p.s., The Little Princess (inside story based on a singing Valentine card we sent her that told her she was a princess and played Beauty and the Beast, which is why she sees herself as the Beauty as well) loves bubble baths! As a bonding experience, Mama decided that since we had a tub in our last apt., she would play "spa night" and do girls tub-time. For bubbles, she used the dishwashing liquid (our best option). It was Karina's first bubble bath. We pretended like we had glasses of champagne and chocolate (even though we didn't have either and glass is not allowed in the bathroom by Mama's standards). Pretending was fun. Well, tonight, Mama asked if she wanted a bubble bath on her own, and she got so excited, it was more fun for us than her, I think! Papa told her she was a princess and Mama let her use her lotion. She is having a blast. We did go to swing in the little park outside of our new apt. and the kids there were curious because we spoke English. She told them she lived in America. We know enough Russian to talk to 5 year olds, and they kept asking, are your parents Ukrainian and English? It was funny. She can't wait for Anastasia to be adopted, and for Ivanna to be adopted, and for Nikita to be adopted so she can see them again (this came out at the park today; surprise!) We think she has a little crush on Ivanna, and agree, he is awfully cute! (This blog has to disappear before she is able to read it! She is very shy about him.)
On beauty lotion and transliterating Russian: if you know the Russian alphabet and how the letters sound, you can play "code-decipher" games and figure out how many words, once you sound them out, sound the same or very similar to their English counterparts. Here is an example: стоп = stop. Pretty straightforward. Well, we kept seeing a nondescript building with a big sign outfront that read Oriflame. Ann, being from Texas where natural gas was the way people cooked, and knowing that Ukrainian neighborhoods are laced with yellow pipelines above ground where natural gas is piped from home to home, she assumed that Oriflame was like Lone Star Gas - a place where people got gas service, bought gas appliances, and learned how to cook with gas. Surprise! Oriflame is a beauty company selling lotions and cosmetics! How funny!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Hoppy Easter
Happy Hoppy Easter to everyone, and to our bunnies at home - Cuddles and Patches. We hope to fly home on Wednesday! It will be 6 weeks here and we are more than ready to be home. We can't wait! We hope with all our hearts that this schedule will work.
Yesterday, we took it pretty easy. We went to swing in the park, ate dinner at a Subway-type of place, spent the afternoon on English lessons and Karina (who doesn't like the nickname Little Chix we learned, afterall) worked on about 10 pages of her Russian "How to Learn English" workbook. Papa returned to Read City while Karina and Mama had an English lesson with Lilya and came home with 9 workbooks in Russian to help Karina learn English! He discovered that the third floor of Read City is loaded with textbooks, and he purchased 9 workbooks of various levels written in Russian to help kids learn English. Karina loved them, and was self-motivated to do the exercises while Mama cheered her on. She found success in accomplishing them, and that gave her confidence. Liliya's weblinks also were fun for her, and she had a blast playing with them last night. We all laughed, because she was having a good time. It is amazing that we can carry 6 weeks worth of clothes, all bathroom supplies, 2 days worth of food, 39 books, CDs and games, coats, computers and paperwork and be so transportable as today at noon, we moved to a different apartment in the suburbs, which is very French-souvenirish and very interesting for Karina. She is taking it easy today because she has a cold and is watching Nichelodean and MTV. Kids do not use kleenex, because paper is a luxury for them, so we are teaching her how to blow her nose. They are also used to not flushing toilet paper (it goes in the trash can), but we have that under control. There is a park outside of the kitchen window and we will go there and swing later tonight. Mama cooked chicken breasts in butter and garlic and salt for lunch with sliced carrots. Papa liked it a lot and Karina didn't, but she ate two servings of salad (red pepper, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes). We stopped by the supermarket on the way to the new apt., and Mama tried to sneak a chocolate "Hello Kitty" Easter eggs into the purchase, but Ms.Cat-Eyes (Karina) saw it and so it was no surprise, but she jumped up and down and was excited about the chocolate egg, and Mama got a big hug in return! There was a little-bitty Hello Kitty toy inside the little chocolate egg, and she kissed Mama for that. The simple things are so rich for the children! She likes potato chips (and we tease her about chips versus Chip, the little cracked cup on Beauty and the Beast - she gets it!). Here, they have interesting flavors of chips, like crab, bacon, squid and of course, the traditional sour cream. She chose a bag of crab (краб) chips.
We did go to a short service on Good Friday at St. Andrews cathedral. The priests were chanting and swinging incense and she recognized the seriousness of the occasion. Today, we were going to do an Easter-egg hunt with the Ukrainian eggs that we bought, but honestly, there are so many souvenir eggs already here in our apt. that look like ours, we decided against it, because ours may get blended in to the mix and lost for good, and so we'll wait till next year to talk about Easter.
Tomorrow morning, Mama plans to cook French toast (as we are feeling French in this new French-style apt!), including juice and scrambled eggs. Then we will venture to the "dream" place where kids can go ice skating, bowling, eat pizza, etc. We have heard from other families that it is a fun place and only a 20 minute walk. That will be our day tomorrow. On Tuesday, we are banking on a successful day at the embassy and a good medical exam. We're keeping our hopes up for Tuesday, so that we can fly out on Wed.
A note to families traveling after us: when you make flight arrangements, please check on your airline's policy for rescheduling. We were told it would be one price, and agreed to that, but just found out that our airline (United Air/Lufthansa) is not in compliance with a certain policy, so we are having to pay a mountain-load to fly home unless we stay 7 more days after today. Honestly, if we had known, we could have managed the situation. We are not given the opportunity to manage much, and as such must trust a lot, so in offering advice for being pro-active: know the airline policies, dates and timing of when you can do what so it can be put on someone's radar. Hoping for a good week ahead - more as we know more. Happy Hoppy Easter to all!
Yesterday, we took it pretty easy. We went to swing in the park, ate dinner at a Subway-type of place, spent the afternoon on English lessons and Karina (who doesn't like the nickname Little Chix we learned, afterall) worked on about 10 pages of her Russian "How to Learn English" workbook. Papa returned to Read City while Karina and Mama had an English lesson with Lilya and came home with 9 workbooks in Russian to help Karina learn English! He discovered that the third floor of Read City is loaded with textbooks, and he purchased 9 workbooks of various levels written in Russian to help kids learn English. Karina loved them, and was self-motivated to do the exercises while Mama cheered her on. She found success in accomplishing them, and that gave her confidence. Liliya's weblinks also were fun for her, and she had a blast playing with them last night. We all laughed, because she was having a good time. It is amazing that we can carry 6 weeks worth of clothes, all bathroom supplies, 2 days worth of food, 39 books, CDs and games, coats, computers and paperwork and be so transportable as today at noon, we moved to a different apartment in the suburbs, which is very French-souvenirish and very interesting for Karina. She is taking it easy today because she has a cold and is watching Nichelodean and MTV. Kids do not use kleenex, because paper is a luxury for them, so we are teaching her how to blow her nose. They are also used to not flushing toilet paper (it goes in the trash can), but we have that under control. There is a park outside of the kitchen window and we will go there and swing later tonight. Mama cooked chicken breasts in butter and garlic and salt for lunch with sliced carrots. Papa liked it a lot and Karina didn't, but she ate two servings of salad (red pepper, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes). We stopped by the supermarket on the way to the new apt., and Mama tried to sneak a chocolate "Hello Kitty" Easter eggs into the purchase, but Ms.Cat-Eyes (Karina) saw it and so it was no surprise, but she jumped up and down and was excited about the chocolate egg, and Mama got a big hug in return! There was a little-bitty Hello Kitty toy inside the little chocolate egg, and she kissed Mama for that. The simple things are so rich for the children! She likes potato chips (and we tease her about chips versus Chip, the little cracked cup on Beauty and the Beast - she gets it!). Here, they have interesting flavors of chips, like crab, bacon, squid and of course, the traditional sour cream. She chose a bag of crab (краб) chips.
We did go to a short service on Good Friday at St. Andrews cathedral. The priests were chanting and swinging incense and she recognized the seriousness of the occasion. Today, we were going to do an Easter-egg hunt with the Ukrainian eggs that we bought, but honestly, there are so many souvenir eggs already here in our apt. that look like ours, we decided against it, because ours may get blended in to the mix and lost for good, and so we'll wait till next year to talk about Easter.
Tomorrow morning, Mama plans to cook French toast (as we are feeling French in this new French-style apt!), including juice and scrambled eggs. Then we will venture to the "dream" place where kids can go ice skating, bowling, eat pizza, etc. We have heard from other families that it is a fun place and only a 20 minute walk. That will be our day tomorrow. On Tuesday, we are banking on a successful day at the embassy and a good medical exam. We're keeping our hopes up for Tuesday, so that we can fly out on Wed.
A note to families traveling after us: when you make flight arrangements, please check on your airline's policy for rescheduling. We were told it would be one price, and agreed to that, but just found out that our airline (United Air/Lufthansa) is not in compliance with a certain policy, so we are having to pay a mountain-load to fly home unless we stay 7 more days after today. Honestly, if we had known, we could have managed the situation. We are not given the opportunity to manage much, and as such must trust a lot, so in offering advice for being pro-active: know the airline policies, dates and timing of when you can do what so it can be put on someone's radar. Hoping for a good week ahead - more as we know more. Happy Hoppy Easter to all!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Fairy Tales
We ate at McDonalds for lunch, because Karina wanted to go there. She had a Big Mac and fries and Coke and fortunately, didn't like it except for the fries. That is good for us! We were hoping this would be the case as we highly discourage Coka Cola. She does like sour cream and chives chips, though - in a big way.
We then walked to a bigger bookstore called Read City. For families coming to Ukraine after us, you may really like this bookstore because books are in Russian, and it takes Mastercard. And, the selection is the biggest we have seen yet. (Typically, bookstore are little boutiques. This one is like half the size of a Barnes & Nobles Store! Wow! And has a whole floor of kids books.) To find it, here is a map: http://www.localyte.com/attraction/38111--Book-Store-Read-City--Ukraine--Kiev--Kiev The only Russian bookstore we have found in America, is in Brooklyn. And, books here average about $8 each USD, so as long as we can get them back, we're good for her summer reading. Karina migrates to books for 7-8 year olds. Her favorite is a book of fairy tales from the Winx fairies. Here is the wonderworld she has created from the characters now:
стелла анна мария
муза рада
блум карина
лейла анастасия
флора мама
текна инесса
...это клуб винк
Stella is Anna Maria (her good friend)
Musa is Rada (her good friend)
Bloom is Karina
Leila is Anastasia (her good friend)
Flora is Mama (Wow, I made the list!)
Techna is Inessa (her good friend)
...this is club Vink (Winx)
At Read City, we got the first Harry Potter book in the series, the first Chronicles of Narnia book in the series, she selected Winnie the Pooh, some more fairy tale books, and then one of us selected some books about loving animals and caring for people (who selected that? [wink!]). Our morning was spent watching Beauty and the Beast on Russian TV (which she also watched last night on TV with Papa, but thankfully she had to show it to Mama, so it gave us something to do for the morning which was good). She is the "Beauty," she said. A fairy tale life is her dream. The weather is sunny, so we will venture to St. Andrews church in a minute. It is pretty inside. Hopefully, she will like it. Like a fairy tale.
We then walked to a bigger bookstore called Read City. For families coming to Ukraine after us, you may really like this bookstore because books are in Russian, and it takes Mastercard. And, the selection is the biggest we have seen yet. (Typically, bookstore are little boutiques. This one is like half the size of a Barnes & Nobles Store! Wow! And has a whole floor of kids books.) To find it, here is a map: http://www.localyte.com/attraction/38111--Book-Store-Read-City--Ukraine--Kiev--Kiev The only Russian bookstore we have found in America, is in Brooklyn. And, books here average about $8 each USD, so as long as we can get them back, we're good for her summer reading. Karina migrates to books for 7-8 year olds. Her favorite is a book of fairy tales from the Winx fairies. Here is the wonderworld she has created from the characters now:
стелла анна мария
муза рада
блум карина
лейла анастасия
флора мама
текна инесса
...это клуб винк
Stella is Anna Maria (her good friend)
Musa is Rada (her good friend)
Bloom is Karina
Leila is Anastasia (her good friend)
Flora is Mama (Wow, I made the list!)
Techna is Inessa (her good friend)
...this is club Vink (Winx)
At Read City, we got the first Harry Potter book in the series, the first Chronicles of Narnia book in the series, she selected Winnie the Pooh, some more fairy tale books, and then one of us selected some books about loving animals and caring for people (who selected that? [wink!]). Our morning was spent watching Beauty and the Beast on Russian TV (which she also watched last night on TV with Papa, but thankfully she had to show it to Mama, so it gave us something to do for the morning which was good). She is the "Beauty," she said. A fairy tale life is her dream. The weather is sunny, so we will venture to St. Andrews church in a minute. It is pretty inside. Hopefully, she will like it. Like a fairy tale.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Didn't Make It
Well, we just got the news. The passport did not arrive, so at this point, we are here till sometime next week, probably Thursday, but not sure yet. The government is closed on Monday for the Easter holiday, so the earliest we can go to the embassy is Wed., if the passport arrives Tuesday. We will wait and see. Maybe if it comes tomorrow, we can travel on Wednesday and have the medical and second interview on Tuesday. Changing plane tickets and staying longer is a big expense. Oh well - one thing we have learned is that being flexible, always ready just in case, and understanding that few things can ever be planned in advance here is the way it works. Go with the flow is the motto. Also, keep your eye on the prize. It is a mindset that we may never have again in America, because we can control our lives and plan and get what we want done there. Here, we are dependent. So, may as well just enjoy the feeling. It is the best one can do. And, it is important for Karina to not see us bummed out about it. We told her, and she is like "Oh well - stuff happens." We are just running out of things to do in Kiev. We may have the opportunity on Sunday to move to an apt. in the suburbs where they may have things for kids to do, we hope. Will wait and see what transpires. Mama doesn't want to miss watching the Royal Wedding on Friday, so we need to be home by then. Did you see this on CNN? - Looks fun!
"CNN Presents: The Women Who Would Be Queen," a special documentary on Kate Middleton, Prince William's wife-to-be and his mother, the late Diana, Princess of Wales airs at the following times: Saturday 23 April: 1100, 1900, 1200, Saturday 30 April: 1300, 2000, Sunday 1 May: 0900 (all times GMT)
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/04/20/uk.william.kate.university/index.html?hpt=C2
"CNN Presents: The Women Who Would Be Queen," a special documentary on Kate Middleton, Prince William's wife-to-be and his mother, the late Diana, Princess of Wales airs at the following times: Saturday 23 April: 1100, 1900, 1200, Saturday 30 April: 1300, 2000, Sunday 1 May: 0900 (all times GMT)
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/04/20/uk.william.kate.university/index.html?hpt=C2
First Embassy Visit
Church in Karina's birth town.
April 18th - our first day as a family - waiting for paperwork in the car.
Today, Mama found a wine glass in the apt. that she uses for her water. She and Karina were playing "fancy dinner party" together with the water/wine!
Papa is sick in bed, and Karina brings him water and hugs (in the wine glass, of course!)
Papa and Karina watching Hannah this afternoon in the apt.
Mama! Are you taking our picture?
We very much hope that tomorrow we can have the passport in time to get her medical exam and second embassy interview. We'd really love to fly home Sunday!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
More Adventures!
Yesterday afternoon, after bathing and eating a nice meal and buying a few snacks and water for the train (Americans drink way more water and use the toilet way more often than Ukrainians), we boarded the train.
Second class is good in terms of being neat and accessible. It was half the price of first class. However, there are 2x more people in a car, so the bathrooms are harder to use (lines are longer because they are used more), and the beds are not as soft as first class. The beds also smell worse than first class, as do the pillows. The feather pillows and wool blankets are the same for everyone, just add the sheets and a pillow case to cover them. So, perhaps we saved money but was it worth it? Having 4 in our car was nice, really nice, given we all knew each other and got along well. So, it was well worth being together and that is really what was most valuable. Karina was sad as went said goodbye to Mariupol. We tucked into our bunks at different times, and Karina and Mama stayed up the latest, sitting in the same top bunk replaying dancing videos on the iphone and remembering her friends till 10:30PM, when finally Mama went to bed. Karina turned her lights out soon after and she slept like a log. None of the adults slept. The train was too cold, because they turn the heat off in April. So, although second class has its cost-saving advantages, all in all, it was an adventure that we paid for in non-monetary ways (like loss of sleep). Adventures are good, though. They give us perspective.
We arrived in Kiev around 9AM today, and drove downtown. We had about 90 minutes of free time before going to our apt. We walked around and held hands. We learned how to communicate the need to go the the toilet and the need for a hat. Got both accomplished! Our new apt. here is nice. We are directly across the street from the big Gate built around the year 1000 (rebuilt since, but a national icon, to say the least). We took naps, ate dinner mid-afternoon, bought books in Russian (a REAL hit! Tough to carry, but wonderful activity!) - Karina picked them out. Papa was worn out from hauling them all. Then, went looking for groceries with no avail. We discussed shoes which are too big and give her blisters (the down side of having a Trooper is that you have to assume things based on observation and ask about what you think is going on, because she can endure what most can't), we discussed her books, and our thoughts and feelings (thank goodness for Google translate!). We had some deep conversations (more than pointing and naming things, but describing feelings and reasons, which opened a new relationship for us all). We gave her our coins (lose change) and she counted them. There must be 40 coins of 5 different denominations that together equal about 50 cents in US terms. But that is enough for Orbit gum, and she wants some Orbit gum, so tomorrow she can use her coins if she wants. She is thrilled! We let her explain her books to us and she loved doing that! It is a glimpse of her world. She took a rather cold shower (heat is off), is using a hair dryer and enjoying the hair dryer a lot (what a treat!), and is allowed to watch a couple of Hannah Montana episodes on the computer before bed. It is good to let her know what to expect each day, and we try our best to keep her in the loop and explain what is going on. She is laughing as she dries her hair right now - it is really fun for her.
What a good adventure today! And, we may get to come home as planned on Sunday! Everyone is working very hard for this to happen, so we hope the Embassy is on our side tomorrow when we find out more.
Papa is sick tonight, so please think about him and we hope he feels better soon - was a rough last 48 hours for him, especially. Will keep him in our thoughts for good health tomorrow.
p.s., and tweens like a book series called the Winx Club. Karina explained the characters to us in detail. It seems like a combo of Anime and Pokemon for young girls with a little bit of Harry Potter themes (good and evil merlin-types) thrown in. Here's how Karina explains the 6 characters:
блум магия драконый огонь
стелла магия солнца
флора магия природы
муза магия музыки
текна магия техналогии
лейла магия пузыря
Bloom - magic dragon fire
Stella - magic of the sun
Flora - magic of nature
Muse - magic music
Techno - magic tehnalogii
Leila - magic bubble
Second class is good in terms of being neat and accessible. It was half the price of first class. However, there are 2x more people in a car, so the bathrooms are harder to use (lines are longer because they are used more), and the beds are not as soft as first class. The beds also smell worse than first class, as do the pillows. The feather pillows and wool blankets are the same for everyone, just add the sheets and a pillow case to cover them. So, perhaps we saved money but was it worth it? Having 4 in our car was nice, really nice, given we all knew each other and got along well. So, it was well worth being together and that is really what was most valuable. Karina was sad as went said goodbye to Mariupol. We tucked into our bunks at different times, and Karina and Mama stayed up the latest, sitting in the same top bunk replaying dancing videos on the iphone and remembering her friends till 10:30PM, when finally Mama went to bed. Karina turned her lights out soon after and she slept like a log. None of the adults slept. The train was too cold, because they turn the heat off in April. So, although second class has its cost-saving advantages, all in all, it was an adventure that we paid for in non-monetary ways (like loss of sleep). Adventures are good, though. They give us perspective.
We arrived in Kiev around 9AM today, and drove downtown. We had about 90 minutes of free time before going to our apt. We walked around and held hands. We learned how to communicate the need to go the the toilet and the need for a hat. Got both accomplished! Our new apt. here is nice. We are directly across the street from the big Gate built around the year 1000 (rebuilt since, but a national icon, to say the least). We took naps, ate dinner mid-afternoon, bought books in Russian (a REAL hit! Tough to carry, but wonderful activity!) - Karina picked them out. Papa was worn out from hauling them all. Then, went looking for groceries with no avail. We discussed shoes which are too big and give her blisters (the down side of having a Trooper is that you have to assume things based on observation and ask about what you think is going on, because she can endure what most can't), we discussed her books, and our thoughts and feelings (thank goodness for Google translate!). We had some deep conversations (more than pointing and naming things, but describing feelings and reasons, which opened a new relationship for us all). We gave her our coins (lose change) and she counted them. There must be 40 coins of 5 different denominations that together equal about 50 cents in US terms. But that is enough for Orbit gum, and she wants some Orbit gum, so tomorrow she can use her coins if she wants. She is thrilled! We let her explain her books to us and she loved doing that! It is a glimpse of her world. She took a rather cold shower (heat is off), is using a hair dryer and enjoying the hair dryer a lot (what a treat!), and is allowed to watch a couple of Hannah Montana episodes on the computer before bed. It is good to let her know what to expect each day, and we try our best to keep her in the loop and explain what is going on. She is laughing as she dries her hair right now - it is really fun for her.
What a good adventure today! And, we may get to come home as planned on Sunday! Everyone is working very hard for this to happen, so we hope the Embassy is on our side tomorrow when we find out more.
Papa is sick tonight, so please think about him and we hope he feels better soon - was a rough last 48 hours for him, especially. Will keep him in our thoughts for good health tomorrow.
p.s., and tweens like a book series called the Winx Club. Karina explained the characters to us in detail. It seems like a combo of Anime and Pokemon for young girls with a little bit of Harry Potter themes (good and evil merlin-types) thrown in. Here's how Karina explains the 6 characters:
блум магия драконый огонь
стелла магия солнца
флора магия природы
муза магия музыки
текна магия техналогии
лейла магия пузыря
Bloom - magic dragon fire
Stella - magic of the sun
Flora - magic of nature
Muse - magic music
Techno - magic tehnalogii
Leila - magic bubble
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
What a Trooper!
Since last posting, we arrived at the Children's Home, and signed some forms, then Little Chix changed into her clothes that we brought for her, said goodbye, and grabbed her belongings (which consisted of a plastic bag containing a little cloth bag as a gift from Olena, a little toy from Anna Maria, a photo album and a few pieces of paper - this was all she had of her own). We hopped into the car and ended up driving to Donesk as well as the town where she was born to get her birth certificate, then back to Donesk, for a 6+ hour car adventure. We arrived in Mariupol at 5 till 7 for the ballet (Swan Lake), purchased a candy bar, pineapple juice and water (her only meal since breakfast at 7AM) and watched the ballet till 9:30. What a trooper! She smiled all day and went without food and drink (in Ukraine, toilets and food are not assumed). Then, we ate pizza after the ballet and had a time getting a taxi back to the apartment which is in the suburbs now. We got to bed close to midnight. She was all smiles. Apparently, she didn't believe we would actually come back and get her (long story, not here though).
This morning, we awoke around 6ish, ate breakfast in the apt. (chai, kashi, dried apricots, moloko - milk) and drove to the Children's Home around 8 to sign more papers. We took a few clothes that didn't fit and some games to the home for the other children (also to lighten our load). We then bought train tickets for the overnight train to Kiev tonight and saw some of the kids from the Children's Home boarding the train for a dance competition in Kiev! It was cool for Little Chix to see her friends and say paka once more (and, our agency is wonderful, by the way - very professional, and able to get things done here that are not easily accomplished - transactions in Ukraine are not as easy as they are in America - the busy train for example, with high demand because of Easter holidays - they can do it whereas others may not be able to. They know the ropes for sure and we are quite grateful for that.) We stopped at McDonalds (Little Chix wanted to!) and had 11sies (AKA "Lord of the Rings" - that would be a second breakfast). We walked next door and bought a new belt for Little Chix, because the one we bought a couple of weeks ago was too small, and a shirt/dress since one of her shirts was also too small that we brought with us, and then had lattes and chai. We are now back at the apartment to take showers, pack, and rest. Mid-afternoon today, we will go back into town and get dinner (no supper tonight as the train leaves at 5), and we are being adventurous - we are all traveling (4 of us) second class, so it will be fun to compare that to our first class experience.) We are very well taken care of and can't say enough about how good our agency has been to us. They are awesome! More when we arrive in Kiev tomorrow! Little Chix is such a trooper - honestly! She is positive, helpful, and has high stamina. What an awesome daughter!
This morning, we awoke around 6ish, ate breakfast in the apt. (chai, kashi, dried apricots, moloko - milk) and drove to the Children's Home around 8 to sign more papers. We took a few clothes that didn't fit and some games to the home for the other children (also to lighten our load). We then bought train tickets for the overnight train to Kiev tonight and saw some of the kids from the Children's Home boarding the train for a dance competition in Kiev! It was cool for Little Chix to see her friends and say paka once more (and, our agency is wonderful, by the way - very professional, and able to get things done here that are not easily accomplished - transactions in Ukraine are not as easy as they are in America - the busy train for example, with high demand because of Easter holidays - they can do it whereas others may not be able to. They know the ropes for sure and we are quite grateful for that.) We stopped at McDonalds (Little Chix wanted to!) and had 11sies (AKA "Lord of the Rings" - that would be a second breakfast). We walked next door and bought a new belt for Little Chix, because the one we bought a couple of weeks ago was too small, and a shirt/dress since one of her shirts was also too small that we brought with us, and then had lattes and chai. We are now back at the apartment to take showers, pack, and rest. Mid-afternoon today, we will go back into town and get dinner (no supper tonight as the train leaves at 5), and we are being adventurous - we are all traveling (4 of us) second class, so it will be fun to compare that to our first class experience.) We are very well taken care of and can't say enough about how good our agency has been to us. They are awesome! More when we arrive in Kiev tomorrow! Little Chix is such a trooper - honestly! She is positive, helpful, and has high stamina. What an awesome daughter!
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