Jeff and Sue - Day 11 – Finally – a slow day!

Jeff – Monday, October 26, 2009

Day 11 – Finally – a slow day!

Sue and I have been joking with each other – we have read previous blogs about downtime and boredom – we must be doing something wrong! We brought along a number of books and DVD’s to fill the excess time – we have barely finished two DVD’s of reruns of a series we are watching again. Our interpreter has kept us quite busy, and trust me – this blog has filled a fair amount of the other free time! We’ve really enjoyed doing this, both for our own benefit and for the benefit of some of the people we have heard from. It is a real honor to be able to give some feedback and stories from the orphanage to other parents who still have a child there. Sue has stated repeatedly that we feel that Nastiya is our child that just happened to be born 7000 miles away from us – I know others feel the same way.

As for the time – I think being able to snatch Nastiya from the orphanage for almost an entire day also was a bonus that not everybody has been able to share. Or maybe our interpreter has just figured out that no good can come of leaving us to our own devices – she knows us too well already! We had a good laugh last night: our interpreter was joking about how Sue will go up and talk to anybody. I asked her, “Where do you think Nastiya gets it from?” She got it

So Monday: we did finally get a chance to sleep in. I can’t, but Susie did sleep almost until our interpreter left for the morning. Then we had breakfast, read the bible, read a meditation together, and slowly got ready for the day.

Our interpreter came back around 11:30, and we went for a stroll. Some pictures will be posted in the sidebar. The first stop was a pet shop. Sue wanted to take a cuttle bone and a treat for the parrot at the orphanage. The pet shop is on the ground floor of the same building as the apartment.

We then walked through a nice central park that we have driven past almost every day. It’s about three blocks from the apartment. Once through the park, we walked another two blocks, and we were at the pizza joint we’ve been to several times. You know how when you’re a passenger you don’t really pay attention to the direction? Shoot – the pizza joint is 5 blocks away, the money exchange place was at the end of the block, turn the corner and you’re at the internet café we first visited. Six blocks and we saw everything on the central street that we’d visited! OK –I exaggerate – the toy store, phone store, and radio store were a few more blocks away.

For lunch, our interpreter hailed a cab and took us to a “BBQ”. This really refers to cooking meat over fire – same as our back yard BBQ’s. The meat was excellent. We had two different kinds of pork, but the menu also included sausage, liver, chicken, and fish. The restaurant was quite nice - decorated with boar’s heads on the wall.

The BBQ was two blocks from the orphanage. It was right across the street from the school that Nastiya goes to, which is catty-corner from the orphanage. The orphanage is actually tucked down into a courtyard created by an L-shaped arrangement of large apartment buildings, so we had to walk down the alley/driveway between the buildings to get there, but you can see the school and the orphanage from the entrance to the driveway.

So here we are again in The Green Room. We waited for a few minutes for Anastasia. Since she has chosen the American version, when she came, we said “Previet, Nastiya; Hello Anastasia!” This got a big smile from her.

First thing we did was give the bird his new treats. The cage is in the anteroom to The Green Room, so Nastiya and Sue went out there to give him his treats. When we went into The Green Room, we could hear the bird calling to us. He starts with a gentle whistle, which escalates into a much noisier “request” that you come back and play with him. We would call back to him. I couldn’t help it – I whistled back to him a couple times. Not allowed in Ukraine – don’t whistle indoors!

We had just a great time – doing puzzles, practicing English, butchering pa-rooskie, having Nastiya correct us. We had a good laugh over making a human antenna to try to get a better signal for the radio. The time just disappeared, and suddenly the security guard was telling us it was time to go.

After that huge lunch, we had snacks for dinner. Cheese and salami for me, dates and cookies for everybody (some Ukrainian cookies our interpreter bought – walnut-shaped cookies filled with Nutella).

Sue – Day 11 – Mariupol

Sue here… just a quick note (is it possible???)

I am feeling a little under the weather. Sunday night, I awoke at 4:00am with a choking/scratchy feeling in my throat, and was coughing. I’m not sure if I am getting a cold (I’ve been so very careful to wash hands, use hand sanitizer, and to take my vitamins!), or having an allergic reaction. (I get allergy shots weekly at home…) By Monday evening, my throat is just killing me! I know you can smell the factory smoke everywhere here in Mariupol, it is in the air like burning leaves or something. So I don’t know if I am getting sick, or just reacting to the air, or the cold, or what. I will keep taking vitamins, and see how things develop. I sure did bring the supplies; cold medicine, Tylenol, etc., so if I am sick, I will simply take cold medicine and keep on chugging.

By the way, the weather turned on a dime. One day it was like springtime, and the next day it was downright bitter. I mean hat and gloves kind of autumn chill. You are near the Azov Sea, so the cold damp air feels even more chilly. I am definitely bringing my (skiing) light-weight long johns to wear under my slacks in November!! Brrrrrrr!