An Internet

We found an Internet.

Sorry it has been so long since we have updated to the blog, but we are not near the inner city and don’t have easy access to the Internet.
It has been 4 days since we updated and boy has it been a whirlwind. The orphanage is located about 2.5 miles from the apartment. We walked it on Sunday to make sure we knew where we were going (we didn’t), but eventually we got a taxi to take us there. We were headed in the opposite direction (we had driven round in circles while Kostya was here, we thought we knew what we were doing, but we were just wrong. We did walk back and after 4 days know about 4 ways to get there (every taxi takes a different route). We decided that it is just best to take the taxi everyday. The cost is 2 dollars a trip, so we think it is 8 dollars well spent. We still get lots of walking in by going to the market and the one and only restaurant that we have gone to. Markets are everywhere, but the restaurant is about a mile away. The people are friendly there and are used to me pointing at the picture dictionary (thank you Marshall’s for letting us borrow it…it has been a life saver).
David even went so far to go to the hair salon and get his hair cut!
Okay, now about Chris/Nicholai. So much for the sweet, shy child that we met initially. He is one big ball of energy. The first meeting (we get to visit with him from 10-12 and 4-6 everyday) was spent a great deal going over a picture book and teaching him body parts. By the second meeting, he was climbing all over David, laying on him, giving him a massage, jumping off the chair into my arms and just all around moving. It is scary how much he is reminding us of Matthew at that age. There is not a muscle inside his body that is content with sitting still. What can I tell you about Chris? He has the most incredible smile. You can tell he is so smart by his actions. He is very neat and tidy. He always puts his things away and perfectly. He loves to put our things away for us to. We found out last night that we can take him outside to play. This will be good, because it is hard on him being in such a small spot with all that energy. He was definitely bundled up! We played hide and seek (well, Chris and I did). We played chase and I have to tell you at 43, I am never going to catch a 6 year old child, but I gave it my best. Finally, I got him to chase me, but he would catch me too fast. It was snowing a little so it added to the fun. After an hour we came in. I pulled out the books to study English and he promptly took the book out of my hand, closed it and put it in the backpack. Oh no, this wasn’t a good sign. So we did play a little more (30 minutes) but got the books out again and he just left us. David made him sit down by picking him up and putting him on the chair (we were telling him to sit in Russian and he just ignored me) and got very firm with him the third time when he didn’t do as we said. He burst into tears and picked up our backpack and put it (threw it) in David’s lap and grabbed David’s coat and told us goodbye. Hummmm, I guess it was time for the visit to end. He gave me a hug and a kiss goodbye, but refused to give one to David.
It is a little tough on all of us. Obviously, the language barrier is hard. He hasn’t had any male influence. His mother wasn’t married and they didn’t know who the father was and it is all women at the orphanage except for the maintenance men).
At our afternoon visit today, we have hired a translator to meet us at the orphanage so that we can talk to Chris. She helped us with paperwork earlier and gave us her number if we needed anything. She is great, her English is very good (she is an English teacher) and she has an easy manner. I have made a long list of questions that we would like to ask Chris and the orphanage. I think this will help us.
Soccer fans, you are living in the wrong country. Everywhere you look outside, kids are playing soccer. We have watched 1 or 2 soccer games every day. Matthew we wish you were here to see the games. We have watched France, Iraq, Ukraine and Russia play. Some other teams have played, but we couldn’t figure them out.
The weather here IS gloomy, but until today the temperature has been in the high 30’s or 40’s. The fog is always thick here near the sea. If I had to use one word to describe the area, it would be gray. The buildings, sky, ground…everything is gray. Trash is a big thing too…and I don’t mean it in a good way. Obviously, they haven’t seen the 70’s commercial with the Indian crying because of litter. Trash is EVERYWHERE. People are walking on the street drinking beer and smoking everywhere. The majority of the women have on knee high boots with short skirts on. The heels are about 3 inches high. They are all beautiful!
I don’t know when we will be able to post again. It probably won’t be until after our court date. Kostya turned in our paperwork to the SDA today. He received the rest of it on Monday afternoon, but the SDA only accepts paperwork on Mon, Wed and Fri. He is hoping that they will finish their part and have it back to him on Monday. He said they can take up to a week to complete it. Once he gets it from them, the inspector thinks we can get a fast court date. We are praying…please pray that we are able to get our paperwork through quickly so that we can leave before the Ukrainian holidays. We don’t want to get stuck here because offices are closed.