Party Day

December 26: After Tamara and I slept in shifts, we were both awake around 7:30am so we got ready to go to breakfast, check email and post our blog. Valery was running around making sure he had Sasha’s original birth certificate and Yulia was in Kiev picking up our papers from the train station and taking them to the SDA. When she first got to the SDA and showed them the cover letter explaining the importance of expediting our paperwork due to my Mother’s funeral, the person told her that they didn’t believe this was true since it was only in Ukrainian with no English translation. She told the person that she was a Christian and would not lie and miraculously was allowed to talk with the person in charge who did believe her and promised that the papers would be ready between 5:00 and 6:00pm. This would be just enough time to get them on a bus to Donetsk. This would also mean that Valery would have to take a taxi for about two and a half hours each way to pick them up and had to be back before our 2:45 pm court time. Where is a FedEx truck when you need one?

Well, back to today, we went back to the room for a little while and waited on our laundry delivery. Soon it was time for lunch so we walked to the cafeteria once again. After lunch, I wanted to take a short nap so Tamara read some inspirational stories to me from “Power for Living”, one being an adoption story of two boys, and I then went to sleep for about 30 minutes. It was time for us to call a taxi and head to the big Christmas Bash for the older kids at the orphanage. We arrived a little before 3:00pm thinking that it was supposed to start then but found out from Vitya that it wasn’t starting until about 3:40pm. The auditorium was packed with children as the grades participated in a competition like the Russian TV show “KBH” where several groups of people perform skits, songs, dances and comedy in front of a panel of judges. There were three rounds during the competition and it took about three hours for it to be completed. Sasha was the star of most of the skits for his grade and played the part of a pirate in one (looking very much like Captain Jack Sparrow). He also starred in a video that his class had produced where he was dreaming that he was a popular singer from a music video and was catered to by all his teachers, caregivers and friends, getting to sleep late and being brought breakfast in bed while the other students cleaned his room. It was very humorous.

Victor, who is a lot more reserved than Sasha had fewer lines but did play the part of a clown in one skit and we think he was under a box that walked across the stage in another skit. Tamara joked and said, “Look honey, our son is a box.” The box actually looked like the Washington Monument on the outside which made it even stranger. We didn’t fully understand the whole box thing, but Vitya did a good job of walking across the stage in it. If it hadn’t been for two cute little 7 year old girls sitting next to us (Galiana and Angelina) and entertaining us with their expressions and trying to tickle me, we might not of been able to endure the entire program. This was mostly because we couldn’t understand it. Finally and just in the nick of time for my backside in the hard wood chair, the competition was over and Victor’s class (the eleventh grade) was chosen as the winner. All of the kids were then given a gift of a large box of candy.

We had told Yuri and Nataliya that we would try to go to the CBN Training Center for their Christmas party between the program and the dance that was to start at 7:00pm so we hurried out to the taxi with Valery to go. As soon as we walked into the center (which is an awesome place), we were escorted into a room where a large table was overflowing with food. Nataliya asked us if we wanted to eat dinner, and just as I was reaching for a plate, my phone rang. It was Ginger and Ella. After talking with Ginger about some issues concerning my Mother’s funeral I asked Ella to set up a three way call with Delta Airlines. I had to go stand in the pantry in order to find a quiet place to talk and even then, the computer voice recognition system was very annoying since it never understood what I said. Finally, I got a human who then had to transfer me to another human after a long hold and then almost got somewhere about my alternatives when my cell phone dropped the call. While I stayed stuck in the pantry, Tamara and Valery decided to nibble on the refreshments. I finally made my way back into the area with the food table, it was time for us to leave. I had spent the whole time in the pantry on the phone. It was an interesting party for me. A very kind girl who felt sorry for me began piling some paper plates with sandwiches and fruit, so I could take it with me. Ella called me back and we started the process over again as we headed back to the orphanage for the dance. Tamara was balancing two plates of food for me and we scooted inside the taxi. I then gave her the phone to talk to Ginger to advise her on some funeral details. What a crazy day it had been! When I got the phone back, again, I worked my way through the maze of computer prompts and hold times to once again get the right person and again get almost to the point of changing our flight when my battery ran out. I had to give up for now so I just went to the dance wondering if I would ever get our flight changed. We stayed at the dance for about 45 more minutes, and took all we could of bare bellied girls on the dance floor, seeming to be imitating Shakira. It was a perfect time to go eat my plates of food. So, Tamara and I used that as an excuse to step to the far side of the room, so we didn’t have to observe the belly dancing. We know they mean well and are only trying to have a good time. After I ate, we told the boys good-bye and headed back to the hotel.

On our way back in the taxi, our driver, Zoya, (who we’ve gotten to know pretty well) asked to see pictures of our home in America so I pulled out my laptop and started showing her. She seemed impressed with our house and let out a little gasp. We told her we really aren’t rich people. She said, “Berdyansk houses….bad, bad!” She kept trying to look while she was driving and seemed amazed at our humble home. Tamara decided that maybe it might be safer to show her after we parked at the hotel instead of while she was driving so I complied. When we got back to our room, I plugged in my phone and changed out the SIM card with one that Nataliya had let us borrow that could be used to place direct calls to America. Once again, I worked my way to the right person and she was being very helpful and was just about to book us on a flight through JFK on Saturday when, for some unknown reason, the phone dropped the call and would not work anymore. I calmly replaced the SIM card again so people would be able to call us and decided to go ahead and type this blog and then try to call the Kiev Delta office in the morning. I couldn’t handle anymore frustration in one night.