Sunday, April 10, 2011

NO ACTION IN KYIV

Sunday  April 10, 2011
The train ride to Kyiv last night was warm, cozy and comfortable. S and I read and watched The Incredibles on the computer (for the 18th time), then decided to let the train rock us to sleep. I thought I’ve been doing a good job of keeping him abreast of our next steps. I show him the calendar everyday and try and explain what will happen the next day, when we will see the doctor, etc. I guess I haven’t been doing such a good job since right before he went to bed, he kept asking me a question I couldn’t understand. I felt bad for the little guy so I called S’s new English teacher, Natalia, back in Saratoga. She was a Godsend! I’m not sure what she said to him, but she put him at ease since he immediately got a big smile on his face and then went right to sleep!
S puts on his backpack at the train station in Donetsk.

Doing some work on the train.
He absolutely LOVES the backpack I brought for him and his wallet. I give him grivna every now and then. He loves copying my actions when I go to the bank to exchange money and carrying the grivna around. Yesterday, our driver took us to the train station and dropped us of in our cabin. Before he left, I handed him a letter thanking him (written in Russian by Natalia – thank you!) along with a tip. S immediately got his wallet out, reached in and handed our driver 1 grivna (there are 8 grivnas in $1). It was so cute! Our driver held the grivna to his heart and cocked his head and said “Pa-jal-sta!” (thank you). Every time I go to a bank to exchange money, S is right there with his wallet out, thinking he’ll get some too! He has no interest in American money or Euros since I’ve tried to offer those and explain that grivnas don’t work everywhere. He’ll learn.

Since he loves mimicking me, I told him I was going to take a shower this afternoon. He was watching a video (how much ya want to bet it was Tom & Jerry or The Incredibles?). After I got out, he ran to me shouting “Ducha, ducha !” and pulling off his socks and shirt. Boy was this a shower! I was soooooooo pleased! He washed his hair no less than 4 times, using my shampoo, the Johnson’s Baby shampoo, a shampoo that was in the bathroom and the bar soap on the sink! Then he washed his body all by himself, then he asked me to scrub his back!!! (I’m not kidding!) I thought bathing would be the hardest thing! It was a bit hard to get him to use warm water but he finally got used to it!
S counting his grivna in the backseat.

My friend and adoptive mother Karla, has been a great coach, getting me up to speed on toileting habits at some orphanages. Let’s just say at home I plan to hand a huge sign over his toilet that says “flush” in Russian and English! Also, there is sometimes no TP in orphanages…………go figure. We’re working on it!

Today we stayed in our new apartment here in Kyiv since the weather was quite variable. It started off sunny when we left for our grocery store run, then rained then SNOWED!   We played tag in a playground on the way home. S really never wants to leave this apartment. I don’t know if it’s because the he didn’t get out much over the winter in the orphanage or if he’s just astounded by all the toys/DVDs/I-pod/junk I brought and wants to play with it.

Walking to our flat in Kyiv.

View from our flat.
My washing machine. Don't forget the "Tide Sinkfuls"!!

My dryer. Don't forget your clothesline like I did!

My kitchen and (Harry Potter) broom.


A playground near our flat (note sleeping dog).
There's nothing better than Ukrainian bread and real butter!
Unfortunately, since his Ukrainian passport is still not ready in Donetsk, we can’t begin much of the paperwork here. We copied some documents today that we need for the Embassy appts. But that ‘s about it. Tomorrow we have no plans except for walking down to a local mall to check it out.
S and I Skyped with G and Scott tonight! S really liked it and was yammering on in Russian to them. I’m beginning to really miss G (way to go G, winning that baseball game!). I also got to see and talk to the dogs – do you think they heard me? Hopefully we’ll be back home soon!
 I’m connecting to the internet with a WiFi stick which sucks so I may not be blogging much, unless I find a wireless café.  Take care!!

1 comment:

  1. We miss you Dani and cannot wait to see you when you come home. We love the pictures and the stories you tell. So much we take for granted that is now all so new for S.

    Hopefully you will be on your way home by the end of the week. BTW, your last statement from the Budget Impasse blog has me still chuckling :)

    Come home soon!

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