Catching up - Dec 20-27th

Sorry for the long delay between postings. We don't have internet at our new place, and we haven't made it out to the internet cafe until now.

Everything is going well here, so we are thankful for that. Here's a quick summary of our past week:

Friday, Dec 19th -
Kari and I took the train to Kiev. It was another pleasant ride - not too much shaking and no baking.

Saturday, Dec 20th -
To our great delight Heidi and Felix and their new children were waiting for us at the train station. They gave us a crash course in how to ride the Metro (subway) and buses. We went straight to church and met some friends they have made here. Afterwards, we hopped on the Metro again back to Independence Square where we had lunch at TGI Friday's. Heidi was especially happy to have american food. Finally we went to their apartment where Heidi cooked us a feast, we relaxed, caught up with each other, and finally called it a night. All afternoon and evening we knew that Austin and Tatum were making their trek around the world to catch up to us. It's a weird feeling knowing your kids are flying 35,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean.

Sunday, Dec 21st -

We all left the apartment around 10. Heidi and Felix to hopefully pick up passports, and us to meet Austin and Tatum at the airport. Kari and I dropped off our bag at the train station, then went solo on the Metro to the end of the red line where we caught a cab to the airport. Note - the end of the red line is NOT as close to the airport as you might think. It was still about a 45 minute cab ride. We were expecting it to be much closer, so we ended up getting there after the plane landed, but well before they got through customs. So we were in the crowd of people waiting outside customs for their loved ones when they emerged. It was a great reunion. We met Yulia and thanked her for everything. She helped us get a cab to the end of the GREEN line (much closer to the airport), and she had a friend picking her up so we said goodbye to her there. Austin and Tatum said they barely slept on the flights, but they looked great.
We took the kids to the train station to drop off their bags, then back to Independence Square for some sight seeing. Soon we met Heidi and Felix and their kids again. They got their passports, so Heidi was at an internet cafe booking flights - Yea! We had dinner, then admired the Christmas lights and huge tree in Independence Square. It was snowing which even made it more beautiful.
Finally we went back to the train station to catch our 9:21pm train to Kherson. We finally found some seats and Austin and Tatum soon fell asleep. I managed to find the correct track and car we were traveling in, so we made it on without any problems. I think Austin was asleep before we pulled out, and he slept most of the way there. Tatum managed to watch 30 minutes of a DVD before she crashed.

Monday, Dec 22nd -

We took Austin and Tatum to meet A, who is now back at her orphanage, which is in Kherson, so it's much closer. Everyone was a little nervous, but it was a good meeting.

Tuesday, Dec 23rd -

We all went out to SB to see Sasha and the camp kids. Vasya was still at the hospital, so we only saw Sasha, Ilona, Natasha, and Vova.

Wednesday, Dec 24th -

We visited A again. This time she took Tatum for a walk to meet her friends. Later Kari and I went shopping for some Christmas presents. We bought A a necklace and some toys for Sasha and the other SB kids, and some candy boxes for Austin and Tatum. Kari set up our little Christmas tree, and Tatum decorated it.

Thursday, Christmas Day -

Merry Christmas! Truly, a Christmas day like no other for us. We agreed to have Oksana pick us up at 10:30. Last night Austin fell asleep around 7pm, so he woke up around 3:30, much like Kari and I were doing for several nights.

This morning we made omelets for everyone. We had bought a bell pepper at the store yesterday, but today it’s nowhere to be found, so I ran back and bought another one. The only problem with omelets is that I can only make one at a time so Austin was done eating his before I even sat down for Christmas breakfast. But it was still a nice breakfast. Kari had bought some danishes yesterday. There were a couple of decorative candy boxes under the tree for Austin and Tatum. Tatum wrapped up a piece of candy in a napkin for Kari and me. By the time we finished breakfast, we were scrambling to get ready by 10:30. Oksana arrived promptly on time, as usual, so we asked her to stop by a little corner stand that was selling Christmas decorations. We bought several items for A to decorate her room with for 29 uah (under $4).

Then we left for SB. We arrived around 11:30 and passed out candy and little parachute toys to the younger kids, and gave special presents to Ilona, Natasha, Vova, and Sasha. (We’re all going back and forth on what to call him – Sasha or Joshua. I think I’ll call him Sasha until I take him out of the orphanage, then it will be Joshua.) Vasya’s still at the hospital with an ear infection (we think).

We tour the orphanage again and go to the kids’ dorms. In one class we see the other Sasha who is friendly and speaks a little English. He’s doing some math multiplication, and from what I saw, he was getting them all right. Kari took some pictures of some kids from the first camp.

We spend a long time in Ilona’s room while Tatum and Ilona work on a bracelet. Soon there are several girls hanging around and talking to us. Tanya is a very talkative, playful girl who warmed up to all of us quickly. Oksana is a bright, beautiful and confident girl who sang and danced with Natasha in yesterday’s pageant. I was impressed how fast she was singing one part of her songs. When we introduced ourselves to her, she repeated each of our names, and whenever we asked the group of girls a question, she was the first to answer. There were also two boys, Antone, and I don’t remember the other boy’s name. Antone was very friendly, and liked to show us his gymnastic skills, which were pretty impressive – walking on his hands and cartwheels. Natasha also joined us here for awhile.

After everyone was bathed, we went back to the large room to try out the balloon sleds we brought. We hoped they would work on the floor in there since there was no snow or ice outside, but they didn’t. So Kari suggested we all just blow up balloons and play volleyball. This was a huge hit and got all the kids going. Vova finally pulled a pine needle off the tree and started popping them, so soon other boys were doing the same.

It was now past 1:30, so we had to leave to A’s. This time we received several hugs from Tanya, Oksana, and Antone – as well as Sasha, Vova, and Ilona. Kari gives Sasha a box of kiwi’s and tells him to share.

On the way home we stop in front of a house on the highway that has a bucket of potatoes sitting by the road. Vitali honks and a lady comes out in a bathrobe. Oksana purchases the entire bucket for 25 grivna. Later, we stop at the place where we always see several ladies selling bottled mushrooms – they are always sitting around a campfire. Today Oksana noticed they had a basket of eggs, so I bought 10 for 10 grivna ($1.25), and Oksana bought the rest.

We stop at A’s orphanage, and finally meet her in her dorm building after she got out of a class. She was wearing a school uniform. She took us to her room and showed us which of the 7 or 8 beds she slept in. Her’s was in the corner. Her ‘suite’ had 2 bedrooms, a common area with a TV, and a bathroom (but they showered in another part of the building). We talked for a while in the common room. We found out her bedtime is 9pm, but sometimes they can stay up late as long as they are quiet. There is only one caretaker who monitors the entire dorm. It reminded me of living in the dorms at college. They have a pet bird who talks a lot, and even knows some swear words. Tatum watched this bird hang upside down and fall on it’s back several times. A said they watch a lot of TV. After school they have a break time, then homework time, and on Thursdays they all have to clean up an area of the complex. After homework time, she said they usually watch a lot of TV.

We decide that we’ll pick A up tomorrow for our off-site lunch/shopping/bowling outing around 11:30 or so. So we say good-bye and Merry Christmas. Oksana and A say it in Russian, so I try to repeat it. I thought I did pretty well until A laughed out loud. I told her she can teach me Russian, and we can teach her English.

Oksana drops us off at a bar/restaurant called John Howard’s. All of our meals are different than we expected, but they were all good. I ordered bratvurst, but it came out as 4 long links. Austin’s hamburger was small with an umbrella, Tatum’s salad had very little lettuce, and Kari’s mushroom soup was more like a mushroom salad. I ordered the ice cream “fantasy”, but it was vanilla ice cream with a ton of dried fruit in/on it. And some of that tasted just like beef jerky.

We stopped by the dept store and grocery store on the way home. Kari talked to her parents for a while, and I talked to John. Hannah answered, and was very exited when she figured out it was me. Then we all watched Elf and Austin promptly fell asleep around 7:30.

Friday, Dec 26th -

We took A on a shopping spree for clothes and a coat. Then we went to Oskar's to bowl, but it was full, so we played video games instead and had dinner.

Saturday, Dec 27th -

We went to SB without Oksana today and handed out some little toys and punch balloons. We played with several of the kids for about 2 hours before heading back here. And now I sit trying to give you all a quick update.

Sorry most of the days are so sparse. We'll try to fill in more details soon.