We left early for Kakhovka to get Ashley's new birth certificate. We went to the Citizen Vital Records office. There were two women there. One of them read through our dossier and discussed some things with Oksana. After a few minutes she was satisfied and told us that we had to go pay 33 grivna at some other building not too far away & return. We did, and went back and planted ourselves in the office until they finished. The Birth Certificate was typed on an electric typewriter, and the Adoption Certificate was printed up on the computer. The whole process took about an hour. Soon we had a Birth Certificate showing Ashley Anastacia Volf with us as parents. While we were waiting, this lady came in who could barely breath. She was wheezing terribly, and could only speak between gasps. I felt so bad for her, and was thinking that she should be home in bed, or in a hospital, not running errands. Oksana said that she was apparently from another village as well, so she had to have taken the bus to get there. Some people have it rough over here.

Next we drove to SB. We were supposed to go to Gola Prystan, but the lady we needed was at the orphanage, so we went to pick her up. There were a lot of kids running around today since the Christmas break is over, and school is back in session. It turns out Nicolae, the Director, was not there today since he was in Kherson for meetings. On the way over there we decided that I would take Josh out for good today. So I signed the document authorizing me to take Josh from the orphanage forever but since we don't have new birth certificate I can't do it officially. I can take him if I write a letter stating I'm responsible for his health and life, but since Nicolae is not here the assistants are nervous but Oksana talks them into it, once they called Nicholae for his OK. Since it was almost lunch time, Oksana, I and Tatiana left to un-register Josh from the Citizen's Vital Records office in Gola Prystan, and we left Josh behind. But when we got there, the Chief was gone until tomorrow, so we'll have to try again then. With this development, we decided to leave Josh at the orphanage one more night since tomorrow morning will be spent driving around. Also, I thought he might like knowing this was his last night there, so I told him to have fun with his friends tonight because tomorrow he's outta here. Besides, since I wasn't expecting him today, I hadn't set up the room at the Bible House yet. I hung out with Josh for about 30 minutes while Oksana talked with others about Josh's medical docs. Then we headed back to Kherson.

Side note - Snickers here don't taste like Snickers there.

We stopped by Ashley's around 3:30. The door we normally go into her dorm was locked, so we started walking around the building and saw Ashley coming out of school. Apparently when school is in session, that door is locked, and you have to use another one - not sure why. We went up to her room, and talked for a little. I had plenty to talk about, but it was still fairly tense so we got through all the topics fairly quickly. I told her that she'll be meeting her brother tomorrow, and that got a smile. But she said she doesn't want to go to the passport office tomorrow - she wants to go the day after tomorrow. She may get her wish depending on how long it takes to get Josh's paperwork done. Obviously she's still nervous about the whole thing, so I need to find a way to break the ice a little better. I also probably need to have a heart to heart talk with her. As I'm sure you all know, those are my specialty. (not). Kari's had one with her. Oksana's had one with her. Dad's turn.

On my way to dinner, I stopped in a Kodak photo store. I swear when I told them I didn't speak Russian the lady behind the counter rolled her eyes and actually groaned. I just smiled my big American smile and plowed forward. I showed them my flash drive, she quickly pulled her co-worker over and handed me off to him, and we got it worked out that I wanted pictures developed. So we got the pictures onto their system, and they'll be ready tomorrow at 9am. 1.1 grivna apiece, which is about 14 cents, so pretty comparable to the US. I went a little crazy and had 131 pictures developed of pictures from out at SB. Maybe I should do the same for Ashley's friends. I've got about 50 of them jumping on their beds from when I left the camera with Ashley. Funny - she doesn't remember taking those pictures, so I think her roommates had some fun while she was away. Someone had so much fun that now the camera doesn't work at all. Oh, well. Then I went to a pizza place where Kari, Oksana and I ate a few weeks ago. I could not figure out the menu at all, so I just went to the counter to do my best. "Pizza! No Parusky", I proudly proclaimed. This girl gave a little yelp (really) and asked for assistance, but no one came to her rescue. I just had to laugh. I said "pepperoni", knowing it was a bad idea. So she showed me a bowl full of jalapeño peppers. "Nyet!", I said - "Chicken?" she said, "Nyet!". "Salami?", "Da!!", "Cheese?" "Da." So that's what I ordered, and a coke, of course. Cost me just over $3. When the pizza arrived, there was a bonus on top - mushrooms. Hey - that works for me! It was delicious.

Now that this blog is done, I'm looking at a late work night. I've already had one meeting tonight, and I have two more to go.