Bummer

Well, yesterday afternoon after much paperwork, driving here and there for submitting documents and waiting we found out our court date is October 15th. Not this coming week as we had expected, but a week from this coming Monday :( However, they are still optimistic that we will not have to wait the 10 days, so maybe we'll be back before Halloween (our girls are wondering this) BUT this is Ukraine and nothing is certain, so we are trying not to get our hopes up. Jenn, tell the girls we are trying, but it's not in our control. So, yesterday we saw Marina a little bit in the afternoon and we visited with her and her little friend Natasha. We played games like, who can roll their tounge, rub their tummy and pat their head at the same time, then they did back-bends and cartwheels. I said I could do a cartwheel and James dared me to try, so I did and I did it very well, I must add! He was surprised and even told the girls to look out cuz the old lady was coming to join them :) Marina kept saying "I want to go to America", and we said she would, and then she would say "okay, let's go" and get up and head for the front gates of the orphanage! We told her we can't until we go see the judge, which then she wanted to know when that would be. We told her maybe 4 - 5 days from now, but now we will have to tell her a week and two days from now. She'll be bummed about that, because she is eager to get out of there!! She also was looking at all the pictures on our camera and saw one of Georgie on Marina's bed at home and said "my bedroom pink?!" So, we lied and said, no Hannah and Jordan's room is pink, your room is white". (This is supposed to be a surprise for her that we painted her room pink) She then told us that her room should be painted pink as well because if she spills water or soda on her white walls it will show up more. We told her not to take drinks in her room - hahahaha! Then she asked if water was okay :) She is very quick and I don't think she believes my lie, that it was Hannah and Jordan's room that is pink - darn-it!! So, after we visited with her for an hour or so we left to go run here and there to do paperwork and we missed lunch and didn't get back home until around 6. By that time we were starving!!! I had a headache and felt a little woozey, and James blood-sugar was high from not having his insulin since morning. Neither one of us was feeling very well. Olga had dinner ready for us and it was homemade chicken soup (very yummy) and tomato salad with onions, parsley, cucumbers and vinegarette dressing. She also made some kind of rice dish with bits of pork in it - probably the left-over pork from the night before. It was all very good and then I went right to bed since I had been up since 2:30 a.m.!! Again this morning I woke up then again, but an hour later I was able to go back to sleep until around 8a.m. this morning. Maybe I am finally getting used to the time change - I hope! James got up, ate breakfast and then to my surprise (hahaha!) said he felt tired and went back to bed where he remains :) That's okay though, this has been very tiresome trying to make the shift in time.

I was trying to think of some other things I wanted to tell you about the area here . . .
Most people do not have running water, so each house has a well with a chain and bucket hanging above it and this is still how they get their water!! I feel like we've gone back in time - to a time I am not familar with at all! It is kinda neat though. Even their sugar here is raw and the honey is raw as well . . . this is all right up my alley, as I try to buy similar types of food in the US. In the morning we drink tea - not coffee, they are big tea drinkers here, and it's quite good actually :) James has been missing his diet Coke in the morning though, so today while Olga was waiting for the taxi to take her to the market, I gave her some money and asked her to get him some diet Coke which here is called, Coke Light. Maybe after he has his Coke he'll wake up a bit :) No one really has a car here, and the one's you do see look like they are from the 70's or earlier and are very small little boxes on wheels. Occasionally you do see a new car like the one we drove around in, but then everyone stares at you like, "who could that be?" It's kind of funny. Most people walk everywhere or ride a bike or maybe a small motorcycle. Yesterday, a small car pulling a trailor went flying past us as we were waiting for paperwork, and in the trailer was a dead hog about 6 feet long! That's not something you see everyday, is it? Hmmm, what else can I tell you . . . Oh, there's a dog that lives here and he's a terrier of some sort. He has rough fur and he is white with light brown spots and three legs. He gets around alright, and Constantine said he was hit by a car which is how he lost his leg. I wonder if they have vets here? I hate to think about how his leg was actually removed! Hannah and Jordan, this dog remindes me of the dog on Clifford The Big Red Dog, who comes to visit and they all think he can't play the same games because he is handicapped . . . remember? By the way, we are enjoying reading your comments you post - it makes us feel conected so please continue to post comments. Anyway, they also have cats here and Olga said the dog used to take the cats treats - bones with meat left on them, and go bury them in the yard. Now she says the cats know he can't jump up on the picnic table so they take the bones and get on the table so he can't run off with their snacks! The cat's have out-smarted the dog . . . just like a cat, I say :)

There is another American living here now. He is trying to adopt two boys, but he is single and they have denied him before. We heard he has given a lot of money to the orphanage before and just continues to try to adopt. He's been here before for 2 weeks or more, and now is back again. I don't know, it seems a bit strange to us. I would think if I were denied, I wouldn't try it again. Maybe he has more hope than most, who knows. I met him this morning and he is from NY and seems like a nice enough guy.

I guess we will venture up the hill after lunch to see Marina again for a while. I brought a bead set for the girls to make some jewlrey and I wish I had brought more things like that to help pass the time. I also brought a puzzle of the white house, because I thought the kids would like that, so I'll take that another day. I also brought play-dough, but that's about it. I think we'll try to go to Kiev one day and buy some more things that will keep the kids busy and help pass the time. There is only so much you can talk about with the language barrier, and there isn't much for the kids to do here. Even their play equipment, which was swings and a merry-go-round, aren't useable, because the swings got old and they took them down. So, all that remains is the frame but no swings. The merry-go-round is also missing and all that 's left is a post sticking out of the ground. It would be very nice as a mission trip to come here and set up a working playground again. They play on the monkey bars and play soccer and basketball, but other than that, they just walk around to kill time. It seems like a sad existance for these kids, but they seem happy. We did witness a big kid (maybe 16or 17yrs. old) holding onto a younger boy (10 - 13 yrs. old) and kicking him in the shins, then as he was sitting on the ground holding his legs in pain, the older boy took his foot and kicked him in his back and then to top it off, spit on him! That was really upsetting to me to see. Then the younger boy walked away crying and the older boy just kept yelling and taunting him . . . JERK!!! Marina and Natasha seemed more alarmed at my facial expressions, than they did what was happening. It's probably an everyday occurance here that they are used to seeing. Terrible.

Well, not to end this on a bad note, but lunch is almost ready and I should go wake up sleeping beauty from his nap! We are trying to figure out how we can post our pictures with dial-up - not an easy task and so we are procrastinating.

More later. Love to all!