Everyone’s a Winner

Photos: Celebrating at the pizza place.

[Phil]
First the good news. No, actually there’s only good news: We won custody of Ana today after a grueling hour-long hearing. After the judgment was announced, I asked for the judge to waive the 10-day waiting period due to Ana’s health issues, but she declined. So now we wait 10 calendar days, starting tomorrow, until the judgment is officially entered and we get to take Ana out of the orphanage. We are tremendously relieved and happy.

[Robin]
The hearing was very nerve-wracking. They called all of us, one at a time, to stand and answer questions posed to us by the judge. Then they made us go outside while they deliberated. When the judge stated that she had granted us custody, I was in shock. I thought for sure she was going to state that she needed to delay the decision or get more notarized statements, etc. After the verdict, we all went out in the hall and there were hugs and tears all around. We then waited for some paperwork to be completed and went collectively over to the pizza place for a celebratory lunch. Phil had bought Nastya’s sister a cell phone this morning, and when he gave it to her on the way to the pizza place the look of joy and amazement on her face was priceless.

[Phil]
Lord, if anyone deserved a present, it was her. She held her ground against some very pointed questions from the judge. She continually insisted that she was not concerned for herself, but for the future of her sister. To make such a mature decision like that at 16 is amazing, especially considering her circumstances. Suffice it to say, we are going to hold some kind of fundraiser when we get back so that we can help her with her future college expenses. And of course we look forward to having her come visit us in the States.
In other good news, Colleen has been allowed to start the adoption process for both of her potential daughters. Sometimes the system does work.

[Robin]
Right now I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. We have to spend some more time here (when she denied our request for a waiver of the 10 days, the judge suggested that we enjoy the Fall weather….), but I’m sure that it will feel different now that we don’t have this trial hanging over our heads. Hallelujah…..sound the church bells! We can’t wait to bring Ana home to see all her many loving supporters.

[Phil]
Okay, we’ll go ahead and post this, because I’m sure some of you are wondering why it’s taken so long. Bye for now.

On the Eve

[Phil]
Tomorrow we have our hearing at noon. That will be 5 AM in the US. I hope it won’t take longer than an hour, so hopefully we’ll have some good news for you by the time you wake up tomorrow. We remain optimistic.
Today we tried to just relax. It was the first real blustery, Autumnal day here, and I think everyone wanted to be indoors. We had a leisurely breakfast in the hotel and then got to the orphanage around 11:15. We started playing with Ana and Dasha, but within about half an hour they called them back to the building for lunch. This was probably a good thing, since babysitting the both of them can be very tiring.

[Robin]
We walked to a nearby outdoor market before lunch. We spent some time looking around the various stalls. Only about half of the kiosks were open, mostly selling canned foods and fresh vegetables. We were thinking about buying Ana a little purse since she was so enamored with mine. Instead, we spotted a Winnie the Pooh backpack and decided that this would be better and could hold her various toys to boot. We bought it along with another toy (a rewritable pad--you can write on this pad with this fake pen and then erase it with a sweep of a button. We don’t know what this is called.)
We had lunch at the pizza place and added to our food repertoire by adding peppers to the pizza toppings order. These little changes keep things exciting—ha, ha.
We spent the rest of the afternoon buying groceries, getting pictures developed and adding more battery power to our digital camera. Phil had to go back to the electronics section of the mall to find the same staff person that had helped us before. His under the table maneuvers consisted of a head nod, the passing of the camera and later a slyly folded and passed 20 hrivnya note. Phil said he felt like a spy. It was a hilariously top-secret exchange.

[Phil]
Yeah, they have numerous people just standing around watching everything, so I felt extremely awkward. In any case, he did recharge it, so now we can take even more pictures of Ana, signs, statues, and food.
One thing Robin wanted me to mention on this slow news night: When we were at the Big Market the other day, we found a great toy kiosk. They had a ton of balloons, including the long, skinny ones you use to make balloon sculptures. These are always a hit at the orphanage, so I asked the shopkeeper for 20 of them. She said that she only had two left at the moment and that in any case you have to have a special pump for them. I said, "Oh, we have a pump. I’ll take the two that you have left." I mean, doesn’t everyone have a balloon animal pump?!

[Robin]
Yeah, we giggled about answer all the way home. Who just happens to be carrying around a balloon pump in their small messenger bag?
I spoke to my sister, Tina, on the phone this afternoon, and it was so great to hear about what has been going on and to talk about some of the stuff we can’t get into detail on in the postings. A special "yay" goes out to my HBC group—glad everyone finished the race successfully. I wish I could have been there (not necessarily for the running part, but for the camaraderie. I miss our Saturday runs and gossip!).
When we went to the orphanage this evening, we picked Ana up in the upstairs playroom. She had to get dressed in her "outdoor" clothes to go the playground with us. She was wearing some of the tights that we bought her and then specifically requested to wear the sweater we also bought her. Made me smile.
We tried to keep away from the other kids and play with Dasha and Ana in a separate area. It is really hard to not feel guilty when we are showering these new toys and clothes on Ana in front of the other little kids. They watch everyone’s movement like a hawk and get really agitated when they are missing out on anything. There have already been enough spilled tears over the balloons.
This evening we met our Kramatorsk facilitator for dinner at a Ukrainian restaurant across from the orphanage. The service took so long that we started to question and then laugh about whose meal was requiring the slaughtering of an animal or the hunting for mushrooms in the nearby park, etc. I ordered chicken in nut sauce, so maybe they were out gathering nuts. Fortunately, it was quite tasty (Bill, I know you love that word!) when it finally arrived.

[Phil]
That’s all for tonight. We’ll post again tomorrow as soon as possible after our hearing.

Rainy Sunday

1. Ana's group surrounding one of their caregivers, Lydia Alexandrovna.

2. Ana's group heading back to the building after morning's recess.

3. Ana in the orphanage, eating perhaps the worst chips I have ever tasted. (They are "kholodets" and horseradish flavored -- kholodets being a dish consisting of meat parts in aspic).

[Phil]

Hi, everyone. It's just me tonight. Robin is up in the hotel room watching a DVD on the laptop. There's not much news to tell. I woke up feeling even sicker than yesterday, so Robin agreed to make the morning visit to the orphanage by herself (but only after I promised to do the same for her sometime!). She got there shortly after 11AM, and they started gathering the kids to go back inside around 11;45, so it wasn't too bad of a shift for Robin. She came back to the room and did crossword puzzles while I dozed. I finally roused myself around 2:00, and we went to a kind of off-the-beaten path restaurant called The Brooklyn Cafe for a late brunch. We were the only people there (sound familiar?). I swear, I have no idea how some of these places stay in business. I guess the overhead is low.

On our way back to the hotel, we saw a lot of black clouds to the east. Sure enough, right around 5:00 it started raining. We headed off to the orphanage, since we knew Ana was expecting us. All the kids were inside their individual group areas, so we went upstairs and retrieved Ana. Mama Oksana, tonight's caregiver, told us we could just take Ana down to the main hall (kind of a ballroom, actually) and play with her there. She was very verbal this evening, but I had no idea what she was trying to say most of the time. After about 10 minutes, Dasha showed up, fresh from a car trip to visit her adoptive parents' hometown. She was in a really good mood, even by Dasha standards. I later found out from Mama Oksana that Dasha will be adopted on October 16th. I don't know if that's the actual adoption day or the court date, but I'm glad she'll be out of the orphanage and going to school.

During our playtime with Ana, our facilitator in Kyiv called to just go over a few things in anticipation of Tuesday's hearing. He feels very confident and so do we, but we're not making plane reservations just yet. Tomorrow we'll meet with Kostya and try to tie up any loose ends. Also, our friend Colleen is still in Kiev. She's actually traveling back late Monday night (in a Deluxe this time) and is bringing us our approval letter from the Federal adoption body. Meanwhile, please keep her in your thoughts. She's trying to adopt a severely disabled girl from an orphanage near Kiev (in addition to the healthy girl she's adopting from here), and tomorrow morning she will find out whether the court will allow it. Burn some candles for her!

Under the Weather

1. Dasha and Ana on the "rocket"

2. Bookstore warning signs

3. Dasha in the playroom for Ana's group

4. Ana's bed.

5. View of the group's bedroom

6. Ana with her towel

7. Ana stacking the puzzle pieces

[Robin]
We both started the day off with sore throats. We may finally be succumbing to the kindergarten’s germ charms. We went to the orphanage fairly early because we had been told by the caregiver that Ana had looked out of the window for us the previous morning, and when we didn’t come, she cried (we went to the big market in the morning, foregoing the orphanage until the afternoon). Lesson learned!
When we got there today, the kids were in full force in the playground. We watched Ana and Dasha play on various equipment, particularly a climbing set that included a pole that they could slide down. Phil helped Ana navigate the steps up and the jumping onto the pole.

[Phil]
As usual, she had no fear on the jungle gym. We’re going to have to watch her like a hawk in Chapel Hill. I see many skinned knees and elbows in her future.
So after the morning session at the orphanage, we decided to go check out the movie schedule at the local theater. The only two films playing are the Bourne Ultimatum (which we’ve seen) and that Adam Sandler movie where he and his pal pretend to be gay in order to get domestic partnership benefits. It was showing at 3:30, but we really wondered whether we would have the required audience of 7 to see the movie. Even though it was an overcast, gray day, there appeared to be no one in the theater besides the employees. We left and decided that we’d come back right at 3:30 and hope for a quorum. After the theater, we went to the bookstore near the Palace of Culture. We found only a few books in English (mostly business-related or classics like Oliver Twist), but we did get two things for Ana: a puzzle that teaches you numbers and a sticker book. I also made sure to photograph the signs at the entrance that said "No entry with Beer" and "No Entry with Ice Cream". If such signs seem at all unusual to you, you have never been to Ukraine!

[Robin]
After the bookstore we went and had lunch at the Pizza place. Then we walked home to hang out in our hotel room. I had brought a book of NY crossword puzzles with me, and we handed these brain-testers back and forth for a good part of the afternoon. We also watched a reality show from Australia where they sent two groups of people to try to live like their ancestors did 200 years before. They were descendents of the Aborigines and a group of people who were descendants from places like Ireland, Britain, and Africa. I guess the idea was to see how well the two groups did at surviving. So far, you can probably guess which group is doing better—yep, the Aborigines have managed to fish and set up a comfortable camp; the other group is still busy gathering firewood and eating the supplies they brought with them.

[Phil]
We also saw yet another version of Skating with the Stars last night. I don’t know whether it was a current series or a repeat, but it was very entertaining. Probably the strangest portion of the show was when an old, gray-haired former hockey player dressed up in his uniform (minus the helmet) and did a sickly romantic routine with his scantily-clad daughter. The Ick Factor was very high.

[Robin]
It rained this afternoon, and so when we went back to the orphanage all the kids were indoors. This gave us an excellent opportunity to see where Ana sleeps and where the kids shower, etc. It is nice and neat and clean. This orphanage is really well-run. The little kid’s beds are all individual and all in the same room. The caregiver said they go to bed at 8:30 p.m. and get up at 7:15 a.m.

[Phil]
Also, all the kids have individual lockers, individual towel hooks, and their names painted across the headboards of their individual beds. Ana’s says "Nastyenka", which is an even more diminutive form of Anastasia.
Right now we’re at Restaurant Premier, sitting outside on the patio. Meanwhile, there’s a raucous wedding party going on inside. As I type this, the bride just walked out onto the patio. I thought she was going to smoke a cigarette or something, but she’s just talking to her friends. She’s sporting some major artificial bling. I wish I had the sequin contract for Ukraine (along with the brake pad contract – I would be rich!). Robin said she wants the French bakery contract, as they have nothing even remotely like that here.

[Robin]
Yes, I think I could make some mula from a culture that loves sweets but has not discovered the chocolate croissant. On another note, lots of people still smoke here, especially the young/teenagers. Every table in the restaurant is adorned with its own ashtray. Another aspect of their disdain of safety is that they drive really, really fast and no one wears seat belts. In fact, all the trips we have been on, be it in a mini-van, taxi or car, have all been sans seat belts.

[Phil]
Yes, this is a country where you just have to go with the flow. There’s no use in fighting it.

The Big Market

1. Stained glass archway above the entrance to the indoor part of the market

2. WWII memorial in Kramatorsk

3. Robin at the Theatre Cafe on Friday afternoon

4. Robin's flowers on our windowsill

5. Giving Ana her new sweater

6. Ana with new sweater and snack of bread (khleb)

[Robin]
I started the morning out by standing in line to exchange dollars into hrivnyah. I was cut in front of by three men and finally gave up and ended up going to the ATM in the grocery store. Not unlike other places I have traveled, you have to be pushy and assertive if you wait in line somewhere to get served. I just wasn’t in the mood this morning to be alpha dog. The morning had started off too well to get worked up, as we had decided to sleep in and to relax a little. I had worked on NY crosswords while Phil snoozed….
Today’s big plan was to go to the big outdoor/indoor market in Kramatorsk. We walked probably a mile or so to get there. It was very large, probably spanning two or three city blocks. There were individual vendors selling various products: clothes, perfume, food, stationery, shoes, etc. We stopped to buy Ana a new sweater. We decided size 30 is more accurate than the 26-28 that they told us. The sweater we bought was mainly Carolina blue (which is the color she most often chooses from the crayon box).

[Phil]
Yeah, the market was really awesome, and I wanted to take a lot of pictures there, but it seemed somehow tacky to do so. Suffice it to say, that pretty much anything you want can be found there. We bought balloons, greeting cards, a sweater, a lime, and real toilet paper, but we could have also obtained some pirated software, Ukrainian folk art, dozens of kinds of cheese and sausages, and almost every kind of perfume.
In any case, after visiting the market, we took the long way back, looking for a new restaurant. We found a nice outdoor cafй near the pizza restaurant, which was called the “Theatre Cafй”. We sat outside and watched the Friday afternoon crowd walk by: schoolchildren in their uniforms, young men with to-go beers, Ukrainian women carrying bouquets of flowers and navigating the streets in their ultra high heels, stray cats looking for scraps from the patrons, babushkas slowly making their way home, etc.

[Robin]
We had passed by a WWII memorial on our way to our lunch place and took some pictures. It was in a pretty park. Right in front of the main sculpture there was an eternal flame. The walk-way to the sculpture was lined with tombstone-like memorials. Phil said it was a memorial to the soldiers from Kramatorsk who were killed in World War II.
When we returned from our trek to the hotel, the entryway was filled with new red and white flags, and the lobby was crowded with people in business suits. It appeared to be a political rally or party for one of the election candidates.

[Phil]
Yes, it was a get-together for the supporters of one of the parties that was on the losing end of Sunday’s elections. We are both now trying to remember the name of the party leader, because she was a woman who was referred to universally by her first name (Hallelujah! Robin just remembered: it’s "Yulia"). In any case, the assembled delegation in the lobby seemed pretty happy for a minority party. There was much laughing and back-slapping. We just put our heads down and made our way to the elevator.
After an hour of so of watching the Shannon Doherty vehicle "Charmed" on Ukrainian TV, we headed out for the orphanage, new sweater in tow. As soon as we got there, Ana ran up to Robin and embraced her. We then did the usual swingset thing for a while, but we could hardly wait to give her the sweater. As you can see in the photos thus far, she basically has one red sweater that they put on her every day.

[Robin]
Phil helped her on with her new sweater. She was thrilled. We then played on the swings and then the slide, until an unfortunate head-knock made her cry. Then we just sat on the bench and watched her draw this same figure over and over in her coloring book. We finally realized that she was trying to make an "A". We think she is being taught how to spell her name. Phil asked her if it was an "A" and she nodded and said "Da." Then Dasha came over worked on spelling her name in English and Ukrainian.
We left the orphanage and went to have dinner at the Ukrainian restaurant across the way. It was packed, being Friday, and we got the last table in a little nook. A karaoke singer was providing entertainment. We ordered and ate dinner and then watched couples dancing. We eventually decided to get up and take the floor ourselves, and it was really fun to dance for a while.

[Phil]
Yes, I think this restaurant is now our favorite. They have great soups, nice waitstaff, musical entertainment, and great traditional Ukrainian dйcor. Plus, it’s way off the main street, so it’s usually just locals and us.
Okay, that’s all for now. One final note: Baxter would be happy to know that our ipod stereo that we put on shuffle is now playing "Let Me Down Easy" by the Chairmen of the Board. Beach music is playing in southeastern Ukraine!

[Robin]
Oh, last note, Marsha—thank you for your posting. Yes, I enjoyed your book (I would recommend it!). I finished it this morning. It was a wonderful diversion. And, I was thinking today about how much food evokes memories. My mother-in-law is creating a cookbook with recipes drawn from family members. My family contributed recipes from my family’s trip to Greece and Mexico, along with several Dutch recipes from my grandparents. If you want to share a certain feeling or show love, I do think it is best to do it through food J I’m already planning the menu for my Ukrainian feast to share our memories with my family and friends when we return.

[Phil]
Yes, indeed: kharcho soup, Ukrainian borsch with pampushkas, solyanka, pelmeny, varenniki, black bread, rice with vegetables, mushroom potato chips (just kidding, Glenn).

Big Papa

1. The kids taking a walk around the neighborhood

2. Getting a train ticket for Colleen

3. Who knew balloons were so fun?

4. Dasha took this photo of the 3 of us on the carousel

5. Dasha and Ana on the see-saw

6&7. Pretty much the whole group on the see-saw
8. Ana was very pleased with her "bag containing a balloon".

[Robin]
The kids call Phil "Bolshoi Papa" -- it’s pretty hysterical. We brought yet another round of balloons for the kids to their great delight. Phil is really a trooper, he has to blow all of them up and tie them because I am unable to fulfill either of these playground requirements.
The kids are so ready to have any kind of fun. At one point tonight we had just about every kid in Ana’s play group on the see-saw and got some great pictures of the kids.

[Phil]
Yeah, the balloons are always a hit, but they also cause great strife among the children. I guess anything that is in limited supply would, but it’s so much worse when you see your valued object explode in front of you and YOU ARE THE CAUSE OF IT. They always run over to me "Bolshoi Papa, give me another balloon. Mine popped." Note the passive tense. Vanya must learn not to jump on his balloon. These are the cruel lessons of the playground yard.

[Robin]
I got a real scolding this afternoon when I pushed the seesaw down on top of one of the little boys’ balloons and burst it. There were a lot of tears, accompanied by a fiery round of recriminations. Luckily Big Papa came to the rescue with yet another yellow balloon.
Ana was sporting a very cute little plastic headband this morning and she seemed to be quite taken with her look. She also received new shoes—black ones with Velcro closures
I’d say it was a fairly calm day today. Kostya, our facilitator here in Kramatorsk, went to deliver the new paperwork to Ana’s social worker and the judge, and we are under the assumption that all went well, because we haven’t heard anything from him since this morning. We also got news that our file was accepted and approved by the federal body (the SDA), and that produced a huge sigh of relief from both Phil and me. Now we just await the Tuesday court date.
Today we also got to have lunch with Colleen at the pizza place and she filled us in on her adventures. I’ll let Phil tell you about them…

[Phil]
Let’s just say that she had to share a deluxe sleeper (2 berths per room) with a well-meaning but quite drunk Ukrainian-Canadian who ended up passed out in his black bikini briefs (in his berth). We went with her to the train station this afternoon to see if we could help her get tonight’s train to Kiev (Robin will explain why she’s going there). It was 2:30 in the afternoon and the ticket agent said the only train to Kiev leaves in 2 hours. I asked Colleen if that was okay, and she basically had to accept. Then I asked if she could have a deluxe. The ticket lady said that they were all sold out. Then both Colleen and Robin started telling me to ask her things like "Can she be on a wait list? What if someone cancels? Can she have a cabin with only women?" Meanwhile, I was still thinking about how to say "berth" in Russian. Finally I told the ticket lady, "Please talk to our Ukrainian friend," and we dialed Konstantin’s number, explained the situation, and transferred the cell phone to the ticket lady through the money carousel. Konstantin couldn’t do anything either, so Colleen had to accept a ticket for a regular cabin. We rushed back to her place in a taxi and wished her well on her journey. We were reading and relaxing in our hotel room around 4:45 PM when we got an alarming text message from Colleen. She said that she was stuck in a cabin with 3 drunk, scary men. She then called me from the train and put the conductress on the line to see if I could get her berth assignment switched. The conductress was no help at all, and said that "there’s nothing to be afraid of." There probably isn’t, but it doesn’t make the trip any more pleasant, I’m sure.

[Robin]
I really admire Colleen. She’s got some guts to travel alone. I’m not sure I would have had the strength to make the trip unless I could have bought all the berths in the cabin just to not be in the same overnight car with some unknown people. (Again money here makes life so much easier). Right now we were just text messaging her to see if she is okay. She messaged back saying she was, but wasn’t planning on sleeping. Yikes.
Colleen is trying to adopt two kids, one handicapped girl in an orphanage outside of Kiev and a little girl here where Ana is located. She is all alone here because her husband had to leave to go back to work (after being here a month already). This may end up being our situation (i.e. I have to leave Phil), but we are trying to be positive and not take on any new worries now.

[Phil]
Agreed. In other news, I’m almost finished with my biography of Jessica Savitch (don’t ask), so we’re going to try to find a decent book store tomorrow. We’re also considering buying a bottom-of-the-line DVD player for our room, because there’s only so much Fashion TV one can take, even of our favorite show, the unfortunately named "F People"…

[Robin]
I am just about finished with yet another book—Pomegranate Soup. Actually, I’m not sure that’s the name, but it’s close. This one is about three sisters from Iran who emigrate to Ireland and open a restaurant. Each chapter begins with a new recipe. Reading it is making me even more hungry for some ethnic food. Last night I had pancakes with sour cream, cheese, chicken and mushrooms. It tasted great, but I swear my waistline and appetite are screaming for spicy Indian food.

[Phil]
Yeah, I asked at the front desk if there was any kind of ethnic restaurant around, and they basically said no (except the empty Chinese restaurant, where we may end up tonight).
Okay, that’s all for now. It should be a quiet few days with Kostya back in his hometown with his family and every document duly submitted for our hearing on Tuesday. We’ll try to go out and explore the city, so that at least we’ll have something to blog about.

A Good Day

1. The Balloon Man

2. Tired Ana
3. Lenin statue in Kramatorsk

4. A more dynamic Lenin Statue -- in Ana's hometown

5. Laughably outdated pro-Lenin sign in southeastern Ukraine

[Phil]
It’s been a long and nerve-wracking day, but we finally have some good news to report. The short version is this: Both Ana’s sister and the director of Ana’s orphanage agree that the best thing for Ana is that we adopt her, and they will testify thusly in court next week. The same goes for the original social worker who initially opposed the adoption. So right now there is no one opposed to the adoption. We are tremendously relived, but the judge, for whatever reason, could still rule against us next week (the hearing has been delayed), but that really seems unlikely. So we are cautiously MUCH more optimistic than we were yesterday. I’ll let Robin tell more about our day.

[Update - I forgot to mention that Ana's orphanage director said she could not make the trip, so it was just Robin, Kostya, the driver, and me]
[Robin]
We traveled all day—3 hours there, 3 hours back. We hired a driver who took us in his minivan (just like the first one, its seats were covered with pseudo-oriental rugs to protect them from wear). Most of the road to Ana’s hometown is two lanes, necessitating passing numerous trucks carrying heavy loads on very curvy and hilly terrain. Both Phil and I wanted to kiss the ground when we returned to the hotel safely. Ana’s sister’s orphanage is for older kids, so it was interesting to see teenagers running around. The sister was very sweet, pretty, and mature for her age. We (through Phil) were able to ask questions and answer her questions. She eventually wants to become an elementary school teacher. We brought her a picture book filled with pictures of Ana and of Ana with us. She was delighted to get this. We also showed her our family album and videos we had taken of us with Ana. She seemed to enjoy seeing these and our house, family, etc. We found out some more about her family situation and how Ana and she had become orphans. Nothing that she said was a surprise, and it was good to see the product of the same mother turn out so well. We’ll be seeing the sister, social worker, and orphanage director again on Tuesday at the hearing.
[Phil]
Like I said earlier, it was long day. We’re now at the Restaurant Premier, having a late dinner. It’s lunch for us, actually, since we haven’t eaten since 9:00 this morning. We’ll go post the blog soon and probably pass out in front of some Russian TV show.
[Robin]
We read our blog comments the minute we got back and it was REALLY heartening to read them and once again feel that the universe is rooting for us and Ana. I can’t tell you what a sweet surprise it was to find a post from Meridith and realize that she has been able to keep up with our experience. We have really found that it is a small world.
We have yet another weekend in front of us. We heard today about another market to visit and are looking forward to exploring that and to seeing Ana at the orphanage.
[Phil]
Yes, we need some distraction. We actually tried to go to the movies the other day, but the woman working there pointed at a sign that said "A Minimum of 7 People is Required to View a Film". We were the only people there, alas. Maybe we’ll have better luck on the weekend.
Another small thing to mention about today: As we got closer to Russia, we encountered more and more remnants of Ukraine’s Soviet past. As we passed a big monument to Lenin, the driver even mentioned to Kostya, "Shouldn’t they remove this communist stuff?" Kostya just sort of shrugged, like "Eh, whatever". The Ukrainians are now firmly in the present. When the news came on the radio about the recent developments following Sunday’s election, the driver and Kostya sat rapt with attention, and Kostya even politely shushed Robin when she tried to ask him if he’d like to have a piece of cheese while the news report was going on. Politics is serious business here!
[Robin]
One last note. We bought Ana some tights yesterday. This morning we stopped by the orphanage to see her before our trip. Maybe you can guess what she was wearing. Yes! Her new pink tights with flowers. She proudly pointed them out to me. Then caretaker smiled and kind of laughed and pointed at her bottom. Apparently we had gotten the length right, but not the girth. She had a hole in the seam right at her bottom. I had to laugh; she’s such a sturdy little rascal. We will be getting some more tights!
[Phil]
And we now know her size. In European, it’s 26-28. If you want to buy her anything, err on the side of too big. Robin just told me that the tights say "3-4", so she’s probably really a 4 in American sizes. Tomorrow we need to get her some new shoes. She had a big hole in her Nike trainers this morning.
That’s all for now. It appears that your good thoughts, prayers, candles, karma, etc., are working for us! Thank you so much.