Wednesday June 6, 2007

 

We were up and out to the internet café this morning at 9. We then proceeded directly to the Orphanage. Daniil was ready for us when we got there and we headed outside to play. Stimpy was there for her treat and the 3 of us played with her for a while. We did 3 laps around the grounds exploring all there is to see and we played more of the dumping game. Time really flew today. Strange—some days 2 hours seems like an eternity and then days like today where it's gone so terribly fast.

 

Mary and I had planned on going to the salt lake today, but it's too windy. Sand will be whipping and it's much cooler lately so we'll try again later (it's supposed to get back into the 80s by Saturday.) Friday we are going to the Lavra (Cave Monastery) with our Peace Corps friend. (it will be the last time we will get to hang out since she is headed to The Crimea to work at a camp for the summer).

 

I am writing here on our lunch break. We had some of the wonderful Ukrainian Kielbasa, ham, cheese, bread, butter and jam. We had a ton of laundry to get done in the sink too.

 

Not much else to report on. Max will get back into town Sunday night. Our next critical event is court on Monday. As long as that goes well the 10 day wait starts to tick.

 

Stuff we need to get done during the wait:

 

• Get to Antoshka (his previous orphanage) in Kramatorsk to get more detailed medical records.
• Meet his Bio Mom (or at least try)
• Get to Kyiv to meet with the Broadcasters Association
• Get to Ivankiv to see Catie and James' Grandma and Aunts.
• Either build slides or install blinds at the orphanage

 

We may have a weekend of nothing to do next weekend. We are torn. We could really use a break from the grind and maybe get over to Munich, down to Turkey or the beaches of Croatia for the weekend, but we HATE the thought of being away from Daniil for 3 days. We will wait to see what our mental state is after court on Monday to decide.

 

We hear rumors that there may be another American family in the area—If anyone know of someone in Kramatorsk please email me marty@martythompson.com with any contact into they may be willing to share. (it's an easy bus ride between the two cities)

 

Back in the room after the afternoon session… today we learned new words—"tik-o-da". (sorry for the spelling) Daniil had been saying this a lot. We could not figure it out. We had dinner tonight with Lera and she explained that it means "where are you going?". Makes perfect sense. He would say it when the ball would wander off, when the sobaka would run away or when the "blue van of infamy" would drive away. "Where are you going". We get it now!

 

We had another fun visit this afternoon. We played a BUNCH of "broom-ball". (brooms here are not like in the US—they are 3 feet high and are made of twigs and branches that are lashed together.) We found 3 old brooms used to sweep the dirt on the playground and turned them into a wonderful game whapping the beach ball around the yard. It did scare us a bit when Daniil became very winded after the 20 minute game. His medical report says he has a slight heart murmur—but he sure does tire easily. (it's not good when papa has more energy that you!). We sat with the Doctor and Max and went through his medical file. He had an allergic reaction to a bee sting when he was 3 that sent him to the hospital. That, the cardiopathy (as they call it), he's a bit duck-footed (sorry I know that is not politically correct) and he has astigmatism—along with his primary diagnosis of Down syndrome. We still need to get the full record from Antoshka (see above) but overall he's pretty healthy.

 

9:15 and bedtime (the sun will be up at 4am—hopefully we will not)

 

 

more later

 

PEACE,

 

Jim and Mary

 

PS: a word about Daewoos:

 

By FAR the most seen auto manufacturer in this area is Daewoo. They have several products—the Getz, the Lanos and (it's branded Chevy, but it's still a Daewoo) the Aveo.

Yes, you see a few Hyundai's, and the ever-present Soviet Lada. The Russian Mob drive black SUVs—usually Lexus or Mercedes—sometimes a Rav 4 if they are not really full fledged mobsters. Plus here in Slo'vyansk there is one Lincoln Towncar and one brand new Chrysler 300—wonder where they get them fixed--   But the Daewoos are everywhere—you look forward to getting one as a cab since they are the nicest thing you are likely to get –(I'm convinced Lada is secret Soviet code for "car that runs too rich and stalls a lot). We had a Daewoo in Vegas (a blue Nubira) and LOVED it—when they stopped selling them we could no longer get parts so it had to go-- but it was one of my fave cars ever.   Yes, we are in Ukraine—"The land of really fertile soil and lots of Daewoos!"