Saturday, Sunday & Monday

It's been a while since we last posted.  On Saturday we visited the boys in the morning and M***** in the early afternoon.  While traveling in between the two orphanages we stopped at a restaurant suggested by our driver for lunch.  Lunch was good as were our visits with the kids.  During our visits we measured the kids so we can start thinking about getting some clothes together when they leave the orphanages.  A**** and C***** are very close in size with C***** just a bit smaller than his older brother.  Both are well built and very strong for their ages.  M***** is tall and skinny.  After our visit with M***** we headed to the mall to do some "window" shopping as our facilitator called it.  "Window" shopping turned into actual shopping and two hours later we walked out with shoes for the kids to try on for sizing and a couple of shirts for the boys to try on.  I (Andrew) got quite bored quickly.  I was able to scout the entire childrens store in 30 minutes while the ladies could leave no stone (or clothing rack in this case) unturned.  Clothing shopping in Ukraine is about as fun as it is in the States... for husbands.  Children's clothing is also very expensive in Ukraine.  Many of the winter coats were over 300 grivna and jeans were over 200 grivna.  In my extra time I scouted out the stroller section since we have a few stroller collectors in the family.  Some were over $1,000 (1,000 american dollars)! 

We were able to sleep in on Sunday.  We also moved to another apartment that is more convenient to a local market and the orphanages.  This will be the last apartment that we'll be in while in Simferopol.  It is quite nice.  We have an instant hot water heater which makes it nice when three people are trying to take a shower in the morning.  For lunch we stopped at a popular downtown restaurant.  Heather and I were very hungry because we did not have dinner the night before.  We both ordered a greek salad, soup and dish from the garnish (side dishes) menu.  Heather had fried potatoes with onions and garlic and I had rice with peppers and peas.  Our translator relayed to us that the waiter was questioning why we only ordered a dish from the garnish menu and did not order any meat.  Apparently nobody orders garnishes without also selecting a meat.  We have found that a salad and soup will satisfy our hunger most days for lunch. The extra garnish on this day stuffed us full.  I don't know where we would have found room for the meat the waiter wanted us to order.  For dinner we stayed in and ate some of the remaining fruit that we had from before.  I also tried a dried meat product from the corner market which was ok.  In between meals we visited both orphanages to test fit our previous days purchases.  M***** needs a shoe size bigger than we purchased and C***** needed a shoe size smaller than his bigger brother which meant more shopping.  Let's just say the second trip to the same store was even more boring than the first for me.  I should have stayed in the car and napped with the driver.  We left the mall with the correct shoes and even a couple of outfits for each of the kids.  It is warm here in Simferopol but back in Kyiv it is very cold, a fact that is pointed out to us very frequently.  I have never seen kids dressed so warmly to play in 70 degree weather!

Early Monday our translator was off to court to start the paperwork necessary for our adoption which left time for Heather and I to read and relax.  I am reading the new Dan Brown book "The Lost Symbol."  I find it hard to put down and I expect to finish the book up later in the day.  We were picked up closer to 12:30 pm today to go back to the inspector's office to sign another document.  We ate lunch at the canteen located in the basement of the building where the inspector is located.  More soup for us today; although we did add a side of chicken and a side of noodles.  The food so far has been very good and cheap.

After lunch and the inspector's office we visited both orphanages to have the kids try on the clothes and shoes we purchased at the mall.  The boys were so eager to try on their new clothes that they stripped down to their tshirts and stockings in a flash. A***** was so excited for his new clothes that he broke out in dance.  C***** had a smile from ear to ear.  Their personalities are so different yet they blend together very well.  A***** is outgoing and a leader while C***** is shy and happy to follow big brother...for now.  M***** loved her new outfits, so much we got two big hugs from her in addition to the big hug we got when we arrived.  She is more affectionate then her brothers are but most five and six year old boys don't care much for hugs.

For the boys today it was more jungle gyms and playground equipment outside and for M***** it was Barbie dolls and dress up.  All of the kids got apples today.  The boys ate the whole apple, core and all.  Apparently that's what Ukrainians do.  M***** had better sense and gave back the core to Mama and Papa.  After our visists today we went to the big market to stock up the pantry.  We filled up a cart at the store and judging from the looks from the cashier and the other market goers Ukrainians don't shop for food for a period of time longer than a few days.  $45 later and we're set for groceries and orphanages snacks for a while.

Tomorrow we travel to the orphanages without a translator for the first time.  It should be fine because we have not had difficulty communicating with the kids.  Communicating with the orphanage staff and our driver is another story.

See you tomorrow.