Busy Day

That was quite the whirlwind. Yesterday was pretty much a hang out and relax day. Today was much, much different.

We picked up Galya at the orphanage at 11:30 and brought her with us away from the orphanage for the day. Andre and Nina drove us to the orphanage, and when we picked up Galya we stopped at Amstor (as our dear driver and his wife needed to do some shopping.) Galya quickly picked up the "Mama" or "Papa" pleas for things, but took the word nyet much better than most American children do. We fear she's heard it before. (Lest you fear, we did get her some things; just not EVERY thing that she was asking for.)

We got back to DCU just in time to run the provisions up to the apartment and walk to the bus stop. As we had plans to be downtown today, I'd let some people know that we'd be there between 1-1:15 (in Lenin Square) and if they could make it, I'd love to see them and introduce the family. Well, since it took a decent amount of time (25 minutes!) for the folks at the orphanage to get Galya for us, and then another 30 minutes at Amstor, and then getting dropped off mid-bus trip because the bus driver decided the route ended halfway to downtown (third time that's happened to me this year here)...well, we got there a little late. Shannon took the girls to McDonald's, and I ran over to Lenin Square to see if anyone had shown up. Andrey Baranov was waiting for me, so he came back to McDonald's and had lunch with us. Galya doesn't seem to like ketchup, so she'll fit in with our family. She did like chicken nuggets and fries though, so we did get some food into her. I also called Neyla, another friend from the past two summers, and she joined us in Lenin Square after lunch.

In Lenin Square, the girls again rode these little pedal cars, and then we went to the playground on Pushkin Boulevard. Here the girls not only played on the playground together, but they also got pony rides on a real live, very old pony! I think we could have called it a day here and it would have been a success. All the while, we continued to chat with Andrey and Neyla. I think there are two things that make me love Donetsk and want to keep coming back: the city itself, with its European center and slower pace of life, and the people I meet at the English Intensives.

Anyhoo, from here Andrey took us to the "figures park" where the girls climbed on statues and we took a few photos. I love this park too, with the fun statues and sculptures for the kids, and benches for tired parents to sit and rest. (Not that we sat and rested; no, too much to do!) Neyla had to leave for a Skype call right before we got to this park, but she promised to meet us at DCU again before we leave. Yay!

From here we walked back toward the main route, and passed by the Tsar's Cannon, which was fun for the girls to play on while hiding from us. The cannon balls were larger than Amissa (though as she pointed out, she was taller than any of them.) Continuing on our ever-longer walk, we ended up at the White Swan mall, which had a Ukrainian equivalent of Chuck E. Cheese called Plastilin (I think.) The girls played a few games, rode some bumper cars and jumped on some trampolines. And we got too few tickets to do anything with, so we held onto them in case we go back.

It was late, and Andrey had to head back. We also had to get back home to eat supper, then return Galya to the orphanage. Did I mention the way back to the arcade was through a toy store? So, after saying nyet a few dozen more times, we were able to leave the White Swan and walk back to the bus stop. Again, the girls were troopers, albeit very tired ones. Along the way, we also passed this church which I've seen numerous times. This time it was dark out, so the church was lit up. It's still one of my favorite church buildings, although I haven't yet braved the Orthodox and stepped inside.

Once home, we had the grilled/open-faced/cheese/sausage sandwiches the girls (and I!) have come to love, corn and boiled potatoes. All but the corn was just wonderful for Galya, but we made her eat most of the corn anyway. Yes, I know, what kinds of parents are pushing veggies on the kid without a break-in "spoiling" period? Galya then said goodbye to the other three ladies of the Stewart clan, and I took her back to the orphanage. We went via marshutka, and since Olga had told me which marshutka to take, I figured I could handle the trip. Which I did, but crowded marshutkas are quite the adventure. But now we also know another way to get to the orphanage for those times Andre's not available to drive us.

I got back home at about the same time as the girls and Shannon, who'd been kindly invited up to Lawrence and Colleen's apartment (our Thanksgiving hosts) to help decorate for Christmas. The girls also got hot chocolate with marshmallows. So it was a good day all around.

For those wondering, we are not yet able to keep Galya overnight as the adoption isn't "official" until our waiting period is over. Tomorrow we will be talking with Angelina about our paperwork translation, and our options for appealing for a shortening of the waiting period. For those of the praying ilk, we'd appreciate that process to go well. Right now things don't look like it'd be feasible for Shannon and Galya to be home until right at Christmas time, or maybe later, but we'll see what miracles are left in this process.

We miss you all, and can't wait to see you. I still have people I'd like to see, so don't mind the extra length of stay, but it'd be nice to be able to get home too. Aside from a couple of cravings to address (pepperoni/green olive/mushroom pizza for me, tacos for Shannon), we'd love to be able to introduce y'all to Galya in person.

Until next time -

Ron