Thursday October 14, 2010 - Rock Stars



 

Easy day today. Only thing we have planned is a morning visit to see the boys at 10am. Emma makes us a ham and cheese omelet with toast and coffee. I think it really is possible to survive on bread, ham and cheese! Natasha, Emma and I make good housemates - not sure how we could do all this stuff without Natasha. She's our coordinator, our translator, our advisor, and our friend. And she's nice to be around! It must be hard for her to spend so much time away from her husband and her 4 year old son, not to mention hanging out with us every day. Thanks Natasha for taking care of us!!!! You've been so very helpful, supportive - and fun!!!

 

At 10am we are picked up and taken to the orphanage to hang out with Max and DJ. A lot of the kids have come down with colds as the temperatures have fallen, so we are given hospital masks to cover our mouths (which you know I'll wear). The orphanage is in a minor quarantine until the kids get better - only prospective parents are allowed to visit. What a nightmare that must be taking care of a hundred sick kids under the age of four. Max and DJ are part of that group and we can tell they aren't feeling great with running noses and no appetite for cookies or anything. But they are still glad to see us and we spend the morning playing in the gymnasium, building castles, playing music, and basically acting like kids!

 

We bought them cheap sunglasses 'cuz they showed an interest in glasses before. Max loves the way he looks with them on upside-down, posing in the mirror, pushing his baby stroller around with a shopping bag hanging from his arm. This little dude has been around women too much...funny kid - had me laughing out loud just watching him!


 

Time flies by and the nurse comes to take the boys away - but Max isn't ready. Then when the nurse tells him he can't bring his sunglasses with him, he goes into a major pout and lays down on the floor in typical Mad Max fashion. Gotta love the little guy's passion! DJ does a good job calming him down and they finally get him up, we all hug goodbye and they stroll down the hallway hand in hand with the nurse.

We still need to figure out where we're getting the extra $3k in US dollars to 'expedite the process', so we try a few banks on the way home to get an advance on a credit card, but nothing works here in Kirovograd's banking system. All we can get is the local currency. I really wish they had told us about this before we left the States - it's not like they haven't done this before! Oh well - worst case is we give them everything we have left and try to live on UAH until we get back to Kiev.


 

On our way home we stop for more groceries (and three bottles of that fabulous $3 Crimean wine), and then home for lunch. We decide to skip the afternoon visit with the boys 'cuz they probably just need to rest, plus Emma is coming down with something. After lunch, I head out with Natasha to try a few more banks, but no luck. I decide to just hand over our remaining 'Ben Franklins' and let her get on with the deal - we just want to get the boys home! So we stop by Natasha's office to drop off the forms from yesterday and I hand over our last dollar to cover the 'fee'. She says not to worry about paying rent in UAH, so we should be okay.
Everything is set for our appointment tomorrow morning with the Kirovograd board - the next 'tick-in-the-box' that we need prior to getting our court date. The two Natasha's get all our documents copied and collated for the board (and possibly the Mayor?) and we're ready for the next hurdle tomorrow. Back to the house...

Emma and Natasha join forces to make a wonderful dinner (I provide the wine) of Sashlick and rice, with little sausages and a salad. We enjoy this classic Ukrainian feast and spend the evening talking and watching Ukrainian television. I miss my American sports!!! Semi-big day tomorrow...sweet dreams boys - just a bit longer!