Having come in late last night, no stores were open, thus we had no food for breakfast except what we had brought with us. Willima has Miso soup using filtered water. I had dry cereal brought from Kiev, and all three of us had a mocha (we brought mix from US).
We quickly got dressed and headed out. Prior to coming to the Ukraine, William and I had thought that the orphanage city would be a step down from Kiev since it is smaller and it's main economic producer is the steel mill. Instead we find it to be very charming! The buildings are much newer and in better repair. There are fewer cars and seems to be laid out with more "traditional" grid pattern for streets. It reminds me a bit of Downtown San Jose with new and old mixed.
First to the local agency to get permission to visit the orphanage. We needed to meet with the director and someone else (not sure what title they had). Unfortunately, neither were available. The good news is that we got permission from the orphanage to come see the children in the afternoon anyway! First we needed to find a grocery store and run a few other business related errands. The grocery store was surprisingly nice. Very clean with lots of variety. While at the grocery store, we bought snacks for the kids as a gift: fruit, juice, cookies. Our coordinator helped us pick what was appropriate. I also had some stickers for the children.
(While I'm on the topic of gifts, we learned that some type of gift is expected each time you visit the children...the longer the process, the more gifts needed. I brought a few, but not many knowing that they would probably become orphanage property and never make it back to the US. Oh, well. The kids can enjoy them for a time.)
The orphanage is nestled amongst apartment buildings. It is brightly painted in primary colors. We were shown into the Green Room to wait. Misha was still in school for the day. He saw us as he came back and was very excited. Since we didn't have the local director with us, we didn't need to worry about how we greeted him. I was free to give him a hug! He then went to change from his school clothes and bring his sister. Both were wearing outfits I had bought them during Misha's visit. Anna is such a doll! She gives hugs freely, loves her big brother and wants to boss everyone around as most typical 5 year olds do. She's also very ticklish. We spent about an hour or two in the Green Room with them. Luckily there were some plastic animals to play with. We decorated them with Anna's stickers. The rhino also became an impromptu soccer ball for a game between Misha and William. As no entertainment is provided, we needed to come up with our own. Let's just say we got creative. :0)
We also met with the Director of the orphanage and her team of people who shared the history of the children: why they were in the orphanage, medical history, type of student, personalities, how they got along with other children... etc. It was very thorough. We then said good-bye and went back to the local officials office.
At the office, we met with the Head Director. I showed her copies of the pictures I had sent in with our dossier - family members, pets, house, bedrooms, etc. The she and our coordinator disappeared upstairs to take care of some business and we waited. Upon return it was time to go to the orphanage with the Head Director. She must see us with the children. At the orphanage, the children were brought in to meet us for the "First Time". The powers that be then disappeared to do more business and we played with the children for a time (about 2 hours). We again played with the plastic animals: keep away, stacking animals (like stacking cups), tickle, naming them after family. There was rough housing and Misha and Anna played Hide and Seek in the room. We need to think of other things to do. Entertaining a 5 year old and a 12 year old...Hmm.
Our coordinator had been wonderful at prepping us and explaining when things are appropriate and why. I really appreciate her helping us understand all of this. She explained that we must have two local permissions before we had our court date. Everyone is rushing arougn trying to get this done in 1 week. This region is very helpful and fast in processing paperwork. Not every region is the same. Again we feel very blessed. We learned that this orphanage only receives about 20 percent of its' budget from the government. The rest comes from donations and gifts of local and international people. Part of our fee is a donation to the orphanage.
After this full day, we went to a Pizzaria for dinner and a leisurely walk home. At home I packed sandwhiches for the 3 of us for lunch tomorrow. It was going to be a busy day...again.
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