Groundhog's Day (again and again!)

It's actually sunny here today!!!!!! No clouds in sight- HOORAY!!!! Isn't it amazing how a sunny day and improve your mood??

Yesterday, Viktor wrote the petition for Vanya to spend the night with us until our court date. He told us that the director, Nikolai, said it was fine, but that the deputy director wasn't so sure. She worries that something may happen to him. (Does she mean like kidnapping, getting sick, or hurt?) Hmph! We are good parents! Ok, so today he has a sniffle and a cough-- did we do this????? :-)

After we picked him up, we went back to eat lunch. Today was something new. . . dumplings with potatoes inside, like perogies. Scrumptious! We've definitely noticed the abundance of starch products in the meals. Vegetables are rarely served except for the cabbage salad. We have yet to see fruit being served. Vanya, the human food compactor, ate borsht, the dumplings, salad, and 2 pieces of bread with butter. During meals we've been practicing with him how to say things like, "fork, spoon, knife, plate, glass, etc." He's getting it!

Even though it was after 2:00, we went for a short walk into the outdoor market. I wanted to see if we could find at least some underwear and socks for Vanya. One thing Viktor mentioned is how cheap DVD's are here. He said you could buy one DVD with several movies on it. We finally figured out he meant they were bootleg copies. We brought some children's movies with us, but we thought it might be nice for Vanya to watch a kid's movie in Ukrainian. One DVD that had Ratatouille (sp?), and some other movies on it cost 30 grevnas (less than $4.00 US dollars). I was a little apprehensive about buying it, not because it was a bootleg copy, but because another couple who was here a couple of years ago mentioned that you can't place their movies on American bought DVD players. But, for less than $4.00, what was the harm? Viktor then bought us a little treat-- a bag of what he called corn fingers! How's that for a visual picture?!?!? The are like cheese puffs, without the cheese! They were ok; Vanya liked them. After walking around for a bit, we found some underwear for boys. We bought 2 pairs for 20 grevna (about $2.50 total). The lady tried to sell us some socks too, but all she had out were girly socks-- with kittens, flowers, balloons, etc. Um, I don't think so!!! We said we'd come back on Saturday.

In the room again, we worked on some handwriting practice. We've been writing out words for him to practice printing. I'll tackle cursive writing later! I also took out his crayons, scribbled colors and then wrote the English names for them. He knows black, yellow, and red pretty well now. This time Tim worked on the flashcards with him, while I wrote in our journal. Tried out the DVD we bought-- you guessed it; it didn't work! So, we colored a few pictures, and then we went down the hall to Viktor's room. He tried the DVD on his laptop, but couldn't get it to work for him either. Oh well! Viktor then showed us some pictures from other families he's worked with in the past. All of a sudden, Tim noticed that on the table was a small navy blue bag with the US Coast Guard insignia stitched on it!!! When Tim mentioned it, Viktor said yes, he has a friend who's in the Coast Guard in Virginia. He thought he maybe had a picture with him on his computer to show us. Tim wanted to see if he knows him. Alas, no picture! But, what a small world, huh? Since Viktor's room is a bit larger-- he has two twin beds, instead of a double bed like us-- we sat on the rug and taught Vanya how to play Uno. We played 7 rounds with Tim winning 2, me winning 2, Viktor winning 3, and how's your math??? . . . Vanya not winning any! But, he said he really liked the game, and it was good to have Viktor explain the rules to him.

After the game, Vanya said he was hungry, so we went down to our "favorite" cafe. (ok, the ONLY place we've eaten in Kotovsk!!!) Tim, Viktor, and Vanya had pork steak with a breading and mashed potatoes. I had the dumplings again. Vanya did not like the pork steak. Good thing he also ate a cabbage salad and some bread/butter. Did I mention before that the cabbage salad is somewhat similar to a cole slaw, but not with the cream/mayonnaise? It's really good; it has onions, parsley, sometimes chunks of tomatoes, and of course, shredded cabbage. Tim actually had it for breakfast yesterday morning! The owner's wife came out to talk to us, and said she would drive us to her other cafe for free if we wanted to try some different fare. It sounds like this other cafe has at least part of the menu in English, and she said we could get french fries there!!!! woo hoo! We'll see if maybe today (Saturday) for lunch or dinner if that sounds good.

At dinner Viktor told us that he'd be leaving early Sunday morning and not returning until Tuesday morning. He has to go assist another family whose court date is on Monday in a town east of here. Alright-- two days without anyone who knows English. FUN! (not) He said he'd arrange for our meals, but that we'd probably have to have an identical breakfast for the 3 days, and an identical lunch and dinner for the 2 days. So, for instance, eggs and sausage each day for breakfast, belini's for lunch, and dumplings for dinner. Are we spoiled or what in the US for the opportunity to have such a variety of meals every day??

That night as we were getting a movie ready for Vanya, Tim and I discussed about having Vanya with us for 2 days without a translator. It wasn't that we are worried we can't communicate with him, because we manage fairly well. It's just that what if something happens to him (like the deputy director warned) and we can't get someone to understand what we need to take care of him. As much as we want to spend every minute with him that we can, we do not want to jeopardize in any way our position in adopting him. People think so differently here and that worries us a little bit. We decided that we would talk to Viktor about our concerns in the morning. In the meantime, the three of us watched "The Incredibles." Vanya really liked that movie, and around 10:00, we put him to bed in Viktor's extra bed. Luckily, I brought a brand new toothbrush with me in the event I wouldn't be able to charge my electric toothbrush, so at least Vanya could brush his teeth. Tim escorted him to Viktor's room, and Vanya stripped down to his t-shirt and underwear to sleep in. I was happy to hear his t-shirt is one we gave him in Fort Wayne!

This morning we got a knock on our door around 8:30, and there was a little boy standing there in his t-shirt and underwear. He came right in and headed for the bathroom. I asked if he needed to use the toilet, and he said nyet; he wanted a shower! We laughed and Tim showed him how it all worked. Just like in Fort Wayne, he took about a 15 minute shower. Good thing the hot water lasts fairly long here!! Viktor arrived 30 minutes later and down the stairs we all went. Breakfast was an omelette and about 5 sausages. They tasted a little better than hotdogs, but looked the same. We expressed our concern to Viktor about keeping Vanya overnight while Viktor is gone, and he said it was our decision. I think we'll be taking Vanya back tonight; Viktor explained that to Vanya, and he said he understood.

Right now we are in the Internet cafe again, and then we will be finally walking around the market before it closes!! After lunch I think we are going again to the park. Groundhog's Day here we come!!!!! :-)