Saturday Update

(Bill writing)

Dear Friends and Family,

Still no update on our court appointment. As a refresher to all, there are three more periods that we have to go through. The first is the mandatory 5 work day wait while the paperwork is submitted to the SDA in Kiev (it was submitted Friday morning). The next is the wait period until our court date, and the last is the mandatory 10 day wait period after court (court proceedings take 1 day). We are starting to suspect that we will return in the first or second week of the new year, but who knows?

We learned that the children are taken care of to the point of perhaps overdoing it. This morning we picked up the children, and the oldest had full winter wear on, including a second sweater, a coat with hood, a hat, leggings and winter boots. I assumed that this meant he wanted to go outside like we've done the past 2 days for a few minutes, but when I was asking him if he wanted to go out, he kept replying "nyet." Luckily, another couple's translator was there, so I asked him to ask the boy about the get-up. Apparently, the caregivers put this outfit on in preparation for playing INSIDE (even though the temperature is kept at a toasty 80 degrees or so), because this morning was shower day, and they think that a damp kid runs a higher risk of getting sick, even well after the point that he is dry. Since the boy was so wrapped up, I suggested to him that we go outside for a bit (this is really so that I can have a chance to cool down), and we proceeded to ask the director. She made it clear that kids can't go outside on shower day, so that was that!

Yesterday we got some "parental counseling." The older boy was being particularly mischievous, so we asked the social worker to talk to him. She did...and she also talked to us. Through gestures, she told us to be firmer with the children, illustrated unmistakably with a shaking fist. It was well intentioned, because when we arrived yesterday for the second visit, I jokingly shook my fist at her and she laughed. I tell you, it's tough being disciplinarians when it's our first week on the job, we are packed in a room with a bunch of other parents, are being observed by the orphanage staff, and can't communicate with the boys! (I can almost hear all the veteran parents out there laughing at us).

Sorry for the cliche, but I think the weather is worthy of mentioning. It has been cold enough to require winter coats, but warmer than usual. In fact, Donetsk had the warmest November recorded since 150 years ago! Thank goodness...hope all the Michiganders are enjoying the snow! We haven't seen any yet, but I'm sure it's coming. We have had a couple of days that were remarkably foggy, making the car rides home at night particularly entertaining.

There are currently 6 families visiting the orphanage, including a new couple that starting coming yesterday for a 3 year old girl. There is a Spanish couple, for which I am sometimes recruited to speak with using my shaky high school Spanish. Kind of sounds like a joke, doesn't it? (A Spaniard, American and Ukrainian walk into a bar...) The father in this family has been the mayor of some city near Barcelona for the past 16 years. The remaining families are American, including a pair from Battle Creek that live near where Kelly taught during her college internship!

(Kelly writing)

Our most important message of the day is...HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA! Wish we were there to tell you in person! Hopefully Dante and Imani aren't too much trouble today.

I want to give a loud shout out to the PURPLE ROOM and the ORANGE ROOM! You guys rock. I love hearing from each of you, and hope you are enjoying reading the weblog. Has anyone found Donetsk on a map yet?

We are being introduced to some interesting food. We've already talked about the local stuff, but the packaged food is also interesting. We've had a variety of interestingly flavored potato chips: chicken, onion, bacon, crab, shrimp, salmon and Swiss cheese. Coke products are the only kind of soda you can find, and Diet Coke is called "Coca Cola Light." We just bought some coconut and cherry juice mix for the kids. In short, most of the things you can find back home are here, including the brands, but they've been altered slightly for the local people.

Whew! That was a long entry, hopefully making up for not entering anything yesterday. We miss everyone and can't wait to share more good news.


Peace and Love,

Bill and Kelly