Monday, March 16, 2009

We woke up feeling a lot better today. We had to be ready by 9:00 am awaiting Luda's call to go to the Notary. We got the call just before 9:00 am and Jene came to pick us up. When we arrived at the Notary's office, we saw a sign that we have been wondering about the entire time we have been here. It reads something like…Hotopyica. We thought maybe it was like the Hot Topic stores because we have seen so many. Come to find out it means, "Notary!" The mystery is solved!

The notary had to type up a document that Luda had received from another city, asking for permission for us to see "A's" file in Kyiv. Then we had to sign it and another ledger. You would think they would have a standard form that you would just have to fill in certain information, but no.

Now our notarized form has to travel to Kyiv. Don't ask how it gets there. I think they just hand it to the train conductor or the bus driver that is going that direction. I'm not joking. We are hoping that it gets there by tonight and is ready for us when we get to Kyiv, tomorrow.

We went shopping to try and find "D" some jeans. The pair that she has worn on colder days at the orphanage is too short. She has very long legs. I hope the ones we found for her fit. I just had to measure her and then measure the jeans at the store. They have a dangling "D" from one of the belt loops. They were about $14.00 in American dollars. It will be nice to be able to go to Target, because finding clothes here is more difficult. You have to look through a lot of different shops or booths and because the children aren't with you and we don't speak English, it can be "interesting." Let me say again though - everyone is soooooooooooo nice and really tries to explain what they are saying. It is mainly a lot of hand gestures like playing Charades. Everyone laughs and says, Spah-see-bah, (thank you) when the transaction is finally over. Some of the younger girls even say good-bye and thank you, to practice their English? Life here is very laid back. The only "excitement or thing of any speed" is when the Ukrainian's are talking to each other. Then there voices raise, their hands start moving around, their heads start nodding, and they speak faster and faster. You basically think they are mad at each other, but it is just the way they speak. Paying for things can be easy too. You can basically say, "Grivna" and give them a calculator and they will put in how much you have to pay. Where the exchange rate is as the moment, we just divide the total number by 8 and know how much to pay.

We ate lunch at the Kopeka (from the Ukrainian coin called a kopeck), which we learned is what we call the grocery store downtown. Paul had a chicken leg and wing and I had a chicken shish-ka-bob. Both were really good. We were shopping for some groceries when Luda called. The notary paper needed another line attached. So………….Jene picked us up and we went back to the notary office. There were some conversations back and forth in the car on the cell phone. Then into the "Hot Topic" office (ha)….. and we did what Paul is always saying….."Hurry up and wait". We waited and waited and finally got to go into the notary's office. She was able to insert the one line in the document without having to type the whole thing over. I gave her an "Arbonne" bath salt mini; because she didn't want pay to do add the line. She didn't want to take it, so I thought maybe it wasn't proper to give it to her. Luda said something to her and she was happy to take it. You would have been proud Lisa Nail! Oh, and by the way…they do sell Mary Kay here!?!? Arbonne would do well here, lots of woman….with lots of makeup on their faces! So now, hopefully our form is on its way to Kyiv.

We headed back to the Mission to take a nap, before we head off to the orphanage at 4:00 pm. Luda will not be going with us, so the last half of Lion King will not be interpreted.

At the orphanage, "D" was in a really happy mood. She did really well at picking out the animals today in the book and saying them in English. She now is consistent with Dog, Cat, Butterfly, Fish and Bird. She is trying to remember Baby and Pig. We are also learning Rain, Sun, Cloud and Wind from a puzzle. We worked on The 101 Dalmation puzzle, today. She really liked it. She also learned how to use the mouse on a laptop to drag and click. Paul has a matching game on the computer. She had some difficulty managing the mouse, but is a real trooper. We also gave her "popcorn" for the first time. She ate half the bag! She's a Czeropski, alright! So many firsts - everything is so new to her! She wrote her first name with no help and no looking, today! The jeans we bought her were a little tight, but they are the stretchy kind. Since they don't use dryers, they won't shrink anyway. Plus, here everything is worn tight so it really is okay. She loved them and we just measured her again so we could get a larger size next time. The length was good however! We watched the rest of Lion King and then said our good-byes. Before we left, we called Luda so she could explain to her about us not visiting tomorrow. She took the cell phone and said "hello" and kept saying "Dah,dah,dah,dah." Luda said she remembered and she understood we would return on Wednesday.

We will be leaving in the morning at 5:00 am to drive to Kyiv. We won't be posting tomorrow, because we won't be returning to the Mission until late tomorrow evening. We will update everyone on Wednesday.

Pray for our safe journey and for God to work in everything we do and with everyone we meet! We miss everyone soooooooooooo much and are eager to be back home, but know that God is not finished with us here in Ukraine, yet! Blessings to everyone!

March 17, 2009 Tuesday (If all goes as currently planned)

5:00 AM RISE and SHINE (Well, I don't know about the shine!!!!!!
TRAVELING TO KYIV in JENE BOND'S Mercedes
HURRY UP AND WAIT, PAPER WORK!
WE WILL BE HAPPY TO SEE YULIA, AGAIN!
DRIVE BACK TO THE MISSION, HOPEFULLY IN TIME TO TAKE A SHOWER, (It's our shower day!)