This is a picture of the Opera and Ballet Theater about 1 block away from our flat. Taken yesterday at 4:30 pm.
Nothing much has changed with our daily routine, so I haven't been blogging. We are anxiously awaiting the vote by Parliament on Thursday regarding the possible moratorium on adoptions which will help elucidate our path.
It's been snowing lately which has lengthened our daily trip to the orphanage to about 1 hour each way. It's amazing how gridlocked this country becomes with snow - all the trucks pull over and line up along on the side of the road, waiting for it to be either plowed or improve. We saw one jack-knifed truck which has been sitting off the road for 2 days now.
We have been having GREAT visits with "S"! He's always happy to see us, doesn't really want to clean up when it's time to go but always runs back to his classroom with a smile on his face when we leave. We are getting more and more used to each other and there is no doubt we're bonding just fine! Scott found some great shoes and thick wool socks for him the other day. His current shoes are worn and always fee a bit damp inside and his socks had holes in them. We brought them today and he tried them on but did not want to wear the shoes. I've read about this with orphaned kids; they are used to wearing hand-me-down clothes so aren't used to stiff shoes, tags etc. When I bring clothes for our next trip, I need to remove all tags. Also some orphaned kids have "sensory integration disorder", meaning their brains take more time to process sensory information due to neglect. This is why when we finally get home, we cannot take him out, to say, Chucky Cheese right away.......let alone somewhere like Disneyland! These kids just melt down because they can't process all the new sensory information coming in. They eventually build new neural pathways though. This is why we'll probably be keeping him around the house only for the first month or two.
We love Sundays at the orphanage! There is no school so we get to play with "S" and all of his friends -- it's crazy! We just adore being with all the screaming kids! Last Sunday we brought juice boxes, snacks and the movie "Jumanji" to play on the laptop. I tried to create a "movie day" for the kids, just like our movie nights at home. I tried finding microwave popcorn but it doesn't exist in any store here. Instead I brought chips, cookies, tangerines and bananas. The kids went nuts when I opened the chips....I watched as one little boy grabbed a handful and stashed it under a reclining chair to hide it from the others, then he would reach under and eat his treasure slowly. The kids all seem very happy and love their teachers (who supervise them on the weekends). They all ran off with our cameras/cell phones again and the first people they photographed were their teachers (2 nice young women in their 20's). All the kids constantly came up to us and ask if they could keep various toys we brought (some are very good with the "puppy eyes"). I had to say no to make it fair, but ended up giving each kid a crayon and 1 page from the Shrek coloring book. My little Roma girl was there too- she wasn't really into watching the movie but instead grabbed my Russian/English flashcards and motioned me to teach her English. I was amazed at her initiative. She repeated each word after me with her cute accent. She's the one who also loves cats and begged to keep the cat doodle pad we played with last time. Unfortunately I couldn't do this - it just killed me to say no! I finally caved and snuck her 2 of my finger puppets she had been playing with (Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf). I indicated I wanted her to hide these since toys get taken away from the kids (understandably, since there is no way the small staff could keep track of individual possessions). We snuck into her dorm-style bedroom to her cabinet near her bed where the kids have their tooth brushes and one personal item (remember "S" 's stuffed animal he kicked around the room?). In her cabinet was a cute, red, little-girl purse with gold trim. I motioned to her we could hide the 2 puppets in there. She eagerly opened the snap and pulled out a bunch of carefully folded pieces of paper with writing on them, placed the puppets in the purse, then replaced the papers on top. I wonder what the papers said? She also took a Wet Wipe from me I had used on her hands, folded it up and wanted to keep it too! I said "No - garbage". It's so sad what these kids value. I pray she finds a home someday.
Ukrainians like to use a variety of diminutives for their kids. Those of you who know me well, know all the pet names I have for Gavin - my sister-in-law, Suzanne makes fun of me for this (huh Bryan & Sasha?). Well my behavior hasn't stopped. I first began calling "S", "my angel" (moy an-gil) , then "my sunshine". Then I read some other pet names somewhere and began using those (my rabbit, my little pigeon, my crumb). This got me some weird looks from "S" and laughs when I used them in front of the orphanage Asst. Director. I guess these 3 names are reserved only for spouses/boyfriends/girlfriends. OK, now I know!
Today we brought glow sticks to our play date with "S". They were a HUGE hit as he had never seen them before. We made a fort out of blankets and tables/chairs in the playroom and had a ball with the glow sticks. Scott spotted a mouse running across the floor, then up under the slip cover of a chair while we were playing. Everybody watched as I carefully tippy-toed across the room to the chair to lift off the slip-cover to see if I could reveal the mouse. "S" yelled out, "Mama is a cat!" in Russian. Scott & Gavin were very happy since they were immediately able to translate what he said (No......I did not find the mouse). Today we noticed "S" is calling me "Mom" now, copying Gavin, instead of calling me "Mama" as he did last week. I get sick to my stomach each time I think that we may have to leave this cutie over here longer than we want to. We're still keeping the faith that everything works in our favor to get him home!
We're slowly becoming less apparent as expats around here. I was pleased to be presented with a frequent buyer cards at our favorite bakery and grocery store (fridges are small here, so we go there all the time). Many of the locals we've gotten to know here are very kind, once you break through the stony exterior. Nobody makes eye contact or smiles on the street, even if you smile at them. I've also noticed Ukrainians are extremely well dressed people. Even in this snowy, icy weather, you'll still see most women wearing 2 inch spiked-heeled boots (no wonder they don't smile!). (Hi David, I stole this line from you! ). Once they find out we are from California, most of them ask if Arnold is still Governator. I then have to explain what being a "lame duck" is and Jerry Brown.
Gotta go! Tonight we are downloading some Christmas caroles on iTunes to play during dinner. We miss everyone back home!
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