were weirder than the ones the judge asked us...
At the end of the proceedings, the judge told Katya that she needed to always respect and obey us (Ha! We will see how well she follows that advice!). It was a beautiful day and we are now counting down the days when we can bring her home with us. Yeah!!!
"Why do you want to go to America, rather than staying here in the Ukraine?" the judge asked Katya. "Because", Katya replied, "I will have a family there and here I don't have a family." She couldn't have answered this question any better. Court today went really well, despite the fact that it lasted over an hour-and-a-half. I think it could have gone just as well if it were only a half-an-hour and we could have all gotten out of there sooner :)
But it really did go very well. Last night, Oksana had prepped us for some of the weird questions that the judge might ask, such as: "Aren't you afraid that your husband will leave you and go back to his first wife?" (I loved this question, Amy!), or "Aren't you afraid that a woman will come along and steal your husband from you?" (I believe this question was asked of Leslie Soderberg). But we really didn't get any weird questions. When the judge first had us stand up, I was holding Tony and the judge joked, "Oh, I thought there were only two applicants but I guess there are three!" The judge seemed to love the fact that we had brought so much family with us. She asked us why we had decided to do this, since it was only required that Alex and I be here. Alex replied, "Because they are our family." The judge responded by saying that input from the other member's of the family is important and perhaps the court could learn from this...
She asked us why we had decided to adopt Katya and we explained that Katya had come to our house last October through a hosting program and we had fallen in love with her and wanted her to become part of our family. She asked us what we loved about Katya and we responded that she has such a bubbly personality and is so happy.
Then she moved on to my mom. She really liked my mom. She asked my mom why she had decided to come with us, whether it had been her idea or Alex and mine. My mom and I both responded at the same time that it had been a mutual decision. She asked my mom what she thought about us adopting Katya and adding another member to our family. My mom responded by saying that she loved kids - that she had eight of her own - and that we have already bonded with Katya and that Katya is already a part of our family. She told the judge that Katya will be her eleventh grandchild. Then the judge asked Alex what he thought about his mother-in-law. Alex responded by saying that she was the best mother-in-law that he could ask for; that we loved taking her on family vacations and that she always remembers his birthdays and makes him birthday cakes. The judge then asked my mom if she had the best son-in-law and my mom responded with a "Yes" and a "thumbs up"!
There was a radio reporter in the courtroom, which I believe had something to do with some of the questions that the judge asked (and the length of the proceedings). While the judge was asking Katya questions, she kept joking with Katya that she was like a "pop star" because Katya stood up every time the judge addressed her, smiled, was polite, and would wait until the judge finished her question completely before answering. I think the judge was acting a bit like a "pop star" herself for the radio reporter. I guess they do a radio show about foreign adoptions. The reporter was very nice and nobody seemed to act like the purpose of his show was to put foreign adoptions in a bad light so when he wanted to interview us afterwards, we agreed. He asked pretty much the same questions that were asked in court, with a couple of new ones, such as: "What do you want Katya to be when she grows up?" and "Do you like to travel?" and "Do you like the Ukraine?". I thought his questions were weirder than the ones the judge asked us...
At the end of the proceedings, the judge told Katya that she needed to always respect and obey us (Ha! We will see how well she follows that advice!). It was a beautiful day and we are now counting down the days when we can bring her home with us. Yeah!!!
Court tomorrow?
Thursday, June 18th
I was tired tonight and didn't feel like blogging so I told Alex he should write something. The nerve of me, huh! I cut him off from my blog and then want him to write something...At first he didn't want to but ended up doing it. Thanks baby!
Just like most everyday, we got to the orphanage at about 11:45 am, despite the fact that Katya asks us to get there at 11. Luckily, she doesn't get mad at us for this. She must know how hard it is to get all of us up and ready to go. When we got there, Katya was willing and did her English lesson. Allie then had to do her Russian lessons (that's only fair, isn't it?). Allie had tons of help from the girls at the orphanage ;) Jen Benson came by distributing her bows and we decided that we would take all the kids to the Potato House for lunch but it then started raining and we were going to eat at the orphanage with the kids. However, apparently we have to give at least one day's notice in order for them to make enough food to feed all of us. So, we had Oleg make two trips and take seven adults, five kids, and one baby to the Potato House. We like the Potato House because it is cheap and easy to order - we can just point at the toppings we want on our pizza.
Once back, the Benson's and Lawrence's were doing English lessons. We asked Katya if she wanted to join them and she said that she wanted to play the Nintendo DS instead. We weren't going to force her, since she had already done her one promised English lesson, but I wouldn't let her play the DS. So, after about five minutes of jumping the rope, Katya decided that English lessons would be funner - since all the other kids were inside. We had her watch a phonics Leap Frog video, which she seemed to enjoy, and afterwards the girls made hair bows. Jen's little girl, Nastia, had fun putting all the hair bows in my hair (I will post a picture later). Katya and Allie got into a tickling, wrestling match with me.
We still didn't know if we were going to have court tomorrow or not. However, at 5:30 Elena gave us the good news that the papers we were waiting for from Kiev had made it here and we would be going to court tomorrow. Katya's "happy dance" summed up all our sentiments! Yeah - tomorrow Katya will legally be our daughter!
I was tired tonight and didn't feel like blogging so I told Alex he should write something. The nerve of me, huh! I cut him off from my blog and then want him to write something...At first he didn't want to but ended up doing it. Thanks baby!
Just like most everyday, we got to the orphanage at about 11:45 am, despite the fact that Katya asks us to get there at 11. Luckily, she doesn't get mad at us for this. She must know how hard it is to get all of us up and ready to go. When we got there, Katya was willing and did her English lesson. Allie then had to do her Russian lessons (that's only fair, isn't it?). Allie had tons of help from the girls at the orphanage ;) Jen Benson came by distributing her bows and we decided that we would take all the kids to the Potato House for lunch but it then started raining and we were going to eat at the orphanage with the kids. However, apparently we have to give at least one day's notice in order for them to make enough food to feed all of us. So, we had Oleg make two trips and take seven adults, five kids, and one baby to the Potato House. We like the Potato House because it is cheap and easy to order - we can just point at the toppings we want on our pizza.
Once back, the Benson's and Lawrence's were doing English lessons. We asked Katya if she wanted to join them and she said that she wanted to play the Nintendo DS instead. We weren't going to force her, since she had already done her one promised English lesson, but I wouldn't let her play the DS. So, after about five minutes of jumping the rope, Katya decided that English lessons would be funner - since all the other kids were inside. We had her watch a phonics Leap Frog video, which she seemed to enjoy, and afterwards the girls made hair bows. Jen's little girl, Nastia, had fun putting all the hair bows in my hair (I will post a picture later). Katya and Allie got into a tickling, wrestling match with me.
We still didn't know if we were going to have court tomorrow or not. However, at 5:30 Elena gave us the good news that the papers we were waiting for from Kiev had made it here and we would be going to court tomorrow. Katya's "happy dance" summed up all our sentiments! Yeah - tomorrow Katya will legally be our daughter!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Battle of the wills
Today we fought a battle of the wills with Katya. We are not sure who won.
It was rainy here and so there wasn't going to be much playing outside and we decided that we would go to the main orphanage building and hang out in a room and have Katya do some English lessons on the Rosetta Stone and then have her and Allie draw, make origami flowers, and other stuff to entertain themselves. Katya had other notions about what she would be doing. She did about one and a half lessons (I only wanted her to do three - she was so close!) and then put her foot down and refused to do anymore. Elena happened to be at the orphanage with the Benson's and Lawrences so we sat her down with Katya and had a little chat. We told Katya how important it was for her to learn English - so that she will be able to talk to us! - and that when she gets to our house she will not always get to do what she wants all the time. Allie doesn't always get to do what she wants, we make her read and write (which to Allie borders on torture!) in exchange for her getting to do fun stuff. All the while, Katya just sat there with her arms crossed and jaw set - she sure can be stubborn. But we can be, too. Just ask Allie, who went almost all of last summer without watching TV at our house because she wouldn't do her "Harriet the Spy" book report.
We told her she couldn't play video games until she did one more lesson and that she could take as long as she wanted to decide to do this lesson but until she did the lesson, she wasn't going to get to play games. Score: Us - 1 Katya - 0.
So, Katya went into the directors office and played video games there . Score: Us - 1 Katya - 1.
When Alex realized that is what she had done, we grabbed Elena again and sat Katya down and told her that her playing video games elsewhere was basically like defying us and if she didn't want to do her one English lesson and wasn't going to be with us that we would go home and she could just stay here. Score: Us - 2 Katya - 1.
Katya said it was fine if we left. Score: Us - 2 Katya - 2.
But on our way out, we made sure that she was no longer allowed to sit in the directors office to play video games, since this is not something that would normally be allowed anyway. So when we left, I believe we were ahead and the intention was to come back when Elena got back from going with the Benson's (and Lawrences?) to sign papers.
But we never heard from Elena and at 5:30 decided to go back over to the orphanage. Katya's mood had improved and she agreed to do English tomorrow from 12:00 - 12:30. It was pretty late and rainy outside so all the kids were inside and we didn't feel like forcing her to do the one English lesson tonight. So we will see tomorrow who won, when we try and get her to do the English lesson she promised...
We ate dinner at the orphanage. It was potato stew with meat in it and bread. My stew did not have any meat in it (thank goodness, because the meat looked really gross!) and the stew wasn't too bad. We made Allie eat all of her's, even though she didn't like it. The drink they served with dinner tasted suspiciously like coffee. Alex thinks it might have been "Postum" or "Ovaltine" because who in their right minds would serve coffee to children?
After dinner, we played cards with the kids. We played a matching game, war, and uno. Alex told them that we would only play uno if they played by our rules because Alex had played uno with a boy on a previous day and when I asked him how it went, he said it was like the game called "You win!". You have probably seen that episode of "Friends" where Chandler wanted to loan Joey money but didn't want Joey to know he was loaning him money so he made up the game called "You win!", where any card that was played meant that Joey won. Their Uno game never ends. When someone wins, they just have that person draw seven more cards and then they just keep playing. For this reason they are not really interested in getting rid of their cards - they are more interested in catching people who have not said "Uno". They got me a couple of times!
We left at about 8:30, which was the latest we had stayed at the orphanage. Allie was very concerned because they locked the door at 8:00 and I think she was afraid that we would not be able to get out!
It was rainy here and so there wasn't going to be much playing outside and we decided that we would go to the main orphanage building and hang out in a room and have Katya do some English lessons on the Rosetta Stone and then have her and Allie draw, make origami flowers, and other stuff to entertain themselves. Katya had other notions about what she would be doing. She did about one and a half lessons (I only wanted her to do three - she was so close!) and then put her foot down and refused to do anymore. Elena happened to be at the orphanage with the Benson's and Lawrences so we sat her down with Katya and had a little chat. We told Katya how important it was for her to learn English - so that she will be able to talk to us! - and that when she gets to our house she will not always get to do what she wants all the time. Allie doesn't always get to do what she wants, we make her read and write (which to Allie borders on torture!) in exchange for her getting to do fun stuff. All the while, Katya just sat there with her arms crossed and jaw set - she sure can be stubborn. But we can be, too. Just ask Allie, who went almost all of last summer without watching TV at our house because she wouldn't do her "Harriet the Spy" book report.
We told her she couldn't play video games until she did one more lesson and that she could take as long as she wanted to decide to do this lesson but until she did the lesson, she wasn't going to get to play games. Score: Us - 1 Katya - 0.
So, Katya went into the directors office and played video games there . Score: Us - 1 Katya - 1.
When Alex realized that is what she had done, we grabbed Elena again and sat Katya down and told her that her playing video games elsewhere was basically like defying us and if she didn't want to do her one English lesson and wasn't going to be with us that we would go home and she could just stay here. Score: Us - 2 Katya - 1.
Katya said it was fine if we left. Score: Us - 2 Katya - 2.
But on our way out, we made sure that she was no longer allowed to sit in the directors office to play video games, since this is not something that would normally be allowed anyway. So when we left, I believe we were ahead and the intention was to come back when Elena got back from going with the Benson's (and Lawrences?) to sign papers.
But we never heard from Elena and at 5:30 decided to go back over to the orphanage. Katya's mood had improved and she agreed to do English tomorrow from 12:00 - 12:30. It was pretty late and rainy outside so all the kids were inside and we didn't feel like forcing her to do the one English lesson tonight. So we will see tomorrow who won, when we try and get her to do the English lesson she promised...
We ate dinner at the orphanage. It was potato stew with meat in it and bread. My stew did not have any meat in it (thank goodness, because the meat looked really gross!) and the stew wasn't too bad. We made Allie eat all of her's, even though she didn't like it. The drink they served with dinner tasted suspiciously like coffee. Alex thinks it might have been "Postum" or "Ovaltine" because who in their right minds would serve coffee to children?
After dinner, we played cards with the kids. We played a matching game, war, and uno. Alex told them that we would only play uno if they played by our rules because Alex had played uno with a boy on a previous day and when I asked him how it went, he said it was like the game called "You win!". You have probably seen that episode of "Friends" where Chandler wanted to loan Joey money but didn't want Joey to know he was loaning him money so he made up the game called "You win!", where any card that was played meant that Joey won. Their Uno game never ends. When someone wins, they just have that person draw seven more cards and then they just keep playing. For this reason they are not really interested in getting rid of their cards - they are more interested in catching people who have not said "Uno". They got me a couple of times!
We left at about 8:30, which was the latest we had stayed at the orphanage. Allie was very concerned because they locked the door at 8:00 and I think she was afraid that we would not be able to get out!
Our long walk
Yesterday Katya wanted to take us for a walk to show us the church that she goes to. She made it sound like it wasn't very far so we agreed, with her leading the way. We started walking - down past the park, past the Potato House, down past the drug store. We walked past a store that Katya said was a shoe store, past many small beer stands (as there is one on every corner), we walked past a little hut that had pictures of hamburgers on it (that I am sure that whatever comes out of this stand is not really a hamburger - as there is no way they could make decent hamburgers in this little hut), past a park with a sandbox that had a very large beer bottle in it (lovely!) and where Katya stepped on some glass because she had taken her shoes off, past a place that was either a strip club or a casino based on the pictures on the window. All the while, we are following this little girl that claims she knows where the church is but we are getting very worried that she really does not know where the church since we have been walking for about 45 minutes! Katya had us cross the street once and cross back over to the side of the street we were originally on and was going to have us cross the street again until a frustrated Alex motioned with his hand that we do not walk in a zig-zag pattern but instead we walk in a straight path!
Just when we had Elena on the phone to ask Katya if she really did know where the church was, we spotted the steeple and were very relieved as it had started to get a little bit hot and we were out of drinking water. The church was actually very pretty. It was red and white brick on the outside and inside the ceilings were very high and there were intricate murals painted on the ceiling and walls. There were no benches in the church - just open space - and there were pictures of Saints (I believe they were Saints - I am not very familiar with the Catholic religion) with candles stands next to them so that you could light a candle and put it by whatever Saint you were asking for help from. Originally when we got there, I didn't think they would let us in, as we were all wearing shorts and the ladies going into the church had skirts and shawls over their heads. But Katya went in and got me and my mom a shawl for our heads and they let us in (I don't really think they were supposed to let us in with shorts, but there was a very nice older lady that said it was OK). We purchase a candle stick for .50 grivnas and lit a candle. Then Katya wanted us to all have cross necklaces so we purchased these for 15 grivnas, which is the equivalent of about $2.
Then we started the long walk back. Katya wanted to ride the bus back but we would have no idea what bus to even get on and most of the buses I have seen are packed so full of people that there is no way we would fit on it with a baby stroller. So we walked, stopping at the drug store on our way where I forgot about the "no gas" thing and bought the disgusting carbonated water. Yuck! We had lunch at the Potato House, which was very good and pretty cheap. We walked back to the apartment, stopping to buy some sunflower seeds on the way, and we did not forget that we were not supposed to let Katya in but we were so tired from that very long walk and there was only 2 hours before Katya had to be back at the orphanage that we let her in the apartment. I sat her down at the computer and typed into bablefish that she could stay in for a little bit as long as she promised that she would not tell anybody. We made cookies, except that I didn't turn the oven on correctly and so they took forever to cook and ended up getting a little bit crispy. Katya seemed to like them, as she formed a circle with her hands and then gave them a "thumbs up". When it was time to take her back to the orphanage, I kept reminding her that there was "no doma" (no house) and that there were "no cookies", as questions about cookies may lead to questions about where the cookies were made :).
All in all, although it was a very long walk, we did get to see pretty much the whole town and now know that there is really no reason why we need to walk that far down the main street again!
Just when we had Elena on the phone to ask Katya if she really did know where the church was, we spotted the steeple and were very relieved as it had started to get a little bit hot and we were out of drinking water. The church was actually very pretty. It was red and white brick on the outside and inside the ceilings were very high and there were intricate murals painted on the ceiling and walls. There were no benches in the church - just open space - and there were pictures of Saints (I believe they were Saints - I am not very familiar with the Catholic religion) with candles stands next to them so that you could light a candle and put it by whatever Saint you were asking for help from. Originally when we got there, I didn't think they would let us in, as we were all wearing shorts and the ladies going into the church had skirts and shawls over their heads. But Katya went in and got me and my mom a shawl for our heads and they let us in (I don't really think they were supposed to let us in with shorts, but there was a very nice older lady that said it was OK). We purchase a candle stick for .50 grivnas and lit a candle. Then Katya wanted us to all have cross necklaces so we purchased these for 15 grivnas, which is the equivalent of about $2.
Then we started the long walk back. Katya wanted to ride the bus back but we would have no idea what bus to even get on and most of the buses I have seen are packed so full of people that there is no way we would fit on it with a baby stroller. So we walked, stopping at the drug store on our way where I forgot about the "no gas" thing and bought the disgusting carbonated water. Yuck! We had lunch at the Potato House, which was very good and pretty cheap. We walked back to the apartment, stopping to buy some sunflower seeds on the way, and we did not forget that we were not supposed to let Katya in but we were so tired from that very long walk and there was only 2 hours before Katya had to be back at the orphanage that we let her in the apartment. I sat her down at the computer and typed into bablefish that she could stay in for a little bit as long as she promised that she would not tell anybody. We made cookies, except that I didn't turn the oven on correctly and so they took forever to cook and ended up getting a little bit crispy. Katya seemed to like them, as she formed a circle with her hands and then gave them a "thumbs up". When it was time to take her back to the orphanage, I kept reminding her that there was "no doma" (no house) and that there were "no cookies", as questions about cookies may lead to questions about where the cookies were made :).
All in all, although it was a very long walk, we did get to see pretty much the whole town and now know that there is really no reason why we need to walk that far down the main street again!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Driving
We haven’t yet posted anything about the driving. I think it is because we have been to Guatemala where there are no driving rules, and Alex actually drove while we were there, so the driving here doesn’t shock us. However, the drivers here are definitely crazier than those in the United States. I don’t think I have seen any traffic lights in this town. They have stop signs and it seems like the bravest car is the one that gets to go first. If you are a pedestrian, you better beware because, although there are many crosswalks that are very clearly marked, they seem to only be a suggestion that the cars actually stop. With us having a baby, the cars appear to be more willing to stop more often for us, however we still have to be very cautious and cross the road quickly in case the driver changes their mind!
I have to post something about Oleg and his car because he reminds me so much of Alex. Oleg really loves his car. According to Oksana, it is his second wife (or maybe even his first wife, she says). He treats his car like it is his baby. I initially thought that his opening my door was an act of chivalry but have realized that it is because he doesn’t want me to close the door too hard – he likes to “gently” close the door himself. One day, Elena hit her head of the roof of the car and told Oleg that she hated his car. Oleg seemed genuinely offended by this comment and would not speak to Elena for a while after this!
The roads here are filled with potholes. I should probably actually say that the potholes are occasionally accompanied by some road. It almost seems that in some places, they would be better off tearing up the road and leaving just the dirt road under it because in order to drive the roads here and still end up with a car afterwards, you have to slowly swerve from one side of the road to the other – much like a maze – to avoid a pothole. You would never want to drive at night here, as you may drive into a pothole and never come out.
One day, Alex and his friends were watching YouTube videos of funny driving. Usually these videos involved a female trying to park and on one of the cars there was a sign shaped like a yield sign with a picture of a high heel in the middle. They found this hilarious because they thought it was a joke. Alex asked Elena about whether it was a joke because he had seen a car here with that sign on it. Elena said that it is not a joke here and Alex asked her what the purpose of the sign is then. Elena said it was to let other drivers know that a woman was behind the wheel. Alex asked why that would not be considered a joke because in the United States that would be something funny. Elena said that it is a caution thing – if other drivers know that a woman is driving than they will be more courteous and careful when driving in the vicinity of this vehicle. Alex is now on a quest to find these signs because the fact that they serve a “serious” purpose and actually exist makes them even more hilarious. So beware – you may get one of these when we get home!
I have to post something about Oleg and his car because he reminds me so much of Alex. Oleg really loves his car. According to Oksana, it is his second wife (or maybe even his first wife, she says). He treats his car like it is his baby. I initially thought that his opening my door was an act of chivalry but have realized that it is because he doesn’t want me to close the door too hard – he likes to “gently” close the door himself. One day, Elena hit her head of the roof of the car and told Oleg that she hated his car. Oleg seemed genuinely offended by this comment and would not speak to Elena for a while after this!
The roads here are filled with potholes. I should probably actually say that the potholes are occasionally accompanied by some road. It almost seems that in some places, they would be better off tearing up the road and leaving just the dirt road under it because in order to drive the roads here and still end up with a car afterwards, you have to slowly swerve from one side of the road to the other – much like a maze – to avoid a pothole. You would never want to drive at night here, as you may drive into a pothole and never come out.
One day, Alex and his friends were watching YouTube videos of funny driving. Usually these videos involved a female trying to park and on one of the cars there was a sign shaped like a yield sign with a picture of a high heel in the middle. They found this hilarious because they thought it was a joke. Alex asked Elena about whether it was a joke because he had seen a car here with that sign on it. Elena said that it is not a joke here and Alex asked her what the purpose of the sign is then. Elena said it was to let other drivers know that a woman was behind the wheel. Alex asked why that would not be considered a joke because in the United States that would be something funny. Elena said that it is a caution thing – if other drivers know that a woman is driving than they will be more courteous and careful when driving in the vicinity of this vehicle. Alex is now on a quest to find these signs because the fact that they serve a “serious” purpose and actually exist makes them even more hilarious. So beware – you may get one of these when we get home!
The Lost Boys
We have been hanging out at the orphanage for the last couple of days. The first day that we spent a whole day with Katya, we walked Katya and Allie down the main street to the park. They played for a bit and there was a guy there with really tame rabbits that would let you carry them around and Katya and Allie had fun. However, we realized that there really isn't much to do in this town and since we are not supposed to let Katya into the apartment, we decided that we are not going to walk around every day. Katya doesn't like staying at the orphanage but we have actually been having a lot of fun and Allie is having a blast playing with all the kids.
My mom says the kids at the orphanage remind her of the "Lost Boys" in Peter Pan without any mothers and fathers. This is actually an excellent description of what the kids are like here. They are all covered in dirt, spend their days playing and doing whatever they want with very little supervision. If they get hurt, they don't really have anyone to cry to and they have become really tough little kids. Yesterday I saw a boy almost start a fire with a magnifying glass! I asked Allie yesterday if she was having fun and she said emphatically, “Yes!” I told her that it would be pretty fun to be able to get as dirty as you want and do anything you want all day long, but wouldn’t it get pretty old after a while if you don’t have anyone around to tell you that they love you?
In the last couple of days we have been more active than we have been in the last ten years. We have jumped the rope, played “keep away”, played soccer, climbed trees, and swung on the monkey bars. Allie is getting lots of exercise (which definitely isn’t a bad thing!). I jumped the rope for the first time in about twenty years and I have to say that I wasn’t half bad! The kids jumped the rope so much that they wore out the jump rope!
My mom says the kids at the orphanage remind her of the "Lost Boys" in Peter Pan without any mothers and fathers. This is actually an excellent description of what the kids are like here. They are all covered in dirt, spend their days playing and doing whatever they want with very little supervision. If they get hurt, they don't really have anyone to cry to and they have become really tough little kids. Yesterday I saw a boy almost start a fire with a magnifying glass! I asked Allie yesterday if she was having fun and she said emphatically, “Yes!” I told her that it would be pretty fun to be able to get as dirty as you want and do anything you want all day long, but wouldn’t it get pretty old after a while if you don’t have anyone around to tell you that they love you?
In the last couple of days we have been more active than we have been in the last ten years. We have jumped the rope, played “keep away”, played soccer, climbed trees, and swung on the monkey bars. Allie is getting lots of exercise (which definitely isn’t a bad thing!). I jumped the rope for the first time in about twenty years and I have to say that I wasn’t half bad! The kids jumped the rope so much that they wore out the jump rope!
Our trip - from Allie's perspective
We have been having Allie write in her journal about the stuff she is doing and I thought it would be cute to post what she had written. So, here it is!
Kiev is different than Utah. There are so many hills and apartments. There are two shopping centers that we can walk to. The food is very different from American. You can park on the sidewalk here. There aren't many houses here. There are a lot of old buildings here. There is a cat somewhere and an opera singer somewhere. Ann's comment: The cat would sit outside of our apartment and yowl in the middle of the night and the lady in the apartment liked to practice her opera singing (also in the middle of the night!).
Today we went to McDonald's and it's in Independence Square. It's very famous in Kiev. We went shopping. The shoes are very expensive here. I got ice cream and I thought it was vanilla but it was lemon - it was disgusting! I took the longest nap today. After lunch I fell asleep and when I woke up it was dinner time. I pulled out my own tooth and I got ten dollars for it and I found two one cent coins (Ukraine coins). To get across the street you walk under it and there are small shops down there. Ann's comment: Alex thought I should let everybody know that Allie's tooth had been loose for a couple of weeks and that she didn't pull her tooth out in frustration! Also, initially we had hinted that the tooth fairy might pay her for her tooth in Ukrainian money. However, later that night we realized the smallest bill we had was a 200 grivnas bill and we didn't think the tooth was worth $26 - even in the Ukraine. So, we gave her $10 and then she got to go and exchange it for grivnas. That was probably more fun anyway!
We are now at the next city. It is not as nice as Kiev. We saw Katya and we took her around the town. We found a park. It was cool. The only thing I would change about it is the cement - someone is going to get hurt. Ann's comment: The cement is much like the streets - filled with great big potholes!
Today Katya walked us all to a church and we lit candles and put them in a candle holder by a picture. On the way back, we ate at the Potato House. The pizza was delicious and then we went back to the domo (Russian for house) and we made cookies. Ann's comment: It is actually doma, I think. SShhh! Don't tell that we let Katya into the house! Then we went to the orphanage and I played with the girls. We played a game called "Mouse House". Then we played "Buddy Tag". It was fun.
Kiev is different than Utah. There are so many hills and apartments. There are two shopping centers that we can walk to. The food is very different from American. You can park on the sidewalk here. There aren't many houses here. There are a lot of old buildings here. There is a cat somewhere and an opera singer somewhere. Ann's comment: The cat would sit outside of our apartment and yowl in the middle of the night and the lady in the apartment liked to practice her opera singing (also in the middle of the night!).
Today we went to McDonald's and it's in Independence Square. It's very famous in Kiev. We went shopping. The shoes are very expensive here. I got ice cream and I thought it was vanilla but it was lemon - it was disgusting! I took the longest nap today. After lunch I fell asleep and when I woke up it was dinner time. I pulled out my own tooth and I got ten dollars for it and I found two one cent coins (Ukraine coins). To get across the street you walk under it and there are small shops down there. Ann's comment: Alex thought I should let everybody know that Allie's tooth had been loose for a couple of weeks and that she didn't pull her tooth out in frustration! Also, initially we had hinted that the tooth fairy might pay her for her tooth in Ukrainian money. However, later that night we realized the smallest bill we had was a 200 grivnas bill and we didn't think the tooth was worth $26 - even in the Ukraine. So, we gave her $10 and then she got to go and exchange it for grivnas. That was probably more fun anyway!
We are now at the next city. It is not as nice as Kiev. We saw Katya and we took her around the town. We found a park. It was cool. The only thing I would change about it is the cement - someone is going to get hurt. Ann's comment: The cement is much like the streets - filled with great big potholes!
Today Katya walked us all to a church and we lit candles and put them in a candle holder by a picture. On the way back, we ate at the Potato House. The pizza was delicious and then we went back to the domo (Russian for house) and we made cookies. Ann's comment: It is actually doma, I think. SShhh! Don't tell that we let Katya into the house! Then we went to the orphanage and I played with the girls. We played a game called "Mouse House". Then we played "Buddy Tag". It was fun.
Monday, June 15, 2009
A day of paperwork and good news - maybe?
We did a bunch of paperwork stuff today. The plan was to go the orphanage at 11 am and then at 1 pm go to get our adoption application signed by the inspector and then track down the mayor to sign it so we could go later and submit it to the judge and hopefully get our court date - yeah! My mom wasn't feeling well this morning so we left her at home with Tony with the idea that we would be back at 1 pm and leave Allie or take Tony with us. However, plans never seem to go the way they are supposed to. Oksana was trying to track down the mayor or someone with similar authority to sign the application and was not having much luck so 1 pm came and went and we decided that we needed to go and get something to eat.
Oleg dropped me, Alex, Allie, Elena, and Katya off at a cafe to eat lunch. We thought that Elena there would make ordering easier (and it did), the only problem was that we had an English menu and a lot of times with an English menu they don't list prices and the English menu seems to only be half the size of the regular menu (because, according the Elena, they either don't want to translate the other stuff or don't know how). So Alex and I ended up ordering this soup that Elena suggested (and one "to go" for my mom), which neither of us liked, and Katya ended up ordering spaghetti, a dish of chicken and bananas, Allie ordered BBQ chicken, grilled vegetables, Elena had a piece of cake and a cappucino-type drink and in the midst of lunch, when Alex discovered that he didn't like his soup, he ordered a plate of spaghetti (although Alex claims that he didn't order another plate of spaghetti, despite the fact that both Elena and I were adamant that he did!). About $40 later, we were there with a bunch of food and the vow to not go to order anything again if we don't know how much it costs. We will probably just stick to the Potatoe House from now on because it is really cheap and we know it will at least be something we can stand to eat.
Anyway, after eating we went to the inspectors office to have the inspector sign the application. We had Allie and Katya with us and the inspector and the other lady in the office thought Katya was really cute and kept asking her questions and gave her a book with pictures of Dniprodzerzinsk (I think this is how you spell the name of the city that we are in). The inspector told us thank you for wanting to help the children in their country. After the inspector's signature, we took Katya back to the orphanage and played with the kids for a while longer while they still tried to locate someone that could sign the application and finally Oksana decided that she would try to submit the application without the other signature and see if we could schedule the court date. So we left Katya at the orphanage and headed to the court house with Allie and waited at the courthouse for Oksana to do her sweet-talking with the judge. Allie was very bored during all this because it involved a lot of sitting and waiting, which Alex and I have become accustomed to, and I told Allie that she should be glad that she didn't go with us to Nikopol (she had complained to my mom that she didn't get to go with us) because that is basically what we did for two days and whatever she did with grandma was certainly more entertaining than what we did!
Oksana walked out of the courthouse with the slight tinge of a smile and told us that we got a court date for this Friday (which we were thrilled to death about!) based on the following things happening:
1) We get the mayor-type person's signature, who is in Kiev right now.
2) We get the document we need from the SDA (I don't know what document it is - just that we need it) signed on Wednesday. Apparently, the person at the SDA only signs papers on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Fridays.
3) We then will have both the paper signed by the mayor-type person and the SDA paper brought back here from Kiev in time for our court date.
This document trail is making my head spin because on our way back from the courthouse, Oleg dropped us off a little ways from our apartment so he could hurry and pick up someone that I believe was going to take the paper that the mayor-type person needed to sign on the night train to Kiev tonight so that the mayor-type person could sign it and have it ready to be delivered back here. Whew!!! I was just explaining my belief of what the course of events is to Alex the course of events and he looked exhausted - this could also have to do with the fact that he and Allie seem to wake up at 2 am every morning because they haven't quite figured out what night time is :)
In any case, it sounds like if our court date isn't on Friday, it will be on Monday, which is still pretty soon. But if it is on Friday, I was counting down the days on the calendar and looking at when we would be home and I was getting very excited because our 10 day waiting period would be up on Monday, June 29th and if we give ourselves a week to get the birth certificates, passports, visas, etc. we could be home the weekend of July 4th. I am trying to not let myself get too excited because I saw what happened to poor Wendy but I am excited to think of coming home. I have only been here for a week but I am ready to sleep in my nice soft bed, cook in my kitchen where all the burners work, use a cutting board and actually know if something is baking soda or not. So here's to hoping that our court date is on Friday!
Oleg dropped me, Alex, Allie, Elena, and Katya off at a cafe to eat lunch. We thought that Elena there would make ordering easier (and it did), the only problem was that we had an English menu and a lot of times with an English menu they don't list prices and the English menu seems to only be half the size of the regular menu (because, according the Elena, they either don't want to translate the other stuff or don't know how). So Alex and I ended up ordering this soup that Elena suggested (and one "to go" for my mom), which neither of us liked, and Katya ended up ordering spaghetti, a dish of chicken and bananas, Allie ordered BBQ chicken, grilled vegetables, Elena had a piece of cake and a cappucino-type drink and in the midst of lunch, when Alex discovered that he didn't like his soup, he ordered a plate of spaghetti (although Alex claims that he didn't order another plate of spaghetti, despite the fact that both Elena and I were adamant that he did!). About $40 later, we were there with a bunch of food and the vow to not go to order anything again if we don't know how much it costs. We will probably just stick to the Potatoe House from now on because it is really cheap and we know it will at least be something we can stand to eat.
Anyway, after eating we went to the inspectors office to have the inspector sign the application. We had Allie and Katya with us and the inspector and the other lady in the office thought Katya was really cute and kept asking her questions and gave her a book with pictures of Dniprodzerzinsk (I think this is how you spell the name of the city that we are in). The inspector told us thank you for wanting to help the children in their country. After the inspector's signature, we took Katya back to the orphanage and played with the kids for a while longer while they still tried to locate someone that could sign the application and finally Oksana decided that she would try to submit the application without the other signature and see if we could schedule the court date. So we left Katya at the orphanage and headed to the court house with Allie and waited at the courthouse for Oksana to do her sweet-talking with the judge. Allie was very bored during all this because it involved a lot of sitting and waiting, which Alex and I have become accustomed to, and I told Allie that she should be glad that she didn't go with us to Nikopol (she had complained to my mom that she didn't get to go with us) because that is basically what we did for two days and whatever she did with grandma was certainly more entertaining than what we did!
Oksana walked out of the courthouse with the slight tinge of a smile and told us that we got a court date for this Friday (which we were thrilled to death about!) based on the following things happening:
1) We get the mayor-type person's signature, who is in Kiev right now.
2) We get the document we need from the SDA (I don't know what document it is - just that we need it) signed on Wednesday. Apparently, the person at the SDA only signs papers on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Fridays.
3) We then will have both the paper signed by the mayor-type person and the SDA paper brought back here from Kiev in time for our court date.
This document trail is making my head spin because on our way back from the courthouse, Oleg dropped us off a little ways from our apartment so he could hurry and pick up someone that I believe was going to take the paper that the mayor-type person needed to sign on the night train to Kiev tonight so that the mayor-type person could sign it and have it ready to be delivered back here. Whew!!! I was just explaining my belief of what the course of events is to Alex the course of events and he looked exhausted - this could also have to do with the fact that he and Allie seem to wake up at 2 am every morning because they haven't quite figured out what night time is :)
In any case, it sounds like if our court date isn't on Friday, it will be on Monday, which is still pretty soon. But if it is on Friday, I was counting down the days on the calendar and looking at when we would be home and I was getting very excited because our 10 day waiting period would be up on Monday, June 29th and if we give ourselves a week to get the birth certificates, passports, visas, etc. we could be home the weekend of July 4th. I am trying to not let myself get too excited because I saw what happened to poor Wendy but I am excited to think of coming home. I have only been here for a week but I am ready to sleep in my nice soft bed, cook in my kitchen where all the burners work, use a cutting board and actually know if something is baking soda or not. So here's to hoping that our court date is on Friday!
The naming is done
Thanks for all your wonderful suggestions. In the end we decided to go with (drum roll, please...):
Katerina Ann Lobos
We were on our way to the orphanage this morning at 11:00 and Elena called to get the name from us. We don't know yet, we said. Elena said that they were at the orphanage and needed to know now and we explained that we were about three minutes away from the orphanage and we had been leaning towards "Ann" as the middle name but wanted to make sure it was Ok with Katya - and that she wasn't going to fight for "Christina". So we asked Katya if "Ann" was OK and reminded her that my name was "Ann" and that meant she would be named after me. She thought that was pretty cool (at least I think she did, since she smiled!).
Katerina Ann Lobos
We were on our way to the orphanage this morning at 11:00 and Elena called to get the name from us. We don't know yet, we said. Elena said that they were at the orphanage and needed to know now and we explained that we were about three minutes away from the orphanage and we had been leaning towards "Ann" as the middle name but wanted to make sure it was Ok with Katya - and that she wasn't going to fight for "Christina". So we asked Katya if "Ann" was OK and reminded her that my name was "Ann" and that meant she would be named after me. She thought that was pretty cool (at least I think she did, since she smiled!).
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Baby stealing lady
Yesterday when we took Katya for a walk through the town, we stopped at a cafe because Katya said she was hungry. We let Katya order for us, since we had no idea what the menu said. She order two pastries and five orange sodas (as a credit to Katya, she did try and order sandwiches but they cafe didn't have sandwiches and at least she didn't order coffee!). The pastries weren't bad and the orange sodas were pretty good, too. While we were sitting there, a lady with no teeth came along and started saying something in Russian (or probably Ukrainian) and the only word I really understood was "pajouooste" (please). I understood from the beginning that she was begging for money, as she kept making a motion like she was carrying a baby and pointing down the street, but kept saying to her "Niet. Ya ni ponimayo." Alex on the otherhand, thought she either wanted to hold Tony or steal him. It was so funny!
Baseball - Ukrainian style
At the orphanage, there is a group of Americans from California that are staying for two more weeks. It seems that the purpose of their visit is to teach the children bible stories - since they are from a baptist school - but they do other activities with the kids. Today they were trying to teach the kids how to play baseball. Alex, being the pro-softball coach now after helping to coach Allie's team for the last two years, stepped in to help show the kids how to swing a bat. They were playing with a tennis ball, which being lighter than a baseball might account for the boy pitching being able to throw the ball so fast that it was almost impossible to hit (even Alex struck out!). Somehow the game ended up with six bases and the second boy that managed to make a hit ran straight to second base (or maybe it was third?) because there was a boy on first base and why would you want to run to a base that already has somebody on it? I think the baseball lessons need some work :)
Our home - for now
For all you that keep asking where we are staying, I am sorry I haven’t replied. We are staying in the apartment that the Rast’s stayed in. Initially, when we asked Elliana a couple of weeks ago about whether this apartment was available, she told us that the apartment owner had said that we could not stay here because we have children with us. Then, in Oleg’s words, “We say please, please” and the owners finally said yes. I think it might have had something to do with them being able to charge us more money and us staying the whole time which also translated into more money. For those of you that don’t know what “The apartment that the Rast’s stayed in” is, it is a very nice two bedroom apartment. It is modern and clean, has internet access, and is about a five minute walk from the orphanage. The only problem is that although we are allowed to stay here with children, Katya is forbidden to enter the apartment. Had I known this, I might have chosen a different place to stay because it is really going to suck to have to entertain Katya every day without being able to come here. I suppose we would have this same problem if we stayed at Constantine’s apartment and it would have been farther away. So, we should be happy…
We brought Katya here yesterday and played outside for a bit. I did let Katya come in to use the bathroom (sssshhhh! Don’t tell!) and I carried her around to show her the place – because her feet were actually very dirty – and got a “thumbs up” from her.
The apartment has two beds. One bed is semi-comfortable and the other bed is hard as a rock. I slept on it one night – or rather I should say that I laid on it, as there was very little sleeping going on because it was about as bad as sleeping on the cement floor - and got up the next day with a terrible back ache. So, the next night I slept in the other one and Alex slept on the hard one and I got a lot more rest. Alex says that the “hard as a rock bed” did not bother him so it looks like that is where he will be sleeping and my mom and I will get the nice bed :)
Everything here is very compact. My mom said today that this is like camping and it really is. The kitchen is so small and it reminds you of a kitchen you would find in a camping trailer that only has one pot, four forks, three bowls and coffee mugs. The only food in the kitchen seems to be rice so the owners either took all their food with them or really only eat rice.
We brought Katya here yesterday and played outside for a bit. I did let Katya come in to use the bathroom (sssshhhh! Don’t tell!) and I carried her around to show her the place – because her feet were actually very dirty – and got a “thumbs up” from her.
The apartment has two beds. One bed is semi-comfortable and the other bed is hard as a rock. I slept on it one night – or rather I should say that I laid on it, as there was very little sleeping going on because it was about as bad as sleeping on the cement floor - and got up the next day with a terrible back ache. So, the next night I slept in the other one and Alex slept on the hard one and I got a lot more rest. Alex says that the “hard as a rock bed” did not bother him so it looks like that is where he will be sleeping and my mom and I will get the nice bed :)
Everything here is very compact. My mom said today that this is like camping and it really is. The kitchen is so small and it reminds you of a kitchen you would find in a camping trailer that only has one pot, four forks, three bowls and coffee mugs. The only food in the kitchen seems to be rice so the owners either took all their food with them or really only eat rice.
The water
Alex is suffering withdrawals from being cut off from my blog and he wrote this and told me I could post it “when I felt like it”. I realized it was very mean of me to tell him he couldn’t post on my blog, so I will post it and in the future he can write stuff for my blog but I may just post it as it is – which will drive him crazy because he always makes me edit and correct his grammatical errors!
When we first got here we got some large containers of water. At home 80-90% of our liquids are water. When we first tasted the water, we could tell it had chemicals and shortly thereafter Annie realized it was giving her headaches. Tony was also having issues he had never had, like not wanting to drink his bottles well, having diarrhea, and as a result getting a diaper rash that was very sore for him – poor little guy! We later found a water that tasted more natural, Bonaqua. We have been using this since and Tony has gotten better but not a 100%. Annie has been missing ice so she decided to freeze some of the smaller bottles of Bonaqua. When we tried to drink them today they tasted of chemicals. I realized the water had frozen but the chemicals obviously don’t. So in conclusion, I don’t believe they have any natural water in this country and Annie is not going to get her ice cubes. Darn!
When we first got here we got some large containers of water. At home 80-90% of our liquids are water. When we first tasted the water, we could tell it had chemicals and shortly thereafter Annie realized it was giving her headaches. Tony was also having issues he had never had, like not wanting to drink his bottles well, having diarrhea, and as a result getting a diaper rash that was very sore for him – poor little guy! We later found a water that tasted more natural, Bonaqua. We have been using this since and Tony has gotten better but not a 100%. Annie has been missing ice so she decided to freeze some of the smaller bottles of Bonaqua. When we tried to drink them today they tasted of chemicals. I realized the water had frozen but the chemicals obviously don’t. So in conclusion, I don’t believe they have any natural water in this country and Annie is not going to get her ice cubes. Darn!
Calling all suggestions for middle names
We have been racking our brains about this one and the day arrives tomorrow and we don’t know what middle name to give Katya. Her name as it is right now is Katerina (?) Lobos. Since we recently had a baby boy we have two name books at home and had planned to bring them but forgot so we need everybody’s help. We are not concerned with giving her an American name because with Katerina we can call her Katya, which we feel already fits in, and if that’s not enough she could always choose to be called Kathy. We just can’t think of anything that would go well with the other two names. Some of Alex’s co-workers at eBay helped us come up with a middle name for Tony so hopefully you guys can come through for us again. We asked Katya what she wanted for a middle name and she said Christina. So she would be called Katerina Christina Lobos. That seems like quite a mouth full…so please send your suggestions ASAP!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Meeting Katya - Ann's perspective
Since Alex wrote about his meeting Katya, I wanted to add my experience. Jen and Lori, if you happen to read this before I see you - I have some advice. Sleep, sleep, and sleep while you are in Kiev because if you don't, you will exhausted by the time you get to Dnipro. Alex and I had the bright idea that we should only sleep in Kiev when it was really night-time there so that we can get on schedule. The problem with that is that it didn't work. We didn't really sleep during the night because we weren't tired and we didn't sleep during the day when we were tired. So, effectively, we got no sleep. And by the time we got to Dnipro to meet Katya, we were walking zombies. This isn't how I envisioned meeting Katya - so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open - and as Alex mentioned in his post, Katya wanted to take us to see the museums in the orphanage and that really didn't help with our sleep deprivation.
But despite the fact that we were exhausted, meeting Katya was such a happy day. I know it sounds crazy, but in all the preparations for making this trip you tend to forget why you are doing this. You are so worried about making "to do" lists and buying all those "essential" things that you forget what is really important. And seeing Katya, brought it all back. I am here to bring this sweet little girl home with us. Her running to us, crying "mami" and "papi", and giving us big hugs and kisses reminded me of that. We love you Katya!
But despite the fact that we were exhausted, meeting Katya was such a happy day. I know it sounds crazy, but in all the preparations for making this trip you tend to forget why you are doing this. You are so worried about making "to do" lists and buying all those "essential" things that you forget what is really important. And seeing Katya, brought it all back. I am here to bring this sweet little girl home with us. Her running to us, crying "mami" and "papi", and giving us big hugs and kisses reminded me of that. We love you Katya!
Paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork!
Friday, June 12th
Hello All! This is Ann again. Alex has become addicted to my blog and checks several times during the day to see if anybody has left comments (Thanks, Wendy, for your comments!). I told him that he should start his own blog, since he seems to want be the one that writes on mine :) and I told him that I wanted to write my own stuff, instead of him writing this big long report of what happened and me having to edit it. So, I will probably regret this when I really want him to write something again, but for now he is cut off!
Today we had to do more paperwork stuff in Nikpol. Oleg had to go to the train station at 2 am to get some papers that Irena had sent from Kiev and Oksana had to get up early to go and get the paper that Katya’s brother wrote. We then had to take the papers to Katya’s birth place (I don’t remember the name, except that it started with an “A”) and get social services there to OK the split. When we got to the social services building, there were two ladies there: a blonde-haired one and an artificially red-haired one. The blonde-haired one told us that Katya’s mother had been there recently crying because she had found out that Katya was going to be adopted and she wanted the lady’s help to get Katya back. What is the saying, "You always want what you can't have?" We weren't entirely surprised by this news since Katya had told us that she gave her sunglasses to her mom, who had visited recently. The lady told the mom that she wouldn’t help her, since nothing in her situation was any better than it was when Katya was taken away from her and that she thought that Katya would be better off being adopted. She kept saying that Katya had really “suffered” and I wanted to know what that meant but that was all Elena told us. The ladies seemed very interested in looking at pictures of us and Katya and Tony and seemed very pleasant. I guess that is how it goes when you don’t understand a word of what is going on. After we left, in the car Oksana told us how it really went. She said that the ladies did not want to take responsibility for this decision and had told her that they wanted to sit both kids down together and talk to them. Oksana had said, “How will you do this? Will you go to Dnipro?” Then the ladies, realizing that this was not realistic said that they would let Oksana know “someday” what their decision was. Oksana asked, “When? These people cannot wait forever!” and the ladies would not give her an answer. Then Oksana said that she needed to talk to the mayor, who was at lunch until 1 pm. So we found a café to go eat at while we waited.
The café was nice, decorated with Asian type stuff. It had no menu. I guess you were supposed to just tell the waitress what you wanted and she would tell you if they had it. Alex and I ordered French fries and Oksana, Oleg, and Elena kept listing stuff they wanted and the waitress kept saying that they didn’t have it. At one point, I heard from a frustrated Oleg “blah, blah, blah sushi?” and the waitress shook her head and Oleg gestured at the Asian decorations (to say – then why is this place decorated like you would have sushi?) The three of them finally found something they wanted that the café had and we ate.
On the way back to the office, Oksana told us that today was Friday and that these ladies do not really want to work today. She said that because it is Friday, they are just “dreaming of other stuff that they could be doing”. She told us that we should show all our pictures to the mayor, make sure that we are very charming and that we should cry! She said that crying would help and I was all set to cry and it would only partly have been an act, since Tony was at home with my mom and we had never left him overnight and I had just talked to my mom and Tony was coughing and the thought of spending the weekend in this town really did make me want to cry! Luckily, when we got back to the office the ladies were now willing to help us because they had probably called another office to see what the papers should look like and had started drawing up the papers that we needed (per Oksana, “Food must have done them good!”) and I didn’t have to exercise my wonderful crying skills.
Alex just reminded me of a conversation we had with Elena in which I put my foot in my mouth. When Alex and I were looking at the souvenirs outside the SDA building, they had a bunch of Dr. House stuff – coffee mugs, T-shirts, etc. I had commented to Alex that the reason they like House over here is because he is ornery. Well, we were having a conversation with Elena about TV shows and we asked if they like “House” over here – because of all the stuff we had seen. Elena said she didn’t like House – that he was boring – and I commented that I thought they liked him because he was ornery. She didn’t know what ornery was but after we explained it, she got defensive and said that people here are not ornery – they are just reserved. OK! If that is what you want to call it….
I also have to tell you about the joke that Alex played on Oleg. While we were getting the paperwork, Oleg was outside waiting in the car. Since he had been there when Oksana was talking about how “wishy-washy” the ladies were he knew there was a chance that we would not get the papers we needed today. Alex thought it would be funny to tell him that we had to come back on Monday to get them. So with a totally straight face, Oksana told Oleg that it is only him that has to come back on Monday and that the rest of us get to go home right now. Cute little Oleg actually took it quite well – he seemed disappointed but resigned to do it if that is what he had to do. Then we all burst out laughing. Oksana, of course, told him it was Alex’s idea (so that she didn’t get in trouble) and he said “Cool joke!”
So back to Dnipro we went with our papers and on the way, Oksana stopped at the courthouse to make sure the judge was going to be there to get the papers from her on Monday. If all goes well, Oksana will submit the papers on Monday and we will get our court date!
When we were in the office with the ladies, one of the questions they asked was how we communicated with Katya while we were here. We explained that there is a lady in our neighborhood, Yulia, that actually grew up in an orphanage in Ukraine and helped us talk to Katya. They followed up by asking if Yulia spoke Russian and Oksana responded, "paruski". With my limited Russian knowledge, I knew that meant "in Russian" and I said that Yulia also spoke Ukrainian. Oksana got a kick out of the fact that I understood what she had said and her and Oleg later thought it was a fun trick to get me to read Russian signs. I told them I could read them but I had no idea what they said!
Hello All! This is Ann again. Alex has become addicted to my blog and checks several times during the day to see if anybody has left comments (Thanks, Wendy, for your comments!). I told him that he should start his own blog, since he seems to want be the one that writes on mine :) and I told him that I wanted to write my own stuff, instead of him writing this big long report of what happened and me having to edit it. So, I will probably regret this when I really want him to write something again, but for now he is cut off!
Today we had to do more paperwork stuff in Nikpol. Oleg had to go to the train station at 2 am to get some papers that Irena had sent from Kiev and Oksana had to get up early to go and get the paper that Katya’s brother wrote. We then had to take the papers to Katya’s birth place (I don’t remember the name, except that it started with an “A”) and get social services there to OK the split. When we got to the social services building, there were two ladies there: a blonde-haired one and an artificially red-haired one. The blonde-haired one told us that Katya’s mother had been there recently crying because she had found out that Katya was going to be adopted and she wanted the lady’s help to get Katya back. What is the saying, "You always want what you can't have?" We weren't entirely surprised by this news since Katya had told us that she gave her sunglasses to her mom, who had visited recently. The lady told the mom that she wouldn’t help her, since nothing in her situation was any better than it was when Katya was taken away from her and that she thought that Katya would be better off being adopted. She kept saying that Katya had really “suffered” and I wanted to know what that meant but that was all Elena told us. The ladies seemed very interested in looking at pictures of us and Katya and Tony and seemed very pleasant. I guess that is how it goes when you don’t understand a word of what is going on. After we left, in the car Oksana told us how it really went. She said that the ladies did not want to take responsibility for this decision and had told her that they wanted to sit both kids down together and talk to them. Oksana had said, “How will you do this? Will you go to Dnipro?” Then the ladies, realizing that this was not realistic said that they would let Oksana know “someday” what their decision was. Oksana asked, “When? These people cannot wait forever!” and the ladies would not give her an answer. Then Oksana said that she needed to talk to the mayor, who was at lunch until 1 pm. So we found a café to go eat at while we waited.
The café was nice, decorated with Asian type stuff. It had no menu. I guess you were supposed to just tell the waitress what you wanted and she would tell you if they had it. Alex and I ordered French fries and Oksana, Oleg, and Elena kept listing stuff they wanted and the waitress kept saying that they didn’t have it. At one point, I heard from a frustrated Oleg “blah, blah, blah sushi?” and the waitress shook her head and Oleg gestured at the Asian decorations (to say – then why is this place decorated like you would have sushi?) The three of them finally found something they wanted that the café had and we ate.
On the way back to the office, Oksana told us that today was Friday and that these ladies do not really want to work today. She said that because it is Friday, they are just “dreaming of other stuff that they could be doing”. She told us that we should show all our pictures to the mayor, make sure that we are very charming and that we should cry! She said that crying would help and I was all set to cry and it would only partly have been an act, since Tony was at home with my mom and we had never left him overnight and I had just talked to my mom and Tony was coughing and the thought of spending the weekend in this town really did make me want to cry! Luckily, when we got back to the office the ladies were now willing to help us because they had probably called another office to see what the papers should look like and had started drawing up the papers that we needed (per Oksana, “Food must have done them good!”) and I didn’t have to exercise my wonderful crying skills.
Alex just reminded me of a conversation we had with Elena in which I put my foot in my mouth. When Alex and I were looking at the souvenirs outside the SDA building, they had a bunch of Dr. House stuff – coffee mugs, T-shirts, etc. I had commented to Alex that the reason they like House over here is because he is ornery. Well, we were having a conversation with Elena about TV shows and we asked if they like “House” over here – because of all the stuff we had seen. Elena said she didn’t like House – that he was boring – and I commented that I thought they liked him because he was ornery. She didn’t know what ornery was but after we explained it, she got defensive and said that people here are not ornery – they are just reserved. OK! If that is what you want to call it….
I also have to tell you about the joke that Alex played on Oleg. While we were getting the paperwork, Oleg was outside waiting in the car. Since he had been there when Oksana was talking about how “wishy-washy” the ladies were he knew there was a chance that we would not get the papers we needed today. Alex thought it would be funny to tell him that we had to come back on Monday to get them. So with a totally straight face, Oksana told Oleg that it is only him that has to come back on Monday and that the rest of us get to go home right now. Cute little Oleg actually took it quite well – he seemed disappointed but resigned to do it if that is what he had to do. Then we all burst out laughing. Oksana, of course, told him it was Alex’s idea (so that she didn’t get in trouble) and he said “Cool joke!”
So back to Dnipro we went with our papers and on the way, Oksana stopped at the courthouse to make sure the judge was going to be there to get the papers from her on Monday. If all goes well, Oksana will submit the papers on Monday and we will get our court date!
When we were in the office with the ladies, one of the questions they asked was how we communicated with Katya while we were here. We explained that there is a lady in our neighborhood, Yulia, that actually grew up in an orphanage in Ukraine and helped us talk to Katya. They followed up by asking if Yulia spoke Russian and Oksana responded, "paruski". With my limited Russian knowledge, I knew that meant "in Russian" and I said that Yulia also spoke Ukrainian. Oksana got a kick out of the fact that I understood what she had said and her and Oleg later thought it was a fun trick to get me to read Russian signs. I told them I could read them but I had no idea what they said!
Friday, June 12, 2009
Meeting Katya
And Alex again…
Thursday, June 11th
They told us to be ready to go to see Katya at 8:45 am. However, we got picked up a little late – more like 9:35 am. We got to the orphanage and were led into the director’s office but the director was not there. Instead, Oksana, a lady named Anna, who is the court attorney, and another lady with red hair were there. We waited for Katya. I was nervous at this point because I was worried she would come in and just wave at us or just say hi and not show any real emotion. It’s odd how not getting a huge hug and kiss can be your worst fear. She came in wearing mismatched clothes: A denim hat, a purple top with flowers, and a black skirt with flowers that did not match the top. But regardless of the outfit she looked so beautiful. We were seated with Ann’s mother closest to the door, Allie, Ann with Tony, then me. So when she first walked through the door, she saw us in that order. She saw Ann and she started to come towards us with open arms but as soon as she finally saw me, she started to come quicker right at me. She gave me a huge hug and kisses. I was so relieved. She gave everybody big hugs. Ann had tears in her eyes.
She quickly went onto the business of writing the paper stating she wished to be adopted. She then took us on a tour of the orphanage. She showed us some drawings she had made for us and had a post card from a family that has hosted her in Italy. The postcard actually turned out to be for us. It said how she is an amazing girl and that they were happy we were giving her a permanent home. It was nice to see that other people had been touched by her and continued to be part of her life too. During the tour we did see Masha but did not get a chance to take a picture. She smiled and wave at us; I am sad that she is not coming home with the Bensons this time around. We enjoyed meeting her in October and she seemed to be very good friends with our Katya. During the tour Katya reached out to carry Tony. I saw the fear in Ann’s eyes and I was scared too. We did not know what interactions she has had with a small child and were very nervous. She walked with him and when I first came to some old concrete stairs that were falling apart my initial reaction was to take Tony back but then I thought if anybody is a pro at walking up stairs this damaged it would be Katya. She has to walk up them everyday. I have to say she did very well and will be a great older sister for Tony. At this point I started to lose interest in the tour because my sleep deprivation started to catch up with me. I literally started to fall asleep each time I sat down. They took us to two of the museums in the orphanage and I mostly slept through them. We then went outside where we were told we needed to go to the notary so they took Allie, Tony, and my mother in law back to the apartment where we would meet up with them later. Katya made sure to give everybody hugs and kisses goodbye.
While heading to the notary we got word that we may need to go see Katya’s half brother today because his orphanage is going to summer camp the tomorrow. The original plan was to go there tomorrow because it is a three hour drive each way. We still didn’t know what would be happening so we went to a place called the Potato House to have lunch while we waited for the notary to prepare our documents and to find out about going to see Katya’s brother. The food there was really good. We had a pizza, which was obviously different that what we have at home, but tasted great with its unique flavors. We were told upstairs they had Mexican/Ukrainian style food. I am looking forward to trying their interpretation of Mexican food. We then headed back to the notary to sign our documents. As we were leaving we were told we are going to see Katya’s brother today and that we only have time to go back to the apartment to get some clothing and then leave.
This is where the choice to only get a few groceries early in day came into play. We do not have time to get any now and the rest of our party will be stuck in the apartment without much food. Tony will be fine because we brought him enough formula for six weeks but we don’t have a lot for Allie and Joann. We did bring them back a pizza from the potato house so they had that and hopefully they can make do with the few other things they have. Ann figured we would be back in the morning and they should be fine with what they have till then. We quickly packed our stuff, explain what is happening, and we were off. This whole time I have been sleepwalking so I am actually looking forward to a three hour drive so I can sleep. Oleg makes it even better by slightly reclining the back seat of his car.
Three hours later I woke up at our destination. We went into the building that Ann talked about with the disgusting bathroom. We were told that this is a social worker that must go with us to the orphanage. We then headed to the orphanage. I think I’ll be more vague with this part. Understand that being here I want to help every orphan in this country and the world for that matter. I understand why Vern and Nanette do the host program. Since they can’t help every child it’s their way of find a home for every one of them. We came to Katya’s brother’s orphanage to get a document from him stating that it is OK with him that we adopt his sister and not with the intention of adopting him. This is hard for us because we would love to keep them together and help another child in need. Along with that his director said he is a good boy kind, gentle, and shy. Despite all this, when considering bringing additional children into my home I have to consider keeping the emotional health of my current household. Its not that I don’t have room in my home or heart for him – it’s that he is already 15 and will be a legal adult in less than three years. Ann and I are mature and responsible enough to care for Katya - despite people saying we are young - but when it comes to a 15 year old I have to agree with them that we are too young. I know that if I adopted him that the many fears I have of caring for a young adult have a very slim chance of coming true but the fact that if even one of them did happen that it would have a hugely negative affect on our household. Despite my willingness to help I have to make this decision for my family. We do plan to help him and Katya stay in touch and hopefully at some point help them reunite. I know other families have had to deal with this too but chose not to blog about it and I can understand why other people omit this part of their trip. I myself could have gone into more detail but I was obviously vague because this is so difficult to do. I think of this as the ugly part of our trip but felt it cannot be ignored or denied. It was a hard decision we had to make and we made it to the best of our ability. As we were leaving we learned that before we came the director was set on changing our minds about adopting Katya’s brother but that after seeing us and how young we look she also felt that splitting them would be the best choice and so she supported us in doing so. I think I have said enough about this part and will move on now.
After leaving this orphanage we went to a hotel and we were told that tomorrow we have to go to another city (I can’t remember the name) to take the paper that Katya’s brother wrote. We were not going to be back in Dnipro until around 4 or 5 tomorrow. This was a huge concern for us because once again we left the rest of our party in the apartment without much food. Oxana said she would call a friend in Dnipro that could go pick up and deliver groceries to them. That was a huge relief for me. With that we calmly went to sleep.
Thursday, June 11th
They told us to be ready to go to see Katya at 8:45 am. However, we got picked up a little late – more like 9:35 am. We got to the orphanage and were led into the director’s office but the director was not there. Instead, Oksana, a lady named Anna, who is the court attorney, and another lady with red hair were there. We waited for Katya. I was nervous at this point because I was worried she would come in and just wave at us or just say hi and not show any real emotion. It’s odd how not getting a huge hug and kiss can be your worst fear. She came in wearing mismatched clothes: A denim hat, a purple top with flowers, and a black skirt with flowers that did not match the top. But regardless of the outfit she looked so beautiful. We were seated with Ann’s mother closest to the door, Allie, Ann with Tony, then me. So when she first walked through the door, she saw us in that order. She saw Ann and she started to come towards us with open arms but as soon as she finally saw me, she started to come quicker right at me. She gave me a huge hug and kisses. I was so relieved. She gave everybody big hugs. Ann had tears in her eyes.
She quickly went onto the business of writing the paper stating she wished to be adopted. She then took us on a tour of the orphanage. She showed us some drawings she had made for us and had a post card from a family that has hosted her in Italy. The postcard actually turned out to be for us. It said how she is an amazing girl and that they were happy we were giving her a permanent home. It was nice to see that other people had been touched by her and continued to be part of her life too. During the tour we did see Masha but did not get a chance to take a picture. She smiled and wave at us; I am sad that she is not coming home with the Bensons this time around. We enjoyed meeting her in October and she seemed to be very good friends with our Katya. During the tour Katya reached out to carry Tony. I saw the fear in Ann’s eyes and I was scared too. We did not know what interactions she has had with a small child and were very nervous. She walked with him and when I first came to some old concrete stairs that were falling apart my initial reaction was to take Tony back but then I thought if anybody is a pro at walking up stairs this damaged it would be Katya. She has to walk up them everyday. I have to say she did very well and will be a great older sister for Tony. At this point I started to lose interest in the tour because my sleep deprivation started to catch up with me. I literally started to fall asleep each time I sat down. They took us to two of the museums in the orphanage and I mostly slept through them. We then went outside where we were told we needed to go to the notary so they took Allie, Tony, and my mother in law back to the apartment where we would meet up with them later. Katya made sure to give everybody hugs and kisses goodbye.
While heading to the notary we got word that we may need to go see Katya’s half brother today because his orphanage is going to summer camp the tomorrow. The original plan was to go there tomorrow because it is a three hour drive each way. We still didn’t know what would be happening so we went to a place called the Potato House to have lunch while we waited for the notary to prepare our documents and to find out about going to see Katya’s brother. The food there was really good. We had a pizza, which was obviously different that what we have at home, but tasted great with its unique flavors. We were told upstairs they had Mexican/Ukrainian style food. I am looking forward to trying their interpretation of Mexican food. We then headed back to the notary to sign our documents. As we were leaving we were told we are going to see Katya’s brother today and that we only have time to go back to the apartment to get some clothing and then leave.
This is where the choice to only get a few groceries early in day came into play. We do not have time to get any now and the rest of our party will be stuck in the apartment without much food. Tony will be fine because we brought him enough formula for six weeks but we don’t have a lot for Allie and Joann. We did bring them back a pizza from the potato house so they had that and hopefully they can make do with the few other things they have. Ann figured we would be back in the morning and they should be fine with what they have till then. We quickly packed our stuff, explain what is happening, and we were off. This whole time I have been sleepwalking so I am actually looking forward to a three hour drive so I can sleep. Oleg makes it even better by slightly reclining the back seat of his car.
Three hours later I woke up at our destination. We went into the building that Ann talked about with the disgusting bathroom. We were told that this is a social worker that must go with us to the orphanage. We then headed to the orphanage. I think I’ll be more vague with this part. Understand that being here I want to help every orphan in this country and the world for that matter. I understand why Vern and Nanette do the host program. Since they can’t help every child it’s their way of find a home for every one of them. We came to Katya’s brother’s orphanage to get a document from him stating that it is OK with him that we adopt his sister and not with the intention of adopting him. This is hard for us because we would love to keep them together and help another child in need. Along with that his director said he is a good boy kind, gentle, and shy. Despite all this, when considering bringing additional children into my home I have to consider keeping the emotional health of my current household. Its not that I don’t have room in my home or heart for him – it’s that he is already 15 and will be a legal adult in less than three years. Ann and I are mature and responsible enough to care for Katya - despite people saying we are young - but when it comes to a 15 year old I have to agree with them that we are too young. I know that if I adopted him that the many fears I have of caring for a young adult have a very slim chance of coming true but the fact that if even one of them did happen that it would have a hugely negative affect on our household. Despite my willingness to help I have to make this decision for my family. We do plan to help him and Katya stay in touch and hopefully at some point help them reunite. I know other families have had to deal with this too but chose not to blog about it and I can understand why other people omit this part of their trip. I myself could have gone into more detail but I was obviously vague because this is so difficult to do. I think of this as the ugly part of our trip but felt it cannot be ignored or denied. It was a hard decision we had to make and we made it to the best of our ability. As we were leaving we learned that before we came the director was set on changing our minds about adopting Katya’s brother but that after seeing us and how young we look she also felt that splitting them would be the best choice and so she supported us in doing so. I think I have said enough about this part and will move on now.
After leaving this orphanage we went to a hotel and we were told that tomorrow we have to go to another city (I can’t remember the name) to take the paper that Katya’s brother wrote. We were not going to be back in Dnipro until around 4 or 5 tomorrow. This was a huge concern for us because once again we left the rest of our party in the apartment without much food. Oxana said she would call a friend in Dnipro that could go pick up and deliver groceries to them. That was a huge relief for me. With that we calmly went to sleep.
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