More photos later, keep checking back!
Darrin
More Observations About
---
Since arriving here God has continued to bless us with a strengthening Dollar. At times we feel like things are getting tough in the
---
Let’s talk about fuel. As close as we are to the middle-east I assumed gas would be plentiful. In fact, a lot of vehicles run on gasoline or propane or a mixture of both. Gas is sold in liters. My best conversion technique shows me that gas is selling presently for $2.79 per gallon. This is the highest it has been in some time over here. It is definitely causing a crunch on their economy. After the Soviet block broke apart and
---
Four common sweets connect our country with the
---
Surprising weather! The biggest surprise to us so far has to have been the weather. We prepped for a normal season over here by packing long underwear, turtle necks and plenty of sweaters. To date it has been unseasonably warm. We have not yet seen snow and none is in the immediate forecast. Last week it was still in the mid to upper 40’s and the locals couldn’t believe how warm it still was in December. The forecast on the internet says we may have snow in
---
Speaking of Utilities….
Our modern apartment does have hot water from 6 am to 11 pm each day. Our radiator heat keeps the apartment consistently warm. We are thankful for solid, vinyl thermal pane windows. The Ukrainian Government controls the gas supply to the buildings in this country. They turn on the gas for heat 1st of October and turn it off the 1st of May. Our apartment building is 9 stories high and like most other apartment buildings it has one huge boiler in the basement. The water pipes run across the first floor proceed up to the second floor continue across the second floor, travel to the third, etc. etc. etc. So the one boiler controls all the radiators in all the rooms of each apartment. We just learned on Friday evening from some friends in Kiev that the Government had turned off the hot water heaters and lowered the boiler rates in parts of Kiev because the residents had too many delinquent bills owed to the Government. We have not seen that scenario here in
---
While the official language is Ukrainian, many also still speak Russian. We have also found English in quite a few shops and restaurants. Many restaurants have an English printed menu they provide when we ask for it. A few of the younger taxi drivers also know broken English. We are told that the younger children are learning English as part of their schooling. But it seems we always find a way to communicate. Just the other night, Barb and I discovered a new pizza parlor a block away from our apartment. The signage caught my attention as the name of the place was N.Y. Street Pizza. We walked into the restaurant and saw American nostalgia posters and
---
There are orphanages with numerous children in them, but we have given the Perfect child a home.
---
Your
Darrin & Barb
Post Court Date News
---
This is Sunday evening, Dec. 14th. It seems like we haven’t written in the blog since Thursday when we went to court. That’s because we haven’t. Several of you have e-mailed asking what is going on, so thought we better get some updates entered. Since court on Thursday, it does seem like things the last couple of days have been anti-climatic. Yet we also know in about 7 days everything changes again as our son will come to live with us permanently.
---
Looking back at Friday
Our head facilitator, Galya, rode the train to town and took a taxi to our apartment about 7:30 am. We visited about court yesterday then Darrin fixed a big breakfast for everyone (scrambled egg with sausage, ham, oranges, bananas, Danish, and toast.). Then Galya and Ostap left about 11 AM to head to Torres for the Adams court date (The Adams are the American couple here from
---
At about 1:05pm they brought down the boy who is officially our son from his room. The entire day felt different and we are glad court is behind us. We had a good day of play and went outside for 10 minutes of play also. Today is the coldest day, it is 34 degrees.
---
We have developed a certain routine with our son. He knows he gets an animal cracker shortly after we arrive, we play for awhile, he goes back to our bag for more crackers, we play some more. Then at 2:00pm he sits by Mama and he gets to eat a whole banana….and boy does he love bananas! After more play, he’ll usually sneak in another cracker or two before the nurse comes to get him. The entire time he enjoys his sippy cup of juice. The nurses usually come to get him between 2:45pm & 3pm. By that time he is getting pretty tired and definitely ready for a nap. (Often times, Mama and Papa are too.) I often wonder what is going through his head. Today we had the opportunity to tell him he is now our son and guarantee him that we’d take care of him forever. At the same time, he’s probably thinking “You ain’t ever seen me for more than 2 ½ hours in one day; I hope you know what you’re doing.” We keep trying to assure him that we think we do.
---
After a cab ride home, Barb grabbed a quick nap and I surfed the internet to follow the stories of our illustrious Governor. After a quick meal, we set the laptop up and watched the DVD “Fever Pitch” on the 15” computer screen.
---
Saturday Activities
Saturday was a different routine but a very fun day. We left our apartment about 9:30 am to walk to
---
James and Megan Williamson are a terrific couple from
---
As the Williamsons have free days right now, we have started a new “internet routine” with them. Saturday we installed our modem program on their laptop. Now as we travel by their apartment around noon time each day, James meets me on the sidewalk and I hand him the modem. As we return from the orphanage between 3-4pm we stop and pick up the modem to take it back home. They definitely appreciate the opportunity to use the internet daily, and we are happy to share the blessing that it is to us as well. It sure makes staying in touch with all of you at home possible, and certainly makes our down time a lot more bearable.
---
We continue on to the orphanage to see our son. The boy acted tired at first but warmed right up to us very fast. Along with the usual food routine, bubbles and books kept him happy today. His other joy is running the hallway and making sure we are chasing him. I am beginning to hate the hallway. I have a carpenter coming tomorrow to give me an estimate on installing doors- or at least a barricade 2 ½ feet tall. I think that should slow him down a little bit. But frankly after seeing some of the other children here at the orphanage, we are so blessed that he can run, play, communicate and is so full of life. We do look forward to returning home and letting all of you take your turn keeping up with him!
---
I had told you before that we had small markets around us, with limited quantities of some items (especially meat). The Williamsons told us of the store next to them and the terrific selection it has. On the way home we had the taxi stop there. We had a blast shopping for 40 minutes, and got to purchase all sorts of things we haven’t seen in the
---
Our supper menu Saturday evening featured my version of chicken cacciatore (sautéed chicken chunks, tomato sauce, and salsa), baked potatoes, and corn. As the meal ended, we were exhausted from our great day out and excited about our first real home cooked meal with meat!
---
Today was Sunday, Dec. 14th
Barb awoke sluggishly and wasn’t feeling up to par today. Late in the morning it became evident that my son and I were going to have some male bonding time. I arrived at the orphanage via taxi about 12:40 am. (After a quick stop to drop off the modem to the Williamsons.) Another couple was already there playing with their boy. After the nurse brought my son to me in the play area, two other couples arrived in the following 30 minutes to play with their children. It was definitely a full house today. We have never had more than 2 families there at one time before. It certainly made for an interesting day. Each parent had brought their own toys, an of course every child wanted someone else’s toy. But the children all played well and the parents did too. I was speaking English, one couple was speaking only Spanish, and the other two couples had the local dialect down. So it was our first multicultural play date. The other kids thought my boy’s dad was the coolest when I broke out the bottle of bubbles. All the kids were chasing them and all the other parents will probably be buying them tomorrow. It was nice having the other parents there, as the herd of children ran to the other end of the hallway, we took turns pursuing them and chasing them back to the play area. This was a big blessing for me; I didn’t come home as tired as I usually do.
---
The taxi brought me back to the store where I bought a couple more items and met the Williamsons to pick up the modem. Another short taxi ride brought me back to the apartment to see my son’s mother. She is doing much better now, especially after I fixed her supper. Tonight I was able to brown ground beef and fix a goulash dish and green beans….let’s talk about green beans. Green beans are one of the few items that I had not been able to find yet. In the can vegetable sections here the mainstays are peas and corn. They also do all kinds of stuff with red beans-chili, baked beans, red beans, red beans with sauce, and saucy red beans- they are really into beans. I have also found canned carrots. But I was beginning to suspect there was a conspiracy toward the green bean growers. But alas, I finally located green beans in a frozen bag about a 1 lb. size. They definitely are a rare commodity here. So supper was my second masterpiece evening in a row…if I must say so myself.
---
With Barb taking lame, I was stuck washing the dishes tonight as well. That is usually her chore for the evening. I have come to realize I miss the dishwasher, and it makes me appreciate having Barb with me over here. I did a load of white clothes in the mini-washer this evening as well. We had been told prior to our arrival that Laundromats were non-existent and washing machines were often hard to find. We are blessing to have a small washing machine in our apartment. They don’t have a dryer here, but they have two drying lines installed in different rooms. So right now we have your basic white clothes hanging in the bathroom, out on the enclosed balcony, and from the front room light fixture. This place looks like a JC Penney White Sale! Hope things dry in a couple days, like to get things folded and put away before we have company over.
---
Around 10pm tonight we called Carlinville to chat with the Daugherty clan. My family was gathered at Doug & Melinda’s house to celebrate Christmas. After talking to mom, it was nice to pass the phone around and to say “hi” to several of them. Special congratulations to my nephew Josh and his wife Beth as they announced today that they are expecting their third child next year.
---
That’s about all I know for sure right now. We look forward to starting another week in beautiful downtown
---
Rejoicing in
Darrin, the dishwasher, and the boy.
